Milton City Commission appoints Tara Kelton ABC administrator

Milton City Commission appointed Tara Kelton last Tuesday as the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Administrator for Milton at a special meeting.

The appointment followed the reading of a municipal order for her appointment to the position.

According to Milton Clerk Treasurer Angela Dunaway, the city’s recent alcohol sales ordinance — brought about by a local option referendum last November — requires the commission board to appoint an administrator. Kelton, the wife of Trimble County Sheriff Charles Kelton — has experience in the job from also serving as ABC Administrator in Bedford.

Based on the referendum, Milton will grant licenses to up to two liquor stores in the city as well as allow qualified restaurants and clubs to sell alcohol.

Under the administrator agreement, Kelton must be sworn into the office and execute a bond with corporate maturity in the penal sum of not less than $1,000 — a cost that will be paid by the city.

The part-time position will “continue until such time as it is expressly revoked by the commission or by operation of law.” Her role will also be “based upon the needs of the city” and she will be paid $300 per month.

In other business:

• The commission also agreed to have Mayor Denny Jackson sign an interlocal agreement with Trimble County and Bedford for code enforcement and creation of a joint code enforcement board for address nuisance, litter, and rubbish issues throughout the county.

Judge-Executive John Ogburn and interlocal agreement attorney Stacy Ginn attended the meeting in order to answer any questions and explain any details regarding the agreement.

Joanne Pyc, Milton city attorney, explained that Milton’s agreement will be similar to the one that was recently signed by Bedford City Commission.

However, Pyc did see one issue with the agreement that “Trimble County, Milton and Bedford, shall each have representation on the code enforcement board.”

“Now, the problem with Bedford is that they weren’t able to find anyone,” Pyc said. According to her, Ginn offered up a suggestion to that issue.

Pyc explained that they could define representation in the agreement to mean “people at Bedford who knew of someone that wasn’t living in Bedford, but was in … that area of the county that we would be able to use that person as our representative.”

“As long as it’s close to the city limits,” said Commissioner Troy Alexander, agreeing with the idea.

Ginn also said he will be updating and making minor changes to Milton’s current nuisance ordinance, which was written in 2014. Pyc agreed to coordinate with Ginn on those proposed changes.

The commission held the first reading of the interlocal agreement but decided to push back a reading of the resolution on the interlocal agreement until the commission’s next meeting in April.

• Mayor Jackson swore in Seth Willis as a new member of the city commission to serve out the unexpired term of former commissioner Jerry Harmon, who retired in December of 2023. Willis has formerly served on the commission

“Welcome back, Mr. Willis,” Dunaway said after Willis completed the oath.

• Dunaway announced that she has completed two additional levels of certification as a city clerk in the past month including Kentucky Master Municipal Clerk from the Kentucky Municipal Clerks Association and Certified Municipal Clerk from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.

“I’m international now; I can go anywhere,” she joked.

The next Milton City Commission meeting will be held 7 p.m. on Monday, April 11.