Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

At this time, I'll have the city clerk, Beth Davis, to please call the roll.

Commissioner Jeff Sanford?

Here.

Commissioner Sharon Neesmith? Here. Mayor Tom Watson?

Here.

Commissioner Curtis Maglinger? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Bob Glenn?

Here. Thank you. At this time, will you please stand if you're able and remove your hats, and we'll have the invocation and the pledge by Commissioner Maglinger.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity to serve our community. Give us wisdom, patience, and understanding in the decisions before us tonight. Bless our citizens, city employees, first responders, and our troops serving near and overseas. Keep them safe and watch over their families. May our work tonight be for the good of Owensboro. In Jesus' name, amen.

Next item on the agenda is Powering Owensboro, Exploring Power, Supply, and Generation Opportunities. Tim Lyons, General Manager. And board members.

Thank you. Can you hear me? Tim Lyons, General Manager, Owensboro Municipal Utilities. We appreciate you giving me the opportunity to come down and give you an update on Owensboro Municipal Utilities. Down here at this time last year, we just signed our contract with NextEra Energy Marketing beginning June 1 of next year, 2027, and gave you an update on how we were going to transition to MISO. I just want to let you know that everything is on schedule, and we anticipate that transition on March 1 of 2027 next year. Likewise, we like to come down and provide you updates when anything that comes up that we feel is is important for the Commission. Before I get into one of our, to discuss our power supply, I would like to kind of reflect back on OMU. We've been in the business for 126 years. At that time, we have supplied power to this community for about 120 of it. As you know, we went out of the power business back in 2020, or the generation business. uh... just to give you an update in uh... december thirty first in nineteen hundred was the first time electricity flowed from our new city-owned electric system at four twenty five in the afternoon pictures there at the right this plant was built on davis street between thirteenth and fourteenth street anything there now do not know i have to go down there about that that's okay but i don't know but that popular was there what time and then uh... in nineteen forty we moved up to uh... just east of town here uh... close to what is called the old for the old davis county middle school in nineteen forty was probably the davis county high school and uh... the city on electric and water system was combined to form the present day OMU in nineteen forty likewise and we were in that plant uh... for quite some time in fact uh... we just decommissioned the water part of that back in uh... twenty twenty when we expanded the cabin plant But that was a state-of-the-art plant at the time and continued to power the city of Owensboro. And then in 1964, we moved out to the Elmer Smith Station. We began Unit 1, which began commercial operations that year of 151 megawatts. And in 1974, we added a second unit for 264 megawatts that began operations that year. Of course, you know, in May of 2020, end of an era, the Elmer Smith generation station produced its final megawatts of coal-powered fire generation for the Orangeboro area, making it the end of a chapter for the history of Orangeboro. That station had a little over 415 megawatts. We, OMU and Summer Peak used approximately 45, 50% of that power. Had a very favorable contract with Kentucky Utilities for many years. And then we went out to the open market. And as I say, we did an IRP study. And just due to the economics, the environmental regulations that was placed on that, it just was not profitable to keep that generating facility in business. So a big day there is when we exploded the stacks. Keep an eye on that property there where the stacks are going to land. That's about 30 acres from where the stacks are to where they land. And that's the area we're going to be talking about tonight. It's back toward the river. Uh, you know, following the retirement of Elmer Smith station, uh, OMU completed all the EPA requirements. We brought in a third party vendor to evaluate the property, to clean up the site. And, uh, we continue to monitor the groundwater at the site of the decommissioning ash ponds, but we are repurposing them for water treatment sludge. And that's really the only monitoring we're required to do because everything else has been, has been cleaned up to the EPA requirements. In 2022, upon the closing of the plant, OMU performed an integrated resource plan to prepare for future resource needs. Of course, I mentioned we entered in that contract with NextEra. That was one of the results through the RFP and bidding process and moving to MISO. But through that process, OMU also evaluated construction of a new natural gas fire generating resource at the former Elmer Smith Station site. Unfortunately, the IRP results indicated that a self-built generation facility for approximately 150 megawatts, which would be a good majority of the OMU capacity and load, was not cost effective due to the economies of scale. When you look at a power plant, you know, there's a certain amount of cost you're going to have to put into the infrastructure no matter what size. And just the price per megawatt just seemed to be too high compared at the time. We've seen inflationary numbers that have really hit this industry much more so than we have other industries. And I'll get into that in just a moment. Over the past four years, OMU has engaged with multiple developers and industry partners to explore opportunities to develop thermal generation or combustible, coal, natural gas, even nuclear. It seems like though right now natural gas is the most prevalent way to go. I am pleased to announce today that we have officially received a generator interconnection application from Green River East Gen Coal LLC. for a natural gas fire generation plant for approximately 545 megawatts. The OMU Commission approved an option to lease earlier this year with Green River East Genco LLC on the Elmer Smith Station property for approximately 30 acres. This option will allow them to complete the appropriate studies, surveys, and to consider the property to move this project forward. Today, OMU approved a contract with GDS and Associates, or our commission did, to perform the generator interconnect study on OMU's behalf. uh... these studies are quite detailed take a considerable amount of time they had to follow all the federal federal energy regulatory commission and north american electric reliability corporation requirements and standards since they're taking this generator they'll put it located evaluated being placed on the system they'll go through a significant amount of contingency analysis lines being out generators on generators off and to determine what they would perform as a system impact study to determine if there's any impacts to the bulk electric system, not only for OMU, but any connected or affected system. And it could be numerous companies that we will have to be involved with depending on the results of this study. This study is expected to take a minimum of six months. uh... it will evaluate all the options and you know one of the things that once we do identify if there's any upgrades to the system those upgrades will be born by the developer or the customer this will not be any burden upon the OMU rate payer i think too that our commission when they just chose to demolish the plant decommission it the goal has always been to try to find or it is clear that we've always wanted to go back and install generation or develop generation for this property. And the 30 acres that we have there is very appropriate for this type of development. The main things though, as we move forward, some of the things we're gonna consider, or we hope the results of the system impact study and the facility study, The feasibility analysis would indicate that this is a project that we can move forward with. Future generation for the OMU system would enhance electric system reliability for this community. It would create jobs and economic development, likewise. It would support OMU's long-term power supply options. It would continue our history of providing dependable generation for this community, and the lease would provide additional revenue to support utility operations. So our commission did approve the study today and approved me to authorize the agreement with GDS to move forward with this. And as this progresses, we will keep you updated, but don't expect to hear anything from us for about six months or greater. We do believe this is very beneficial as we begin our move into MISO. We hope to complete the study before we make that move, and then we can take that study and the agreements with us into MISO for the future development, which would give the customer many more options to market their power. So at this point, I'll entertain any questions.

Bob? Okay, so the first question is if you build this power plant, will OMU run it or will a third party run it? I know you're going to build it, but will the employees be somebody else's? Will they be OMU and then the follow-up would be how many jobs would you anticipate potentially it could produce?

Sure, good question. Going into it right now, most likely OMU would not own it. There's a potential we may operate it, but right now I would say that's unlikely. Just looking at the size and scope, if OMU was to run it, we would anticipate a plant this size to employ between 15 and 20 employees. 20? 15 to 20. 15 to 20. It would really depend on the size and scope. If another group came in, they might have some corporate engineering and things of that nature that they could depend on. But we would think it would be 15 to 20 jobs.

Okay. And the other question that comes to mind immediately is if you're not operating it, if a third party is operating it, how do we? glean all these benefits like lower rates more, I mean, because it'll be theirs. I mean, you're going to build it, but it's going to be theirs. So how do we have any control over what it does to rates, what it does to supply, because it would be essentially, if I'm understanding it correctly, their power plant.

That's correct. Whoever they are. We would, you know, one of the things you have to look on the flip side of this is taking on a plant of a billion dollars would put a considerable risk upon OMU customers And we would not want to bear that burden. Going into looking at it where we are right now, I think we would probably entertain the power purchase agreement to mitigate the risk. Because if you had it, let's just say you had one or two customers feeding off of it, and one of them went out of business, that places the burden back on OMU if we were the owner. So that's one of the biggest concerns that we would have moving forward.

So the biggest benefit is they'll pay the construction costs. They'll pay. OMU doesn't have to take out a bond and build it like we were talking about in New Elmer Smith. It would have been like $48 million to build a New Elmer Smith.

And that would be the second piece of it, going out and bonding that money. That hits our rate payers immediately. So that... My chief financial officer would have a heart attack if I was to go out and take a $1 billion bond out. There's potential maybe for partial ownership. Those are some of the things we're going to be investigating over the next six months while this study goes through. But first of all, we need to make sure that this project moves forward. All right. Did I answer all your questions?

I think so, yeah. Thank you, Mayor.

Appreciate it. Jeff? I mean, Commissioner Sanford, sorry.

Thank you, Mayor. Tim, like Elmer Smith, like the water usage that you used to use on Elmer Smith, the coal-powered plant, what's the difference that you would use for coal power versus a gas power. Is it less? Is it self-contained? Does it come from the river? Does it come from deep wells?

Yeah. I cannot, I won't be able to get into the specifics of the generator. I'll just say that it appears they would use a closed-loop system with coolant, which would much less reduce the water intake. We would estimate a plant of this size probably 50,000 gallons a day compared to what we pulled out of the river to cool down that power plant and also additional water. But in addition, though, we have plenty of water resources available at our cabin plant.

So basically much less. Much less than a coal-fired plant. And it's encapulated and recycled. That's correct. They should have their own cooling systems in them. Very good. Second question is you went into a contract in 27. When does that expire?

We have a, it's a seven year contract with a three year extension. So it could be up to 10, up to 2037. Okay. And that kind of aligns with, you know, take, it's going to take some time to construct something like this. This gives us plenty of opportunity or plenty of runway to evaluate this as we enter into this contract with next era. So.

So basically in time, you could see maybe a leveling of energy rates because since it's here or not as much?

Possibly. This plant is a billion dollars. This plant six years ago was $400 million to $500 million. This is a problem that's facing the industry right now. I do not see energy prices reducing anytime soon. I think if you just look at that investment cost, energy itself might come down, but the capital investment associated with these plants has significantly increased over this six to eight year period, especially coming out of COVID. There's all kinds of equipment, you know, being able to purchase equipment, getting it in here. There's been a mad dash on these generators as of late that's really driven the price up. Natural gas pipeline, that has increased. Across the board, I think that it would be fair to say that I don't see any energy prices increasing coming down, I think the best thing is to mitigate them and to have them reasonably increase over time. So slow the rate of increase.

Basically with brand new, state-of-the-art equipment. That's correct. Thank you, Mayor.

Anybody else? Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Thank you for your service, and we appreciate you appointing these fine individuals to our commission. They do a great job for us.

Okay. Next item on the agenda, 4B, e-bikes, scooters, and mopeds. Sergeant Derek Griffin, OPD.

Good afternoon, everybody. How are you?

Good.

Good. So like you said, I'm Sergeant Griffith, Owensboro Police Department. I'm with the traffic unit. I just wanted to come down here, talk a little bit about one of the issues that we're really seeing on the roadways right now with these e-bikes, these scooters, these bicycles and things, and kind of where the problem that we have as law enforcement comes in. To start with that, the first thing that we need to know is what the law defines as a bicycle. So when we look at this, the one thing, I kind of bolded it out here, the one thing that we really hit on, it's primarily powered by humans. Right? That is in the definition. So propelled primarily by human power, which a person rides, sits on, that doesn't cover what you would see here with an electric bicycle. Now these can be dropped into two categories. Now one of them being pedal assisted meaning that the individual that is riding on this bicycle has the ability to pedal it but it is assisted by an electronic motor that is on this vehicle to allow it to propel itself forward rough terrains long distance endurance riding things like that where we start seeing the problem is when you drop down the second classification here is throttle powered these are not powered by humans therefore by the legal definition would not be considered a bicycle it is considered an e-bike that is throttle powered. Um, currently the pedal assisted could fall under that same classification that we see for the bicycle, right? You know, we, we do have a primary power driven by that, that person. But with, again, that fully throttle powered, we run into the issue with where our definitions are for KRS under city ordinance and things. Where does that classification draw the line? So with having scooters also now in the mix, we see there are a vast amount of scooters on the road. The kick scooters, which is what you would kind of see traditionally little kids riding around on, you stand on them, you use your foot, you kick on them, you take off down the sidewalk or whatever. Your electric scooters, they're entirely battery-powered for the most part. You just stand on it, push a little throttle, whether it's similar to a four-wheeler with a thumb throttle or a twist throttle like a motorcycle. Some of those are capable of getting up 20, 25, 30 miles an hour, and you can buy them at pretty much any store that you go to in the city of Owensboro. Now you move into like a mobility scooter. We would see those pretty regularly, and then the self-balancing scooter or hoverboard that you would then continue to ride on as well, and again, not human-powered. But when we see or say scooter, which one are we talking about? Which one are we looking at? Because when you look at the legality side of it, several of these definitions would tell you that to operate this on the road, you would need to be 16 years old. So we're looking at a kick scooter under a similar definition as we would self-balancing scooters or high-powered scooters that are capable of roadway travel. We've actually got this glorious thing here that shows you just how broad these get. So looking at mopeds, looking at scooters, and looking at motorcycles, some of the things that you'll see in here, the definitions specifically cover gasoline, right, 50cc engine. That's not going to cover a vehicle that's electric because they're battery powered. They don't have that. You're going to see definitions that talk about the cross frame being able to support a fuel tank. an electronic scooter is not going to have that or an electronic moped or dirt bike is not going to have that same cross frame. They don't need it. They're not supporting a fuel tank. And then you look at just this company here, this VO, the broad line of equipment that they sell. So they've got bicycles, they've got stand on scooters that are for long distance with these endurance. uh... other stand on scooters that are a little bit lower speed commerce bikes uh... you see those a lot in bigger cities we don't see a whole lot of them here than the bicycles and so on so we're starting to see more and more and more of these Vehicles currently riding around on the streets riding around on the sidewalks through parking lots and everything else throughout the city And we're we're kind of running into a little bit of an issue with this because by the legal definition You know when we look at mopeds we look at bicycles and then we look at motor vehicles How do we classify each one of them currently in that state? You know if we treat everything like it's a bicycle well Is it throttle powered? Because now, would that be a scooter? Would that be a motor vehicle? Where do we stand on this? Are we going to tell somebody that's riding a kick scooter the same thing we're going to tell somebody that's riding a moped or something of that size or an electronic bicycle or something of that sort? For this one, we did use a couple of state laws to pull this one back. Krs 189 390 and 189.010 to get us some of the definitions that we would use here But as we seen from the previous slide, there are several of these that could fit in various different categories We don't have one specifically designated for the type of vehicles that we see now that moves to this. So the three classes, I apologize, the three classes of e-bikes, now this is a federal standard. 36 states have adopted a standard classification system such as this. And we've actually seen some cities across Kentucky that have adopted this into their ordinance while Kentucky has not yet adopted this policy. That then moves each one of these electronic vehicles. It gives us a little bit more of a broad spectrum to emphasize what we need to so you know looking here 20 miles an hour for a class one now this is it provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling so it kind of takes that human power and and puts it under a slightly different definition but now it gives us a speed we're looking at 20 miles an hour Moving to class two, it's equipped with a motor, but it may be used exclusively to propel that bicycle or that vehicle, whatever it is, and the human is not now capable of providing assistance to that vehicle up to, again, the speed of 20 miles an hour. Moving to class three, it has a motor, it provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling, and it ceases to provide assistance when this vehicle reaches 28 miles per hour. So having a classification system such as this would kind of, again, put us in a position where we can start itemizing these vehicles that we're seeing and not treating them as if they're just a bicycle. Like I said, 36 other states we see here. These are the states that as of me creating this PowerPoint that have adopted this classification system as far as the state level. I just wanted to put this out there. Washington, D.C. is also on here as well that they have adopted this standard into their local legislation for that state. So I pulled some of what we have currently in the city ordinances for what we see with bicycle traffic. Looking at this, we see on Section 25.168, every person riding a bicycle on a roadway shall be granted all the rights shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle except otherwise provided by statute of ordinance. So what this is going to give them, and it does go on to specify, but it puts the individual that's on a bicycle responsible for following traffic laws, riding within five feet of the edge of the curb, not weaving in and out of traffic, not running over people on the sidewalk and things like that. So being able to break it down similar to how we have with a bicycle, with all of these other vehicles, creating that classification system or something similar that would fit the community. would kind of help us engage and enforce the situations that we're seeing without hopefully there, there being more and more risk to, you know, the kids or adults that are riding these vehicles on the road. Um, yeah, like I said, there are 169. You see any person operating a bicycle shall obey the instructions of official traffic control signals. signs, other control devices applicable to vehicles unless otherwise directed by a police officer who may be directing traffic or something of the sort to get them through. So it kind of puts them back in that position to follow everything that they see. You know, we're stopping at stop signs. We're yielding to oncoming traffic. We're not just making a left turn straight onto a sidewalk right in front of a car, things like that. This is one of the exclusions that I wanted to put on here. Any person 12 years of age or younger may ride on the sidewalk or bicycle path where provided. Under all circumstances, the rider shall yield the right of way to pedestrians using the sidewalk. This is one of those situations where we're also seeing children that are riding some of these relatively quick scooters on sidewalks in neighborhoods. People are walking their dogs. People are just out for walks, doing whatever it is that they're doing. And we see some of these vehicles just come through there that are, again, we've seen earlier, capable of upwards of 28, 30 miles an hour. So we see a little bit of a risk to the public when it comes to situations like that. Owensboro City Ordinance and KAR, the Kentucky Administrative Regulation, KRS, the Kentucky Revised Statute, all follow similar standards when it comes to the bicycle laws and its relation to operation on the roadway. So we're pretty on standard for what the state law says. Hey, this is what you can do with a bicycle. This is what you cannot do, and so on and so forth. However, looking at it from our perspective, it would be nice to have that extra little bit to say hey you know now we can enforce this exact same thing if you are writing one of these high-powered scooters or low-speed scooters you will be required to follow the traffic laws uh... we put on a little bit you know here with the parks The Greenbelt Park does not allow motorized vehicles on the trails. That is one of the things that is posted on their website. Then we start entering into where we get that definition of motor vehicle from and does this classify and does it qualify that exact same standard that we would see. Because, again, some of these are considered bicycles by the current definition. They are primarily human-powered. They are just electronically assisted and capable of going greater speeds. Looking at Smothers Park, not permitted to operate motorized vehicles in undesignated areas, and it is not permitted to operate bicycles, scooters, or skateboards within the park. So we get a little bit more specific when it comes to that one. It starts introducing other classifications, other vehicles, but again, once we have the ability or create the opportunity to define those vehicles, it allows us the ability to then enforce exactly what it is that we need to accomplish. City ordinance nineteen point six we kind of pull through here for some of the definition here Operation of motorized vehicles. This is what it says specifically It is not permitted to operate a motorized vehicle excluding golf carts on golf courses within the confines of a park except upon roadways Designated and maintained for vehicle traffic within the park. This does not include service emergency vehicles motorized wheelchairs or other equipment used by handicapped persons So this, like I said, it creates another little bit of a gap in our enforcement ability with these e-bikes because do they fit those definitions? Do they fit that same quantifying number that we have for bicycles or a motor vehicle or a scooter? So at this point in time, after consulting with the county attorney, our enforcement efforts, you know, in the interest of public safety, we're looking and attempting to treat these as bicycles to the best of our ability within the realm because we do see individuals running stop signs. Accidents are happening. We're seeing it more and more and more people trying to come out of their driveways and just. A lot of times we may not see a person, you know, think about any time that you may be driving around and you may not see the person standing on the side of the road. Now imagine that is a scooter that is going upwards of 20, 30 miles an hour coming at you as you're attempting to leave your driveway. So for the public safety side of it, we are attempting to complete the enforcement the best that we possibly can and educate those that we come across of, you know, for your safety and everybody else's safety. These are the directions that we would probably recommend, but my hope is to bring this to light, bring this attention out there in the hopes that we may be able to come up with some type of opportunity, whether as a city or petitioning with the state to create a classification system that would help law enforcement in our area kind of keep everybody a little bit safer. Does anybody have any questions for me?

I just, it seems going to be very difficult to enforce this. I don't, you know, driving around 12 hours in a car and all of a sudden you got one of these things show up. I mean, it's going to be difficult, isn't it?

The potential for difficulty is there, yes, sir, but similar to motor vehicles, when we come across it, it gives us the ability to then say or attempt, do whatever it is that we can. Right now, currently, the vast majority, I can't give you an exact statistic. I've been working on that for a couple weeks. But at this time, the vast majority of things that we're seeing are in residential neighborhoods. So as long as we're While we're out patrolling and we see it, it gives us an opportunity, like I said, to educate them to the best of our ability. But you would be correct. It would be a little bit more difficult and would require a little bit more attention to things like that, making sure that we're paying attention to what's coming across, what we're seeing out there in the public, and trying to address it the best that we possibly can.

Is there an age limit on these scooters? I mean, can you be 12 and be on one?

So it depends, because our current classification system, the only one that you see would be the ones on scooters riding them on the roadway. But that definition is really limited. But it does require them to be at the age of 16 to ride them in the roadway. And again, states that they have to follow the traffic laws. Once you start entering into mopeds and motorcycles and then on into motor vehicles That's where we get our classification of you have to have a driver's license It has to be whether insured registered has to have turn signals headlights taillights and various items like that so if one of these Scooters let's say causes an automobile accident And he doesn't have insurance What happens then? So depending on the type of scooter, you know, because again, we have such a broad definition of what the term scooter means. I shouldn't have used that word. That's where that situation really starts to... bring our attention in and that's that's kind of what led to this meeting was we're also attempting to answer those same questions because it it does happen you know if you're talking about one of these little electric scooters that you see children riding around on they're not required to have insurance so you know then we're looking at car insurance and what was the what was the cause the the human factor in this collision for the insurance companies So we really have that gray area that we're sitting in right now without specific definitions to create that pathway.

Is there anything we can do to help you?

Listening to me talk has been a huge step, but, I mean, that's really the direction that we're trying to go is to see what we can progress to help.

Yeah, and that's why they're here today. So these scooters... of various sorts, batteries-powered scooters, e-bikes have really proliferated over the last year in particular. They're not clearly addressed in ordinance of state law. And so today I think was intended to sort of introduce the concept. We are doing research about ordinance changes that we'll need to make. So we do anticipate coming back sometime late summer, likely in the two or three months as we do the research with recommendations that you can adopt for guidance to give clear direction to OPD and law enforcement and how they would handle these issues. So it is an emerging piece of law. It's classification. As you said, in your example, it's kind of hard to classify a scooter can mean three or four different things at least. And so, um, you know, those distinctions are not really, uh, broken out in law at this point, but we need to make some changes to that going forward.

someone's had to deal with people injured on those things. I can tell you it's a mess sometimes.

Yes, sir. It is.

Well, thank you very much, Sergeant. Anybody else? Okay.

I just wanted to, since I work downtown a lot, it's very prolific to see 13, 14-year-olds on the little scooter that normally you'd be pushing with your foot, but instead they've got the throttle, and they're going very, it seems very fast to be on a sidewalk. Yes, ma'am. Are they not supposed, I was listening to everything you said, but I was trying to classify mine, so is that legal that they can be on a sidewalk?

and again that that's that's the issue is it's not clarified you know when we look at our ordinances it'll say you know with a bicycle you can be under the age of 12 and ride it on the sidewalk that's it okay so when it comes to these various different scooter scooters throttle powered equipment systems like the bicycles there just is not a clear standard that has been set for us to then enforce so we have the opportunity to do so yes ma'am

Yes.

So the question I have is if I own a motorcycle, I need insurance, right? Sir. So could, would it be possible? I'm kind of looking at Nate here. Is it possible in the ordinance to say that if you buy one of these for your, your, your child, they meet the age or 17, whatever, that they have to have insurance on. Is there any reason we couldn't require that in our potential municipal ordinance?

Those are the things that we'll look at. I don't know offhand the requirements of that.

I'd encourage it. I don't see it addresses the mayor's concern if you have an accident and they've caused it. The other question is, I'm on the Greenbelt fairly frequently, and I don't know how you would enforce it on the Greenbelt. I mean, can you all even, I mean, get there? I mean, if something happens?

There are access points along the Greenbelt bollards that we could move out of the way to access them, whether we need to with an emergency vehicle or something of the sort. Yes, sir.

But if you get some odd 911 call, so-and-so's, you're not going to be able to get there quick enough probably, right?

Depending on where it's at and where the closest access points to it would be, but it has happened where the faster option is for the officer to walk it or from whatever the closest point to that situation they could get to then exit their vehicle and proceed on foot to the location that they need to be in.

All right. Well, thank you. And thank you, Matt. Thank you, Mayor.

Just one last question or statement. I see a lot of kids with multiple kids on one scooter or whatever. Is that not addressed either? No, sir. Because it seems extremely dangerous having two young kids. I'm sure they've already been hurt.

Unfortunately, the National Highway Traffic Safety, again, I would love to have been able to get you all specific statistics. It's just we're still working on that. This is such a new... New problem to be at the scale that it is, but the National Highway Traffic Safety and Kentucky Office have both told me that they have seen a rise in collisions involving or just injury in general from them tipping over, falling, failing to follow the weight restrictions of whatever vehicle that they're on with the increase in use of these vehicles.

I appreciate your presentation. Very good.

With your guidance, we'll get something done.

Thank you all so much.

Thank you, Sergeant. Next item on the agenda is item 4C, All-American 4th of July Update. Tim Ross, Public Events Director.

Good afternoon, Mayor. Commission just wanted to give an update. July 4th holiday is right around the corner. And we've been working on this year's activities since last July 4th in recognition of America 250. We wanted to do something a little bit bigger than we would normally do. Obviously, we have a great celebration that we normally do on the riverfront and throughout the communities. But in recognition of 250, we wanted to do something a little bit bigger. So I wanted just to give an update. We've had a lot of information out on our social pages and on our website, other press releases about what's going to take place. But we wanted to do an update since we're just a couple weeks out. Um, obviously with the holiday following Friday and Saturday, um, we started the conversation a year ago with Friday after five to partner with them, um, in their activities that they normally do on Friday nights. So they've got food trucks and some, obviously some great entertainment. And what we did this year was to add a drone show, um, to the activities on Friday night. Um, so it's very similar. It'll be a different show, but very similar to what we did with illuminate last year, uh, along the riverfront, straight out from the convention center. on friday night at nine fifteen so they always have thousands of folks along the riverfront on friday night anyway and during bigger nights they've got several thousand folks out there so we anticipate a big crowd friday night the third and then on saturday the fourth would be our traditional all American 4th of July activities where we've got food trucks, live music along the riverfront again, and then we've got three locations around the community where we will be shooting fireworks again. Many, many, many people that we talked to that live in those neighborhoods love the fact that they can go outside and have their house parties with their friends and family in the neighborhood so they enjoy those. And then obviously along the riverfront we've got a show over the river, so this will by far be the biggest fireworks that the city's ever hosted. planned for this year for America 250. With those increased activities, we've got the road closure there along Veterans Boulevard will be a little bit larger than what we typically do. So all the veterans will be closed both Friday and Saturday in order to accommodate the different vendors and all of the folks and crowds that are going to be down there along the riverfront. So both Friday as well as Saturday, Veterans Boulevard will be closed to accommodate these events. So we're excited about it. Again, there's a quick highlight. One thing I do want to mention about those remote locations where we shoot fireworks, you cannot watch the fireworks. Don't think you're going to go to Southern Little League or go to Moreland Park and park your chairs there by the playground in the park. You can't be in that space to watch it, obviously, because of the safety area that's required for the fireworks. Our good friend Sergeant Griffith and his crew with the Fire Police Department will make sure you're not in that space. So we hope you enjoy them in the neighborhoods, but you can't be at the actual site to watch them that night. Again, 915 is the show for that. So we hope everybody enjoys it and happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Questions? It better be good.

It's 250. It is 250. You'll enjoy it. Don't worry. Thank you.

Thank you. Next item on the agenda is City Projects List City Manager.

Yes, Mayor, thank you. You've had the project list available. I know it's been provided to you. I just have one particular comment. You'll notice that we added a new project to the list this month. That is the air park drive extension. I know we talked about that back during the budget and in other times. We're close to building out the air park. That requires us to do an extension of the air park drive, which is the main north-south artery extension. respond within the within the air park itself and so as we have several properties developing on the south side that we are at a point where that construction of the extension should start hopefully in july so glad to see that commence so that's the new project on the list that you'll notice for the month other than that it's pretty standard and happy to address any questions if you have any i thought that air park extension was going to be 1.2 million

Or is that the one over where I think that was the one over by, by, uh, uh, big river making sure any other questions please. Okay. Excite them on the agenda. Like for you to consider approval of the minutes. They did June the 2nd, 2026. I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second, please? Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye.

Okay, these are board appointments recommended. Owensboro tourist and convention commission appoint Claude bacon to a three year term expiring December 31, 2028 Northwest neighborhood Alliance reappoint Kathy Calhoun to a two year term effective June 18, 2026 property maintenance code enforcement board reappoint Stacey Singh to a three year term effective July 2nd river park center board of directors reappoint Leland Hancock to a three year term effective July 2nd civil service commission. Reappoint Brown to three-year term effective July 19 and Shively York neighborhood Alliance Reappoint Tim shy digger Scott Gillum Terry had just Eric Halchen and Tracy Bivens helm to a two-year term effective July 22nd 2026 is there a motion for approval so moved second Any further discussion

Mary Nuno favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Item six roll call vote. Second reading of an ordinance.

Ordinance 13 dash 2026 and ordinance amending chapter two, article five of the Owensboro municipal code relating to the Elizabeth Monday senior center board of directors read for approval on second reading the 16th day of June, 2026.

Thank you. I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second, please? Second. City Manager, do you have anything you'd like to add?

Just briefly, this is a second reading of an ordinance making two changes to the Senior Center. One change is to reduce the number of board members for the organization. Right now, the ordinance calls for between 16 to 21 board members, and we're amending that down to 12 to 15 board members. And the second change is to formally rename the organization as the senior community center of Owensboro at Davis County. That's what they've been using for branding and naming purposes for the last several years. Actually, both of these changes are being made at the request of the senior center board.

Any further discussion?

Thank you, Mayor. I understand the name will help the grants and things, but for Ms. Elizabeth Monday, she was very instrumental in the beginning of this. Are they going to do anything?

That's a good question. As the group transitions into the new building here in the fall, they do plan to do, I think, actually a portrait and a plaque honoring Ms. Monday and her contributions to the organization in the lobby where they do those kind of recognitions. So that's a good question. Yes, they are going to recognize her. Past efforts.

Thank you. Mr. Glenn. No, I'm good. Oh, okay Hearing no other discussion I'll make a motion to approve Already did that. Okay, so roll call vote.

I'm sorry Mayor Pro Tem Glenn. Yes, mr. Maglinger. Yes mayor Watson. Yes

Yes.

Commissioner Neesmith. Yes. Commissioner Sanford.

Yes. Thank you. Motion carries. Item seven ordinance. No vote. First reading.

An ordinance revising employee handbook policy 112, thereby changing promotional procedures for the Owensboro fire and police departments.

introduced and publicly read on first reading the sixteenth day of june twenty twenty six manager please yes is the first reading of an ordinance amending the ploy handbook policy one twelve which covers police and fire promotion process one of the Personnel policies we can change administratively. Certain provisions have been retained by the Board of Commissioners, and this is one of those, so it does require your consent. The proposed revision allows laterally hired firefighters to receive prior qualifying service with comparable agencies for their promotional eligibility. provided they have at least two years of service with OFD. Under the current language, lateral OFD hires are subject to the same minimum service requirements as entry-level firefighters, which is four years. The change is intended to enhance recruitment and development of experienced personnel while maintaining a minimum period of service with OFD before promotion. Four years are required used to be four years with OFD. Now they could get two years of credit with a comparable agency and then still have to serve two years with OFD. The change is specific to OFD. It is not being made for the police department.

Any other discussion? Thank you. Item seven B.

Ordinance 15-2026. An ordinance amending the Owensboro zoning ordinance adopted March 14, 1980. so as to include within the I-1 light industrial zone property located in the 3501 to 4301 blocks of West Parrish Avenue containing 121.605 acres, more or less. Introduced and publicly read on first reading the 16th day of June, 2026. Thank you, City Manager.

Yes, Mayor, this is a lengthy one. So three or four years ago, our partners at the Economic Development Corporation began a process to identify potential sites for industrial development, additional land to accommodate investment and jobs, and our community was needed because the air park was and is getting closer to being built out. We just talked about that's why we have to build a road to the last remaining portion. And, in fact, at this point, we only have approximately 30 acres of publicly controlled land remaining in the air park. As part of that process, the Massey property was identified as being well-located and suitable for economic development purposes. After some initial due diligence and negotiations with the owner, the city was able to reach an agreement to acquire approximately 122 acres, and the Board of Commissioners approved that purchase in August of 2025. Since that purchase, the city and Economic Development Corporation have collaborated to prepare the site for development and jobs. This involves various elements such as engineering and utility considerations and a traffic study. In addition, we needed to rezone the property. Currently, this site is split zoned with approximately 56% zoned agricultural and the remaining 44% zoned as I-1 light industrial. Manufacturing facilities like in the air park cannot be located in agriculturally zoned property. So to use this site for its intended purpose, the property must be rezoned. We initially sought to rezone the property to I-2 heavy industrial. That's the most accommodating zone, allowing limited uses not available in the I-1 light industrial zone. For this reason, I-2 property is somewhat rare in the community. and we thought that I2 would make the property more marketable because it could be used really for any industrial purpose that could exist. However, at the May meeting, the Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission voted against rezoning that site to I2, and that rezoning failed by one vote. As previously stated, however, we must rezone the property to use its first intended purpose. We cannot have an industrial park that has a majority of agriculturally zoned property. State law allows a city or county to hear rezoning after its consideration by the Planning Commission. For this reason, the city has chosen to have the Massey rezoning on our agenda for the meeting. Because this process of city consideration of a zoning decision is prescribed by state law, City Attorney Mark Pfeiffer will lead the next part of discussion of this item.

Thanks, Nate. KRS 100.2111 allows the appropriate legislative body to file a notice with the Planning Commission that it will decide a zoning map amendment. This procedure was adopted by the city in Article 6.6 of the zoning ordinance. As the Massey property is located in the city, the Board of Commissioners is the appropriate legislative body for these provisions. The city submitted a written notice with OMPC within 21 days as required by statute and therefore will decide the rezoning of the Massey property based upon the evidence presented before OMPC on May 14th. For your consideration, tonight is first reading of an ordinance that will rezone all of the property to I-1 light industrial rather than I-2 heavy industrial as submitted in the city's original application. As Nate stated, a significant portion of the property is already zoned I-1. If you pass this ordinance, all of the Massey site will be zoned I-1. We've reviewed the testimony of citizens at the hearing before OMPC and it was expressed rather consistently by numerous members of the public that they supported a rezoning to I-1 rather than I-2. The rezoning to I-1 is subject to the following conditions, and these are the same conditions that were placed on the rezoning originally by OMPC staff. First, direct access to West Parish Avenue would be in compliance with the approved traffic impact study, and no direct access to Wendell Ford Expressway would be permitted. Development of the subject property shall maintain compliance with the improvements as outlined within the approved traffic impact study, which shall be illustrated within subdivision plats and or final development plans as deemed necessary. And development of the subject property, that's thirdly, would provide connectivity to the adjoining properties to the northwest and south. The decision of the Board of Commissioners must be based on findings of fact, based on evidence that was before OMPC. The following findings of fact support a rezoning to I-1. One, the proposal is in compliance with the community's adopted comprehensive plan. Two, the subject property is located in an industrial plan area where industrial uses are appropriate in limited locations, and a portion of the subject property is presently zoned I-1 light industrial. Three, the proposed industrial park conforms to the criteria for non-residential development. Four, at 121 acres in size, the subject property is large enough to ensure compliance with the criteria associated with buffers for outdoor storage yards. Five, with over 100 acres in size and located along a minor arterial roadway, that being West Parrish Avenue, and served by sanitary sewers, the proposal conforms to the criteria for planned industrial parks. And six, compliance with an approved traffic impact study ensures that the proposal should not overburden the capacity of roadways and other necessary urban services that are available within the affected area. So to overturn OMPC's recommendation that the rezoning be denied and to rezone the property to I-1, that will take a majority vote of the Board of Commissioners. Of course, this is the first reading. There is no vote tonight.

OK. Any questions? Okay, hearing none, thank you. Council? Item 8, municipal orders.

Municipal order 19 dash 2026, a municipal order authorizing and directing the mayor to execute an application for a fiscal year 2025 assistance to firefighters grant program through FEMA in the amount of 925,960 dollars and one penny. The proceeds of which will be utilized by the city of Owensboro to purchase 100 portable radios. A 10% match of up to $92,596 is required by the city. publicly read for approval on the 16th day of June, 2026.

Thank you. I'll make a motion to approve this. Is there a second, please? Second. Thank you, City Manager.

This municipal order approves a grant application for radios for the Oldsboro Fire Department. The existing portable radios used by OFD have reached the end of their useful lives and are no longer supported by the manufacturer. If approved, the grant will provide funds to purchase 100 portable radios, which will replace the full inventory of portable radios, excluding mobile bases. Mobile radios the grant includes a 10% match, which would be up to ninety two thousand five hundred ninety six dollars The funds are available to satisfy the match if the grant is approved Thank you Any other discussion Okay Indicate by saying aye aye opposed motion cares.

Thank you city manager items.

I

First, may we have personnel appointments for the evening for probationary full-time non-civil service appointments of David Stokes, Deputy Director of Finance with the Finance Department, effective June 29th, contingent upon successful completion of all post-offer pre-employment requirements. Aaron Bullington is grounds manager horticulturist with the grounds department, effective July 13th. And then for regular full-time non-civil service appointments who have completed their probationary period, Allison Clark, telecommunicator with police department and dispatch, effective June 24th. Eric Lee, police officer with the police department, effective June 24th. Thank you.

I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second, please? Second. Any further discussion from the diocese? Hearing none, all in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Item 9B, city manager comments.

Just one comment this evening, Mayor, just to notify the public that we have to change our meeting schedule in July. There's a lot of vacations and travel scheduled for that month, so we had a couple of questions about meeting quorum. So we're going to have a meeting on July 14th. We would normally be scheduled to meet the 7th and the 21st, and, Sid, we'll have one meeting in between July 14th at 5 p.m.

Okay. All right. Communication from elected officials. Commissioner Glenn.

Just a few events that I attended last week or so. I went to the Leadership Owensburg graduation. That's always exciting to see people who have now gone through a rigorous program to learn a lot about their community. And if they weren't already prepared to be leaders, they are now. The second is today several of us attended the groundbreaking for the New Highland Elementary School. That's exciting. That's a facility, the old facility was built in 1966. So this will be a modern upgraded facility right next to Davis County Middle School. So that was exciting. Did want to also mention I attended an art museum unveiling of the Owen portraits. They'll have a more public event later. Both of those are interesting. Got to meet the family, encourage them to keep those paintings here in Owensboro. They're paintings of our original founder, Colonel Owen. And then finally, I attended coffee with a cop at Cahaba Chava. And I just want to say that our police department does, bless you, a great job. And I think those are really worthwhile events. And so a lot of the public were there to talk and ask questions. So that's it. I think things are going well this week, and I'm looking forward to the 4th of July.

Commissioner Maglick. Thanks, Mayor. There's a lot of exciting things going on. I got to attend PortFest this past weekend. First of all, thanks for all the volunteers. It could not have happened without that and our amazing public works. Wow. There were thousands and thousands and thousands of people.

I was in charge of the weather.

Wonderful job. Wonderful. So that was amazing. Thank you. And then Owensboro made another national news on the positive side. Blue Bridge Boys are finalists of the Earl Scruggs A festival that's in September. I think they might find out tonight. So that's exciting on the bluegrass side, putting Owensboro on the national map again. And then ROMP is next weekend or next Wednesday through Saturday. And then I want to wish everybody a happy 4th of July and a happy 250th to our country. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Commissioner Neesmith.

Well, I've just been working really hard. The hotel has been great. Our tourism people are really helping. I went in at one point in time. For those of you that aren't aware, our owners are putting a Starbucks in the hotel. And we're going through what I call construction destruction. But in the meantime, we had like 115 people checking out and 141 checking in the same day that we decided to paint the lobby So I learned all I ever wanted to know about construction. But the exciting thing is just seeing how much people are enjoying downtown. And if you do come downtown or come down at any time before the 4th of July, We're fortunate enough to have a decorator that has done a great job in our lobby for America 250, and they make some great pictures. If you want to take some pictures of you and family and stuff, you're welcome to come in. Just don't come in when the 141 people are checking in, that's all. But thank you all. Mr. Sanford.

Just a few comments, Mayor. Thank you. also was at the porch fast and commissioner maglinger's right it's it was excellently done uh... thanks to anybody uh... on our staff that uh... the police department public works whoever did their thing excellent the thing i noticed is really cool is so many young families i mean you had little kids in strollers you had uh... being pushed around by their parents. It's great to see that in our city, something that we didn't even put on. It's something someone else put on. We just tried to assist. I thought that was great. And lately, I got to thinking about some of our small businesses that we have here. They're pretty much the backbone to uh... our community and uh... base they uh... sponsor baseball teams bands all kinds of stuff so uh... a couple of months one dimension uh... is uh... there's a cocktail lounge eighteen eighty five i think they've been open for a little bit but you know let's don't complain if people are close if we don't go and support these guys and there's a another one that i've been to lately a shallows over in gabe shopping center He does a terrific job. His food is excellent. What a great guy. So it's places like that that we need to support these guys because they hire the ones and twos and fives and tens. And that's the most important thing we need to consider is, you know, these guys need our support. So go out and visit these guys, and they would highly appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor.

You're welcome. Counselor? You're welcome.

Times now for the 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 Commission. Commission meetings are held to conduct city business for the benefit of Owensboro citizens and taxpayers. At this time, anyone who wishes to address the City Commission, please make your way to the podium to be recognized. State your name and address for the record. Limit your remarks to three minutes or less. Since the item is not on the agenda, no response is required from staff or the Board of Commissioners. Okay.

I'm Kathy Weathington, 424 East 21st Street.

I just want to thank you guys for listening to your constituents on the issue of the property on West parish Avenue. We truly appreciate it. I know that's what people are, what leaders are supposed to do, but that doesn't always happen.

Well, thank you. Anyone else?

Jeff Kegel, 2140 Tamarack road. Just curious if the city has signed any nondisclosure agreements on the properties involving Massey properties or the Elmer Smith properties.

We typically don't respond to questions directly from during this comment is he read in the, uh, this is really time to listen. We don't typically respond.

That's a good answer.

Yes. I'll go next. Go ahead and start the timer. Y'all are real religious with that nowadays. okay so i do have something i want to cover but before we get into that i just think it's very interesting that elected officials took some time to give what i would consider job and business promotions so i do want to put that into the record i personally think that's a conflict of interest and people should shy away from that the next thing i want to mention is i really appreciate bob glenn giving a shout out for july 4th for those that may not be educated juneteenth is actually This Friday. And so I think it's really important, especially for our people of color that we recognize that very, very special and traditional holiday that is recognized now, not federally, but at least in this state of Kentucky. So I think it would be appropriate to say congratulations and celebrations to all of us that do celebrate that, which I do. So that was interesting, especially from a Democrat. And then the last thing I want to think and talk about, mostly for the public, since you all don't need to give a response, this is never for you all, because I already know what you all are. Let's think about critical thinking. I don't know if everyone has had the advantage to receive higher education with critical thinking, but For the public, I want you all to consider something. So this body knows that its constituents are worried about a data center, correct? Yes. The mayor has went on record multiple times saying that there won't be a data center whenever he's sitting in the chair. That's also correct. So if you know that putting a moratorium would ease your citizens' minds and hearts, then my question for the public that is convinced by their very meager actions, why wouldn't they do that? I don't know. Maybe it's because they're unwilling to answer that gentleman's question. So for me in mind, I won't be fooled by these platitudes. I would like to see a moratorium just like the county at the city level. And if you all are truth to your words, I don't quite see why that has yet to make it on the agenda, even though there's been multiple people for weeks straight. Asking for that so for those that are still kind of curious what the city may or may not do I'd encourage you to switch your ass to Having them instill of one-year moratorium just like the county that is fully within their capabilities And I think it would be appropriate especially since so many citizens clearly have a lot of anxiety around this issue And that's the least that they could do.

Thank you Thank you anyone else

cliff carlock nine one four zero state route four oh five maceo i have a very important message and i hope you give me longer than three minutes because it's going to be entertaining and educational uh... Elon Musk, this is about the AI data center, he has one in Memphis, Tennessee. He had to build this as a working prototype to get all the kinks and everything out and actually see if it was beneficial to have a land-based AI data center. Now, there was an article on Twitter, X, that mentions about he had an interview with Jamie Diamond, I guess that's how you pronounce it. But I'm going to read just a part of this article. And one part, he... He says, this is under quote, I think we can do probably somewhere around one terawatt per year of AI space compute from Earth, but we can do 1,000 terawatts or more from the moon. One terawatt, well, now that was out of the quote. I'm going to go on down. Because the moon has no atmosphere and about one-sixth of Earth's gravity, you can use an electromagnetic accelerator. You don't need to use rockets to do AI data center in the deep space from Earth. the moon. You can literally just shoot them like a rail gun type of thing. 1,000 terawatts from space is 1,000 more that we have a limit here on Earth through, I think you mentioned something about thermodynamics. And he's already got this in the plan about producing AI data centers in space. He probably will not produce another center here on Earth. I don't know the exact plans. Now, the Macy property, which I'm sure was good for Mr. Macy because I heard he had to make a few payments recently, but it's bad for Warrensboro. Now, my alternative, now, you may think this is ridiculous, but Elon Musk, as you know, is a trillionaire. As of today, he is a trillion dollars more than the most richest billionaire on earth, a trillion dollars more. He has said online that he has made more money today than Warren Buffett has earned in his entire life. That puts me and Warren Buffett in the same boat, even though he has a way larger boat than I do. Actually, I don't have a boat. I believe anyone in Kentucky, do all the waterways we have, everyone should own a boat. So if anybody has one that wants to donate, I will gladly accept it. Now, my deal, Mr. Watson, you said during the election campaign When you was elected, there was an article in the paper that said you had on your phone federal and state representatives at the touch of a button that you can get a hold of. I'll suggest, and I fully support this, that you should get the government officials, elected government officials or community leaders to have a contingency. Use our tax money as you do to go to any other place that you visit.

Thank you, Mr. Carlisle.

Wait, can I finish this real quick, please? It's very important. I will repeat it over at the Davis County Fiscal Court and I'll get back to y'all.

Anyone else?

hi my name is tatum helm i live at 11 22 booth avenue um starting off uh again i do appreciate you guys listening uh to people the zoning commission as well in regards to the rezoning of i-1 uh something i personally care about especially environment environmentally uh and with all the things in that area uh going with that mr watson you did say as long as you said in this seat there will not be a data center so I highly urge you guys to put the moratorium in place, consider a band if possible, but do appreciate the I-1 rezoning and the consideration, of course, for more jobs and opportunity coming to Owensboro. I do want to mention it is very discouraging that nobody mentioned Juneteenth as it is a holiday that is recognized here in the state of Kentucky. And I just wanted to give a shout out to the Owensboro Black Expo because they are hosting an event down at English Park on the Ohio Riverfront this Saturday. They have a band. small businesses. They're going to have vendors. So I encourage anyone who is watching at home or you all here on the board to please consider getting out and supporting the Black Expo and learning more about Juneteenth and why it should be recognized amongst you guys as a holiday here in Wentzboro. Continuing from that, this is something that I've noticed going to Friday After Five the last couple Fridays. And it's really great to see a bunch of teenagers out there. And I would never say, hey, we don't want teens on our downtown front. But what I have noticed is a little bit of traffic concern as them being in front of Smothers Park and kind of being in the road still because it's not being shut down all the way to Veterans Boulevard anymore. It's just shut down like right there in front of what do you call that? The VFW. So it's there and down. I would just like us to maybe potentially consider seeing if we could shut the road off down a little further just to keep those teenagers that are enjoying Smothers Park and unfortunately the people who are riding the e-bikes and the scooter things that we're kind of like protecting them until ordinances can be put in place. I don't know. I've just noticed it myself walking from that area towards the River Park Center that people are in the road still walking as if that whole entire road is closed. So potentially in my mind, I think it's just something that we could consider maybe just blocking off Veterans Boulevard a little bit further down. I don't see why we really need traffic down there. You can park upwards of Veteran Boulevard and get to all of those locations by foot. I just see that there's a potential for something harmful to happen. And I don't want to say, hey, let's be hard on these teens and control them more, because I do like that they're coming out to Friday after 5. They're enjoying their time. There's not a lot of stuff that we get to provide for them. So I think it's important that they have that community. And maybe, as you guys just consider, if there is a possibility, I don't even know who to direct that to, but if the road could be closed down a little bit further just for maybe precaution of potential things. And that's all I really have to say. Thanks.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am. Diana Friend, 316 Hale Avenue. You are guests. Can you get a little closer to the mic, please?

You are guests in the House of the People, one that was given to you to operate the resources and the migration patterns of the people and such in this area. It was a gift for you to manage. What we see is that you're willing to take care of the desires of a few bicycle variances, many things for the police, which is appreciated, and the fire, etc., No concerns with any of that. However, what we see is people hiding behind the NDAs for the data center because you have no place, showed us the research that you so say everyone is doing. Where's the research that shows us that you have spoken to every person who lives in this town and they say they support a data center? Show me that. Show the people that. Because you all answered to us. We all gave you this gift. But yet you all choose to do what you want and not what the people want. And let me tell you, as one who is out with the people, it is the majority of people that say no data center. So it shouldn't even be a question. Not one. I don't care who has an NDA. Y'all know what's right. Y'all say your prayers to God. Y'all are going to get your answer from God, whether it comes from us or not. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. I'll make a motion to adjourn. Could I have a second, please? Second. Thank you. All in favor indicate for saying aye.