Board of Commissioners Meetings - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon and welcome to the June 9th regularly scheduled City Commission meeting for the City of Henderson, Kentucky. If you would please stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you. Can we have a call for attendance, please?

Commissioner Thomas.

Here.

Commissioner Pruitt.

Here.

Commissioner Witt. Commissioner Hargis. Mayor Staten.

Here. We have two commissioners who are out on conference leave today, but we do have a quorum. We need three people. We've got three people, so we're going to go ahead and move forward with the city of business. First up, if I can invite Paul Bird and Bart Bowles and Abby Grove up to the podium. want to we're doing things a little out of the order. We usually do board appointments at the end of the meeting. Right now we're going to do one at the beginning of the meeting. We have an open spot at HWU. And eventually at the end of this conversation, I am going to recommend Miss Abby Gross to fill that position. But Bart, do you want to tell us a little bit about Abby and why you think she would make a good board member for HWU?

Yeah, Abby Grove, we sat down with her a few weeks ago and just really got to know her. She's an architect at Skinner Design Associates and lives here in town as kids in the school system. And just a joy to be around and to speak with and just excited. I think she could add a lot to our board.

Good deal. And multiple people were interviewed for this position, and she's the one that has risen to the top.

Yes, sir, Paul. Mayor, we reached out to a number of people to get names to fill this position, and every list we got had Abby Grove on it. So that was a great sign. I think she's going to be a great board member for us.

Good deal. And I went through Henderson Leadership Initiative back in 2012, and that was the first time I met Ms. Abbey. And welcome back. It's nice to see you. And I agree also. We have obviously kept in close contact throughout this process. I've recommended a few names, and they had some names, and we had some names on our board sign-up list. And so it's my pleasure to recommend Abby Grove to fill the unexpired term of Brenna Cottle on the HWU board. I'd like to present that in the form of a motion. So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas. Aye. Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Staten.

Aye. If you would, stay right there, because we're going to go ahead and get you sworn in, since you've got a meeting coming up soon. Is that in here? What's that? Thank you. All right, if you would, please raise your right hand and repeat after me, except when I say state your name. When I say state your name, state your name. Okay.

I. I. State your name. Abby Arnold. You did good there. Abby Arnold Grove, sorry. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support. That I will support. The Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States. And the Constitution. In the Constitution. Of this Commonwealth. Of this Commonwealth. And be faithful and true. And be faithful and true. To the Commonwealth of Kentucky. To the Commonwealth of Kentucky. And that I will faithfully execute. And that I will faithfully execute. To the best of my ability. Best of my ability. The office of. The office of. City of Henderson. City of Anderson. Water and sewer commission member. Water and sewer commission member. According to law. According to law. And I do further. And I do further. Solemnly swear. Solemnly swear. That since the adoption. That since the adoption. Of the present constitution. Of the present constitution. I have not fought a duel. I have not fought a duel. With deadly weapons. With deadly weapons. Within this state. Within this state. Nor out of it. Nor out of it. nor have I sent nor have I sent or accepted a challenge or accepted a challenge to fight a duel to fight a duel with deadly weapons with deadly weapons nor have I acted nor have I acted as second as second in carrying a challenge in carrying a challenge nor aided or assisted nor aided or assisted any person thus offending Any person thus offending. Any person thus offending.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations. You are officially sworn in. I am going to get you to sign this paper before you leave. And welcome to the city of Henderson Water Board. We appreciate it. All right. Next up on the agenda, we have World Changers Week proclamation. If you're here on behalf of World Changers, if you could join me at the podium, please.

okay whereas voluntary service takes on several different meanings but none more important than a volunteer who works his or her own free will without external compulsion and whereas many citizens of this community contribute to the well-being of fellow residents of the welfare of all of our citizens by tirelessly giving their time and energy without desire for recognition remuneration or personal gain Whereas World Changers has volunteered its services to the city since 2005, with only a brief hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years, the partnership between World Changers and the city of Henderson has made a significant impact on our neighborhoods, resulting in exterior repairs to homes funded through the Community Development Block Grant funding. And whereas World Changers has worked diligently through the best and worst of nature's conditions, demonstrating unwavering dedication and a heartfelt commitment to serving our community, faithfully reflecting a spirit of service that has greatly enriched the lives of our residents, and whereas today we gather to give special thanks to the 2026 World Changers for their dedication to provide free labor for project repairs throughout the City of Henderson the week of June 8th through the 12th, And now, therefore, the city of Henderson does hereby proclaim the week of June 8 through the 12th, 2026 as World Changers Week and urges all citizens of this community to join us in recognizing the valuable contributions made by the world changers.

I just want to say on behalf of the city that we appreciate the work that you all are doing. I would appreciate your efforts in this, too, Ms. Brescia. And here is a copy of the proclamation. And if you all would like to say anything on behalf of the world changers, you are welcome to.

Don't run too far. Mr. Mayor and Council, I want to, on behalf of World Changers International, would like to say thank you. My name is David Bates, and this is my third year of serving as a project coordinator here in Anderson, Kentucky. First of all, I'd like to thank you, the commission, and the mayor for allowing us to come into this city, and I would like to give a special thank to, where'd Barisha go? To my left, to Barisha Pruitt, for all of her assistance in finding the homes and the places that we were going to be working. I'd like to additionally say thank you to Pastor Jeff Hesley and the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church who is hosting us this week. And then finally, what I'd like to do is I want to say a special, special thank you to the team at the John F. Kennedy Community Center for opening their doors to us. and providing a facility to eat and take a break from the heat and the rain today. They have been an outstanding crew at the community center, and we want you to know that we really appreciate their efforts in opening their doors to us this week. And finally, what I'd like to do, Mr. Mayor, if you wouldn't oblige me at 90 seconds, I want to introduce a crew from World Changers that is with us today.

That would be fantastic.

This crew is known as the Paint Chips. Their crew chief is Joshua Oaks. And I would like for this crew to stand, please. And I would like for you to tell them your name, the church that you attend, and the city and state in which where you live.

And one caveat.

Yes, sir.

Why don't we line up at the podium and tell us at the podium because there are people watching at home and the microphones are right there.

Absolutely, sir. Absolutely. Come on up.

It'll be all right. Come on.

We won't bite. We promise you.

My name is Brian Barton. I go to First Southern Baptist Church in Pratt, Kansas.

Wow.

My name is Jovon Dixon. I go to Stifton Baptist, and I'm from Kentucky, Radcliffe.

My name is Joshua Oaks. I'm the crew chief this week. I'm from Rock Hill, South Carolina, and I go to Lakewood Baptist.

My name is Jordan Bishop. I go to Stifton Baptist Church, and I'm from Radcliffe, Kentucky.

My name's Kaylee, and I go to Mount Vernon Baptist Church, and I'm from Mount Vernon, Arkansas.

I'm Cameron Calhoun, and I go to Mount Vernon Baptist Church, and I'm from Rosebud, Arkansas.

I'm Tatiana.

I'm Tatiana. You can do it. You can do it. You got it. You got it. Just talk to me. Just talk to me.

I'm Tatiana. I go to Stifton Baptist Church. I'm from Wright, Kentucky. All right.

There you go, everybody. My name is Isaac Sugar. I'm from Rock Hill, South Carolina. I go to Lakewood Baptist Church.

I'm Keisha Howard. I live in White Cross, Georgia, and I go to Emmanuel in Blackshirt, Georgia.

My name is Darius Nguyen, and I'm from Radcliffe, Kentucky, and I'm a student in Baptist Church.

My name is Regan Swanger. I go to Lakewood Baptist Church, and I'm from Rock Hill, South Carolina.

My name is Aubrey McCoy, and I'm from Rock Hill, South Carolina, and I go to Lakewood Baptist Church. My name's Harper Sizer, and I go to Lakewood Baptist Church, and I'm from Rock Hill, South Carolina.

All right. If y'all could stay there just for one second. I see you right here. If you all would, and the three of you guys, if y'all would join me right up here, I want to take a picture with you guys on the proclamation. Absolutely.

This is Brooklyn.

Don't have to hide for this one.

That's the difference.

We got Chris and Ken.

All right.

Next up on the agenda is we're going to recognize some of our new employees.

If I could invite Mr. Bart Bowles and Mr. Weatherby up to the podium, please.

I have Mr. Ryan Weatherty here. He's our new IT systems administrator. Comes to us from the Job Corps in Morganfield, also from Morganfield, another Union County in over here. And Tim Fischbeck, he's our IT and automation manager. And we're just glad to have Ryan. He comes with a wealth of experience, geek squad experience. And so, yeah, excited to have him. Oh, yeah.

All right. Do we still call it Geek Squad in 2026? Yeah. I don't know. It's still got the name.

I'm messing with you. Thank you. So what brought you to the water department? Opportunity, honestly. Growth opportunities for me. Job Corps, as much as I do absolutely love the students over there, I wasn't getting any opportunity to progress my own personal adventures. So this was one of the first opportunities that has presented itself and was a way to give back to the community as well. So it was almost too good to pass up.

Good deal. Well, welcome. We appreciate that. Yeah, yeah.

If I could invite Crystal and Ms. Dukes up to the podium, please.

I'm not Crystal.

I'm Amy, by the way. I'm the heart secretary. This is Ms. Trina Dukes. This is our new bus driver. Started Monday last week. We're super excited to have her. She has lots of experience, and she's been wonderful so far.

You have lots of patience?

Oh, yeah. Great. I drive part-time in Owensboro City as well.

Wonderful. And you seem to have a very pleasant disposition, which is both of those things are very much needed with our bus drivers.

Thank you. Yeah, welcome aboard. We appreciate having you. Thank you. Appreciate being here.

All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

That is all we have for you employees today.

Thank you. And next up, we have Connor Mattingly and his team, and I'm sure he'll introduce everybody. If you all would like to come up to the podium and tell us a little bit about your East End project that we're going to be seeing in just a matter of a week or two, or a couple of weeks.

Hello everyone. Thank you all for having us today. Many of our HLI members weren't able to be here due to family obligations or work commitments. My name is Caitlin Osborne.

My name is Connor Mattingly. My name is Zach Charville.

Our project is titled East End, The Next Chapter. Five out of seven in our group actually has a connection to the East End, whether that is being raised there, currently living there, or working there. We have a three-phase plan to hopefully build pride, honor the society, I mean the history, sorry, increase visibility, foster future economic growth, and support the next generation of Henderson residents on the East End. Phase one of preserving the Welcome to the East End sign at the corner of Washington and Atkinson Street. already complete.

Today we will focus on phase two of our project and hope to gain the City Commission's blessing to move forward. We are proposing a large-scale community paint-by-number street mural at the intersection of Letcher and Powell Street. Our local artist has produced two designs with the words East End prominently in the center of the intersection and books between the crosswalk bars. These books promote literacy for the next generation while honoring the many chapters of the East End's past and looking forward to the exciting chapters still to come. The paint by number aspect is designed to foster a sense of community and ownership. An artist will first sketch the mural and divide the color sections into numbered areas. Community members will then be assigned a number and a color, creating an opportunity for anyone to participate without feeling the pressure to be artistic or to be perfect. The artists will then finish the mural, which will serve as a point of pride and connection for years to come, expressing that the East End is a place worth investing in. We have already secured multiple grants and donations and plan to finalize our fundraising efforts very soon. We have also collaborated with the city manager around street closures as well as AKZ and the JFK to secure our date of completion as July 18th. Once the street mural is complete, starting next school year, we also plan to enter phase three, which will be to partner with an existing scholarship organization to offer the East End Scholarship, which we hope to present to the recipients at the street mural each year.

We believe that phase one honors the past, phase two transforms the present, and phase three invests in the future. Together, these three phases honor the East End's legacy and lay the foundation for an inspiring new chapter in Henderson's story. We've worked hard to build the partnerships, secure the funding, and create a plan that will succeed. Today we're simply asking for your support as we come together to make the city intersection of Ledger and Powell a landmark that celebrates the East End for years to come.

Wow.

Good deal.

Thank you, guys. Genius, that is. So I think what they're specifically looking for us to do is right there at the intersection of Letcher and Powell is where Audubon Kid Zone is and La Bodega and a few of the older buildings that have come down recently. We have, Dylan, as part of our road paving project, not project, but process this year, has... had that intersection repaint, just that intersection, just so when we do it later, we don't have to pave over a potential mural that they had in the works. And I think what they're looking for from us is just a general consensus on not necessarily a blessing, but they want to present their project to us and see what we think. And so if you guys have any comments about the mural that they're looking to paint on the street, now would be the time to address that.

I think it's genius.

I do, too. Well done. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I can just add one comment. I've been working with Mr. Mattingly and Mr. Williams, our public works director, as well as I actually ran into their artist who designed all this, and her and I have been communicating about. So we have repaved the intersection. Mr. Williams took care of that. And then I'm meeting tomorrow with – Our typical vendor, they will stripe the crosswalks. Everything will still be fully compliant, you know, for liability purposes. And then we've provided them guidance from the – it's called the MUTCD, but that's a document that guides how markings are supposed to be just so they're not confusing and people know when they see them how they're supposed to react. And so we've provided that to their artists. They've encompassed all of that. And, you know, I think it's a great project, and we're happy to support it. And we've already done the things on our end that we need to do to support the project. Yep.

It's going to look good, Connor.

I think it's wonderful. And we certainly appreciate it. A lot of people look to city government as if we're able to take care of everything. And in reality, we serve as an engine to allow our citizens to be able to do things just like this. And so I hope that you felt supported throughout this process. You certainly have our complete support. And just in that corridor alone, over the last eight to ten years, that's really been a big focus of the city's. If you start up at the Audubon Senior Apartments, And then you come back this way, and you've got the East End Park, and you've got the three Habitat houses. You've got the new restaurant that went in there. It ought to have been KidZone. Now we've acquired a lot of properties on the next block, and we're looking to add a new shopping center location, kind of a hangout place for kids, and a new hero house for the police department, all in that corridor. And this is going to fit really nicely in there. I thank you guys for thinking of... the East End for organizing everything and anything we can do from now until the completion of it, please let us know. We'd be happy to help.

Thank you guys for having us. We're excited to be a part of that momentum that's going in a positive direction and that's just what we're hoping to do is just be a small little part of continuing that momentum for the East End. Good deal.

Well done. Good seeing you guys. Thank you guys.

Buzzy, do we have anybody to speak or need to wait still? If we could wait just a few more minutes. OK. We're going to go ahead and move forward on the agenda. I do have need to open and close two separate public hearings. One is going to be on the use of municipal road aid funds. And so if anyone would like to comment on the use of those funds, now would be the appropriate time to address the city commission. And I will now officially open that public hearing. If you have any comments, you're welcome to come to the podium. Hearing not, I will close that specific public hearing. And the next one that we need to have is on the use of LGEA funds. If anybody has any comments on how the city is planning to use the LGEA funds as discussed in prior meetings and as part of the agenda packet, now is the time to do that. I will officially open the public hearing. Hearing no comments, I will officially close the public hearing. And I know some things that we do up here, they're procedural in nature. But anytime that we have anything going on at the city, there are numerous outlets that you can reach out to us, reach out to any commissioner, any member of our staff. We are happy to hear you either inside or outside of the meetings. But we do have to officially open and close those public hearings just as a matter of procedure. Next up, we have a consent agenda.

The consent agenda contains the minutes of the May 12th, 2026 called work session and the May 26th, 2026 regular meeting and resolution number 34-26 resolution accepting human resources report dated June 9th, 2026 and approving all actions contained within resolution number 35-26 resolution adopting the May 2026 version 6.1 Henderson County Kentucky Emergency Operations Plan and authorizing the mayor to execute the document. And resolution number 36-26, resolution amending resolution number 32-22, relating to the rebate of 1% of the city's occupational license fees under the Kentucky Business Investment Program for Sitex Incorporated by authorizing the transfer to local benefits and incentives from Sitex Incorporated to Centos Corporation number 2.

Before we get a motion, do we have any items that any commission would like to pull for further discussion? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. So moved. Do we have a second? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas. Aye. Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Staten. Aye.

Next up, we have a second reading of an ordinance accepting public improvements at Kayak Lane.

Ordinance number 11-26, ordinance accepting public improvements. An ordinance accepting public improvements consisting of sidewalks on Kayak Lane.

We have a motion to approve, please. So moved. We have a second. Second. This was discussed at a prior meeting, but are there any additional questions, comments, concerns? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Staten. Aye.

Next up, we have a second reading of an ordinance adopting HWU's budget.

Ordinance number 12-26, ordinance adopting Henderson Water Utility Budget, budget and appropriation ordinance for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2027 for Henderson Water Utility of the City of Henderson, Kentucky.

Do I have a motion to approve, please? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Okay, and again, this is a second reading, so we've discussed this at length in past meetings, but are there any other questions, comments, suggestions? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Staten. Aye.

Next up, we have a first reading of an ordinance amending the fiscal 2026 budget.

Ordinance number 13-26, ordinance amending budget appropriation ordinance. An ordinance amending budget appropriation ordinance for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2025 and ending June 30th, 2026 for the city of Henderson, Kentucky. Whereas on June 24th, 2025, the City of Henderson adopted its annual budget and appropriation ordinance for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2025 and ending June 30th, 2026, being ordinance number 23-25. And whereas on January 27th, 2026, the City of Henderson amended its annual budget and appropriation ordinance for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2025 and ending June 30th, 2026, being ordinance number 04-26. And whereas on March 10th, 2026, the city of Henderson amended its annual budget and appropriation ordinance for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2025 and ending June 30th, 2026, being ordinance number 07-26. And whereas the city manager recommends that the following additional amendments be adopted, now therefore be it ordained by the city of Henderson, Kentucky, that ordinance number 04-26 is amended as follows. Number one, the budget submitted to the Board of Commissioners by the city manager is hereby adopted, approved, and said budget is incorporated herein by reference, and three copies thereof signed by the mayor should be kept on file in the office of the city clerk as part of the public record of the city. Number two, there is hereby appropriated from the general and special fund accounts of the city of Fenderson and allocated to the various funds of the city the following amounts. General fund expenditure total has been amended to $38,788,000. Transfer to PWI has been amended to $1,615,000. Total general fund has been amended to $47,547,000. The health insurance fund has been amended to $9,205,000. Public way improvement fund has been amended to $2,447,000. And the construction fund has been amended to $19,307,000. Number three, the number and classifications of city employees as resided in the annual budget is approved as presented. Number four, the city manager is authorized to hire an additional two police officers when it is deemed necessary by the chief of police and the city manager due to the length of training necessary for this position. Number five, the city manager is authorized to hire an additional one firefighter when it is deemed necessary by the fire chief and the city manager due to the length of training necessary for this position. Number six, the city manager is authorized to hire additional non-hazardous duty personnel for key positions when deemed necessary for the succession training purposes, and the expenditures for the additional hires do not exceed the appropriations granted. Number seven, this ordinance shall be effective as of July 1st, 2025.

Good job. Can I have a motion to approve? So moved. We have a second?

Second.

All right. And we had a four- to five-hour budget work session. This was the first year that I can recall that we... This is the year. Oh, this is... Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, we still had the work session. You're right. Yeah, no, this is the amendment of the 26th budget. Are there any comments or questions about the amendments that we have on the 2026 budget? Mm-hmm. And as part of that work session goes, it looks like we're running close to a break-even for the 2026 budget year, which is great. Considering the budget letter said a potential out to a $9 million deficit, and we kind of explained that the deficit that's called out in the letter isn't exactly where we're going to end up at the end of the year. So we ran close to a break-even year. We took care of a lot of things. So we did get a motion and a second. Can we have a roll call, please?

Commissioner Thomas. Aye. Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Staten.

Aye. Next up, beforehand, I'll mention we had a four- to five-hour work session not too long ago. It was the first time that I can recall that we've ever reported it and live-streamed it on Facebook. If anybody would like to go back and look at all of the discussions, which were quite lengthy. pertaining to that budget, please do go back on our Facebook page and look at all of the things that we discussed. We're likely not to have very much discussion after this is read. But we do have the adoption of the fiscal 2027 budget and appropriations.

Ordinance number 14-26, ordinance adopting budget appropriation ordinance for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Budget appropriation ordinance for the fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2027 for the city of Henderson, Kentucky. Whereas the city manager has prepared a proposed annual budget for fiscal year commencing July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2027 pursuant to KRS 83A.150 And whereas KRS-91-AU-030 requires the adoption of the budget and the appropriation ordinance by the Board of Commissioners based upon the budget submitted by the City Manager, now therefore be it ordained by the City of Henderson, Kentucky as follows. Number one, the budget submitted to the Board of Commissioners by the City Manager is hereby adopted, approved, and said budget is incorporated herein by reference, and three copies thereof signed by the Mayor should be kept in the file. file in the office of the city clerk as part of the public record of the city. Number two, there is hereby appropriated from the general fund and special fund accounts of the city of Henderson and allocated the various funds of the city the following amounts. General fund expenditure total is $40,676,000. Transfer to PWI is $1,847,000. Transfer to mass transit is $750,000. Transfer to construction fund is $1,086,000. Transfer to emergency communications is $901,000. Transfer to police and fire pension is $326,000. Transfer to civil service pension is $75,000. Transfer to cemetery is $414,000. Transfer to bond fund is $3,037,000. Transfer to sports complex is $292,000 for a total general fund of $49,404,000. Natural gas fund is $19,962,000. Health reimbursement arrangement is $130,000. Civil service pension fund is $82,000. Police and fire pension fund is $326,000. Cemetery fund is $665,000. Health insurance fund is $9,403,000. Bond fund is $10,000,000. $360,000. Public Way Improvement Fund is $2,796,000. Construction Fund is $15,416,000. Heart Operating Fund is $1,948,000. Sanitation Fund is $6,625,000. Emergency Communications Fund is $2,416,000. Sports Complex Fund is $892,000. Tourism Commission Fund is $280,000. Community Development Fund is $837,000. Police Investigation Fund is $92,000. Number three, the number and classifications of city employees is resided in the annual budget as approved as presented. Number four, the city manager is authorized to hire an additional two police officers when it is deemed necessary by the chief of police and the city manager due to the length of training necessary for the position. Number five, the city manager is authorized to hire an additional one firefighter when it is deemed necessary by the fire chief and the city manager due to the length of training necessary for this position. Number six, the city manager is authorized to hire additional non-hazardous duty personnel for key positions when deemed necessary for the succession training purposes and the expenditures for the additional hires do not exceed the appropriations granted. Number seven, this ordinance shall be effective as of July 1st, 2026. All right.

Do I motion to approve, please? I'll move. Do we have a second? Second. Do you guys have any comments or questions? Dylan, do you or Chelsea want to add anything that we haven't discussed about this particular budget?

No, I mean, we had some discussion in the work session. There were some things you'll ask for. I know, Commissioner Pruitt, you asked about the cost of living. That is incorporated in there. It's a 3% cost of living, 1% marriage is what's being proposed. There weren't too many other changes, I don't think. I mean, they're described by Ms. Mills in there, some of the things we mentioned at the time. But, you know, I just want to say again a thank you to Ms. Mills and staff. You know, this was – This is always a big endeavor, and it always takes a lot of time. And I know Ms. Mills put in a lot of time and effort. And I just appreciate her and everybody else who was involved in it and your all's feedback as well.

catch-up either i just a random question uh... in this may be for you might be for making money for chelsea i'm not sure when when we have a four percent increase or three and one percent increase how does that impact the entry-level salaries for positions are they adjusted accordingly or do we have to do anything special to adjust those accordingly how does that uh...

impact so I can start and then yeah maybe if you want it so so the way it works if you if you open up our budget we have we have contract employees and we have non-contract employees but for non-contract you have the pay scale so merit does not affect so if you look at our pay scale you've got a pay grade and you've got minimum midpoint and max so the cola gets applied to all those numbers so if you get a three percent cola Every single one of those numbers gets multiplied by 1.03, so that's applied automatically. So COLA moves the entire framework forward. MERIT moves you forward along your line. So if you're a pay grade 25 and you get MERIT, then that moves you closer to the midpoint or closer to the maximum along your line. Does that make sense?

It does. So if we have an entry-level salary is $50,000. and we have a 3% COLA, then that's going up to 51.5? Correct.

All positions are going up 3%.

Just wanted to make sure that that applied to the entry-level part also. Thank you. I appreciate that. Any other questions or comments? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas. Aye. Commissioner Pruitt. Aye. Mayor Staten. Aye.

Next up, we have an ordinance amending a zoning ordinance.

I think your person is over here.

Oh, are they here? Are we here? Yeah. All right. Actually, we're going to not take a break, but we have, is it Major Horowitz? Is that right? What's that?

All right.

Can we all come up?

Yes. If we can have the folks from the IRT mission come up. We would love to hear from you guys. So we have something very special going on in Henderson starting this week, right?

It does. It starts this week. We're preparing and getting everything set up to provide no-cost medical care services.

All right. And this has been done, what was it, two years ago? Is that right?

Correct.

It's South Meadow, but this year it's going to be where at?

North Meadow School.

North Meadow School. Can you tell us a little bit about what's going on?

Yeah, absolutely. And actually, I'll just kind of, if you don't mind, paint context. Sure. And then I'll let the Mission OIC speak to the details of the mission. So, yeah, this is our second time doing this. We did it in 2024. And also I want to say thank you to the commissioners, to the clerk and attorney. for having us here, and Mayor Staten, great to see you as well. Yes, sir. And when we did this in 2024, we had a great output, and we expect even higher output. This year has been very interesting, to say the least, across America because we've seen more of a higher selective rate. We typically see an order between 200 and 300 applications across the country in our territories. This year, we're doing roughly about 12 missions, so we've shrunk the pool to be super selective through the Office of the Secretary of War. So for us, it's a privilege and honor to be here, to be able to be a part of this community, because you've all shown us a great commitment, dedication for us to be able to do this. This is going to be a larger footprint this year. We're going to have three sites. Last year, we only had one. So we have leadership from all across the country. with great expertise. We're going to have way more services and that's a good thing. This go around so we'll be able to take care of a large swath of the community across three different areas. So I'm the ANG Air National Guard IRT program manager responsible for all of the programs across the country. for the National Guard, so I feel very happy, and I'm actually privileged to be working with some strong leaders that are gonna be leading the charge this year, providing the services, because I was on the ground in 2024, so it's kinda like the passing of the torch, and they kicked me out and moved me up somewhere else in D.C. So, but I'll go ahead and I'll turn this over to Lieutenant Colonel Peralta to get into more of the specifics, and Lieutenant Beverly West, too.

Good afternoon, everybody. It's good to be here. Thank you for inviting us. But yes, we are, I'm Lieutenant Colonel Peralta. I am the mission officer in charge in North Middle School for this IRT, and we are serving three counties this year we're doing Henderson County we're doing Union County and also Webster County so we're we're here from June 11 to June 21st and like major HW has said we do have different services at no cost provided to the patients that includes medical including school physicals we have dental optometry with glasses fabrication on-site for them to pick up within 24, 48 hours, turn around. So that's unheard of. And we do have physical therapy, mental health, behavioral health, nutrition, even vet services. That's going to be in another location in Henderson Fairgrounds. And did I miss anything else? Audiology, yes, we do have audiology as well on ground.

Can I have you restress that point? We're doing everything at North Middle with the exception of the vet care, which is going to be at the fairgrounds, is that right? Correct. Yes, sir. So that way nobody shows up at North Middle with their animals.

Correct, yes. So Vet Services is located in Henderson Fairgrounds County, and it's going to be where we have it posted. Thank you to Jeannie. She's been working really hard with this one. They do have a separate... dates and time compared to the one in North Middle School.

What are the, are there any special rules for people who bring themselves or visit the vet care and bring their pets? Are there any rules that people need to follow?

Yes, sir. So for, we're doing wellness check for the vet services and all dogs has to be on leash and all cats has to be in a pet carrier. And we limit four pets per family per day.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor. Good afternoon, City Commission. My name is First Lieutenant Beverly West, and I'm the admin and reporting officer in charge for this IRT mission. So I have the privilege of leading the team that's going to be checking in the community members that come and see us, and we'll be walking them to the different sections that they want to be seen at. So we're the customer service face of the mission. And for the reporting side, our team will be keeping track of all of the stats, so all of the number of patients that we're going to see, the number of procedures that will be performed, and the cost of those procedures that will be performed. So those are my two roles for this mission. The IRT, we're very thankful to be a part of this mission. The IRT gives us an opportunity to train and to hone our skills so that when we do deploy, we are confident in our skills and our abilities so that we can take care of military members, and this is a great opportunity for us to be able to do that. So thank you.

Tell them about the receipt of the customers and what's required of them, too, that they don't need to bring. No ID, you know that? Oh, yes, sir.

Yes, sir. All right, so for our patients who come to see us, they do not need to bring ID. We're not asking for any sort of ID. They do not need to bring any proof of insurance. We're not asking for any of that information. Come as you are. We'll take your name, and we'll ask you what services you want to be seen at, the different areas, and we'll make sure you get there, and we'll... We will be able to, if we'll have a max number of patients each day, you know, we can't see everybody as much as we would love to, so if we have to ask anyone to come back the next day, we'll try to prioritize that since they've already been standing in line. Age limits? Oh, yes, sir. All right, so we will see patients who are over three years of age, and anyone who is 18 years and younger will need to be with a parent or a guardian.

All right. Well, first of all, on behalf of the city of Henderson, I just want to say this city is unlike anyone that I've ever been to in terms of how much we appreciate people who serve our country in the capacity that you do. And so I wanted to say thank you on behalf of our city for all of you and your willingness to serve the country how you are. We very much appreciate that. But this is just a win-win for us and for you guys, and we're so happy to have you back. I think that first time around, I don't remember the numbers. If anybody wants to shout them out, it's fine. But I think it was over a million dollars worth of care that was provided to the community. Oh, so just under a million dollars. Yeah, it was around a million dollars of care. And not only is our community benefiting from that side of it, but the fact that you just went over, you all benefit very much in case you're deployed on being able to administer those services to the people around you where you're deployed. And so it's good training for you. It's a wonderful benefit for the community. We're super excited to have you back. Thank you so much for returning.

Yeah, absolutely. And also want to make sure that we have some great people here, you all here, and we want to make sure that you know we're having our DV day on June 17th, starting at 9 o'clock. So that official invitation will come from Jeannie. I cannot or they cannot invite you directly, but we can inform you about it. So we will be over here at the vault on the 17th at 9 a.m. starting the program and go from there.

And if you haven't been to that before, I would encourage you to go if you're able to. The last one was really incredible. So

Yeah, no, thank you again for having us a lot, and we do, we feel privileged and proud to be here, and I'm a Western Kentucky graduate from grad school, so this is like home, so yeah, absolutely, so thanks again.

All right, thank you all, and thank you to every member of our staff that has helped put this together. Would you all mind to grab a quick picture, is that okay?

If you all could come up to the... Welcome back. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Thank you. Thank you.

Appreciate you. Thank you. Good job. Okay, next up we have an ordinance amending a zoning ordinance for accessory structure.

Ordinance number 15-26, ordinance amending appendix A zoning, article 4, ordinance amending article 4, general provisions section 4.24, accessory buildings of appendix A zoning of the code of ordinances of the city of Henderson.

Do we have a motion to approve, please? So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second.

Dylan, can you tell us a little bit about what we're looking at here? And I'll actually hand it over to Ms. Kelsey if she doesn't mind to give us an explanation.

If you remember, we actually went over this before in Senate Planning Commission. So what it will allow is accessory structures in the front, including carport, as a conditional use in R2, R3, and R4, which is multifamily. So it's really for multifamily. And then the other thing is it will allow, if you have a double pruning lot, to be able to come to board of zoning adjustment and request the use of putting an accessory structure in what you'll designate as your backyard.

Good deal. Anybody have any comments, questions? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Staton. Aye.

Next up, we have a municipal order approving a change order for Plum Street.

Municipal order number 50-26, municipal order approving change order request number one to the construction agreement with RCL design bill for the reconstruction of a dilapidated home located at 503 Plum Street in the amount of $6,200.

We have a motion to approve, please. So moved. We have a second. Any comments, questions? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Stanton.

Aye. Next up, we have a municipal order approving a donation of property on Vine Street.

Municipal order number 51. We have a motion to approve, please. So moved. Do we have a second? Second.

You may not have expected to, but can I ask you to come to the podium just for a second?

I thought you wanted to do the second or two.

I'll do the second one after. We're going to go ahead and just have a discussion now, and then we'll do the second one after that. So tell us a little bit about what we're looking at here, but more importantly, give us an update on what's going on with Habitat and with the city and with our partnership.

So the first year of the five-year partnership has gone better than I expected. There for a while, in the first six months, it did kind of hit a roadblock. There were some issues with legalities of either heirs of family not being able to be located or liens. Some bank in California has them for 20 years, and they don't even care, no, and won't even talk to anybody on the phone. Finally got through some of that stuff and was able to acquire. This first year, I'm proud to say that we acquired almost 20 properties in that agreement. Thank you. seven of which had dilapidated structures. Six of those have already been removed. The seventh one has a plan to be removed in the next 30 days. In fact, you might have saw an email from me a while back. I had to go ahead and put a very small portion of Habitat's second year funds into to get started from some of the things that we're doing. Habitat board agreed to that with no problem. We hope that the second year will be as successful as the first. Again, part of what segues into what the city's donating to Habitat is kind of what we're running up against. What we're seeing is a lot of properties Pre-COVID, it was easy to acquire properties for Habitat, I will say. It was extremely easy. As a matter of fact, we were acquiring properties at a clip much faster than we could build, so we were always net positive properties without problem. Now we're running into an issue where I can see in the next three to five years where we could be at a net negative. based on the current post-COVID data that we have. And again, a lot of that is because we're building more houses, not just because land availability. That's not the only reason. I don't want to make it sound like that. We're building more houses, which is a good thing. However, if we're going to close on between 7 and 15 houses a year, I have to find between seven and 15 lots a year, which it's usually about six to eight is where the last five years have ended up. So the partnership's going great. I think these two lots are going to help us in not just the way I just explained, but also we did just apply to the Federal Home Owned Bank of Cincinnati for a million dollars for 20 homes. Part of their prerequisites are that we have donated property. Donated property, their definition is what everybody in this room would think, with the caveat of we cannot pay one cent of delinquent taxes and still count it as donated. A lot of times we do get calls, families live out of town say, we'll give you my dad's property or my mom's property or my uncle's property. However, we haven't paid taxes in 23 years. So you are going to have to figure that out, which is usually fine, but the grants won't count that as a donated property. So this was advantageous, and I hope that getting it off the city's hands and us taking over maintenance of it and hopefully get houses on them very soon. Our plans would be in the next 18 to 24 months have houses on both properties that are going to be donated to us today.

One other question for me is, how close are you to 100, and when is that going to happen?

So the 100th house, according to Brittany, the 100th house will close before Thanksgiving, probably after Halloween, but before Thanksgiving. Those are located over on South Adams Street. Both 99 and 100 are side by side. That'll be pretty joyous for our organization, 35 years to get to the 100th house. But our projections show that to get to our 200th home, it will take us less than a third of that time to get there. So we're proud to say that we've taken approximately $650,000 in taxable value properties. since inception to turn them into just a little bit over 10 million dollars taxable value and like I say if the next 35 years hold true to what we're doing today we'll turn that into over 50 million dollars in taxable value so we do hope to continue the partnership and also the ability to continue to find properties and construct homes on them.

You know, even if there wasn't a monetary reward for the city for doing this, just the reward of addressing blocking and eliminating it and coming back with affordable houses, all the work that you're doing and we're doing as part of this $1 million partnership and all the work that Don Kelsey is doing with the Master Commissioner sale and... with spending so much time on tiny home ordinances and updates to it that we're going to hear about in the coming months. We're trying to hit this affordable housing from a number of different levels and I'm super excited. 35 years to get to 100 houses and now we're doing 10 to 15 a year as part of this partnership. It's fantastic that we're ramping up activities and we really appreciate your partnership.

It's exciting and we just hope to be able to keep the train going. Yes sir.

Any other comments or questions for Matt while we get him up here?

i did want to say that the buying street lot matt called and said i need more property i need more property where can we find more property in the city i need to get tailgating and so we uh after site review one day we were going through city property, and the Vine Street property is part of a store of retention that was all purchased at once, but that lot is not part of it. So HWU was kind enough to say that they thought that we could go ahead and donate that lot. So Bart's here, so I didn't know if you wanted to say anything to Bart.

It's hard to pry property out of Bart's hands.

That's a good thing.

It's a great lot. We'll go up the alley. You'll see at the end of that alley, well, not the end, but at the end of where you can see from Vine Street is another Habitat home that was built years ago. You go past that alley into Plum Street into the driveway of another Habitat home. So, I mean, it's just great how things are working out. It's great. We greatly appreciate it.

If you've never been to a home dedication, go to one. And just to see the looks on people's faces who have never owned a home before, and it's their first house, and it means so much to them. A lot of times, some people it's not their first house, but for a lot of people it is. And it means so much to them. And the look on their face and their family's face and their friends' faces and everything, it's just wonderful.

We do have approximately 13 homes that will close. between July 1st and June 30th of 2027. Maybe as much as 17. It just depends. We are about to start a four-house project on Center Street. It will be coming up very shortly. It will be started. It will be four homes in a row. That one I urge everybody to come out and see. That will be a pretty big, nice project.

Good deal. Well, thank you, sir, for being here.

I appreciate it.

So we do have a motion and a second on the floor on the property on Vine Street. Any additional questions or comments? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Staten. Aye.

This next municipal order is somewhat related. Also, we have a municipal order approving the donation of properties on South Adams Street.

Municipal order number 52-26, municipal order declaring property located at 451 South Adams Street, PVA parcel ID number 2-4-3-36 and 449 South Adams Street, PVA parcel ID number 2-4-3-13, Henderson, Kentucky surplus property and authorizing donation of said surplus properties to Habitat for Humanity of Henderson, Kentucky Incorporated and authorizing the mayor to execute necessary documents on behalf of the city.

Do we have a motion to approve, please? So moved. Do we have a second? Second. Do we have any comments or questions? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Staten. Aye.

Next up, we have a resolution approving an application for staffing.

Resolution number 37-26, resolution authorizing submittal and acceptance if awarded of a grant application of the Department of Homeland Security under the fiscal year 2025 staffing for adequate fire and emergency response safer grant program.

We have motion to approve, please. So moved. We have a second? Second. Dylan, this is related to something we've discussed prior about the fire department. Great.

Yeah, and if I would, Chief Dixon, do you mind coming up to the podium? I'd like you to talk a little bit about what this is. So if you all recall at the budget work session we had about a month ago, one of the things Chief Dixon talked about was staffing of the ladder truck, and we have currently one assigned to that truck, and he had indicated the need for additional people. additional staffing on that apparatus. And he had mentioned a grant that would be coming up soon that could help initially fund the onboarding one of those positions. And the way it works is you basically fund part of it in the beginning, and then you get grant money to fund the rest of it. And over time, the full responsibility of that payment shifts to the city. So, Chief Dixon, would you mind just talk a little bit about what this grant is, how the funding would work, and the need for this grant?

Yeah.

Yeah, so at the budget work session, I mean, we talked about having the inadequate staffing on our ladder truck. Right now we have one personnel that's driving it. ISO, during our audit, said that a ladder truck should have six, and then NFPA 1710 says that we should have four, which is what we were trying to reach. Having said that, the safer grant would offset the cost if we were awarded to it of the three personnel that we would like to request. In speaking with Ms. Mills, we're looking at probably for a new firefighter salary and benefits roughly close to about $100,000 per personnel and over a four-year period, on the fourth year when we would fully absorb that, you're looking at cost savings of close to $560,000 if we were awarded this grant. It's set up that we pay like a 25% cost share the first year, I think it's 25% the second, then 65% on the third year, and then we fully absorb it on the fourth. So it's just something that if we get it, it helps us and benefits us, and it also benefits the city's pocketbook.

So, Chief Dixon, one thing to clarify. So we would be increasing three positions, one per shift. So you'd essentially be increasing minimum staffing by one.

So you'd have 16 would be minimum staffing, and a fully staffed shift would be 20.

So you're basically – the grant would be for three positions, but it's for one extra person on the ladder truck for each of the three shifts.

Honestly, I think it's a really smart approach. Because I don't want to speak for the rest of the commission, but I know when you talked about the needs for the bigger ladder trucks that we have and how many people it takes to staff those and that we're currently meeting expectations but not to where we need to be and an additional person would help that. I'm totally in favor of moving that direction, and I think this makes really good financial sense and a good pathway to get us there. I agree.

If we could get it, it's another win-win. Yeah.

Agreed. Good deal. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. We do have a motion and a second. Any additional questions or comments? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Staten. Aye.

Next up, we have a municipal order authorizing a maintenance agreement.

Municipal order number 53-26, municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute a maintenance agreement and consent and release between the City of Henderson and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Department of Highways District 2 regarding maintenance responsibilities for improvements associated with the Kentucky 351 traffic circle, the I-69 interchange.

The motion to approve, please. So moved. Second. And this is something we've known about for a long time. It's just now we're kind of cleaning it up and getting it officially on there. But the state funded it, provided all the stuff in terms of money, and now it's our responsibility to maintain. Anybody have any comments or questions or anything? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Pruitt. Aye. Mayor Satan. Aye.

Next up, we have a municipal order authorizing the extension of auditing services.

municipal order number 54 dash 26 municipal order authorizing the extension of auditing services with ATA Kentucky PSC for fiscal years ending June 30 2027. June 30 2028 and June 30 2029.

Most approved please move with a second. Chelsea, can you come up to the podium please? So Commissioner Pruitt and I are on the audit committee as well as Chelsea and Dylan and a few others and we had a discussion about a few things. One was about our auditing services and they were up for renewal and one was about a major technology shift in the in the city. Can you tell us a little bit more about when that software upgrade is going to come and about how long you think that onboarding is going to last?

Yes, so we're currently in this next fiscal year. We're working with the IT department to kind of lay out that official timeline there. So it could anywhere between probably the 2027, 28 of implementing that and then maybe potentially into 2029. So we thought when we got a proposal for extension of auditing services that we don't want to change auditors and do these big changes for technology at the same time. So whenever this proposal came to us, we thought it was the best use of city resources to continue and extend the services with ATA. And it also locks down our same price for this year's audit through 2028 and then a small increase of whatever the CPI is in fiscal year 2029. So I think it's the best use of city resources to continue this contract with ATA.

And I've got to agree, too. We started the conversation on should we bid it out or extend for two years. And then we talked about the technology and the need for consistency throughout that. And so we actually proactively reached out to them and asked for a four-year extension. like you said, a retention of the same prices or pricing plan as long as we could. It is the anticipation that at the end of that four-year period, we are going to fully bid out those services. But for right now, we have somebody who is local, who's doing a good job, and who we're very familiar with. We don't want to lose that familiarity as we go through such a big change like what we're going through. That's kind of the concept for why we're doing a four-year renewal. Anybody have any additional questions or comments for Chelsea? Thank you, ma'am. We appreciate it. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Commissioner Pruitt.

Aye.

Mayor Stanton.

Aye. Next up, we have a municipal order authorizing an agreement with Morley.

Municipal order number 55-26, municipal order authorizing the mayor or his designee to execute an agreement with Morley, 4800 Rosebud Lane, Newburgh, Indiana, 47630 for preparation of a boundary survey, topographic survey, maintenance agreement, and major subdivision plat with easements for $47,890 plus reimbursables for the property located on Barrett Boulevard, PVA parcel ID 65-13 and 65-13.12.

Motion to approve, please. So moved. We have a second? Second. Dylan, what are we looking at here?

Yeah, I would invite Mr. Buzzy Newman to come to the podium and talk a little bit about this. But as you all know, we own some property there at the end of Barrett Boulevard. And so this is some work that we need to get done to further prep that property, is my understanding.

That's correct. And when we originally purchased the property, we did not have it surveyed. However, when we broke off a portion and sold it to JAGO, They paid for the survey to get their sections surveyed. Well, with the remainder that's left now, we need to get it surveyed, consolidated, and separated, remove any or extinguish any easements that are no longer necessary that impede our property, and have it all available in the event that we ever have an offer on the property.

Good deal. Anybody have any questions or comments or suggestions for buzzing? All right, thank you. And we did get a motion and a second on this one already, is that right? All right, roll call, please.

Commissioner Thomas. Aye. Commissioner Pruitt. Aye. Mayor Staton. Aye. City Manager Rapport.

Yes, I have two things. One thing, I want to circle back to the budget real quick. After we got done talking about it, I felt like I needed to say this. This year, there were several new things that we've put in the budget. We had presented to you all about them a couple different times, and then we included them in the budget. One was the vacation buyback policy. One was the retirement matching program through Kentucky Deferred Comp. And then we've also included some stipends. And then as well as the COLA, you know, bumping that up to 3%. I do just want to say, on behalf of staff, you know, we appreciate you all working along. working with us on those things. I appreciate your all support. I think those are great things that we're going to be able to offer our staff. It's going to help with recruitment, going to help with the retention, and I just appreciate you all being open to those concepts and those ideas because I do think I'm very happy that we, you know, with efforts with Mr. Newman and Megan and Chelsea and the rest of the department heads, I'm just glad that we are able to offer those to our employees and just continue to be a competitive employer and a good place to work. So I just want to say thank you all for that because those are new and I think they're going to be great things. So without and then the second thing if I could invite miss Hamby and then mr. Kenny up to the podium I'm going to give you all just a quick update on as you all know so this year is America's 250th birthday right so every year we have a July 4th celebration this year that's going to fall on well I guess we typically do it on July 3rd before the 4th but since this is the 250th we're doing some new things this year and so We can tag-team it. I don't know, Jada, if you'd like to maybe just kick off a couple things that we're doing new, and then Thomas and I can fill in. But we've been meeting regularly with the Chamber and Parks, and so I would say more so this year than we've ever done in the past. We're trying to have it be more collaborative and us partner alongside the Chamber and really help them

some of the stuff in the past they've had to use their own people for manual labor and we said you know this year we need we need to help with that and so Jay if you just want to talk a little bit about this year's event what might be a little different yeah so we typically always have this annual event downtown on the third in Audubon Mill Park as you guys have probably come and attended with your families previously we like to keep it on the third there's been a little bit of questioning behind that this year but the neighboring communities do it on similar dates either the fourth or the second and We like the 3rd. That's kind of our tradition here. We always have food vendors, children's activities right along Audubon Mill Park. We have had some manual labor in the past. My little brother has had to aid me, but we always made it work. This year with 250th happening in this new partnership with the Parks Department, we are wanting to make this better than ever. And a couple of you have already heard some of these things. are having to change the location of where we're shooting off the fireworks. So with that in mind, we're like, let's still utilize some of the space that we've always used with this event. Thomas had the great idea of adding more engaging, I'm not gonna give him away, more engaging children's activities. I'll kind of leave that surprise to you. And so we're gonna be able to expand our event through Water Street down to Fifth Street. and add more food vendors, add more fun, add more things, highlight our sponsor in different ways, kind of showcase them a little bit more. You know, there's a lot more to the fireworks than just blowing up money. So we're kind of working to make it something that everybody knows is a part of Henderson and where it comes from. Awesome.

And real quick on the fireworks for you to talk about. So Mr. Clayton, so the gas department, they have to spend so much, or they have to have an 8-1-1 campaign, you know, call before you do every year. And so Mr. Clayton and them are sponsoring the fireworks. Previously in a meeting, we had agreed, you all had agreed to give an extra $10,000. The county had given an extra $10,000. So the hope with the fireworks show this year is it's going to be a bigger show. They're going to use larger shells. We're actually, the moits are donating a barge to shoot those off. We are still... We are full disclosure. We are still getting the final, final permission from the Coast Guard after the government shut down to do that. But they've given us the nod that they believe everything will be fine. But we were originally going to shoot them from across on the other side of the bank. But apparently that viewing distance would be too difficult or be too far away. So we actually plan to shoot them off from a barge in the channel, which would give better viewing access. The mayor had the idea to use some larger shells and also some 250 type shells, so you'll actually see some patterns and stuff in the sky. So that's where part of that extra money is going to. And as Ms. Hamby said, we're going to be highlighting the gas department in that 811 campaign. So if you see that out there, that's...

We also are asking folks to be patient with us as a city in the chamber because the city has made it really easy for us to kind of know what roads to close, what boating ramps we're going to have open and things like that. So bear with us as we communicate those things this year, like the best viewing areas and things like that. But the partnership has proved to be fruitful, and we're very thankful for all the work that Thomas and his crew are doing and Dylan and all the folks in the city. So we're just happy to be involved.

So the new section is basically the Kids' Zone section. So one thing I came here that I stand on is GAPS, which is called Grants, Alliances, Partnerships, and Sponsorships. And so with this, we have partnered with the Chamber. We've got a lot of different things we're partnering with the Chamber and Tourism on and different groups out there and organizations. So I think that's important. Right in front of our new office is where we're going to put the – we'll have an inflatable zone. We're going to try to get – there's a thing that's out right now that we put out to the other organizations. So any organizations that want to try to – businesses that want to come down there and do something different, you know, and hand out, you know, things or do a little group thing or do some games, whatever.

A children's activity. Just anything to get kids.

The WSO inputted out yesterday, I believe, so it's out there. So we've already gotten two responses on that, which is great, trying to build a community. And the same thing we do with, you know, Halloween bash and stuff like that. So it's great.

And with this being the 250, we've also got a couple photo spots that the chamber is secured that are going to, you know, so you can grab a selfie or whatever with your, you know, 250th. I think there's going to be – Can you explain those if you have time?

Yeah, so we'll have USA 250 stacked. It's similar to our Porch Fest letters kind of photo op. The fun thing with those is that we're able to actually have the logo of Henderson Municipal Gas on those balloons. So it's just another way to highlight our sponsor. So we'll have two of those set up in the park. We're going to work together to have a dig spot for kids so they know the call you over where you dig logo and slogan to be shown again just as a sign of good faith and partnerships and things like that. It's shaping up to be a great event, and it's coming faster than we think. That's right. I know that's right.

Right around the corner.

Exactly.

We just wanted to give you all an update and let you all know that that's coming. If you have any other suggestions or ideas, feel free to get with myself or Thomas.

Good deal. Thank you, guys. Thank you very much. We're looking forward to it. Very much so.

And that's all I have for today.

Okay, we do have executive session. Before that, let's go ahead and clear the comment section of the meeting. Commissioner Thomas, do you have anything?

Don't forget next week, WC Handy. It is. That's right.

Yep, yep, be a good time. Be a good time. Commissioner Pruitt?

Nothing to date.

I've got one thing, and you might sigh when you hear it. But we've got something that is important that we need to tackle. And we've needed to tackle it for quite some time, and it's gotten to be a bigger issue as we go. I'm getting more and more calls about people riding electric scooters on sidewalks where they shouldn't be, and people riding bicycles on Green Street when they shouldn't be, and people riding golf carts on streets where they should not be. And we need to address this in the form of an ordinance. We haven't had a golf cart ordinance on the books. What I'd like to ask is for Dylan to take that and to bring us something back sometime mid to late summer for us to look at for some common sense rules that we can allow our police department to enforce in the community. Because without those rules, they have no mechanisms technically to enforce things that need to be enforced. And it is becoming a safety issue for the community. But we also don't want to stymie people who might have a golf cart and live close to a golf course and their ability to get there and stuff like that. So we want to provide people with some freedoms that they should be enjoying while also addressing some legal issues that need to be addressed. And so, Dylan, if you could get with our police department and Don Kelsey, start taking a look at the framework for that. The commission, I might suggest, if you all have any ideas personally, that you'd like to see them address as they're going through that exercise, get with them and let them know. Just to talk about that long. No, I'm not talking about outlaw.

But currently golf cart are not allowed on city streets. Yes. State law.

So we're actually talking about making them legal but with the proper state-level requirements. And then also addressing things like there should never be a kid at the stoplight of 5th and Green Street and whatever we can do on a bicycle. And so we need to make sure that we address those things and give the police the proper enforcement tools that they need to be able to make sure that those type of things just don't happen. And we need to keep our people safe. So all of those things, if they could be considered and bring us back something to look at, that would be great. So with that, we have a need for executive sessions.

I move the commission go into executive session pursuant to KRS 61.810, paragraph 1, subsection C, for the purpose of discussions pending litigation against the city of Henderson.

Do we have a second?

Second.

All right. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Don, do we have any action coming up?