WQXE NEWS

The West Point City Council met for a special meeting Monday evening.

West Point Mayor Richard Ciresi made a final pitch to the council for the city to maintain its lease on the former West Point School Building. The council voted during their March meeting to not renew the current lease with Hardin County Schools for the building at the end of May, but Ciresi said he felt it was in the best interest of West Point citizens for the city to maintain control of it.

“Ultimately, my goal here is to figure out a way that we can hold onto this building and use it the way it’s been used for the past three years successfully,” Ciresi said. “If we were not in the building, we wouldn’t have had the Red Cross here, FEMA, all these people that are in the building.”

Ciresi proposed two lease options. The first had the city sign a revised lease on the building, while the second would have the city lease the building and then sublease the building to the West Point Preservation Corp.

“I just don’t want to see us board this thing up again and it become an eyesore when the West Point Preservation Corp is perfectly willing to fund it and pay the city $1,200 a year for the pleasure of doing so,” Ciresi said.

Council Members Amy Bickel and Dwayne Culver said they supported the arrangement with the preservation corp if some liability concerns could be clarified by the city’s attorney, but Council Members Jo Sabol, Vernon Curl, and Kevin Duke did not support pursuing a lease. Duke said he felt the city needs the building “like we need a hole in the head.”

“We’ve had control of it for how long now, and what has gone on it it?” Duke said. “Nothing has been done with it. We have a few little organizations that come in here and use it, and that’s not going to be worth the money that it’s going to cost.”

With the majority of council members not in favor, no further action was taken on the proposal.

In other meeting news, the council held the first reading on the fiscal year 2025-2026 city budget. Council feedback led to several adjustments to the original proposal, including expanded funding for the city’s fire department to address pump repairs. The budget will go up for adoption on its second reading at the West Point City Council’s June 9 meeting.

Area residents are reminded to stay diligent as several scams have been reported.

Elizabethtown Police Department Public Information Officer Chris Denham says one such scam in which the perpetrator says they are the child of the intended victim and they have been in an accident has been around for some time.

“It used to be a phone call, and then it became text or sometimes even email, and it appears that the child has been in some type of an accident, like this most recent one was a car accident, and they were needing assistance so they request that the parent call a certain number,” Denham said. “These scammers put on a really good act, and they’re very convincing and oftentimes people fall victim to their scheme.”

Denham says if your child was legitimately in an accident, the call would most likely come from a hospital or from law enforcement rather than a random cell number.

The EPD also recently put out a warning about a scam in which the victim receives a number from a scammer posing as technical support for Microsoft.

“The victim calls the number, and the scammer acts as though they represent Microsoft, and it’s financial extortion and this happens all too commonly,” Denham said. “They convince you that your bank accounts have been compromised, any information on your computer has been compromised, and they want you to send them resources and they claim that they’re going to secure them in a Federal Reserve Bank.”

Residents should remember to never give out personal or financial information unless you can confirm the source. If you receive a suspicious phone call, hang up, and if you receive a suspicious text or email, never click a link or open an attachment.

Denham also said reports were made to the EPD about scammers posing as FEMA going door to door, but as part of damage assessments FEMA does have staff surveying the area. FEMA representatives wear clearly marked FEMA clothing and carry identification. If a person comes to your door saying they are with FEMA and you have suspicions, you can contact FEMA to confirm who the agency has on the ground in your area.

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College is inviting area students in grades six through ten to their annual Pathfinder Academy.

“It is a week-long academy with various classes,” said ECTC Director of Advanced Manufacturing Accelerator Project and Pathfinder Coordinator Eileen Worthington. “We have VEX Robotics, CAD, soldering, LEGO Robotics, culinary arts, sewing, and robotic automation.”

The academy runs June 9 through 13, with class sections divided by age.

“Registration ends on May 30,” Worthington said. “It’s a lot of new classes, so new programming, new technical things that students may not have done before, so some of it’s going to be new and interesting, and trying something new is what we’re trying to get a lot of students to do.”

Campers will also participate in financial literacy workshops.

Advanced registration is required with spots available on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit the Pathfinder Academy page on the ECTC website or contact Worthington (270-706-8712) for more information.