County Lunchtime Closures Scrutinized

Fayette County Commissioners will reconsider decisions by some county department heads to close offices during the noon hour.

During the public comment period at a meeting last Thursday, Pct. 3 Commissioner Harvey Berckenhoff raised a concern he received from a constituent about the noon closures.

“She works from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon, and the only time she has to come and do business at the County Clerk’s Office or the Tax Assessor is from 12 to one,” Berckenhoff said.

After the meeting, County Judge Joe Weber said Commissioners would discuss and possibly take action on the closures at a future meeting.

“That is a very valid point,” Weber said in an interview with the Record on Friday. “I told Commissioner Berckenhoff that we’re putting that on the agenda. That’s the only time a lot of people have to do anything.

“We’ve got to have someone in those offices over lunch time,” Weber added. “We need to stagger them or something. We’re going to talk about that.”

At the meeting on Thursday, Berckenhoff said the resident he spoke with also complained about the single entrance to the courthouse. Last year, the County decided to keep three of the courthouse doors locked over security concerns. Now the only way to get into the courthouse is through the main entrance on the east side of the building and the handicap entrance down the ramp through the basement.

“We’re going to stick with one entrance, as most courthouses have now, due to security issues,” Weber said. “It won’t be so bad once we get the courthouse annex open.”

The County recently signed a contract to purchase the old Pioneer Bank Building on the Courthouse Square in La Grange. The County plans to convert the building into a courthouse annex that would house the Tax Assessor and County Auditor offices.