HUSTONVILLE — A decision about the future of the Hustonville Haunted House building may be made Oct. 10, when the owner of the business and the city appear in Frankfort at a state fire marshal hearing.
Hustonville Mayor Marc Spivey told city council members Tuesday night the city had, with the help of the Kentucky League of Cities and the state fire marshal's office, ordered Hustonville Haunted House owner Paul Gray to "remedy a fire hazard" caused by the partially collapsed outer wall of his business.
A portion of the outer wall of Hustonville Haunted House collapsed in February, and the stretch of Old Liberty Road next to the business has remained closed due to safety concerns ever since.
Spivey said Gray was given a deadline of Aug. 16 to fix the fire hazard issue, and while he did take some action, the street has remained closed because a structural engineer has not signed off, certifying the building does not pose a danger to the street below.
Gray requested the hearing the day his deadline was up, Spivey said. Lincoln County Attorney Daryl Day will be representing the city of Hustonville as the prosecuting attorney and Gray will be represented by Daniel Elliott, he added.
The hearing will take place 1:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at the office of the state fire marshal in Frankfort, in front of hearing officer Mike Powers.
Spivey and Hustonville City Attorney Carol Hill said they don't know how long it will take after the hearing for Powers or the fire marshall's office to issue a decision in the case.
"It's been a long process. The wheels of justice work slow, I guess," Spivey said. "I know that everybody wants it fixed yesterday. We're trying."
Fire dept. trades old gear for CPR training
The Hustonville City Council approved Tuesday giving old firefighter helmets, jackets and pants to a Lexington-based training company in exchange for a free CPR class for all fire department members and city employees.
Hustonville Assistant Fire Chief Cory Kitchen said the equipment is all more than 10 years old and beyond any use for the Hustonville department.
EMT Professionals, the training company, has agreed to give the CPR class in exchange for the equipment, which it will be using for its training sessions.
Kitchen said once the fire department members and city employees are trained, several of those people plan on taking CPR trainer training and become certified instructors. Then the city will be able to train citizens in CPR without having to pay an outside company, he added.
Kitchen said CPR training can usually cost easily $50 per person and there could be around 40 city employees and fire department members who take the training.
Based on those estimates, the value of the trade would be around $2,000.
Spivey said he thinks it's a great deal since the equipment is no longer useful for the fire department anyway.
In other city council news, Spivey announced the Hustonville car show scheduled for this Saturday will go ahead as planned, with festivities beginning at 10 a.m. Events at the car show will include a cookout by the fire department and a raffle of donated items for raise money for projects, including a plan for a veterans' memorial on Main Street.
