City Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Here

we are. Heat up here.

Call meeting order for the Ashlin Board of City Commission. If you will rise, I will ask Commissioner Good to do our invocation. Mr. Wartz, if you would lead us in our pledge. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for another opportunity to come together to conduct city business. We ask for your divine wisdom and guidance as we make decisions in the best interest of our citizens on behalf of our city. Bless our staff and employees as they work to make Ashlin a better place to live each day. Bless our proceedings this evening and those in attendance. We pray always in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

Let's stand and salute. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Commissioner G, and thank you, Mr. Wartz. All right. Um motion to receive and file the agenda is presented to us. Some Any additions or corrections? All in favor say I. All opposed.

All right. We have uh three uh of our minutes to approve. Uh the first one is for the called meeting on February the uh 5th, 2026. I'll make the motion to approve those minutes. Second. Second. Any additional corrections? All in favor say I. I. All opposed. Second was a regular meeting held on February 12th, 2026. Motion some move. Second. Additions or corrections? All in favor say I. All opposed. Regular meeting held on February the 26, 2026. So move. Second.

Discussion or any corrections? All in favor say I. I. All opposed. All right. All right, we'll move into our hearings and mayor and commissioners. Um, Mr. Rhymer, we'll start with you today.

Yeah. So, I just want to welcome everybody to this evening meeting here um board of commission uh the first of the month of March. I have a friend of mine who's in the audience today. Her name's Amanda Odell. Uh her and I have been talking about potentially uh the installing a a box at the at the Central Park for uh use of basketballs and uh uh softballs, things like that for folks at the playgrounds, at the basketball courts and at the uh soccer fields. If that's something maybe you want to talk about at uh in in public comment and uh we can talk about that and see how we might be able to get something like that going in our community. So, that's all I have. All right. Um, Commissioner Goo,

just want to welcome everybody this evening. I think we all attended, had a good ribbon cutting at the new Dutch Miller uh dealership up there on 25th in Winchester. Uh, they've been in business, of course, from since 1961. It was noted. And our own Wes Thompson and Chris Miller were there. They're very famous for their advertisements all over the tri-state. And uh so we we look forward to their business up there. Uh the other thing is uh Easter is coming up on April 5th and we'll have our annual Easter egg hunt on April 4th. That's Saturday, April 4th uh in Central Park there at the band stand between 11 and 1. And that's all I have. Mayor.

All right. Commissioner Rhyr or I mean Renfro. Uh thought DJ's going to get to go. Get him double give him double time.

Double dipping. Uh, first I want to just caution everybody what they put in the back of our solid waste trucks. We had a very senior employee, almost the most senior employee next to somebody up here with us. Uh, they got cut yesterday on during the I guess the compaction of the truck, a knife flew out and hit him in the in the hip. He's doing well now as I understand it. And the second thing is add a boy to our sewer department. I I I and along with DJ uh got a video yesterday of some some major sewer runoff going directly into a creek and uh I got over pretty quick because I thought, "Wow, this might result in some fines." But when I got there, they uh the sewer department was already there. They had one line already open and was getting a plan on how to get the other one open. And so went back the next day and it was finished. they were cleaning up and so add a board to our sewer department. Excellent job and I appreciate them.

Good. Um, gentlemen, I'd like to use my time uh to kind of give you an update on uh what we've been facilitating with our uh America 250 uh committee. I have uh a print out for you guys uh which is basically a calendar of what we have um come up with and I'll go over that some of that with you. Um the if you'll start in February, you'll see with a floodw world wall mural we have uh trying to uh to facilitate another uh 250 um celebration uh mural. Uh we have applied for a grant uh for the foundation for the tri state. If we get that grant, that will uh proceed on that. We've asked uh Elias Reynolds to be the uh artist on that. If you move into uh March, uh the first thing you see on there is a slice of history. Um one of our committee members have been working on that. Uh trying to develop those what we need to put on the boxes of the of pizza uh at Giovani. And if you'll see the first one that we're going to send to them, this would what would go under the box. Um, basically talking about the history uh what leading up to uh the signing of the Declaration of Independence and and it'll probably a lot focus on to um the Ashland's role in how that is happening. um the the Chicago which is actually this evening uh it's at the uh Highlands duium now uh it's a Chicago on um Henry Clay uh there is a Kuanas uh veterans appreciation breakfast that's on March the 26th that

all the veterans will be able to uh to eat free there at that uh breakfast there's also a veterans lunchon uh that the Dr. D Pogue Landing is going to um uh do and that's going to be at the transportation center on March the 28th. Leading into April, you'll see the flat Colonel Pogue. Uh one of the first settlers here of the Pogue family was a colonel. U the um the schools, the Ashlin schools and the fourth and fifth graders are are making this uh event come to fruition. Uh it's kind of like the flat Stanley. They will take uh they have pictures and they'll take them around and to the different locations. Um there are an we had an essay and a visual arts um contest and we have winners for that. Um I don't want to announce those yet because but we'll bring those winners to one of our our commission uh meeting. Um this is the history club and it includes both the Ashlin schools and the boy county schools. with that. Um, we'll bring them here later on. Uh, the middle school is also doing, you see what there is the heritage on the river. If you ever seen the Ashlin Middle School, um, they do a a time tunnel, but this year it is focused on how Ashlin uh, played a very important role in the history of the United States, the history of America. So, if you have the opportunity to attend that, that's on the uh April the 11th and you have actually a save the date uh portion there that you'll be able to um uh get that out if you can. We want to support them as much as we can. Uh Earth Day is coming up and the Kentucky uh state tree is a tulip popppler. So,

we're going to plant tulip poppplers along with the Southern Hills Garden Club and a few of our park locations. That's on April the 22nd leading into May. Um, the ADI is uh helping with their uh midsummer or uh magazine that'll focus on America 250. Looking forward to that. The National Day of Prayer is focused on America 250 this year. That's on May the 7th. Uh the Gold Star family memorial will be held out at the Veteran Cemetery Northeast. Uh that's on the the 30th. Um and the Smithsonian exhibit at the Highlands Museum. uh Americans based on American Indians will be on display on the 29th through this uh July the 5th. If you'll flip it over, it goes into June. Uh we're doing a uh a car show, which is not unusual at the first Friday, but it's a reverse um car show where the cars will actually be moving uh from 14th Street uh up to 18th Street going the roundabout and coming back and the audience will be stationary. Um the Blueest Star Memorial uh we're planning one of those and I showed you I think before a picture of the what the uh Blueest Star Memorial is the Southern Heroes Garden Club. They're going to put that uh erect that memorial in the grassy area there on Carter Avenue next to the parking garage and they'll do that on June the 14th. Uh the bluegrass wind ensemble is having a concert that'll be uh I'm sure some John Phillips Soua marches I'm sure will be in that at the Paramount on the on June

the 30th. Moving into July of course we have summer motion uh to be featured. Um but the um Winter Wonderland of Lights has committed to do a July 4th parade. So here's how July 4th is going to look. You'll have the uh 10K race on Central Avenue starting at 8:00. Also starting at 8:00 inside the park, we'll have the all-American pancake breakfast. All of the civic clubs have committed to come together to pull this off. Uh most of this is going to be uh with a u a donation and uh donations of uh materials. Uh Walmart has given us three uh Blackstone grills to um to cook on. Uh Giovanis is supplying all the uh pancake mix and so forth. So uh that that'll be a huge time. Right after that is one o'clock is when the parade's going to happen. It'll be similar to the winter wonderland um of lights parade except it'll be just an abbreviated smaller version. Uh but it'll start around Carter Avenue and 17th Street and take the same route. Um then after that I think believe at 4:00 summer motion opens up for their festivities. Uh in August we have the Stars and Stripes softball game uh that the U ADI is going to put on in the Central Park with some of the celebrities playing in that. And I'm sure some of you all might be asked to play if you're um uh capable. We'll we'll see. Uh in September, the of course healing act Appalachia and Poges Landing is going on and we are actually working on an event called the front

porch uh that we're hopefully to block off Bath Avenue from 13th Street to 17th Street. And then on each block there's different genres of of music because Americana come from the front porch. So, that's kind of a brief uh overlay of what we have uh planned uh as a facilitating all of the different events. Any questions? When you asked if they were capable, you looked at Tony. Is there an issue with that? Well, no, but I also looked at you, but you know, it's a you know, you might be our star player. I don't doubt that.

All right. Any others? All right, turn it over to you. Uh, that's quite a few events, Mr. Mayor. Exciting times. Uh, our presenter for this meeting is Eden McKenzie. She's going to come up and talk to us about economic development.

Good evening, mayor and commissioners. So, I'm here to talk about economic development, my specialty. Um, I'm excited to share a little economic development update. So, starting with business retention and expansion, I've been actively speaking with local businesses to kind of stay ahead of the challenges and identify some growth opportunities. You know, these conversations are really, really valuable and they continue to strengthen our relationships with our existing employers. Um, our BR, which is our business retention and expansion survey, is moving forward. It has basically been open probably about six or seven days now. That'll go another six or seven days and then I'll be able to compile those results. On the recruitment side, um activity remains really strong. We are responding to inquiries, sharing site information, and working very closely with state and regional partners to kind of position Ashlin more competitively. Um, I also work very closely with site selectors and realators and be able to pair them together on sites that they could be potentially interested in. And the market uh stays very I almost want to say hot, but I get calls, you know, very frequently to my office of what sites we have available for, you know, QSRs, light manufacturing, um, some healthcare. Uh so we're doing a really good job of keeping, you know, active communication with several prospects at a time. In retail development, we're seeing a lot of encouraging movement. Hotel development specifically has been a really big priority the past couple weeks, which I've had two separate meetings with hotel developers regarding hotel sites and um they've also been working with the state to try and find, you know, enough land for them to build on as well. I did want to share a positive development regarding downtown and it is

basically you know we can anticipate roughly 17 new professional offices being occupied downtown soon. Uh so this would mean a significant number of additional business professionals working within the district daily. Uh bringing more daytime activity and supporting the surrounding businesses which is always a good thing for our downtown. Uh from an industrial and workforce development standpoint, we are maintaining strong coordination with ACTC to ensure workforce alignment with industry needs whether that be medical or whether that be manufacturing. Uh the marketing of available industrial properties such as the coke plant site still remains very active and we are focusing on improving the site readiness and visibility keeping in mind that the coke plant is still privately owned. Uh but we are very thankful for the opportunity that Cleveland Cliffs continues to give our department with the ongoing recruitment efforts um for industrial prospects. And what that kind of means is if somebody is potentially interested in the CO plant, if they go on to Zoom Prospector, which is the state website, that my contact information pops up. So it's a direct line straight to me if they have any questions. On the funding front, we are continuing to pursue grant opportunities that strengthen infrastructure. Infrastructure investment remains a key component of successful recruitment. That is one of the top things that is on any RFI, which is a request for information is all of our infrastructure, any upgrades that we're anticipating. That's a top top priority for businesses. Um and you know that really helps us with business recruitment or even new housing recruitment as well which is also under the umbrella of economic development. So over the next about 30 to 60 days, our focus will be on advancing active prospects. Uh continuing direct business outreach, especially since the survey has been sent out and they have had time

to kind of read that and get an overview of the questions and strengthening partnerships and continuing to aggressively position Ashlin for sustainable growth. Uh this is just a very short update just to kind of let you know what we've been focusing on for the past couple months and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have. Questions?

I know the coke plant um when they were doing the remediation they we had updates monthly updates from from that. Um and I don't believe we've had one in the last two months I guess. Have they turned that over to the state yet or not? that I'm honestly not sure of. My director, Chris Pollm, typically is on those calls and and he allows me to sit in, so I I don't know the answer. Uh that would probably be directed to my director. I I I don't think they have, but I was just trying to see if they've moved on. Okay. Thank you. Well, any other questions? Thanks for the update. Yeah, no problem. Good information. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks. Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Uh, let's move into our public participation. If there's someone that like to address address the commission, this is the time to do that on items that are not on the agenda. If you want to come to the podium and please state your name and your address and you're allowed five minutes.

I'm Amanda Odell. My address is 344913th Street in Ashlin. Um, I'm here to talk about the the what we would like to do at the Central Park to just start there first and see how it goes and then maybe expand to the all the other parks. Um, I just happened to see something while I'm scrolling on Facebook. You know how it is. And it was um like a little kiosk for balls. They had basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, and I was thinking about building something like that. I've already talked to Leanne Galaghue with the Rat community and they're on board with it. So, I brought it to DJ to see if we could get your all's approval for it. Um, it would be on the honor system though. They had something else set up, but I just think it would be too much to do all that. The honor system, most people are honorable and put things back. Sometimes you might have to go look for it, but I'm okay with running it, like keeping an eye on it. I have a lot of people already that are willing to donate the balls and everything for it. Um, the library does allow people to rent those also with the library card. However, that you have to do that during the library hours and the library closes at 5:00 on Fridays and Saturdays and they're not even open on Sundays, which is when the majority of the kids may be at the park hanging out. Um, so just if we can possibly have approval to be able to set something up like that out there and see how it goes.

Okay. I I think that would need to go to Mr. Murray first, I would believe. Yeah. Um, if it's okay, Mr. if you'll leave your uh your phone number with him and and we'll hook you guys. Okay. Thank you. Thanks, Amanda. Any other would like to address the commission.

All right. Hearing none, let's uh move into our old business. Item A, Mr. Wheeler second reading and final adoption of an ordinance entitled uh and before I read it request from staff is that this uh particular item a die for lack of any motion. It'll be coming at you again on new business. Uh there was some negotiation that went on and changed slightly. I believe uh date date to terminate the agreement. I believe it extended to 30 30 days. So, an ordinance of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, authorizing directing the mayor to execute a mutual aid agreement between the city of Ashland, Ashlin Fire Department and Boyd County Emergency Management and repealing ordinance number 139 series of 2022.

Motion hearing none. So, it dies of a motion. Thank you. All right. Item B, second reading and final adoption of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, authorizing, directing the mayor to execute a contract with Tri-State Construction for the purchase of all labor materials, equipment, and services for the demolition and removal of all debris at 1620 Popular Street in the amount of $4,960 for the Department of Community Economic Development to be paid from the general fund. Some move. Second discussion. All in favor say I.

I. All oppose. Item C, second reading and final adoption of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, authorizing and directing the mayor to execute a contract with Tri-State Construction for the purchase of all labor materials, equipment, and services for the demolition and removal of all debris at 3445 South 29th Street in the amount of $4,780 for the Department of Community Economic Development to be paid from the general fund. So move Second. Second. Discussion. All in favor say I. All opposed.

Item G. Second reading and final adoption of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, authorizing and directing the mayor to execute a contract with Tri-State Construction for the purchase of all labor materials, equipment, and services for the demolition and removal of all debris at 1204 Long Street in the amount of $4,980 for the Department of Community and Economic Development to be paid from the general fund. So move second discussion. All in favor say I. I I all oppose. E,

second reading and final adoption of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, authorizing and approving change order number one between the city of Ashlin, Kentucky and Judy Construction Company for the Ashlin water resource recovery facility expansion and improvement project decreasing the contract in the amount of $724,500 for the Department of Utilities. So moved. Second discussion. Still nice to see the reductions. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Item F.

Second reading and final adoption of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, authorizing and directing the mayor to execute a contract with Lights Enterprises, Inc. for the purchase of all labor, materials, equipment, and services for the demolition and removal of all debris at 14:3039 Street in the amount of $3,800 for the Department of Community Economic Development to be paid from the general fund. So move second discussion. All in favor say I. All opposed. All right. Our consent agenda,

a resolution of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, adopting, authorizing, and approving the course of action presented by the city manager on the items appearing on the consent agenda for the regular meeting of the board of city commissioners of March 12th, 2026. So second discussion. Well, I see we had one question and Sean stepped out with the the lady on item G. I was good with if I had question, but I'm good with it. Um, can we see where he went to? I'll go check, sir.

Is it financial or Which item Michelle, you may be able to answer the question. I know Sean's prepared to do it. Here he is. Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. We have a question on our consent agenda item G. Um, how you derived at um

Sure. Sure. Thanks for the opportunity. Um, I know the commission is usually interested in what the best evaluated bid for the city means, uh, when we put a lot of these contracts out and open them up to the public. And what I tried to do in this format was show you the actual bid, the tonnage, and then on top of that, show you how the best evaluated bid for this particular bid uh, occurred. Uh, the details in if you look at the the first page, 2026 landfill bid. I'm assuming everybody has a copy of that in front of them, please. Thank you. Uh the actual bid per ton by each company. If you look at that top top uh Rumpky big run number, 23.74 versus Republic Green Valley, these were the two uh bids we received for the specific contract at $22. So you see, uh you're looking at $1.74 uh per tonnage over the total bid. However, uh there's a lot more measurements that go into that as well. And again, that comes from the city and what resources we have available to us and what equipment we have available to us and the routes that are available to us. And I tried to provide an additional um physical account of what our employees, our superintendent and field supervisor did. They actually do this uh each time the contract comes up um in case there's any discrepancies or anything changes with regards to the routes and the funding and the resources, they go do it physically, they test it out, they measure it, and they try to give you an itemized account of exactly how that plays out. And you see at the conclusion of both bids uh even though the bid per ton may have been $1.74 more per ton for the Rumpky big run bid uh overall once you've considered all the factors it actually comes out lower u in total bid the reason and thanks for the

opportunity on this. This is one bid that we do but I know it's come up a few times on best evaluated bid and how whether we go for the lowest the highest and how that usually works. Um it's a big piece of pie and that bid's the the first one, right? The first piece of pie that we're eating. But we've got a lot of pieces that we fill out to make the best evaluated bid um come to fruition and we'll try to give you an accounting of that um all a cart like this so you can kind of see exactly the formula that we're using. Great. Appreciate the detail. You bet. Thanks. You got for your presence. Any other questions on the consent agenda? Any items? All right. All in favor say I. I.

All opposed. Thank you. Uh let's move into our new business item A. First reading and approval of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, authorizing and approving change order number one between the city of Ashlin, Kentucky and Cosby Construction LLC for the Ferry Street and Pard Road sidewalk project increase in the contract in the amount of $18,000 for the Department of Community Economic Development and paid from community development block grant funds. So move second. Discussion.

This is an increase due to an increase of work. Correct. Correct. Yeah, there was a um incorrect estimation on the width of the sidewalk. So when we realized the sidewalks were wider than concrete. Okay. Thank you. Any other? All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Item B, first reading and approval of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, authorizing and approving change order number two between the city of Ashlin, Kentucky and CTB, Inc. for the Ashlin Senior Center storefront rehabilitation project increasing the contract in the amount of $1,787 for the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Some move. Second discussion. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Well, the seniors are really appreciative of this project. Absolutely. I know. I mean, it looks outstanding down there. They really look a lot more safer, more secure.

All right. Item C, first reading and approval of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashland, Kentucky, authorizing and directing the mayor to execute an agreement between the city of Ashland and the William E. Robinson Living Trust regarding a construction encroachment on 10th Street at 10001 Winchester Avenue for a patio and outdoor dining at Good Morning Breakfast and Brunch LLC on the city's ride ofway. So moved. Second discussion. All in favor say I. All opposed. All right. Item D.

First reading and approval of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, closing a 15oot alley located between 13th and 14th Street running parallel to Winchester and Carter avenues in the city of Ashlin, Kentucky. So move. Second. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. Okay. Item E. Um, mayor, commissioners, just to clarify on that. Um, that's simply for the the conference center project. Uh, there's no it's basically just a paper alley anyway. There's there's nothing no alley there. Yeah. It's just a technical closing so that

trying to combine that plat together for state uh approval purposes. Very good. Thank you. All right. Item E. First reading and approval of an ordinance entitled an ordinance to the city of Ashlin, Kentucky, authorizing and directing the mayor to execute a mutual aid agreement between the city of Ashlin, Ashlin Fire Department and Boyd County Emergency Management and repealing ordinance number 139 series of 2022. So move second. First and a second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. All opposed. Item F,

first reading and approval of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashland, Kentucky, authorizing and directing the mayor to execute a contract between the city of Ashland and Boyd County Sanitary Landfill, Inc. Rumpky for a suitable landfill location for the receipt and disposal of compacted garbage and refues, rubble, and rubbish collected by the city of Ashland for a period of one year in an amount not to exceed $23.74 per ton for the Department of Public Services Division of Sanitation. So move second discussion. All in favor say I.

All opposed. Item G, first reading and approval of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the city of Ashland, Kentucky, authorizing and directing the mayor to execute an agreement between the city of Ashland and Boyd County Sanitary Landfill Inc. Rumkey for the disposal andor hauling of the sludge from the city of Ashlin wastewater treatment plant and water treatment plant for the department of utilities. So move second. Second discussion. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. All right. Uh item H.

The mayor requests the board's concurrence on the appointment of Greg Baker to the Ashlin Boyd County Airport Board for the 4-year term for March 12th, 2026 through March 12th, 2030. So moved. Second. Just a explanation. This is a um he's a physician that owns a air um a plane there at the airport and the u uh airport um executive director is excited about having him to be knowledgeable about more of the airport. So, and he is excited about serving. All in favor say I. I.

All opposed. All right. Um I I do have a resignation. um from um Bob Vanover, which you all probably know uh from our park board. He I think he's been on there 25 plus years. Wow. Uh but I do have his resignation. So uh if you all have any suggestions for that park board, please let me know. Uh I hopey that Mr. Vanover will be at our next meeting and we can recognize him. I regretfully uh accept accept it, but he's been such a great person on that park board for many years.

Many years. Many years. Served well. All right. We need to go into executive uh briefly. Yes. For uh potential litigation and property acquisition.

Okay. All right. When we come back, um I would ask that we recess our meeting uh till uh next Wednesday, which is the 18th at 3:00 for our conference center kind of kickoff. It's not a it's moreformational and schedule that. So, uh that way we don't have to go two at a time and and all that for uh our open meetings. But that's what we'll do when we come back. All right. executive. Uh, all in favor say I. I. Oppose. All right.

Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat.

Heat. Heat.

All right, we're back in session and no action was taken. Uh we're ready to recess our meeting at uh 3:18 at 300 PM and it will be at the Buckley building at the uh Paramount and uh Rymer. Would you like So I'd like to uh recess this meeting in memory of Chris Stewart. Chris was a former Boy County EMS employee uh longtime community member and he uh recently passed away. So want to uh recognize him and recess the meeting in his name. Christopher. All right. And we are recessed.