Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Welcome everyone to the people's house board of commissioner meeting January the 20th 2026 city hall. At this time I'll ask the city clerk Beth Davis to please call the role. Commissioner Jeff Sanford here. Commissioner Sharon Nmith here. Mayor Tom Watson here. Commissioner Curtis Maginger here. Mayor Pro Tim Bob Glenn here. Thank you. This time we'll ask uh for you to please stand if you're able and remove your capsuh for the invocation and the pledge of Curtis Maglin.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessing of a new year and the opportunity to serve our community. Grant us wisdom, humility, and courage as we work together for the good of our city. We ask your protection over our citizens and our first responders. And we pray for safety, unity, and strength throughout our community. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, we'll be we're on item Come on in. Item 4 a retirement recognition for Lieutenant Ben Cecil effective January 31st, 2026. Chief Howard will briefly read recognition very present certificate. Uh thank you uh for the opportunity to say a few words about Ben. Real quick, I wanted to congratulate my I know it's the next thing, but my my niece Shelby and her teammates on the on the cheer team for all the work that they had to do to get here tonight. U

well, we get to clap for them more than once, but any Yeah. Um so yeah, cheer for Ben. Is that what they're going to do?

Yeah, they're they all came here to cheer for him, which we don't usually get. So that's really nice. But uh once again, I'm Chief Howard Fire Department. It's my honor tonight to say a few uh a few words about Ben. and we're here to recognize his retirement. So Ben Cecil began his career with the city of Onsboro on August 21st, 2006 as a firefighter. Uh Ben came to us as a graduate of Murray State University with both analytical and artistic aptitudes. He spent his early years at OFD as a firefighter on first crew and I was there with him before promoting to lieutenant in September of 2015. Most recently, Ben has served as the company officer of engine 2 on second crew at station 2 on the east end of Onsboro. So for the past decade, he served as the chaplain of the Onsboro Fire Department, which has entailed providing private counsel and peer support to OFD firefighters, as well as facilitating critical stress debriefings, not only for his own agency, but for other emergency service partners in the area. Outside of his role with the city, Ben has been very active with his church, showing a strong commitment to his faith, to his family, and to his community. He's helped to raise funds for multiple charitable purposes through his sideline job as a stand-up comic, sharing good humor that brings people together while making a true difference in Davis County and beyond. His faith has guided his work as a public servant for these 20 years, and his sense of humor has helped him and others to cope with what can be a mentally and physically challenging profession. Ben will work his final shift with OFD on January 31st, 2026, the last day of this month. And then he'll spend more time with family and then seek new opportunities as he sets out on his next chapter as a retiree. Congratulations to you, Ben.

[applause]

Okay, just very briefly, um I want to say thank you for carving out some time for me for this meeting and um to the mayor, city commissioners, uh city manager, Chief Howard, I just want to thank you for the privilege that it's been to serve my community at the fire department. And uh and I want you to know that um I have seen some amazing things in those years. I've seen some truly heroic acts. And um I have seen this fire department at its best when situations are at their worst. And I want you to know um for your sake and for mine as I as I move from to just a regular old citizen that uh I sleep better knowing that my home and my family are being watched over by the Owensboro Fire Department. and it was an honor to work with all of them. Uh, and finally, I just want to thank the good Lord um for giving me the opportunity to provide for my family uh and for watching over and protecting me all along the way. Uh, and I'd also like to say that um I've been in the habit for many years on my way to work for whichever station I was going to for whichever group of people I was going to work with for the day that I I've prayed for all of them by name. Um, and the Lord has seen fit to answer those prayers uh over those people during those shifts. And I just want you guys to know uh those prayers will continue. So, I was thankful for all of you that are here and thank you for the opportunity to work with you. [applause]

Hey, Lieutenant got a little something I'd like to read about you. Okay. And it's some stuff that you probably don't know about that, but I'm not really It's a Where would you like me, sir? Sir, you want me up there or? Yeah, come on up.

There'll be some openings at the end of this term. You do know that, don't you? Lieutenant Benjamin Cecil, we hereby recognize your exemplary performance as a firefighter and extend the grateful appreciation for your outstanding service faithfully rendered while employed by the city of Orangeboro 2006 to 2026. All those who reside in the city of Orangeboro, Kentucky are asked to join in this recognition of appreciation this 31st day of January 2026. Congratulations. [applause] [applause]

Okay. Why don't you all go out there and get the picture with me out there? Come on. [snorts] Okay, next item on the agenda is to recognize the Davis County School Cheer Team. I'll read a little something about you. The city proudly congratulates the Davis County High School cheer team on earning first place. Hurrah in game day large. What does that mean? Help me. What does game day large mean?

Oh, it's your you gonna do it. We got room. Is that a no? Do I You can.

All right. They don't want to cheer for us at the Kentucky High School KSAA cheer state competition with an outstanding score of 95.80. Not bad. These student athletes demonstrated remarkable talent, discipline, and teamwork, representing their school community with excellence. The state championship reflects the dedication of the cheerleaders, their coaches, and the support of their families and fans. We commend the team on this exceptional achievement and wish them continued success and the best luck as they advance to the nationals next month. Where's that going to be?

Who?

Yeah, I've been down there. That that sports thing. Yeah, I had a granddaughter that played something with you all when she was in high school. Yeah, we went down there. It's a neat place. Be prepared to walk about 10 miles cuz the parking's not terrible. It's way out there. So, congratulations. And uh oh, got my work boss here. So, hang on a minute. City of Orangeboro Mayor's Award for Distinction. This is to certify that DCHS cheer team has been awarded this certificate in recognition of outstanding achievement. January the 20th, 2026 has all elected officials signatures. So, who's the captain of the team?

Okay, coach, come on up and get the thing. You got a troublemaker on the team? I wouldn't say that. You wouldn't? They're divas. They're what? They're all divas. What's that [applause] mean?

Yeah, I'll come up. Coach, get in the middle here. All right. You got to hide your phones now. Tall ones in the back.

[applause]

Now, the bad thing you got to stay for the whole meeting. Just kidding. You want to get up and go now? You're welcome. Thanks for being here. Appreciate you.

Thank you.

Something else. Let me just get

Okay, next item on the agenda is uh like to recognize WK Owens WKU Owensboro. our workforce administration program. Jason Low, workforce recruitment. There you are. Thank you. I appreciate it. Uh I guess it clears out a lot after something like that. So yeah, welcome to my world. I won't What was that? Welcome to my world.

Yeah. Well, I won't take too much of your time. So I was uh my name is Jason Lowe and I'm here with WKU Ownsboro and I was hired in September of 2025 as the workforce recruitment coordinator. uh and my role focuses on recruiting adult learners who are already in the workforce and want to complete a four-year degree or any of our certificate or non-deree programs through WKU and Owensboro. Uh and when I had started uh last year in September, they had just brought the workforce administration program to our regional campuses. So that was as of last fall a new program. Um, and as of today, we have 30 new uh students that are in that program. And uh we're seeing a lot of good results out of it. So, when I met with uh Mayor Watson last year at the end of the year, he mentioned it'd be a good idea to come kind of bring this information to you all as well. Um, so I don't know who's controlling the slides. Do I have it? No, it's me. Sorry. It's me, maybe. Okay. Uh so WKU and Owensboro, one thing we're trying to do is just let folks know that we exist. Um I think uh a lot of people that I talk to as I'm going out to businesses and things uh to let them know about our programs aren't aware we exist. So we're at New Hartford Road, right across the road from OCTC. Uh and the majority of our students are transferring out of OCTC to WKU Owensboro. We offer 13 degree programs in full at our Owensboro location and we have 80 that can be done online. And we have dedicated in-person uh staff for advising and student services. So if you got people who are coming to Owensboro, they have access to uh adviserss that are here in person. They don't have to go to Bowling Green for that. Um a couple of qu quick stats. Um 58% of our full-time undergraduate degree seekers do receive a PEL grant and 52% receive our automatic merit WKU scholarships with an average amount of $2772

per year. Uh 66% of our students receive additional scholarship support. So we have our Badget Foundation scholarship, other local scholarships, and WKU foundation awards um with an average amount of $5,10 per year there. And the biggest number here is that 44% of our students pay absolutely nothing. So, it's a very affordable option. Um, and we have a lot of ways to work around financial funding for students, and we're happy to uh work one-on-one with folks to do that. Uh, so getting to our new programs, workforce administration is the big one that I'm here to talk about today. We also have brought our RN to BSN back uh fully online, so that can be done from regional campuses as well. And we're putting a bigger emphasis on our minors and certificates. Uh we know a lot of folks, you know, especially adults in the workforce, may not have time to take uh multiple classes at once. They may not want to get a full degree, but they might want to skill up on a few particular skills and get a certificate. So, these are some of those options. Workforce administration specifically uh has been built as a transfer degree for AAS students. A lot of times if you're getting the associates in applied sciences from OCTC or Henderson or any of our KCTCS schools, there's not a lot of options for transferring to a bachelor's degree program. So that's what this is built to uh kind of make available to folks. It's a 12 to 15month program for fully qualified transfer students. So if you're coming in with that AAS within a year, you could go to having a bachelor's degree. Um and that's all while working full-time. These are in fiveweek class segments. So, they're taking five weeks at a time. For adults who want to kind of focus on one subject at a time, not have 15 different homework assignments done uh due per week. Uh it makes it more flexible for folks who need uh to be just focused on one thing at a time because they have other responsibilities. Um and it's also it's an online format, but we're able to offer it at our in-person tuition rate.

And uh that's because we have there's four meetings per semester in person. So, eight throughout the whole year, but it's other than that it's online. So, it's very the point is it's very flexible for adults who are uh in the workforce and need something that uh can be done while working full-time. Uh the skills you're going to learn in this program are supervisory and managerial skills uh that can be applicable to almost any uh industry. So, a lot of our folks are in manufacturing. We have some in the healthcare industry. We have um you know technology, IT, it can be very flexible. Um, we also have uh a program with Cinnage set up to where you can get all of your textbooks for the entire year for $220. They're online. Um, so that's a much better deal than any of our other programs as far as what the additional cost outside of tuition would be. Uh, specific for adult learners, we have a few different services available. our transfer scholarships. As you can see on this grid here, uh just based on your GPA coming out of a KCTCS school, whether that's OCTC, Sky, or Henderson, uh you'll automatically get that dollar amount awarded per year. Uh you know, you don't have time to apply for a lot of different scholarships. This is just based on your GPA alone. We also have Project Graduate, which allows us to wave the application fee for any adults who have been out of school for two or more years. Um, and then we have an adult learning services office that's through our Bowling Green campus, but anyone who's a WKU student, whether it's Owensboro, Bowling Green, or what have you, uh, has access to that office as well. Uh, so do you know someone who might be a good fit for WKU Owensboro? Uh, you can contact me here. This is my information. I'll leave I've got some handouts specifically about the workforce administration. I'll leave them over here on the table and I'll leave my card as well. Um, but I'd love to talk to anyone who's interested if you, uh, you know, you work for a

business that does tuition reimbursement and you're interested in using this program to skill up some of your employees. Um, or if you just have someone in your personal life or you yourself are interested in it, I'd love to talk with you. And I appreciate you all giving me a little bit of time to talk about that and speedrun through it, but I'll give you back the time now. Yeah. Any questions? Our educator, I got a couple. Um, Jason, I have a couple of questions. Sure. So, the first is do you how do you do an RN online? I know there's got to be a way. I'm just wondering how how do they do that online since it's so hands-on, right? So, they're coming in uh with it's not the RN online, it's RN to BSN. So, they come in with the RN and then they're getting the BSN. So, that's their bachelor's

what they already have. Okay. Yeah. And we find Yeah, that's good. Go ahead. I'm sorry. We have a lot of uh in some of our other regions, some of the hospitals require that BSN after a certain amount of time. Um so that's something that you know for hospitals that have that requirement. People come in from KCTCS with the RN and they need to within five years get to the BSN and this is a quick uh and more flexible way for folks to do that rather than having to take in-person classes. Okay. And then do you offer any instate tuition for border counties like in Tennessee or Indiana? Yes. So everything that's uh touching Owensboro would be qualifying for that. Yeah. So,

and then the last question I've got is um a lot of schools like Wesleyan is converting from three units to four units to speed up the cycle of graduation. Is that something that they're thinking about doing at WKU? I know you need state approval, but that's not something that I've heard about, so I can't speak to that specifically. I know we not at the regional campuses. It's not a conversation I've heard about. Um, could be at the Bowling Green campus. I'm not sure to be honest, [snorts] but I can check. And

I just want to commend you guys because when I taught at Owensboro Community College, the adviserss at Western when there was the same class would always send the kids back to OCTC because the tuition was a little lower. Yeah. And we really appreciated the collaboration we had with you. You guys were great to work. Absolutely. So, God bless you and your organization. Thank you very much. Right before this, I came from the OCTC task force meeting. So every month we meet directly with um OCTC leadership and have a good relationship there to make sure that we're staying connected. And like I said, most of our students are transferring out of there. So it's a very good compatible uh relationship that we're able to kind of uh help the students and help each other. So we're happy to have that relationship. And thank you. Thank you. Anything else? Anything else?

Well, I had seven grandkids graduate from Western, so I'm a big big fan. I appreciate it. That's awesome. Thank you very much. Appreciate you. Thank you. Oh, what one more thing I was going to do. Do you offer on to college opportunities like OCTC does like the kids that are can take college courses while they're still in it in the high school? Uh we not through the Owensboro campus because it's a transfer def destination, but we do have dual credit that you can do online or through the Bowling Green or any of our other campuses. So, it can be done online here, but it's not at our uh Owensboro campus. All right. Thank you. So, yeah. All right.

Awesome. Thank you all so much. Thank you. Okay. The next item on the agenda is a city project list. City Manager Nate Pagan. [snorts]

Thank you, Mayor. You've had the project list in your packet. I know you've reviewed that. I'll just comment at a high level on on some of the main projects that we have ongoing. And it's it's a pretty exciting year from a project delivery and completion perspective because we have the pickle ball facility that'll be done in in the spring. Fire station three also in the spring. The bluegrass fieldhouse, the indoor sports facility is scheduled for completion in the summer. And then the senior center in either late summer or early fall. So that's four big signature projects that we'll deliver this year. All those are progressing well. So just wanted to provide that as a high level update. Other than that, I'm happy to address any questions should you have any.

Thank you, sir. Anybody Anybody have anything else? Thank you. All right. Item 5 A. Would you like to consider approval of minutes dated January the 7, 2026? I'll make a motion to approve these. Could I have a second, please? Second. Any further addition seleions or additions? Hearing none. All in favor indicate by saying I. I.

All oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 5B. consider board appointments. Um, property maintenance code enforcement board reappoint Samuel Tandy to a three-year term effective January February the 5th, 2026. Orangeboro Metropolitan Planning Commission appoint Kevin McLaren to a four-year term expiring December the 31st. I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second, please? Second. Any other discussion? Hearing none. All in favor indicate by saying I. All oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. City manager items. Yes. First, mayor, if you would acknowledge Angela Winger to present the December financial report.

Okay. Being counter, we got you.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh, my presentation will be on the general fund activity for the month of as well as the six months ended December 2025. You may refer to page three of the financial packet for more detail. So for the month of December, our actual revenues were $5,811,089 which were greater than budgeted revenues of $4,877,330 resulting in a positive variance of9 $933,759. This is primarily due to higher property tax insurance premium license fees and net profits. Our next slide represents the six months ended December total actual revenues of $44,74,219 were more than budgeted revenues of $41,919,49 for a positive variance of $2,154,810. This variance is primarily due to higher property tax which is mostly timing, higher net profits, insurance license fees, and occupational withholding. This is offset primarily by timing and municipal road aid, tiff receipts, and the riverport dividend. For the month of December for expenditures, we had actuals of 7,828,520, which was more than budgeted expenditures or less than, sorry, than budgeted expenditures of 11,386,14 variance of 3,57,694. This variance is primarily due to timing of a land purchase. So that variance three and a half million of that is due to the timing in the land purchase.

For next slide um be reporting on the six months ended expenditures through December. The actual was 38,957,511 which was less than budgeted expenditures of 45,874,748 for variance of $6,917 and $237 6,917,237. This variance is primarily due to timing in a land purchase and transfers to transit and savings and personnel services. And for the last slide, this slide is included simply to demonstrate the cyclical nature of the city's monthly revenues and expenditures. Expenditures are depicted by the red bar and revenues by the green bar. As you can see, revenues are higher in the months of October and November due to the collection of property taxes. That's it for me. If anybody has any questions, I'd be happy to answer.

Thank you. Any questions? Okay, then uh I'll make a motion to file this report for audit, please. Could I have a second? Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor indicator by saying I. I. All oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 6B, consider personnel appointments.

Uh yes. So we have just four tonight for new hire or probationary full-time non-ivil service appointments of April Jones, secretary with the police department effective January 26th. Seth Sumerra, police officer with the police department effective March 1st. And then two who have completed their probationary periods, so their regular full-time non-Ivil service appointments of Zachary Brown with the utility crew leader with the street department effective January 26th. Sher Hazerwood, bus driver, dispatcher with transit effective January 26 as well. I'll just comment specifically on uh the police officer there. That would be the fifth and final member I believe of the next OPD Academy cohort. So, we're eager to get them started in March. We just had a good graduation ceremony that you all attended on Friday. So, good to see the next cohort uh in in line to be start their training soon.

Thank you. I'll make an uh motion to approve these appointments. Could I have a second, please? Second. Any further discussion? Okay. All in favor indicate by saying I. I. All oppose. Motion carries. City manager comments. No comments tonight, Mayor. Communication from elected officials. Mayor Pro Tim,

just want to congratulate the Owensboro Human Relations Commission and those who organized the Martin Luther King uh celebration yesterday. I thought the speaker was wonderful. I thought we had good attendance at the march. Uh and it was good to see Dr. King's contribution celebrated in such a robust manner. Uh also the OPD graduation which several of us attended. How exciting. Uh, beautifully done and mayor, thank you for making the effort to get there. I know you've had a tough time. You did a great job. So, that's it. Thank you. Anybody else? There it is.

Oh, thank you, mayor. Uh, congratulations to all the uh schools that participated in the 2A basketball tournament here in Owensboro. I think it filled up every hotel room last week. And then, uh, this week is the all A basketball tournament. So, if you hadn't, go look at the foot traffic that's downtown. It's amazing. It's it's it's filling up our hotels. Our small businesses are benefiting from the tourism and our restaurants. So, that's that's that's great for our community. And then hot off the press, I just found out Owensboro succeed had the highest record occupancy of hotels in 2025. So, congratulations. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Commissioner N Smith. [snorts]

Part of that 2025, uh, I think we have to, I guess, thank the Lord for the hail storms because that brought in a lot of visitors and stuff. That was a significant impact. Uh, and it was sort of starting this year off as a hotel person. Uh, a little makes you think, oh my gosh, how come our parking lots aren't full? And stuff. So I don't want any more hail, but I would like to have all those people back. So this week we had a cattleman's association and they come about every other year and fill our hotels downtown. And then uh coming this next week uh is the archery tournaments and those are very interesting because they're everybody some of the kids come in and their their equipment is taller than they are and they have u and it's it's quite competitive. So, it it's fun to see those things going on downtown. And um I do want to give a shout out to uh to Commissioner Glenn. I attended the MLK uh event yesterday, too, and um he won't take credit for it, but he is an outstanding speaker, and I swear he was so motivational. I wanted to get up and march for something, but thank you, Bob. That was a great job. And and it was wonderful seeing everybody there that were u you know, everybody was just there and from kids that were like four and five years old to uh elderly. So, it was a a great event

and to keep that dream alive. That's right. That's right. Commissioner Sford, thanks, Mayor. Uh just real quick, um I just wanted to make a mention uh to Nate and the staff and Shaylee, whoever put the video together for the uh state of the city and mayor, you did an excellent job. I didn't know you had a U. Well, he Well, yeah, he could be in Hollywood. Yes. You got to go to Dollywood.

But everybody, everybody who was in it, it was so well done and so wellreceived and everybody it it just goes to show what, you know, we all worked together really well that there's a lot going on around here. And that's just I don't think she probably got to everything because it would take a while, but that's just it was really well done and I think people really enjoyed it. So, uh, tell everybody thank you and job well done. Shaylee is amazing. Yeah, she's really good.

Okay, I I do want to congratulate the third class from OPD graduating. That was uh and it was attended very well by a family and some other and the command staff was up there and I felt important. Everybody up there had a gun but me. So, uh, I was I was not afraid of anything at that time, but it was glad to use that church, bring a little bit of that into the whole idea of trying to take care of people. So, very proud of our OPD. Okay. Anybody else? Did I go through everybody?

Okay. Um, next item is open public forum. Members of the audience may address the board of commissioners on any matter of public concern that was not on the agenda. Comments are limited to issues within the scope and responsibility of the city commission. Commission meetings are held to conduct city business for the benefit of Orangeboro citizens and taxpayers. At this time, anyone who wishes to address the city commission, please make their way to the podium to be recognized. Speakers must state their name and address for the clerk's record and limit the remarks to three minutes or less. Since the item is not on the agenda, no response is required from the staff or the board of commissioners. So, anybody would like to speak name and address for the record.

I will start my timer now. I did it wrong, but we got it right here for you.

Okay, perfect. Hi, my name is Commissioner Glenda Wright and I sit on the Owensboro Human Relations Commission. Um, thank you to the two commissioners that were able to make the march yesterday. That said a lot and I really appreciate that you all took the time to do that. Um, words speak. Um, I would like to start before I actually start, I'd like to start with a quote from Elm K. So, he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protest protesting against it is really cooperating with it. So I'd like to say a little bit about myself. I served as a law clerk on under Senator Clolobashar on the judiciary committee. So one of three in the constitution. I was an appointee under Governor Matt Beavenon. And I've been privileged enough to secure two meetings with Senator Mitch McConnell. So from my history you can tell that I'm probably an independent and that's true. So this is not political. This is just facts. So, I've sat on the commission after being appointed by this body since October. Since October, I have noticed several illegalities under the commission, which I have made this body aware of, including the city attorney, to no avail. So, let's speak what I would like to see happen. I would like us to follow the ordinance that we are under since 1972 that was revisited under Castelin in 2001. We are not following the commission's ordinance that you all gave to us. We are supposed to investigate, mediate, take things to court, and at minimum receive complaints. It is public knowledge that we are not accepting local level commission complaints. That's a really big problem. There's a lot of guide books and ordinances that go out and show that we need to do that and there's a reason that we have a local commission for that. And if not, we might as well just cut it. And I'm happy to say that on record because right now it's been a over six grand functioning body that doesn't do anything except extend fancy events which I personally have a problem with. So what would I like our

commission to do? Actually follow the ordinance. Um we can look to Paduka Kentucky who surprisingly has a very wellthoughtout procedure that they follow which matches our ordinance that we just happen to not follow. So that's what I'm here for. I'm here to re-up the meeting that I extended to the mayor to rem and to go over some of this and I hope to see that come to fruition, but if not, I'll be back in two weeks to talk a little bit more about it. So, that's all I have to say today. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else?

I don't know. Right. Could I have your address, please? Yes. 71. Jet. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? No takers. Okay. Uh I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Could I have a second, please? Second. All in favor indicate by saying I. I. We are journ