Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

What' you say? Is that English? Oh, he's he's fine. Let him wander around. Won't bother me a bit. Oh, yeah. Need something to liven it up around here. Well, welcome everyone to the board of commissioners regular meeting April the 21st. Glad to see everyone here. Who's the team captain? The whole senior class. All right, cool. Y'all don't pick just one leader. Not when we have five. Good answer. Good answer.

Okay. Well, I'm going to call the meeting to order. This time I'm going to have city clerk Beth Davis to please call the role. Commissioner Jeff Sanford here. Commissioner Sharon E. Smith here. Mayor Tom Watson. Yo. Commissioner Curtis Maginger here. Mayor Pro Tim Bob Glenn here. Thank you. At this time, if you're able, please stand for the invocation and the pledge by Commissioner Sharon N. Smith.

Bow your heads. Heavenly Father, thank you for my community and our community. Bless the people who live and work around us. Let your spirit move through our schools, workplaces, and streets. We pray for protection, healing, and godly wisdom to guide everyone's decision. Help us unity in our differences and work toward a flourishing community filled with faith, hope, and positive change. Amen. Amen.

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. You're welcome. Item 4 A. Going to recognize Davis County High School dance team. Are they here today?

I think I had a granddaughter. Honey, did we have a granddaughter on the dance team? Kayn Phelps. long time. We went to Florida to Orlando. Oh, is that different? Just a little. Mayor, can I say something? No. No. Go ahead. I share this with the young ladies here, but

I'm sorry. I shared this with the young ladies here, but uh I'm not going to say how long ago, but I was on the they called us the Panthers and we were a dance team. Are you still the Panthers? Oh, right. The only difference is you all none of y'all would have made it because you don't have the short hair with flip that was popular back in this back in 1955. Hey, who said it? Not me. But I just want to say y'all are great and thank you and I know what you have to go through to to be state champions.

Okay, we want to recognize you now that we recognize you. Davis County High School dance team made school history this season with an outstanding performance at the Kentucky High School Athletic Association State Dance Competition, earning first place in both the Uhoh. What's hiphop? Is that dance? Large hip hop and game day categories marking the first time the program has claimed a double state title. They can that continued the momentum on the national stage in Orlando where they placed second in the national in the nation in large varsity hiphop earning the technical excellence award and fifth in the nation in large varsity game day. We're proud to recognize these talented student athletes for their dedication, teamwork, and for representing our community with excellence at both the state and national level. So, we're going to get the city commissioners to all come down and and present this certificate of distinction. So, how many of y'all want to get in this picture? Y'all come on up here. It's only $5 a piece. Y'all could let a gap right there so a fella could be seen, you know, a little bit there.

Give that to somebody out front. Thank you. All right. Y'all have to stay for the whole meeting now.

You can leave him with me. You want to stay with me, little buddy? I don't know. What's that?

That's it. Okay, the next item on the agenda is Friday after 5 30th anniversary Brad Halton. Chairman, please state your name and address for the record. Brad Hton, 1941 Oxford Drive, Owensboro.

That a boy. And thank you guys for giving us a couple of minutes here to share about Friday After 5 with you. Uh it's been a long-standing tradition here in Owensboro and I'm very proud to be a part of it. Recognize Kirk Kapatrick who's here with me to to this afternoon. Uh who is also one of the founders of Friday After 5. So thanks for your time and we'll get right into the presentation. Uh don't listen to what I'm saying. Look at the pictures on the screen. They tell more of a story than what I'm going to. Uh but I love looking at the pictures. Uh for last season we had a total visits of of over 120,000 through the Friday nights of Friday after 5. Our max attendance was 12,600 and that was on May the 23rd. Uh we did have a lowest attendance there at 6100. So a good range but still on the lowest night very well attended. And please stop me if you have any questions as I go through this. Uh the other thing that we like to look at is how engaged is are the visitors while they're in downtown Owensboro. Is it just coming down for a few minutes and leaving? And I think that tells the story here. Uh on average visitors stayed for just over two hours uh with the majority of the visitors staying for over two and a half hours on Friday nights. So, uh people like it when they're down there and enjoy hanging around. It's not just an Owensboro thing. Uh if you're down there and you you talk to many people, you'll realize that very quickly. Uh we did see this past season visitors from 32 states across the country. Uh how do we compare? If you look within a 50-mi radius of Owensboro, uh you look at the attractions in that area and we rank second out of 48 only behind Holiday World Splash and Safari. And if you look across the state of Kentucky, we ranked one out of 196 in attendance and participation. Wow.

Social media, we we had our big reveal this past well, not past Monday, but Monday last week. Had a great attendance down there for for that. So media gave us some some really good uh notice notices there, some good articles printed. Uh but we also rely on social media. uh we have over 34,000 followers and you can see it's not again it's not just a regional thing it's across the country but even international as you look at Canada, Nigeria, Philippines and United Kingdom. Email, we also communicate through email. We have 3,500 subscribers currently with 50,000 total sends. Uh if you look at the open rate and the click rate on these emails, they're well above the national average. We do have a goal for this season of exceeding the 10,000 subscriber mark uh to continue to get the word out. Uh website, we utilize that very heavily. Uh we had 26,000 visits to our website and over 50,000 page views. So, uh plans for 2026 with uh with everything that we have going on, we have taken the steps to trademark our logo. So, we will have that have act have rights to our logo. Uh, but this season will be our 30th anniversary season. Uh, again, a longstanding uh attraction for Owensboro. It will consist of 13 weeks uh starting on May the 15th and going through August the 7th. Two of those will be mega weekends as we've partnered with the CVB, the symphony, and the city to uh on June the 5th and July 3rd. There are events scheduled for the following Saturdays. Both of those will have a larger stage, kind of be set back a little bit from where the stage currently exists. So, those are going to be huge. We've got some very top rated bands to play that those two weekends especially. But, if you look at AC across the entire

schedule for the summer, uh I think you'll see one of the best lineups that we've had, uh at least that I can remember. Uh it's going to be an extremely exciting summer. the air group has really stepped up on the national axe and brought brought some really really big names in. Uh we hope to grow our attendance to 200 250,000 people throughout this summer which is a significant increase over last summer and um we also you know it's the best part of Friday after 5 to me is to be able to say that is it is a free event for anybody and everybody to attend. Um, at our big reveal last Monday, Claude Bacon, uh, president and CEO of GOEDC, estimated that at 120,000 possible or approximate attendees, that that generated somewhere between 2.4 to3.6 million to the local economy, uh, if you take that and you put that on what we anticipate for this coming summer, it could be almost 7.5 million uh, economic impact for the city. So, and as Kirk will tell you, if you uh chat GPT Friday after 5, Owensboro is one of the first things that will come up on chat GPT. So, we've got a great name out there. We've got a huge season lined up following a great season from as as the relaunch from last year and we're really excited about it going forward and certainly thank you all for your support of Friday after five.

So, questions. Bob, I did have one. So, what makes a mega weekend a mega weekend? What's going on that isn't happening the other 11 weeks? Well, on the third, July the 3, partnered with the city, we're going to have the drone show that night. So, that's going to be a big big attraction u with the with the bands that are playing on the on the June the 5th. Those are both it's Journey Tribute Band as well as Brian Adams Tribute Band. Uh both of those are very popular. They'll be they'll bring in huge crowds both nights. That resurre is it resurrection? Yes. Yeah, I've heard them. They're awesome. They were there last year. They were great. Okay, that helps. Thank you. Thank you so much. Kurt do and the board.

That's it. Okay. All right. Thank y'all. Thanks, sir. You gonna let Kirk talk? Kirk, you want to talk? That is good news. I knew he couldn't resist. Resist.

One note. Tim Ross and Erica have really helped Friday After Five um especially the last two or three years to really be able to focus and work together and and they truly have gone out of their way to help both events, not just the uh drone show and the Fourth of July, but working together. They've done a great job. I want to personally thank Tim and Erica in that department. Thank you. Next item on the agenda, Kentucky Wesland College update. Dr. James Cousin, President.

Well, hey, uh, good afternoon. I have to say I I, uh, I didn't know which tie to wear today. The last time I was here, somebody came around and was collecting ties. Yeah. For a quilt. I don't know the status of that quilt project. It's in my office. Y'all see it's sharp. Um so this is uh this is my second best tie.

Um but uh thank you so much for for having me here today. Um I'm joined today by Mr. Keith Sharer, who is a longtime board member and our um incoming board chair. I want to thank him for for being here in support for his leadership and his mentorship um over the last few years. I'm also joined by Mr. Scott Kramer, our uh chief of staff and vice president of facilities at Kentucky Wesleyan. A lot of people around town know Scott. Um he's a mainstay and he's the the kind of pillar of of our college. Mr. Jason Baton who is not new to Owensboro. He was here 20 years ago as baseball coach at Brussia University, but returns as our athletic director and vice president of interccogiate athletics. And of course, the great James Jr. is here.

Yeah.

So, um I appreciate the chance to to speak to you today about Kentucky West College. Thank you for making time for this. Um to do this in a meaningful way, I will give you just a a very brief overview of the state of higher education to clarify a few things. I think we all look through the news and and hear things. I'll uh just in an effort to set the record straight and then kind of ground what I have to say about the college. I think it's appropriate. Um and uh long story short, it's a difficult time for uh American higher education. And it's especially difficult for small tuition dependent institutions like Kentucky Wesleyan College. Across the country, colleges and universities like ours have closed and many, many others will close in the coming decades. Um, demographic pressure has a lot to do with that. So do rising costs and public skepticism, fierce competition. Um, they've all narrowed the margins for success and narrowed our margins for profit. And colleges like Wesleyan have to work harder. We have to think faster. We have to be more nimble. We have to be entrepreneurial, responsive, and to the conditions on the ground. We have to know where we can compete, where we can't, where we need to pivot. Um, we need to lean hard into partnerships when we can. Um and um in a marketplace that is this crowded and uh frankly hostile uh institutions that drift will fall behind and those that fall behind will fall apart. Um these are the conditions under which we operate. Um we absorb the same inflationary pressures as everyone else. were judged against instit in institutions with very different

financial structures and advantages. Uh but our task is is clear. Um to remain strong, to remain relevant, and to remain affordable. And we do all those things while serving the community that depends so much upon us. And so I'm here to tell you uh simply that we're doing all three very well. Um our first success has made all the other successes possible. and that is uh one that's also the least visible. It's how we've economized and how we've coordinated and aligned our operations to get more from every single effort on campus. Retiring antidated processes and bringer greater bringing greater discipline to recruitment and retention and athletics and academics and external relations. All of which takes a lot of scrutiny, a lot of difficult choices, but that daily consistent effort. Um it has produced though significant financial um turnaround for the college and that's given us a clear path for the next moment of who the college will become. We've used these savings to invest heavily in our core competency, our academic profile. And so we're investing more in faculty quality in our curriculum and in the resources that will best position our students for the 21st century workplace. Our MBA program uh launched this past fall is the first graduate program in the college's history. Um was built with the needs of the city of Owensboro and the region in mind. students concentrate in artificial intelligence and business analytics, cyber security, finance and healthcare administration. All of which are are needs in the region and in the city in particular. I'm also proud to announce that Kentucky Wesleyan is now the top ranked private

college in the Commonwealth for online education and that owes to the strength of the faculty, our advising, the impact of the student programs. Um enrollment there continues to rise and I'm very proud of what we've been able to do in that space. But it really does testify to the strength of the um the online environment that we've created. Uh the and it also shows that people frankly trust us and trust the institution behind their degree. Fundraising momentum has been just as strong. If you haven't gotten a chance to meet uh Lindseay Wilson, our vice president of uh advancement, I recommend you do so. She will be calling at some point. um her leadership under her leadership we've seen record-breaking finance fundraising. Uh the president's gala had held just last week drew a tremendous crowd and set a new new record itself. annual Giving Tuesday and things that you've seen in the press all attest to that great public support that the college um needs and has. Frankly, folks believe in the direction that we're headed and um know that we're on the right the right track and the same momentum I think can be seen in our partnerships. Um as you all know and all are aware, Kentucky Wesleyan is woven into the fabric of Owensboro. You see that in your in our relationships with Msboro Catholic with surrounding schools and districts and who all know that they can turn to us if they need to use a field or a facility or campus space. We're there for them. We're there for the community. Uh we can see it in the long partnership that we've held with the YMCA and I thought thank uh Mr. Scott Kramer for his help and assistance in in keeping that relationship so strong. Um the newlyannounced early child care center is just one manifestation of that partnership. Um

and many of you were there yesterday to see that can be seen in our relationships with Brussia and OCTC and uh Western Kentucky and the Health Force Kentucky partnership um the center for American civics but also our churches and many businesses and industries with which we work through internships and preparation and placement. If you walk into most businesses in Owensboro, our graduates are there in in numbers. Um, and we're very proud of that. We're thinking very carefully about extending those partnerships inward. That is about how our campus can serve an even greater point of connection with the city. So, we're looking strategically at our property and the ways that it may create opportunities for both the college and the city. I want to be careful here. I don't want to announce a project. I'm not announcing a project and I'm not getting ahead of the work of our trustees. Um, but I can say we're exploring how our physical assets may contribute more fully to the future of Kentucky Wesley and into the growth and vitality of Owensboro. And there is massive potential there. And um all signs are pointing to the good. All this brings me to a larger and final point um institutions like ours um cannot and I don't think are considered as a permanent fixture on a glide path to guaranteed success. We're doing well, but we aren't guaranteed anything. We educate students. We prepare a workforce. And we contribute the talent, the cultural life, civic identity, and economic energy to Owensboro. We help Owensboro um become the the place where people want to live, where they want to raise their families and build businesses. And we do all of that without taxpayer support, subsidies, or

appropriations, and without many of the structural advantages people assume that all colleges enjoy. Owensboroough, I know, values having a private college at its center. Um, we need to recognize, however, that colleges like ours operate under under conditions that are, frankly, more difficult um than they ever have been. Kentucky Wesley and will keep working with all the urgency and and discipline I spoke of. The larger issue now is whether or not we're prepared to think differently about what partnerships require. Owensboro does uh but could be more vocal in its pride of being a college town. Um the city is home to not only Kentucky Wesleian but Brush University and my good friend Madison Silver and Owensboro Community and Technical College and my other good friend Scott Williams. Um we serve different missions. We educate different students. We meet different needs, but together we give Owensboro an advantage few cities have. Uh nearly 80 years ago, leaders of Owensboro understood that what a college could mean to the city's future and they knew a college could strengthen its prospects and open up economic prosperity and that judgment was as sound then as it is today. Uh but the engine and engine needs to be fed. Um, it has to be connected to the larger life of the city and it has to be part of how Owensboro thinks about workforce development, quality of life and the future it envisions for itself. So other communities, the fastest growing communities in America have understood this and acted upon it. They put real money behind shared interests and backed joint work and housing development, public improvements, uh, transit trails, campus to city connections, etc., etc. because they understand that the return compounds in

jobs, property values, visitor traffic, talent retention, civic pride, downtown vitality, business growth, cultural life, regional prestige, workforce pipeline, housing demand, community trust, and so on. Arons, Aronsboro can think in the same way. We have three institutions of higher learning. I am not here to speak on their behalf, just on ours. Um, but we have employers with workforce needs. We have land, we have infrastructure, we have civic assets that could be brought into closer alignment. Um, and we have real pressing needs. Um, today roughly one quarter of adults here aged 25 and older hold bachelor's degrees or higher. Uh, that's one quarter, so 25%. Uh, in the fastest growing communities in the country, the share is upwards of 50 to 60%. If Owensboroough wants to compete for the industries and employers that are shaping the future economy, uh we have to keep raising our educational attainment standards. Um new employers, better jobs, and stronger professional class uh need a steady supply of college educated and graduate trained talent. Employers don't move easily into places where a pipeline is thin. For all these reasons and so many more, I would welcome the creation of a small, let's say, timelmited higher education task force with representation from local state officials, our three colleges, and a few business leaders and other civic partners um with a charge that should be practical um but material uh to identify a a short list perhaps of steps that would materially strengthen our institutions and benefit the city. um bring forward recommendations then to help us all grow talent, support the workforce needs, etc. Um but also ensure that we're coordinating all our efforts together, that we're really economizing and that we're all gaining strength from that relationship and that we're

strengthening the place that we all love um and we all serve. So that's my closing appeal that we treat higher education in Owensboro as a living asset for the city that we think seriously about how to align our efforts more closely with the imagined future of our community and that we do all of that together. So thank you for your time. Thank you for your service and thank you for your your consideration. Appreciate

I've got one. I just want to say Dr. cousins. This semester has been so much fun. The one class I teach for you because of the Mongolian students. They are awesome. They bring so much to our experience in class. They teach us about a part of the world we've never been near. Um, everybody in the class loves them. Uh, they're just and they're good students. Uh, so I just wondered how did we get them? And then on the flip side, you used to have the Rogers scholarship where you brought kids from my home area, Vegas, and they're that's gone, I understand. So, can you kind of contrast how we got the Mongolians, which is awesome, and what happened with the Rogers? Well, uh, frankly, so so many of our student athletes are from abroad, and we've had great success, uh, attracting students from from Europe and from Asia, from all parts uh of the world who want to come here and actively compete at the division 2 level. And so that's opened up our recruiting profile. They don't have desires to go professional in their sports. They they just want to continue an athletic career into into college. And we we love that. that so enriches the learning environment for everyone. Um the Roger Scholars is connected with that pull. Um there are many reasons why the Roger Scholar program was sunset. So we're graduating the last two classes. The the last classes uh the or the juniors right now, so they'll graduate next year and then the Roger Scholar program is is over with. And that is a a real shame. So, um there's a lot of reasons why we no longer have a relationship with the Roger Scholar program. One of which is frankly because um so many of the students from Vegas moved out here and stayed and we represented a brain drain on the Las Vegas area and that's not the intention of the program. Owensboro is a wonderful place to live and I've lived in many parts of the country. There is

nothing like Owensboro. So, I understand a student's reticence to to go back to uh you know, forgive me. I mean, I'm from Philadelphia. I love No, Vegas is wild. Yeah, you're right. If you you It's a huge cultured shock. Yeah. Yeah. So, the students that come here stay here and they want to stay here. So, they'll go out to professional schools. They might go to law school or medical school, but they'll come back because they want to practice here in Owensboro. And that's our our secret sauce is we'll recruit from this 60-mi radius. That really is that's our that's our identity and that's where our brand is strongest and then we'll keep them here. See that's why college mayor and thank you Dr. Cousins. Okay commissioner me Linger.

Thank you mayor. Just want to thank Kentucky Wesley College for you know being such a great collaborative partner in our community and shaping our higher education here in our community. Thank you very much.

Thank you Mr. Sandler. Uh, thank you, mayor. Uh, Dr. Cousins, you you you do not sound like an educator. You sound like an entrepreneur, and that really excites me. And you've said some words, you know, to today, uh, partnerships, pivots, um, nothing's guaranteed. That's the world I come from. And to take that at Kentucky Westland, I think, and your vision, I can tell, in your excitement, um, I think only good things are going to happen. and you've got a good base with some of these guys out here. So, I'm I'm really thinking we're going to see some good stuff out of you guys. Oh, I know we will.

And I haven't really met you that much yet, but I can tell by what you said, uh I'm uh I'm pretty excited that you're here. Yeah. Thank you. And thank you for uh all you've done so far, and I look for good things to happen. I'm grateful for that. We're driving hard and maybe too hard sometimes, right? No. Well, you know, it's always a climb and you can't quit climbing because when you do, it catches you. So, there's no rest. That's right. You got to keep going and I think you are. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor, Sharon. I mean,

that's all. You know who I am. Get me. Uh, Dr. Dr. Cousins, you didn't mention uh or you did mention your collaborations and partnerships and yesterday at the ribbon cutting for the YMCA uh center, childcare center. And uh the to me the fact that KWC is willing to allow one of their facilities to operate as an afterchool program is outstanding. I know that's probably uh not the norm for institutions and to do that is just amazing. So, I just want to say thank you to you and and all those who made that possible.

Well, two things to that. I mean, number one, YMCA has just been part of our history for so long since our Winchester day. So, this is a historic kind of alignment of mission. Also, I think Mr. Wells would have appreciated that use. Um, I know the YMCA was near and dear to his heart as well, but it just it makes sense to for all those reasons and so many more. I went I go back a long way with Westland coaching baseball and football back in the day and I've seen a lot of presidents come and go and you're the most impressive one I've seen by far. Thank you.

And uh I hope you stay here because we've got handcuffs. We can There's two guys sitting back there behind you. They'll handcuff you to the table if we have to. But we'd love to have you and your family be here for a while. Well, he's an only child and he likes where he is. He loves Highlands and so we're here for we're here for the duration. Well, thank you very much for your presentation. Thank you.

Next item on the agenda, Miss Erica Wade, executive director of the center. Hello. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. 1764 Edworth Lane, by the way. So, thought I'd say hey for my upper flame people. Um, thank you so much for letting me come and update you all. Uh, the center has been hard at work since 2019 here in Owensboro and Davis County. We're tiny but mighty. Um, made a vow to myself this year that I would get out and tell our story more just because we're impacting lives every day and not always good at telling people about what we're doing. But we've got some really exciting growth coming up and I wanted to make sure that all of you all as community leaders were aware of what's going on and how far we tiny but mighty. Is that your tiny but okay

not our mission but it is definitely our reality. Um so we were established in 2019 and we do have five service lines so we work with resource referral services for anyone um in the region. We actually serve the whole grad region so seven counties. Um we also do community outreach, family support services, superi supervised family visitation and foster support services. Um, I made sure each of you have a list up there, um, that tells you a little bit more about each of those service lines. Also has a little card you'll see that we give a lot of our clients or those that we encounter through our resource work. Um, that gives them a direct line to our resource directory. That's something we've been building since 2019. It's now over 43 pages long, I believe, which is why it's a QR code. Um, so it takes people directly to it on our website and we're able to update that two and three times every week just to make sure it's got the most current information for anyone who may need it here in Davis County. Um, we also launched our community resource mobile unit last year. Hopefully you saw that. Hard to miss 27 foot polka dot Winnebago. Um, hopefully you've seen that around. But that was developed in response to the fact that we were receiving so many resource referral requests from out in the county. um and in different areas of Owensboro where transportation is an issue. So, we decided to eliminate that transportation barrier by taking resources directly where they're needed. And it's not about our services being on that mobile unit. It's about our community partners. Um so, last year alone, between February and December, we held over 50 events with the mobile unit, uh partnering with over 25 different service organizations in Owensboro and Davis County. Um essentially, it's a pop-up resource fair. So, if you've ever seen us in action, you know, a lot of times we'll have multiple 10 by10 tents outside. We have our awning. We have it's just our own little circus that we just take all over town. But, it has been a tremendous asset. Um, we were actually able to reach over 3,000 individuals um unduplicated last year through those resource efforts. Um, everyone who

interacted with this went away with some sort of resource information as well as working with our community partners such as OCTC, Kentucky Career Center, um, SNAP benefits through DCBS, you know, who whatever partner may be on board. Any child who interacted with us got free books um, thanks to our partnership with Imagination Library and with the check marks program and every family received information on both of those programs as well. So, we were able to sign up quite a few folks um, form Imagination Library while we're out there. Um, a lot about what's going on inside of our walls that you don't see is where the heart of our impact is. We're serving an average of 35 families every single week at our brickandmortar location. A lot of that is through our supervised family visitation. We're going beyond just visits with these families by meeting them where they're at, assessing what they've already received or what they may still need to work that case plan and really coming alongside them with things such as indiv individualized parenting classes um that are solely developed for the age of their children and the needs in their household. um working with them on life skills workshops, whether that was a neglect case that maybe needs housekeeping 101 or needs um just a little more development in their parenting skills in order to reunite that family. We're coming alongside them for free with free services to do all of that. Um last year alone, over 650 hours of free instruction for families in Owensboro. Um we're averaging over 1,200 hours a year just in supervised visitations. And after a few years of this and coming alongside DCBS and family court and really seeing the changes we were making with these families, we have a contract at the state level now. So we've been entirely grant funded up to this point. Um we don't charge for any of our services. Uh but the state has recognized the impact that we are having in the region. Um so since 2024 now we've had a state contract for some of those services that we're providing. Um, through that state

contract, we've actually had the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Commissioner and her deputy commissioner come down and their chief of staff um, and talk to us about potentially expanding what we do into other counties. And my response to her was that this is our home county first. So, we want to put roots in here. We want to make sure that Davis County is the head and headquarters um, for the type of efforts that we are undertaking. So we are in the process right now with trademark and copyright attorneys of working with the programs that we've developed and with the branding that we have built and the change that we know it can make with the data driven processes that we have worked worked to develop. Um but we want to make sure that it stays right here in Owensboro Davis County first and foremost and that we are solid here before moving on. So, um, you'll see at the bottom of the little sheet that I gave you, and I'll be sending you some digital follow-ups as well as we launch a milestone video series to explain the project a little more. But while the work we do is so permanent, the place we are currently in is not. We are renting. We're six years in on renting now. Um, but it's time for us to build a permanent home. So, this year we are launching a capital campaign called our home for hope campaign. Um, and it will essentially be for two structures. One will be a homelike structure that looks as like just like it sounds like a house. We want to reduce trauma on these kiddos who are in these unfortunate um family situations. So it feels more like coming into a home for their visit with their parent rather than coming into a clinical setting. Um, the second structure will be a post frame building that will one protect our mobile unit, but then the rest of the building will actually be an event space so we can continue to host and encourage community collaboration between all of our great partners such as our lunch and learn events and our fostering families workshops and our life skills classes. They'll give us ample space to do that and to partner more in a larger scale. Um, this facility, the homelike structure, will not only be used for our supervised visitations and for our one-on-one instruction with families, but will also be made available to DCBS

after hours. As some of you may be familiar, um, occasionally there are removal situations where placement is not immediately available, and children end up having to be held at the DCBS office. That's taking quite possibly the most traumatic day of a child's life and amplifying that that trauma. Um, this will provide an after hours home length setting where they can utilize our home length space for overnight stays as needed, providing another option outside of Agape House and some of the other structures that are available in town. Um, so goals for this program will be improving our service capacity, strengthening our organizational infrastructure, expanding our community engagement even further, um, enhancing our financial sustainability, and of course promoting traumainformed care in the region as we continue to work with all of our partners. um fundraising strategy for this is that we are going to continue to grant grant right. I've got four on the table already that are about to go out for this project. Um of course we're working with some of our regular donors on supporting locally um and through matching campaigns um pursuing local foundations and those supporting child welfare and trauma-informed care. Ideally of this $2 million project, we would like to see half of that coming from local support and a mix of that in our grant funding. Um and then we are seeking hopefully for the latter half of that um from the state. So it's a big project but it's important to us that we are here to make generational change and we are here for the foreseeable future for families of Osbor and Davis County.

Any questions? Well, once Floyd came and told me all this at the office one day, I said, "You got to share this with everybody. I mean, what you're doing is so important." And we got a theme tonight with the kids at Westland and the cheerleaders or is that right? Cheerleaders and this this community is thrives on trying to take care of the children. We're very happy that you're here. Anybody have any questions? Okay, you're off. Well, I'm sure you'll hear more from me soon.

Thank you. Next item on the agenda is uh the retirement recognition of firefighter Dne Morris, effective April the 30th, 2026, Chief Howard.

Uh mayor, commissioners, thank you for uh providing just a couple minutes to be able to recognize the retirement of yet another one of our firefighters. It's really important that we uh that we reflect upon the service of those who who come and do provide service to this community. Dne's not able to be here tonight, but I'll just say some brief remarks. Um Dne Morris began his career with the city of Onsboro in August 21st of 2006 as a firefighter. Most recently, he served as a firefighter on third crew at station five. Third crew is the crew that's on the day uh on the south end of Onsboro where he steps up as the driver of engine 5 and ladder 5 when called upon. After nearly 20 years of public service, Dane will work his final shift with OFD on April 30th, so at the end of this month. And then he'll seek out new opportunities and decide what he's going to do with the next chapter of his retirement with his family. So, thank you very much. Appreciate it, Chief. Let's hear it for Dane.

Next item on the agenda would be the city project list. City Manager Nate Pagan. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, commissioners, you've had the project list for review for a few days now. Uh just one item of note, as you know on the trolley tour recently, we saw the status of uh fire station 3 over on Cravens Avenue. It's substantially complete essentially at this time. So we do have a ribbon cutting schedule for Thursday, May 14th at 10 a.m. That's already on your calendars. Happy to have the community attend that as well. So other than that, one note of good news. is happy to answer any questions that you if you have any questions. I just add one regarding station three. Will we be finally allowed to slide down the pole

or will that still be verbot? I don't know. I think you have to pass a test first. Oh, a test. Okay. Okay. Security deposit $1,000. Okay. Thanks, city manager. We'll go to business. Uh this time I would like to consider the approval of minutes dated in April the 7th, 2026. I'll make a motion to approve these minutes. Could I have a second, please? Second. Any discussion, deletions or additions? Hearing none, all in favor indicate by saying I.

I. All oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Item six, we'll have a roll call vote. Ordinance, second reading, false. Okay. Ordinance 7-2026 entitled an ordinance amending chapter 2 article 4 division 3 of the Owensboroough Municipal Code relating to the procurement code read for approval on second reading this 21st day of April 2026. Thank you. I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second please? Second. Any comments from the city manager or assistant city manager?

Mayor, I just want to acknowledge Leland and thank him for filling in last week while I was on vacation. He provided a briefing to you at the last meeting. It's really just clean up. In many instances, our procurement code mirrors state law. And so if state law changes, we have to go in and change our ordinance. So we're removing those references to just reference the statute by number. So we'll stay current without having to make those changes. That's becoming more and more relevant. They've got some metrics in there now that like the bidding threshold will move automatically every few years. So we'd be doing semi-frequent updates to the ordinance. thought it was easier just to just to include the statutory reference by number and not the language itself. So you weren't here last week? I was not here last week.

Well, two weeks ago, rather meeting. That's right. Okay. Any further discussion from the DAS? Uh hearing none. We'll have a roll call, please. Commissioner Sanford, yes. Commissioner Nesmith, yes. Mayor Watson, yes. Commissioner Mager, yes. Mayor Pro Tim Glenn, yes. Thank you. Item seven, ordinance, the first reading, no vote. Seven.

Ordinance 8-2026, an ordinance annexing to the city of Owensboro certain unincorporated territory in the county of Davis adjoining the present boundary line of the city being property located at end of Hunter Ridge and Summer Valley Lane. Hunter Ridge Subdivision phase three containing a total of 55.578 acres more or less at the request of Hunter Ridge Estates LLC introduced and publicly read on first reading this 21st day of April 2026. Thank you. City manager, please.

Yes, Mayor. This is first reading of an ordinance annexing into the city approximately 55 and a half acres. It is a consensual annexation. So, the property owner has submitted a request form for us to do this. Uh the property we're annexing will be an expansion of the Hunter Ridge subdivision and the existing neighborhood there and all those homes are now in the city. We will consider our standard annexation incentive at the next meeting when we have second reading of this ordinance. Direct your attention to your screens. The area in question that we're annexing is outlined there in red and you can see of that red kind of triangular parcel to the left and then on the top of it where are our two current streets that are deadended. Those will be continued eventually. And so it will be a nice expansion of a nice neighborhood that we're proud to see continue to grow in the community.

Thank you. Any other discussion? Okay. Thank you. Item 7B, please. Ordinance 9-2026, an ordinance changing the name of Lagoon Lane to Berolei Way introduced and publicly read on first reading this 21st day of April, 2026.

Thank you. City manager, please. Last year, Mscon, who owns Ragu, announced a large investment and expansion of their local facility. As part of that project, the company plans to use Lagoon Lane for some access to their property in addition to their historic entrance or traditional entrance on Ragu Drive. Lagoon Lane is immediately east of the property and is really the old bypass there beside the green belts, the old bypass property. Uh the company asked if we would consider renaming Lagoon. Accordingly, this is first reading of an ordinance changing the name of Lagoon Lane to Bertoi Way. Of course, Berolei is one of their lines as well. Uh, and so again, they they like having Ragu Drive asked if we would change Lagoon to Bertoi, and so we're happy to do that. There's really no other property. I guess the back of the sewer treatment plant uses this for access, but otherwise, there's really very little on there as far as things be addressed. So, it was quite an easy request that we're happy to do to recognize the company and their employees and contributions to the community.

Thank you. And again, you can see Rag, excuse me, Berolei way there is outlined in red on your screens and just to the left of that you can see is the main portion of the Ragu factory itself. When we toured that thing, they said a million bottles a day. That's correct. Quite an amazing facility. It's it's really something. Any other discussion hearing? None. Thank you. Municipal Order 8. Municipal Order 12-2026. A municipal order whereby the Owensboro Board of Commissioners approves the updated bylaws of Owensboro Sister Cities and Regions, Inc. read for approval on one reading this 21st day of April, 2026.

Thank you. I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second, please? Second. City Manager, please. Really nothing to add just to say this is just largely clean up in nature as well modern terminology and then uh to reflect their structure of how they're currently operating. Thank you. Any other discussion from the dis. Okay. All in favor indicate by saying I

I oppose. Motion carries. State B please. Municipal Order 13-2026, a municipal order authorizing and directing the mayor to execute an application for a fiscal year 2027 training facility grant through the Kentucky Fire Commission in the amount of $23,290.85, the proceeds of which will be utilized by the city of Owensboro to pay the cost of an unhinged modular wall prop for use by the Owensboro Fire Department. No matches required by the city. Read for approval on one reading this 21st day of April 2026. Thank you. No match is nice. I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second, please? Second. City manager.

Really nothing to add. Mayor, just going to comment on the same thing. Good to see you. No, no match. Any discussion from the dis hearing? None. All in favor indicate by saying I. I. All oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. City manager items. Uh consider financial. I'm sorry, mayor. What? I've got one more municipal order to read. Yeah, it was added last minute. Something was added. Yes, it was. I'm gonna read this. Trying to trick me, aren't you? I'm old.

Okay. Municipal order 14-2026. a municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute a memorandum of agreement with Owensboro Community and Technical College, Davis County Fiscal Court, the city of Henderson, and the city of Madisonville to collaboratively offer coursework for the emergency medical technician certificate read for approval on one reading this 21st day of April, 2026. I'll make a motion to approve this. Could I have a second, please? Second. City manager.

Yes. This municipal order approves an agreement for a partnership between the city, the Davis County Fiscal Court, and the cities of Henderson, Madisonville, and OCTC for us to do a joint EMT program for firefighters of our respective fire departments. Uh such partnership allows collaboration and shared support and to the benefit of all those agencies. And this is based on a similar cohort we did in 2024 that worked very well. This time we're actually adding Madisonville as well. So pleased to have another partner and costs for the program are available within our budgeted training funds. You were just saying if I was unhinged, wasn't you? Okay. Do we vote yet? All in favor indicate by saying I.

I. All oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Now, can I turn the page? City manager item. Uh, yes. First, mayor, if you would acknowledge Angela Winger to present the March financial report. I always like acknowledging Angela.

Thank you, mayor. All right. So, we're going to review uh the financial report for the general fund activity for the city of Ensboro. So, for the month of March, our act actual revenues of $4,914,650 were more than budgeted revenues of $4,519,895, resulting in a variance of $394,755. This is primarily due to higher net profits. Our next slide represents uh nine months ended March actual revenues of $60,285,052 which was more than budgeted revenues of $58,727,011 for a positive variance of $1,558,041. This variance is primarily due to the higher net profits, property tax, and higher insurance premium license fees, and it's offset by lower municipal road aid and the timing of TIFF reimbursement from the state and a transfer from the recreational fund. I would like to add that the uh reimbursement from the state for the TIF was received the last part of it this past Friday. So, you won't have to hear that as a variance explanation going forward. Well, I've handled them pretty good.

Oh, good. Well, thank you. We appreciate that. Um, in the transfer from the recreational fund also, um, that will not be an item next month. We're going to have that transfer. Uh, we made it today.

Uh, so for the next slide, uh, it represents the month of March expenditures. Our actual was 5,66,59 $66,595 which was less than budgeted expenditures of 5,764,511. This represents a variance of $157,916. This is due to the timing in maintenance, the transfer to transit, and an offset by timing in a developer incentive payment. Our next slide is for the nine months ended March. Our actual expenditures were 59,851,796 which was less than budgeted expenditures of $65,469,956 for a variance of 5,618,160. This variance is primarily due to the transfer to transit and to maintenance and also due to savings in personnel services. For the last slide, uh I got this just to show the cyclical monthly nature of the city's revenues and expenses. Uh expenses are in red, the revenues are in green. next month. I'm hoping that in the month of April, you see that green bar shoot up uh from our April tax receipts.

So, uh with that, that's that's all I have for my report. Thank you. I'll make a motion to file the report for audit. Could I have a second, please? Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor by saying I. I. I. All oppose? Motion carries. Thank you. Item 9B. Yes, we have the new hire probationary full-time non-silva service appointment of Charles Boone, maintenance equipment operator with the street department effective May 4th. And then regular full-time non-sil service appointments of Tyler Densen, road worker, the street department effective April 28th. And Steven McLeish, refuge truck driver with the sanitation department effective April 28th.

Okay, I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second, please? Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor indicate by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. City manager comments. Yeah. Two additional items. Mayor, for the first one, I would request that parks director Amanda Rogers go to the podium for an announcement. Not going to make that announcement we're talking about. I'm afraid make me make the announcement. Yeah. Mayor and elected officials, um, city manager. Thank you. I have officially turned in my retirement notice. Is it

to the city manager effective November 1. It's truly been an honor to serve my hometown and my community. I understand the value and the power of parks as a young child who utilized our park system here in Owensboro. Spent a lot of time on the east side of town at Comre Center in Shakqua Park. Um, and I think that's where my passion comes from. I understand the difference it made for me having that free programming and lowcost programming as a child to be a participant in. So, it really has been an honor and a privilege to serve and I'm going to be here through November. Um, still as passionate as ever, making sure that I put us in the best position I can um before I I leave the department. I will be around to serve if you need me in any way. Um, but the successes we've had during my tenure, the last 16 years as parks and recreation director, it's really a team effort. U, we have a wonderful public works team that's very strong and supportive of the roles and the goals that we have in parks and recreation. Um the growth we've seen in our department during my tenure couldn't have been um we we couldn't have done it without the support of the elected officials and you all understanding the vision that we had to ensure that we as a department would support the local economy that we would ensure green space for future generations and really enhance the quality of life for our residents. So, I can't thank you enough for the time you've given me in the 25 years. Well, more than 25 years if you look back to my first job as a lifeguard, but more than half of my life I've been with the parks and recreation department. So, it's been an honor and I just thank you very much.

Hell of a job.

Yeah. And so, as as Manda said, she'll be with us until November. So, there's several months remaining in her time, but we'll start the hiring process for her successor relatively soon. we have turnover among key positions like this. We like to have some time for continuity purposes where her successor will be here to sort of train on the job with her. So, we're starting that hiring process within the next couple of weeks. Actually, you may see the advertisements go out. So, this needed to be the appropriate time to make that announcement. She shared her uh her tenure has been impressive and her relationships, experience, and knowledge will be missed and certainly been appreciated and uh but we'll have plenty of time to to pick her brain for the next six months. So, Amanda, thank you for that. Thank you four more times by then.

Uh similarly it comes up every so often where um I'll kind of comment that we do acknowledgements of our employees every five years. I write him a personal note on their fiveyear service anniversary and it kind comes up occasionally where we have one of our department heads who will be here. So I'll just present that in the meeting. So uh Chief Elum actually is celebrating his 35th year with the city of Wsboro this month. And so if you remember uh if you remember whenever five years ago we did a similar thing for his 30th anniversary. I said, "Chief, you're not retiring. We're going to do your 35th and he's still here." So I don't know about 40th. I'm hopeful that is, but I'm I'm doubtful. But also want to acknowledge him for his his efforts as well. And his leadership is uh is definitely something that we we value. I know you you share that sentiment as well.

Yes. Okay. That all you have? That that concludes my comments. Okay. All right. We'll have communication from elected officials now. Commissioner Sanford. Thank you, uh, Mayor. Just a three or four things. I missed the last meeting. I was uh out when Nate was noticed.

I know. I know that spring break thing. Um I just wanted to mention um uh while uh I was gone I think uh our industrial park that we've started. I wanted to give a thank you to our elected officials at the state level and a lot of the staff and the mayor for uh trying to push getting us some money for infrastructure. Uh DJ Johnson, Suzanne Miles, and Gary Boswell. I think we've all called them and talked to them and uh that's a big deal. So, it it's a project that it's not going to happen immediately. It's for the future, but the state seeing uh the value in giving us almost $4 million is very important. Um so, that's a win for everybody here and the whole community. So, congratulations to the staff and everybody involved and uh in the future uh that it's going to help build Owensboro. Number two, uh I happen to be at Walmart one day and

you're kidding. Absolutely. manager comes up to me and says, "You know, you guys up there, you dodge a lot of bullets, but I just want to say thanks, and you tell the rest of them this, too. This Maui thing that's coming to the mall, thank you for participating in that." Uh, he said, he said, "You know, that's going to make a big difference to everybody out here on the south end of Fredericka." And I said, "You know what? I I will tell him in the next meeting. I'll make a mention of what you said, but he said, you know, you guys take a lot of heat on stuff, but you're doing a great job." So, I just wanted to share that with you guys. What was his name? Um, I can't remember his name. There's a lot of managers, but he was a nice guy. Nice guy.

Nice guy. Yeah. Uh, number three, we were all at a thing yesterday for the YMCA, and we've talked about this a little bit. Uh, good job, Abby. I mean, the vision of getting all this stuff done and the mayor. It's important to have connections to people. um and you know a lot of people at the state and federal level. So getting things done that's why it's very important up here to have relationships with people. So uh making uh that happen and then the future that I see that's going to it's going to happen for child care is huge and uh I think there's some other things uh some ideas floating around out there too. But I just wanted to say, you know, partnerships are important and sometimes here in Owensboro in the past, we've had a little, you know, it's kind of hard to do, but uh if you keep persevering, you you can make things happen. And everybody working together at the same time in the same directions, uh good things will happen. And I think it's it's really uh it's happening. And uh very impressed with you, as the mayor said. Uh, so I am nothing but excited for the future of Owensboro and all these elected officials up here have done a great job plus the staff that that holds it all together and all their uh the people that work for you guys. But anyway, just all positive stuff coming from me tonight. Uh, but I think that's really the only way to be. Thank you, mayor.

You're welcome. Appreciate it. Okay,

I probably would just like to say ditto there. That was great, Jeff. I did uh attend um a meeting that uh a council meeting that I'm on and I would like to uh echo some assistance from the state for the food warehouse project that we've talked about in the past. Uh they contributed. The good news is being on that committee, I knew that they needed another million dollars to be able to uh meet their goal for going forward with this project. And the state uh when I read that the state gave $500,000, I'm like, "Thank you, Lord." And you know, that makes the the project even more uh able to complete and be gone where it is. For those that don't remember, the food warehouse is uh is a project that is to help our pantries have a place to actually store food and for our city to actually receive food from other entities. It's not unusual to get a request that says, um, I have 10,000 pounds of sausage and we'll be glad to drop it off in Owensboro, Kentucky, but it's 7:30 at night and that's when our uh truck is coming through. So, what do you do with it? You know, how do you get that together? And the food warehouse will move us towards that. So, the the entities that are behind that and the individuals that started that, I just want to say thank you. and also to our state for recognizing that.

Steve in is driving that thing. He's been great. Commissioner Mager,

thank you, Mayor. Just wanted to say thank you to our finance department and our city team for all the hard work on preparing our 2026 27 budget. Uh it's it's very much appreciated. Thank you very much. And then we had the uh chance to attend the Greater Owensboro EDC State of the Union update uh first annual one. We've got a lot of exciting things happening in our community. And also appreciated attending the Joe Terry Foundation's PST training for our firefighters. You know, it was a good reminder that we need to continue to support all of our first responders. And then uh let's see. And then finally, hey, Davis County High School did it again, too. Congratulations to them for winning the uh 2026 WGI World Championship Band Contest this past weekend. World champions. So, you know, tremendous accomplishment and activities like this do play, you know, an important role in shaping our young people's future here at Owensboro. Thank you very much, Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioner Glenn.

Yes. Um, I attended along with several of the rest of us the Friday after five roll out. Was really excited about that. Uh, having been able to hear some of the groups last year. I really respect Keith Eric and his group and the quality they bring and all the information we had tonight. What a great event it is. So, kudos to everybody involved with that. Um, had somebody talk about our streets are in terrible shape and I just want to address a couple things. Um, a lot of our streets we can't touch because they're state highways. So, that's one issue. The t second is we're in the middle of the war on potholes and looking at Nate. So, if you do have a pothole on your street, be sure to call 270687444, our city action line, and report the pothole. And I'm sure public works will be out there soon. Um, we've also got a lot of sidewalk repairs going on throughout the area and street repairs. Uh, so if you let us know there's a problem, I think we'll get it addressed and if we can't address it, we'll let you know why. Like it's a state road. Um, the other item I wanted to touch on is I and I talked to Chief yesterday about this, uh, Chief Elim. I want to thank our police officers. Every neighborhood alliance meeting I go to, there's a police officer there and that's important. Uh, they show up and they give a report about what's going on in in the neighborhood that's affected and they answer questions. And I just want to commend the chief and his officers for taking time out of their busy schedule to do that because I think it's the highlight of most of the neighborhood alliance meetings when they're able to make it. Um, the final thing is we had a neighborhood alliance meeting I went to last night where RWA presented about urban tree canopies. And I think that would be a wonderful uh committee and group for the city to get involved with since we have Earth Day coming up right around the corner. uh because we only have 18% of our our

urban area in the city covered by trees uh in a constructive way and we should be at about 35 to 41% based on national standards. So that's something we we we should look to address because it there's a lot of benefits. I won't go into them. Um and uh I would just encourage you to look at RWR's websites about urban tree canopies. It can be a gamecher for our community and it can make our community a more beautiful place to live. So that's all I've got. Thank you.

Next item on the agenda is open public forum. Members of the audience may address the board of commissioners on any matter of public concern that was not on the agenda. Comments are limited to issues within the scope and responsibility of the commission. Commission meetings are held to conduct the city business for the benefit of Orangeboro citizens and taxpayers. The meetings are not intended to serve as public forums for candidates who are campaigning for political office. Political candidates will not be allowed to use the commission meeting to promote their candidacy. At this time, anyone who wishes to address the city commission, please make their way to the podium to be recognized. Speakers must state their accurate name and address for the clerk's record and limit their remarks to three minutes or less.

Hello, Dr. Glenda Wright, 7-Eleven Jed Place, of course, Owensboro, Kentucky. Sorry, I was on the beach on spring break as well. Um, so I missed the last meeting. Have not missed many. So, um, I saw someone has attended the county commission meeting and spoke a little bit about homelessness. So, I'd like to do the same at this meeting since this is the one that I like to come to. So, we'll start off a little bit about Glenda. So, raise your hand if you've been homeless in Davis County, Owensboro. Oop, I have. Okay. Raise your hand if you've never been addicted to drugs or alcohol. Oop, that would be me as well. Raise your hand if you've ever visited the help office because you needed the services or your family did. Oop, me as well. Okay. Who has a loved one that's been homeless? Oh, I've had multiples. who works in this area. Oh, that would be me as well. Okay, we got one hand raised from the multiple people up there. And who could name someone that's actively homeless right now? Their first and last names. That would also be me and Sharon. Thank you so much. Okay, so that's a little bit about my history and why I'm up here and why I care. So, I am fortunate enough to have some of the access to some of the smartest people in this country. So, I attended a class and right here, top university, Ivy League, they went over homelessness and eviction and they gave me some good feedback about credible solutions to that. So, I love to hear that the city has a surplus and that we have different opportunities where we're able to bring in money. So, what are some actual policy solutions to this issue? Prevent evictions and keep families in their home. That's a short-term and reactive approach. legal aid, decentivized landlords to file frivolous lawsuits, mediation services, emergency rental assistance. So, cash and the city has cash apparently. Okay. So, what about number two? Let's think about how we make housing more affordable, which is a really big issue. That is a long-term and proactive approach. You all love to be proactive. So, let's tell y'all what that looks

like. You need to increase the supply through zoning. I think y'all can do that. And not only can you do that, you can focus on new construction and incentivizing that, which sounds like y'all do that with other areas. So, y'all know about that. You can also do regulations through rent control. You all can also do that. And then you can also subsidize rent, which looks like housing vouchers, which my Ivy has circled, so that must be really good. And public housing, which we lack here. Last thing is change the system. I think that's what we all want, right? We want deliverables. So, let's look at what changing the system looks like here in Owensboro. You invest in neighborhoods, not downtown or the nice little end on 54 and all these little neighborhoods. You invest where you really need to invest. And if y'all don't know, why I know because that's where I live. That's where I've always lived. So, let's talk about that. And you can do a community land trusts housing, which we can also talk about. But I did want to talk about how the city has 1.5 million for an outdoor pickle doll complex. So, I know citizens are watching. So, you all can find that at the agenda. And also, the indoor facility was $18 million. So, I look forward to seeing what you all do.

Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, sir. Hate to follow that. Jamie Sers, 2411 Hayden Bridge Road, Wsboro, Kentucky. Been here all my life, too. God bless you. Thank you for what you're trying to do. Uh sir, I believe more more of us need to stand up and take a little bit of initiative to try to fix some of these problems. Yes, sir.

But what I really wanted to come up here and say tonight is thank you guys for not just listening to me, but hearing what I had to say the last couple of times I've been in here. Uh we we definitely have problems with our procurement. Sounds like maybe we're moving in the right direction. Uh taking a look at some changes there. Hopefully those changes include certified payroll uh minimum local workforce added to these projects. And uh you know, like I said, thanks for thanks for hearing me. That's all I got. Thank you. Anybody else? Little man. No. Okay. I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Could I have a second, please?

Second. All in favor indicate by saying I. I. We. Are.