Senator-elect Scott Madon dropped by the Bell County Fiscal Court’s December meeting to thank the magistrates, Judge-Executive Albey Brock and the people of Bell County for supporting his 11-day write-in campaign to fill the late Johnnie Turner’s seat.

“I’ve been traveling my district ahead of going into that first session. I only had an 11-day campaign so there were a lot people I didn’t get to meet,” Madon said. “I thought that I really needed to come to my home county’s Fiscal Court meeting and express my gratitude and appreciation for the votes that I got from the people of Bell County. I know all of you supported me and I plan to do everything I can to help the county. January 7 is when I get sworn in so I guess that’s when I officially start to work for you all.”

He said one of his first orders of business will be to make sure Bell County gets state funding for various road projects they have applied for.

“I know the road money is important for you. I dove into that right off the bat. In my five-county district we’ve had $3.2 million in requests. There’s $20 million total for the state for 118 counties (minus Fayetts and Jeffreson). That’s $20 million this biennium and $20 million next biennium,” Madon said. “Judge (Brock)’s message for me to send to Sen. Stivers was that he didn’t care how much was in there as long as he got his $730,000 worth of roads. I relayed that to Sen. Stivers and he said ‘We’ll take care of him.’

“You all have been down that road before and you know how they grade those and we’ll see what we can do. I’ll do what I can to make sure Bell County gets all the money they can and if there’s any extra I’ll certainly do whatever I can to take care of my home county like most of the legislators do.”

Madon also took time to thank Brock and the other elected officials in the courthouse for cooperating with him while he was the mayor of Pineville.

“For 10 years I’ve been the mayor here and the judge and all of you elected officials have been great to work with. Not too many people would let a small town like Pineville just completely disrupt your courthouse like we’ve done. I know it’s been a total disruption but I think in the end it’s going to be really good,” he said.

Madon added that the project was moving along well and is expected to be 90 to 95 percent completed by Memorial Day weekend for the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival.

“There’s a chance it could move faster or slower depending on how the weather does. I think at the end it’s going to be really nice,” he said. “I appreciate the understanding, people have really been more understanding than I thought they would. If there are some things that we need to do at the end, I’ll still be here helping to see this project through.”

Madon said he would have Johnnie Turner’s old office in Frankfort and that he would let Brock and the magistrates know his email and other contact information once it’s all in place.

Brock asked how long it had been since Bell County had a state senator in office.

Madon said he had done a little research on that and there was one back in the 1960s.

“The long and short of it is that it’s been 80 years since we’ve had one. I want folks that live here to understand that it’s a big deal to have a senator from your home county,” Brock said. “I’ll go so far to say that we helped get him there and we need to help keep him there. That’s not to say he doesn’t need to do his job — trust me we’ll call him to task. While we’ve not had a senator from Bell County for 80 years, I’ve dealt with multiple senators so I know the drill. I’m really proud that we’ve got a senator from Bell County and I’m glad that it’s somebody who’s my friend and somebody we’ve worked closely with together.”

Brock also joked with Madon about the courthouse square project.

“I will add that when we agreed to let you tear this place all to heck, we didn’t fully realize how bad you were going to tear it up. When you’re looking at renderings and everything looks so pretty and it’s just going to come in six feet, that all sounds good and nobody had any objections to it — but Lord had mercy,” he said. “In all seriousness, thank you for stepping up and being willing to serve.”

During audience participation, Magistrate Eddie Saylor took a moment to wish all the Bell County employees and veterans a merry Christmas and happy New Year.

Brock echoed those sentiments.

“I hope we all remember Jesus is the reason for this season. Christmas for most is a happy time, our kids get excited and we play the Santa Claus game, but there are a lot of folks that Christmas is a really hard time for them,” Brock said. “I just hope we all will be giving and if everyone can just help one family, one kid, one teenager, it goes a long way and it’s just the right, Christian thing to do.”

He also took a moment to recognize the recent passing of Glenn Peace.

“Many of us in this room lost a really good friend in Glenn Peace. Our thoughts and prayers are out there with Glenn’s family and he will be sorely missed,” Brock said.

In addition to paying the bills and making necessary transfers, the court:

— Approved payment to First State Bank for the amount of $750.00 for notes on Flash SteelWorks.

— Approved payment to Compass Municipal Advisors for the amount of $30,342.80 and Stites & Harbison for the amount of $30,342.80 for administration services for the ARPA Fund.

— Approved the 2025 Annual Order setting maximum amount for deputies and assistants for the Bell County Sheriff and the 2025 Annual Order setting maximum amount for deputies and assistants for the Bell County Clerk.

— Hired Dustin Napier and Misty Piazza as part-time workers at the Bell County Animal Shelter at $9.00 per hour effective Dec. 12.

— Hired Paul DeBusk and David Saylor as full-time workers at the Bell County Road Department at $13.00 per hour effective Dec. 12.

— Hired Samuel Burnette as part-time Critical Care Paramedic at $19.25 per hour and Nicholas Sturgill as part-time EMT at $11.50 per hour effective Dec. 12.

— Changed Erica Brock from part-time deputy jailer to full-time deputy jailer effective Dec. 19.

— Accepted checks in the amount of $696,271.78 from Sheriff Mitch Williams and in the amount of $19,660.75 from County Clerk Debbie Gambrel.