Introducing New Faces in Burnside City Government

There are some new — if also familiar — faces in Burnside City Government.

Heather Hill was introduced as the City of Burnside’s new assistant tourism director.

“I grew up here, I love Burnside. This is my hometown,” said Hill, previously a library employee. “To work here and to be a part of marketing this town to bring people here is just going to be a joy.”

Not only is she a Burnside native, but Hill is also the niece of the late Terry Vanover, the Burnside City Councilor who passed away this past March.

After Jerrica Flynn was bumped up into the position of city clerk following the departure of Crissa Morris to become Pulaski County Treasurer, Tourism Director Alison Pyles still needed extra help running the many events and promotions in “the only town on Lake Cumberland.”

Hence, the arrival of Hill, who was present at Burnside’s July City Council meeting this past Tuesday to meet officials.

“She’s hit the ground running,” said Pyles. “She’s been a tremendous asset. We’re in the middle of event season, so there’s been a lot of ‘here, do this’ and she does. She’s been great at helping build some databases for some future needs. We’re going to need to keep track of short-term rentals and local businesses that need different licenses and permits. … I’m really, really proud of our hire. I feel like we made the right choice.”

Hill will be a part-time employee, working four days a week in the city’s tourism office.

“This just shows you how much tourism has grown in the short time I’ve been mayor,” said Burnside Mayor Robert Lawson, who has been in office since August 2017. “When I came on, we had a part-time tourism director. Now we have a part-time (assistant) plus a full-time (tourism director). Tourism is growing.”

Welcoming the Return of Officer Andrew Payne

Also sworn in at Tuesday’s meeting was Police Officer Andrew Payne, returning to the department after having been a part of it about a decade ago. More recently, he had been a part-time officer for the City of Ferguson.

Burnside Police Chief Mike Hill said that they were glad to have Payne back in Burnside.

“He’s a good asset to the police department, a well-rounded officer, and we’re excited for him to start his new tenure here at the police department,” said Hill.

Discussing Potential Changes to Entertainment License Policies

Among the other items of business discussed at Monday’s meeting were potential new policies for entertainment licenses in the city. The current ordinance was crafted in early 2019 to address activities that had been going on in local establishments regarding live entertainment that basically ignored existing city policy.

“We wrote this very (strict) because of a problem with a certain business. That problem’s not here any longer, but some of other problems have arose that have opened our eyes to this,” said Lawson. “I’ll give you an example: We just had two local businesses recently — one sales package (alcohol), the other does not sell any at all — have bands. In doing so, they were in violation of this entertainment ordinance. … I did get phone calls about it, so my job is to enforce all ordinances. So I had to be the bad dog and call these two businesses to say, ‘Look, you’re in violation.’ … I think we need to revisit this.”

No decisions were made at the council meeting on Monday, but rather a pledge to consider what needs to be done and work on crafting an updated ordinance.

However, Lawson noted the current ordinance doesn’t allow for quick turnaround on licenses, requiring an application, background check, public posting in the newspaper, and approval by the council itself. That process often leads to a month’s wait to get a permit for a one-day event, in contrast to businesses like bars that more regularly have live entertainment.

“Should it not be okay, say (a non-alcohol-oriented business) is wanting to have a band Saturday, and she calls me on Monday, that the (police) chief, city clerk and myself can approve that?” said Lawson. “Then if there’s a violation, the police are going to cite her. So that’s what I want you to be thinking about: Should we loosen this up a little bit to where you don’t have to come to council under certain circumstances?

“Certain circumstances it should be up to council, because if you’ve got somebody that’s going to be selling alcohol, or going to be having mud wrestling, you might want to do a background check before you let that happen,” he added. “So I think it depends on what it is and where it’s happening and that kind of thing.”

City Attorney Molly Hardy noted that charitable organizations and churches are exempt from needing to follow the entertainment license process, as are guests in a private home.

Pyles said the issue was discussed with the tourism board, and she said the board feels that with Burnside being a tourism town, “our hope is that council will keep in mind that we want to be as supportive of our tourism businesses as we can. We want to make it a pleasure to do business with Burnside.”

Chief Hill also weighed in, saying that “there’s a lot of red tape that we probably could eliminate to speed the process up and still come out with the same results that we’re looking for.”

Amendment to Alcoholic Beverage Control Ordinance

The council also passed the Alcoholic Beverage Control ordinance amendment given a first reading last month, changing the number and size of signs and advertising permitted on locations. The city had previously disallowed such signage on businesses selling alcohol. Now, restaurants, retail package stores, and malt beverage package stores (such as service stations that carry beer) are allowed up to two signs, banners, posters or other display advertising for alcoholic products. Those in the window of a building, visible from any public or private roadway, cannot occupy more than 20 percent of the window surface.

Other Matters Discussed

Additionally, City Clerk Flynn discussed with the council new forms for short-term rental properties in the city that she’d done research on and crafted, and the mayor shared with the council ideas from a recent Kentucky League of Cities event he and other city officials attended.