Board of Commissioners - Special Meeting

Good afternoon and welcome to the Board of Commissioners Special Call Meeting, June the 2nd, 2026. I'd like to call this meeting to order. At this time, I'll have City Clerk Beth Davis to please call the roll.

Commissioner Jeff Sanford?

Here.

Mayor Tom Watson?

Here.

Commissioner Curtis Maglinger?

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Bob Glenn? Here. And Commissioner Sharon E. Smith is unavailable tonight.

Okay, this is a public hearing. Nate?

Angela.

Nate Angela? Mayor, if you would acknowledge Angela Waninger. Oh, I acknowledge her. Yeah, she's been counted.

Thank you, Mayor.

You're welcome.

As we are required to have a public hearing by Kentucky Revenue Statute, Kentucky Revised Statute, sorry, for the Municipal Road Aid and for Local Government Economic Assistance Fund, which are contained within our 2026-27 annual budgets. So at any rate, our budget is we have municipal road aid of $1.3 million for the use of road construction and the local government economic assistance fund of $16,000 as contained in the general fund. Any person? Oh, sorry. That's all I have, Mayor. Sorry.

Okay. Any public comment? Hearing none, I'll make a motion to adjourn. Could I have a second, please?

Second.

All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. We'll continue the meeting at 5 o'clock.

Good evening, everyone.

Welcome to the People's House, Owensboro Board of Commissioners regular meeting, June the 2nd, 2026. At this time, I'll ask the City Clerk, Beth Davis, to please call the roll.

Commissioner Jeff Sanford? Here. Mayor Tom Watson?

Here.

Commissioner Curtis Maglinger?

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Bob Glenn? Here. And Commissioner Sharon D. Smith is still on and available.

Thank you. At this time, if you're able, please stand and remove your hats for the invocation and the pledge from Commissioner Sanford.

Thank you, Mayor. Please bow your heads and pray with me. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this community and the opportunity to serve our city. Grant the commissioners wisdom, integrity, and a spirit of unity as we make decisions today. Guide our discussions with clarity and fairness, and help us always put the good of our residents first. Bless our city, its residents, and all who call Owensboro home. May your peace and grace be with us. In your name we pray, amen. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Next item on the agenda is considered approval of the minutes dated May 19, 2026. I'll make a motion to approve this. Could I have a second, please?

Second.

Any further discussion from the dais? Hearing none, all in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Item 4B, consider board appointments, Dogwood Azalea Neighborhood Alliance. We appoint Corrine Acuri and Cheryl Sansom to a two-year term effective June the 5th, 2026, Westland Neighborhood Alliance. appoint katie elkins and shane davis to a two-year term effective june the 2nd 2026 orangeboro sister cities and regions report robin joshka how do you say that joshka and lane right to a three-year term effective june 7 2026 i'll make a motion to approve can we have a second second any further discussion additions or deletions Hearing none, all in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Item five, ordinance roll call vote.

Ordinance 10-2026, an ordinance adopting and approving the annual budget of the City of Owensboro, Kentucky for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 and ending June 30, 2027, and appropriating the revenues to the various departments of the city as set forth herein. Read for approval on second reading the second day of June 2026. Thank you.

I'll make a motion to approve. Would I have a second, please? Second. See the manager, please.

uh... yes there is a second reading of the orders adopting the city's twenty twenty six twenty twenty seven fiscal year budget so that's our next fiscal year which begins on july one there are no changes to the draft budget that we provided you months ago and we've uh... discussed in detail uh... a lengthy budget presentation and then again at our last meeting as such the budget includes no changes to the city tax rates the general fund which is our primary operating fund is balanced and the budget includes investments in the various areas prioritized by you as the board of commissioners such as public safety infrastructure and economic development in addition the budget provides the resources necessary for our departments to provide the high-level professional services that our community expects. So I'd like to thank our finance staff, Angela and her team, department heads and managers, as they've been working on this document for the better part of six months at this point.

Thank you. Any further discussion from the dais? Hearing none, roll call, excuse me.

Mayor Watson?

Yes. Yes.

Mr. Macklinger?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Glenn?

Yes.

Commissioner Sanford?

Yes. Thank you. Item 5B.

Ordinance 11-2026, an ordinance establishing the compensation of city employees and non-elected city officers in accordance with a personnel and pay classification plan as required by KRS 83A.070, read for approval on second reading the second day of June 2026.

Thank you. I'll entertain a motion to approve this, please. Second.

Motion. Second.

I'll second it. Okay. Good. Thank you. City manager.

If state law requires that we adopt our pay charts by ordinance. So this is second reading of an ordinance adopting those pay charts for the 2026, 2026, 2027 fiscal year. It's a companion piece to the budget that we just discussed and you approved. The charts are just adjusted every year by the cost of living adjustment that was included in the budget.

Thank you. Any further discussion from the dais? Roll call, please.

Mr. Maglinger?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Glenn? Yes. Commissioner Sanford? Yes. Mayor Watson?

Yes. Motion carries. Item 5C, please.

Ordinance 12-2026, an ordinance amending the annual budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025. and ending June 30, 2026 in the mending ordinance six dash 20, 25 to appropriate funds for bluegrass field house operations and developer incentive, various funds and general fund departments as needed receive and appropriate grant funds for transit and tax revenues associated with the gateway TIF and to transfer appropriations from sports center to convention center read for approval on second reading the second day of June, 2026.

Thank you. I'll entertain a motion to approve, please. Motion. Could I have a second, please? Second. City Manager.

Yes, Mayor. This is second reading of an ordinance approving a budget amendment for our current fiscal year, the 2025-26. So the previous budget we just approved was for next fiscal year, starting July 1. This is a budget amendment for the current year, which ends on June 30th. Every year at the end of the fiscal year, we do a cleanup budget amendment. So this is very typical for our process. The amendment includes really things that you've already discussed or approved, like grant applications have come here. You've approved those, and then we have to incorporate those grant proceeds into the budget. So there's really no new projects, just things that were known and expected. I will say of note, we received transit grants more than expected. to the tune of $530,000, which will result in savings to us for that. So definitely a good result there. But overall, this is a very typical end-of-year cleanup budget amendment.

Thank you. Any other discussion from the dais? Hearing none, roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Glenn?

Yes.

Commissioner Sanford? Yes. Mayor Watson? Yes. Commissioner Maglinger?

Yes. Thank you. Motion passes. Item 6, please, the first reading. There will be no vote.

Ordinance 13-2026, an ordinance amending Chapter 2, Article 5 of the Owensboro Municipal Code relating to the Elizabeth Monday Senior Center Board of Directors, introduced and publicly read on first reading the second day of June 2026. Thank you.

City Manager, please.

Yes, sir. Mayor, this is first reading of an ordinance making two changes to the senior center. One change is reducing the number of board members for the organization. The ordinance currently provides for a board of directors to have between 16 and 21 members, but is being amended to have 12 to 15 members. The second change is to formally rename the organization as the senior community center of Owensboro Davis County. That's what they've called themselves really for the last several years anyway. So it's just formalizing their, uh, the name they've been using in practice. And I'll just add that finally, both of these changes are being made at the request of the senior center board out of the board chairs here today. If you have any specific questions about that as well.

Thank you. Any further discussion? Okay.

Item seven that he municipal order 19 dash 2026, a municipal order authorizing and directing the mayor to execute an application for a Kentucky rural health transformation program, education and training modernization grant through the Commonwealth of Kentucky. In the amount of $29,796, the proceeds of which will be utilized by the city of Owensboro to pay the cost of a SIM bodies, EMS training mannequin with an accessory kit for use by the Owensboro fire department. No matches required by the city read for approval on one reading the second day of June, 2026. Mm-hmm.

I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second, please? Second. Thank you, city manager.

The clerk described this one well, but again, it's just a grant request for a training mannequin that will be used for the emergency medical technician program that we do in collaboration with our partners, which I believe are the county and AMR. So no match, so it would be a good initiative if we are awarded the grant.

Thank you. Any other discussion? I know item seven of these, please. All in favor indicate by saying hi. Hi. Motion carries. Thank you. Item seven B please.

Municipal order 20 dash 2026, a municipal order authorizing and directing the mayor to execute an application for a fiscal year 26 safe streets and roads for all program grant through the U S department of transportation in the amount of 1 million, $89,836, the proceeds of which will be utilized by the city of Owensboro to carry out a comprehensive safety improvement program to enhance intersections throughout the city. A 20% match of $217,967.20 is required by the city. Read for approval on one reading the second day of June, 2026.

Okay, I'll make a motion to approve. Could I have a second, please? Second. City Manager, please.

Thank you, Mayor. So this MO is for a grant application for the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program. It's a larger application. We're requesting $1,089,000. As the clerk read, it does have a large match of 20%, which is approximately $217,000. However, that can be done in kind through our labor and salaries that we already incur. And also, it's a little bit unusual grant, and then it's over a five-year period. So we were able to spread that out over multiple years. So not a major concern about the grant, excuse me, about the match for the grant. But it's a little bit different. So for those reasons, I asked City Engineer Kevin Collian to make a quick presentation about this project.

Mr. Collian. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. Uh, so yes, as a city manager, um, stated, this is a grand opportunity through the us department of transportation. Um, some of the things he just spoke on is 20% match over five year period allows for in-kind services to count for the 20% local match. some of the things that that will do so what what we've done through the help of grad and the Kentucky Transportation Center is is we have identified some of the the higher accident locations intersections throughout the city and those are primarily arterials and collectors that are that are the city maintained ones and you know, obviously higher traffic volumes, more opportunity for accidents. So that's primarily what would be looked at. If awarded, we would hire a consultant to look at those locations, develop recommendations. What we're talking about is mainly like low-cost safety improvements. Some examples would be like signal timing adjustments, enhanced striping, pavement markings. removal site distance obstructions, advanced intersection warnings, warning signs, and a lot of this stuff we already do in-house. This would just help be more efficient with it and obviously get some of it reimbursed. This is just an example of, again, this would be as needed, not necessarily at every location, but this is just an example of dual mount signage, additional reflectivity, additional pavement markings, heightened awareness to the two-way stop control intersection.

Kevin, you said we would target specific intersections that have a history of crashes with injury?

Yeah, so it's a long list, and the cost estimate is based on something being done at every intersection, which probably wouldn't happen, so the cost estimate is potentially bloated, but again, it's as needed. But these are mainly our collectors and arterials, again, just the ones that are sitting maintained, but we're looking at just some examples. J.R. Miller Boulevard, 9th Street, 4th Street, 2nd Street, and... and then looking at the intersections where an injury has occurred in the last five years.

Any other discussion from the audience?

I just had one quick question. So when we talk about signal adjustments, is that something we do or is OMU, when you're talking about like red lights and electronic communication with drivers, does OMU usually make those adjustments? I know in the past when people complained the light is too long or it's not short enough, we send OMU out to adjust. Is that still the case, Kevin, or no?

It is. So in this case, it would probably be like a consultant taking a look at the current timing and then say, well, maybe an example would be like some additional like red clearance interval. That's like the gap between the yellow and the red. So it adds a little bit of delay, but it gives a little bit more pause to let people get on through the intersection. But like a consultant would make the recommendations, and then OMU would implement those adjustments.

And the last question I've got is, given the amount for the grant, even though a million sounds like a lot of money, it does to me, we're probably not going to use it for stoplights. It would mainly be signage and markings, right? Because I would think a stoplight would be really expensive.

Primarily, yes, that's correct.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor.

So yellow doesn't mean gun it?

It just depends on the driver, I guess.

Okay. Any other discussion? all the favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All opposed, motion carries. Thank you. City Manager Items?

Yes, Mayor. For personnel appointments tonight, we have the following probationary full-time non-civil service appointments of Tim Potts, Assistant Green Superintendent with the Parks and Recreation Department, effective June 8th, contingent upon successful completion of all post-offer pre-employment requirements. Savannah Glass, recruiting and outreach coordinator with the personnel department, effective June 15th, contingent upon successful completion of all post-offer pre-employment requirements. Bradford Johnson, refuse truck driver with the sanitation department, effective June 15th, a contingent upon successful completion of all post-offer pre-employment requirements. And then the regular full-time non-civil service appointments of Chad Clark, construction inspector with Public Works Engineering, effective June 2nd. James Kingsley, labor maintenance helper with the Public Works Street Department, effective June 2nd. Sean Mattingly, maintenance specialist with Public Works Facilities Maintenance Buildings Division, effective June 2nd. Lauren Yontz, police officer with the Police Department, effective June 2nd. and Allison Meyer, Administrative Aid with the Police Department, effective June 16th.

Thank you. 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 aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. City Manager, comments? Actually, Mayor, I have no additional comments tonight. Communication from elected officials. Mayor Pro Tem.

Just two quick comments. One is school's out. I think all the systems are shut down for the summer, which means there's kids out there. So slow down, pay attention, put your phone down, and drive carefully so you do not hit somebody's child. and you do not hurt somebody. There's a lot of people racing. When I go to neighborhood alliance meetings, that's all I hear about is people speeding through neighborhoods, putting children at risk, putting pedestrians at risk. The other is we've got some really neat activities going on with a variety of the 11 neighborhood alliances that are active. If you are not involved in a neighborhood alliance and you have complaints or concerns about our community, I suggest you start there. The map is on our website as to which neighborhood you live in if you live in the city. We've got Groovin' on the Green, Greatest Day of Play. We've got a bunch of really great activities and events for communities all across Owensboro that are going to be going on. And they also address concerns like speeding. So I would just say get involved in the neighborhood.

And that's it. Thank you. Uh, Matt, uh, commissioner Madeline. Thank you, mayor. Uh, no, real quick. Just want to, uh, got to attend the, uh, public life foundation event had the honor to be in there. They were celebrating the 25 years of, uh, providing so many opportunities for our community. So, uh, just want to thank them very much. And that's it.

Thank you, Mr. Sanford. Thank you, Mayor. Just real quick, I just wanted to say I'm glad to see a lot of new faces here tonight and you guys coming here to voice your opinions, and that's good, and I keep seeing more and more people. So that's good for you because we don't know unless you say something. So thanks for coming.

Thank you. Thank you. Item 10, open public forum. Members of the audience may address the Board of Commissioners on any matter of public concern that was not on the agenda. Comments are limited to issues within the scope and responsibility of the commission. Commission meetings are held to conduct city business for the benefit of Orangeboro citizens and taxpayers. At this time, anyone who wishes to address the city commission, please make their way to the podium to be recognized. Speakers must, what are we doing with that, council?

Do they say their name and address still?

Speakers must state their name and address for the clerk's record and limit their remarks to three minutes or less. Since the item is not on the agenda, no response is required from staff or the Board of Commissioners. Yes, sir.

Jamie Souders, 2421 Hayden Bridge Road. Come tonight to bring up the responsible bidder ordinance again. After checking a lot of these jobs around town, I've been turning a few in to Leland. He's actually found several of them that weren't licensed to do business in the county or city, I mean. And it kind of brings me to the point that we've got to have some kind of ordinance in place to keep these low-road contractors out of here. I mean, it's just bad for everybody here. They're coming in. They're not paying taxes like anybody else. They're bringing people from across the border. We don't know who they're bringing. It could be criminals. It could be drug dealers. It could be honest family people just looking to provide for their family. We don't know unless we get some sort of ordinance with something for them to go by. Because right now what we got is not working. And I'll leave that with you. Also, if you guys are interested in this, I've actually drawn one up. I can email it to you, let you look at it. I sent one from Marshall County that they use down around Paducah, just as an example. But I have one drawn up specifically for us.

I'd be happy to see it. So just send it.

I'll email it in a moment. OK. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Madeline Payne. My address is 6355 Sutherland Lane. I'm here to talk about the data center. Tom Watson talking about a data center, like wanting a data center in this city. And although I'm not really convinced, even though you guys have said that it's basically a dead issue. So I just want to know, if you guys are in any way planning a data center at all the community of owensboro deserves better yes it does provide temporary jobs but and good paying jobs but those jobs are only temporary the long-lasting effects of data centers is long-lasting data centers What scientists have called heat islands, where they emit massive amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. With the ever-changing temperatures right now, the temperatures are already rising high enough. We do not need data centers making it worse. And with the water usage. I heard it would be using the water from the Ohio River, which is better than our drinking water, but due to nature conservation, it will, I'm concerned that it will suck the Ohio River dry. Another thing is data centers cause massive negative health effects against the community due to the sound from the data centers which can disrupt sleep for lots of people, especially ones who live in the area of the data center. And it can even cause negative effects like vomiting and other negative health effects. So, We will know by coming November if any of you are planning on secretly making deals with groups for a data center. We will know and we will vote you out. So better not hope for reelection if you want, if you're voting for a data center. And last of all, the community, if you want to show us that you're with us, the community and not for corporations, I highly suggest you guys consider, consider a banning data centers in our city.

Thank you for your comments.

Go ahead. You're up first. I'll follow you.

Good evening, Pam Smith, right? 3520 Christie place here in the city. Uh, good afternoon, mayor and commissioners today. I am here with Mike Johnston from Evansville, Indiana. And, um, commissioner Sharon Neesmith had asked him to come. He was at our memorial service. at the VFW, and he has a 1776 flag that we used during our ceremony, and we're going to take this flag and also hang it in the Museum of Fine Arts during the celebration of our 250th anniversary. So I'll let him tell you about the flag and how he came with it, and let him show it to you.

Hello, Mayor Watson, fellow council members, my name is Michael Johnston. As Pam indicated, I am here from Evansville, Indiana. My address is 5351 Spring Valley Road. My mother has been a longtime resident here in Owensboro for about 15 years. I came upon this item, I'm originally from Pennsylvania and I had bought a house there early on in life and upon examining the basement of the house, I discovered a gift box up in the rafters in the basement. And upon opening the box, I discovered what to be inside of it, the flag that I have on my possession. And I've had it in my possession for about 40 years. And it does mean a lot to me. And I think that it's very meaningful that our country's birthday is 250 years is this year. And I think that what this flag represents and what it stands for is just in my opinion there was no words other than just looking at the flag and when I went to the VFW that day my intentions were just to show them that I have the flag in my possession and they were nice enough the commander approached me and asked me if I'd be willing to to allow them to use the flag in their memorial, which I did not hesitate. But as Pam had mentioned, Sharon approached me and asked me to come here to this meeting, present this flag to you just as a visual approval. And then later I'm going to be giving it to Pam and she's going to be, as she said, she's going to be putting it in the museum on display for everybody in town to see. So without delay, I would like to present to you the flag that I have in my possession. This is a three by five version of this flag. It was made by the Valley Forge Flag Company up in, I can't remember the name of the city right now, but they're no longer there. They have merged with another flag company. I'm still trying to get in contact with them to let them know that I do have it in my possession. I've tried to take very good care of it, and like I said, I'm going to be giving it to Pam, and I just wanted the council members to take a look at it first before it gets put in the museum here in town for everybody to see.

Thank you very much, sir. Yes, ma'am.

Yes, Glenda Wright, 7-Eleven Jet Place. And I will say that is absolutely cool. Whenever I was in Canada for my 30th birthday, I came into possession of newspaper articles from the 1800s that were still original. So I really love history and I love America. And so I'm just thankful that we will all be able to experience the flag. But not to take up too much of my time, but I do think that's worthy of commemorating. So excited for us as a city. So the Zoning and Planning Commission was not on the agenda, so I am free to talk about that. I'm excited to see Skyler here, who I danced and cheered with in high school, so I know her very well, who is the Chair of Planning and Commission. So excited to see her here today, because this is directly related to her role as chairwoman of that commission. So I think we all are aware that last month the Zoning Commission chose not to vote in favor or some members decided to not vote in favor of the data center, which is clearly what the community does not support. And then we also were lucky enough to have the fiscal court also listen to the community and they have successfully passed a one-year moratorium. So with so many bodies moving and with a lot of public comments at this point from the mayor, I'm just a little unsure why we're hesitating and why we're kind of getting around the bush. You all need to do the same. It's clear that that's what the community wants. You all's job and role and what you get paid for is to be the body of us, not for your own positions, but to be our voice. So I would like and I would expect that this commission matches the fiscal court's one-year moratorium If you all want to put actual fire behind the words that you all keep publicly speaking. And if not, I just want all of us to know that it's just words that they're speaking until we see credible evidence or movement such as the zoning commission. Thank you chairwoman again and or the physical court. And then the other thing I'd like to mention is that for those interested, the commission zoning commission specifically meets every second Thursday each month at 5 30 PM on the fourth floor of the auditorium of the Owensboro city hall. We're sitting in the city hall right now. So again, that is the second Thursday of each month at 5 30 PM. Sometimes I'll be away at school in DC. Um, so I won't be able to make the next meeting, but I'll be sure to email once again, everybody on the commission to have our voices heard. And I would encourage you all to take the time to show up and have your voices heard as well. And with that, I will leave you all alone.

Hello, my name is Sally Reynolds. I live at 3867 Lovell Drive over by Apollo High School area. What I'm here tonight about is two things. One is there's this family not very far from right here that'll be homeless any day. And they've tried to do stuff, but they're not homeless yet, so nobody can help them. And this is really sad. There's a 17-year-old girl in that family. She'll be 18 next year. She'll be voting. And it's not me she's going to be mad about. It's this group of people that cannot help her. Wintersboro's been a city for over 150 years, and we still don't have no help for the homeless. Real help. As you can see, I work at Marvin's over across the river. We've employed the dad, but it's only going to be through the fourth. Then what happens? We've got to think for these people. And it don't matter what mom and dad did. It's these kids that are going to suffer. There's five kids in that family. It's just insane. There's no help for somebody that's almost homeless. I was told that I should try to start a GoFundMe account for them. Guess what I did when I was 17 years old? It's called my tax dollars. Right? Okay. And if you can put lights on a city bridge for $2 million, trees in a park for a million, beautify a cemetery. We can help flesh and blood people, guys. God wants us. You said the prayer before this meeting. God wants this from us. But that's just amazing to me that we can help a family. The other part I was here about was, of course, the data center. I don't know if y'all have done your investigations on it, but it makes that constant noise everybody talks about. So I live out by Century Aluminum. Say I did, I'd hear that noise night and day, night and day, night and day. That's not what I bought that property for. And then the data center comes in there and does that to me. What else does it do? It uses too much water, too much electric. Who wants all of that 24-7? I guess climate change is down the drain now because it don't matter. You are stewards of our money and our environment. Let's be good stewards of it, guys. We depend on y'all. And that's all I have to say.

Thank you very much.

Good evening, Diana Friend, 316 Hale Avenue. May I approach the clerk and share this with her to be posted for the meeting? Okay. Data center. Absolutely. This is about the noise effect. We talked about how it affects the cells last time. Tonal noise is measured by a hierarchy of safety and controls, meaning by layers, referred to as interestingly enough DBA, through frequency and sound. Just because we cannot hear noise does not mean there is not an impact to the people, especially when that noise is running 24 hours a day, seven days a week for who knows how long. And in addition to that, when you have industrial hazards such as that placed in a residential community or in an area next to a hospital, you are affecting the people who are going to be most easily affected, all right? The most vulnerable portions of our community will be affected first, our children, expectant mothers, elderly, chronically ill, they're the ones first. What's the risk versus the reward? This alone should give us an idea what the true intentions are behind data centers because if they already know that, then that's a problem. No new people will want to move here because 70% of the people in this country do not want data centers. However, the governments are not listening. They're going ahead and doing their own business, as we heard before, behind the scenes, all right? Not here. We know the heart of Owensboro is stronger than that, and we know that you can handle our funds and work for the people, the living people, not the corporations as was also spoken before. There won't be new jobs because even the construction workers are brought in from the outside. There might be a couple few, but the majority of those construction workers we already know come from outside of here. They're part of the contract. The people who live here are already within a frequency fence, which has been built by all of the 5G towers and existing engineering tonal noises, the data center, would fall within that because what happens is it creates a circular pattern. It's gonna bounce off the walls. All your 5G is gonna hold in that lower tone of the data center and it's going to bounce again off all the concrete, everything and into people and through the cells and I think I could have a few more seconds.

No, no extended time.

Did that start when I started talking?

No, it started two weeks ago whenever they were upset because the mayor likes to only extend time for certain people. So that's a new rule. It is a rule. He's not making that up. It's on the agenda.

It is. I understand. All right. I'll see you at the next meeting. Not a problem. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate your comments. Anybody else?

Renee Kegel, 2140 Tamarack Road. It seems to me the simplest thing to do about the data center issue is what the county did. Sign the one-year moratorium. I mean, why is that an issue? If you're really, truly saying you're not behind any of it, you don't want any of it to happen right now, sign it. Just do what the county did and sign it. And you'll get a lot of people relieved, taking a breath, and then fingering things out. That's all I got to say.

Thank you.

I'm here, obviously, against the AI Data Center, and I'll believe it when you put it in writing, please. My name is Gray. You can call me Gray. I don't feel comfortable giving my address, considering the state of things. And I was thinking I'd come in here at the beginning of June, and you guys would at least say that it was Pride Month, say anything that it was Pride Month. A lot of cities will raise the Pride flag, and the city doesn't do anything. And we have communities that do things, but the city And I think it would help your voters a lot to know that if you stand with our community, I am rather new to this community, but my family is from here. A lot of you are all around the age of, you probably went to school with my mom or daddy if you were raised here. And I want to feel more confident coming out in the world, but I can't if I don't know that the people around me are safe, if this is a safe city for the LGBTQ AI plus community. And so I would like if you guys could at least, you have the whole month, you have the whole month, I give you the time, to at least do something for the LGBTQ community like mention them or mention Murray Faust who was found dead. just miles from here, a trans man who was murdered. There has been over six just this month since President Trump released that, what would we call that, a letter? I don't know, a tweet? I don't know. That said that we are terrorists and that we should be dealt with. So it is a very scary time. And I would like to know that the people I'm voting for support me in that way or don't. That's really important. So I think you guys, you have the whole month to do something. So please do something. And also again, the AI data center, obviously none of the people here want it. And we're not going to stop until you put it in writing that you will not have an AI data center here that Owensboro that Davis county will not have an AI data center here. Okay. We're watching. We know what you're doing. We can see it. Okay. Things are public record. We're not dumb. We can look up stuff, okay? All right. Thank you for listening to me. I hope you guys have a great night.

Miranda McDaniel, 672 Green Pryor Street, Owensboro, Kentucky, 42301. I'm going to say it plain and simple. Just find a way to legally ban it from our city. And that's it. ban AI. We don't need it. We don't want it. I presented the petition last time, and I do plan to vote in November for everyone that I've been voting for in the past, and I would like to keep it that way. I don't like change very much, but I definitely don't like AI data centers either. So God bless you all, and thank you for listening to me tonight.

About that lady's homeless story, I can relate to that because last month while I was at the park, sometimes I usually say hi to people I see at the park. Just say, hi, how are you doing? One lady actually told me how she was doing. She said she was not doing good because... I think she was either got laid off or was about to lose her job and she's got two kids. So I highly, highly encourage you to invest in homeless shelters, to, to invest in, or just like to invest in resources that are going to help people in our community get good paying jobs and get good training. And, um, to make sure the kids are still covered and taken care of, even if the parents are homeless, even if they have to all live homeless together as a family. The homeless people in Owensboro, they're citizens too, just like us. They deserve to be treated like citizens and not just like stray animals on the street. And I pray, or I hope, I encourage you to do programs that will actually be good for the homeless people and not treat them like slaves or just any way treat them less than human. Because like she said, we have the internet. We can look up things. We can find out what you're doing. And we can remember that. We will remember that in elections. And that's all I'd like to say. Protect everyone, including the homeless people. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Tatum Helm. I live at 1122 Booth Avenue. So I kind of want to touch on a couple of things that have actually been mentioned because we can throw a bunch of stuff at you guys without any ideas, you know, too. So as far as the homelessness, one thing that I really think that we lack as a city is harm reduction. At the end of the day, we do not have harm reduction services here in Owensboro. If we do, it is strictly through the Green River Health District. Some people are scared to walk into hospitals and doctor's offices and get supplies that they may need. Abusers are going to be around, period. Homeless people are going to be around, period. But finding a way for harm reduction and finding nonprofits and helping those nonprofits, the city helping get the word out about the The services that they do have that are harm reduction is really a good bridge for homelessness. Second thing, I have not been to a lot of these meetings recently. Growing up, my mother dragged me down here. She ran for city commission at one point. So I have been coming to these for a while. And just speaking of the LGBTQ plus community, we still don't have a fairness ordinance, you know? We have gone without that. It's come up to you guys twice now. If you want us to know that you guys stand with that community, number one is going to be a fairness ordinance that has come before this council. I'm pretty sure you, Mr. Watson, as well before. I want to say maybe in 2020. it came back about i'd have to double check i didn't expect to talk about that today but i do have a lot of research on the fairness ordinance and as one of the largest cities in kentucky we are still without one um so if you truly stand with your lgbtq plus community we would look into getting one of those lastly i did see that you guys considered i won for the property out there love that we can do a complete data center ban though so if you guys truly want us to believe your word Put it in writing. Let us know. If not, like all of these people have said, there are elections coming up. We're going to remember these things as the years go on. It can be put in writing. I truly appreciate you guys looking at I-1 there. Please still consider environment. Please still consider the properties there, the people living over there, when you are considering the potential industrial coming in. Just take into consideration how much is over there. And that's all I have. Thank you.

I have one quick thing, I promise. So is there no way that we could not help people before they get homeless, like in the case of this person here that she's referencing, that you could get the information from her and that we can, you know, see what it is that she needs and treat them like living people that need assistance and give them that assistance. Don't expect things from them, but give them what they need from the heart. Thank you.

Good evening. Andy Gamblin, 2920 Yale Place. I just looked it up about the data centers. We don't need these. They will make people sick. I just looked it up. If I can look it up, y'all can look it up. And I'm asking y'all, please, do like the county did. Have some guts and put a moratorium on it for a year, please. Like they said, y'all work for us. And then number two, Stand for the Bible, do not promote sin. Y'all need to look at the alcohol by the drink that y'all promoted Monday through Friday, y'all need to do away with it. You listen to Green River, I mean Green River District when they said give out the free needles, I know why they were doing it, to say cut down on diseases, but y'all aiding to the problem. It's promoting more drugs. We don't need that in this city. Please do the right thing. Stand up for the Bible. Do not promote sin. Have a blessed evening.

Yeah, now, I normally don't come up here, but I was with the DCPS Commissioner's Office for over two years, and I will say, My childhood had some drug stuff in it, and I'm not here to support drugs, but what I will say is best evidence definitely does not support not doing harm reduction programs like needles, clean needles, Narcan. So if we're following best evidence in education, I'm sorry that is not the answer to not have needle clinics or Narcan. So from an educated standpoint and a professional standpoint, I did want to say that. Also, I brought a Bible, so I think we all are clear that I'm a Christian and I'm a biblical Christian. God talks about love above all else. There's only one commandment in that entire Bible that he says if you do that, all other commandments are met. I'm not sure if we all read our Bibles, but I sure do. That one commandment is love. I don't think... Helping people who are in a struggling place, which is exactly what Jesus preaches, is not meeting the Bible. So I personally as a Christian feel like I need to say that I'm a big Christian. And so I just personally don't fall in that type of Christianity myself. And I hope you all don't either. We follow best evidence and we move with love if we are going to follow the Bible. That's it.

Andy Gamblin again, 2920 Yale Place. I'm a born-again Christian. In the Bible, it says, repent. John the Baptist told him, repent. Jesus loves everybody. He never condones sin. He never will. Stand for the Bible. Like I said, Jesus loves everybody. He does not condone sin. He never will. In the Old Testament, when they had bad kings.

We live in the New Testament. We've had four people now speak twice, including you, Ms. Wright. So we're finished. We're not going to get into a debate between two people talking, okay? You can comment, but that's it, okay?

Just please stand for the Bible, okay? Thank you.

All right, listen. We're not going to have any more of this, okay? If you haven't spoken yet and you want to speak, you can come to the podium. If you've already spoken, you're done.

Yes, sir. May we have your name, sir?

Mark Pfeiffer.

He's our private city attorney, though. Yes. He loves to do that. He's not very professional.

I'll make a motion to enter into closed session under KRS 61.8101C to discuss proposed or pending litigation. Could I have a second, please? Second. All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. There will be no further business after the closed session.