City Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, good evening everyone. Welcome. [snorts] Uh, always good to see a good crowd here. I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order on January 27th, 2026 and ask the city clerk to please call roll. Commissioner Henderson, present. Commissioner Smith here. Commissioner Thomas. Commissioner Wilson, present. Mayor Bray present. I would ask uh Commissioner Smith to do the invocation. Then we'll remain standing for the pledge of allegiance. Father, we thank you for your grace and goodness. May your face continually shine upon us so that your ways may be known in our communities. Amen.

Amen. I pledge allegiance 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. [clears throat]

I apologize. I'm um been fighting a cold, so I'm a little horsearo. So hopefully that's not too too scratchy a voice. Um, first, do we have a presentation? Uh, we have our annual audit presentation from David Hampton, uh, at Keer CPA Group. So, David, come on up. Uh, we've been anxiously awaiting for the audit presentation. Make it real long. How long do you want? Yeah, I mean, I drag this out three hours if you all want to. We can actually get into the financial statements and I'll really Might be the last year to do the audit if you do that. [laughter]

I can be out here in [clears throat] about 20 seconds if you need to be.

So, [laughter] all right. Okay. Well, I hope y'all all had a chance to uh look over your um financial statements uh for tonight. Uh my name is David Hampton. I'm a partner with Keer CPA Group. Unfortunately, uh Lauren Delaney, who is an upcoming partner in our firm, uh she's not with us. She actually managed the job and performed pretty much everything on it, and I just [clears throat] kind of sat back in the review process, but I was hoping to introduce her, but she still snowed in. But, uh we'll try to get her over here some one evening so y'all can meet her. Uh uh Audre has had a chance and Stephanie's had a chance to work with her for several years. I think they're pretty pleased with her and so uh but anyway uh first off want to thank you all again for the opportunity of being y'all's auditors. Uh we want to thank uh the staff of the city for all their attention and assistance cooperations during the audit and we certainly uh want to thank you all for the opportunity. Especially want to hand out to Audra and Stephanie, their staff. They did a wonderful job again this year. Um, of course, John was here and he's always done a wonderful job as well. But, you know, now we got rid of him. Now we got some good blood in now. We can move forward. No. So, I miss John, but I'm certainly happy to work with Audrey. I've been working with her for several years and extremely enjoyed it. But they've they really work hard for us to get get it done. So So uh this is your annual comprehensive financial report. Uh it consists of an introductory section, the financial statements which include our auditor's report, your basic financial statements, the management discussion, analysis, uh required and

other supplemental schedules, uh statistical section, and then a single audit section. So, that's kind of an overview of the report. Uh, on page 11 or page 16 of the PDF, and I don't think I didn't do a presentation. I didn't know if you had a PDF or not. So, anyway, this is our independent auditor's report on page 11. Uh, the second paragraph discloses our opinion. As noted, we've turned these statements are fairly stated in all material respect. This is known as an unmodified or clean opinion. uh no gap departures. Uh in the fifth paragraph and the first paragraph of the next page, we discuss the cities and our responsibilities. As your auditors, these financial statements are the responsibility of city. Our responsibility is express an opinion on these statements and notes. Uh with that in mind uh additionally as noted in paragraph 4 on page 12 we applied limited procedures to the required uh management discussion and analysis the pension and other post employee supplemental informations on pages 14 through 29 and 103 through 108. Uh because this information is not audit we don't express an opinion on this. And then as noted uh in the fifth paragraph, we did audit uh procedures on supplemental information included on pages 109 through 129, the schedule of expenditures of federal awards on pages 150 151 and a term these statements and schedules are fairly presented in all material respect. the second paragraph of page 13. Uh we do not audit the introduction or this fiscal section. So according we

don't express an opinion on those that information as well. And so that concludes our report on your financial statements. Uh because you are a governmental entity, you are required additional reports um under the governmental auditing standards. back on pages 152 and 153 toward the back of your uh actford. Uh this report will disclose our findings if any regarding internal controls over financial reporting and compliance with certain laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements uh in accordance with governmental auditing standards. uh in the paragraph our we note our responsibility is to consider the city's internal controls over financial reporting and compliance not for the purpose of expressing an opinion but for the purpose of planning and performing our our audit. So accordingly we do not express an opinion. Uh with that in mind, as noted in paragraph 4, we did not identify any deficiencies that uh as material weaknesses that we are required to report under governmental auditing standards. Uh in addition in paragraph five, it's noted as obtaining reasonable assurance. The city's financial statements are free of material misstatements. uh we perform test of compliance with certain laws, regulations, contracts and grant agreements and we note that no instances of of non-compliance or other matters that we are required to report under governmental auditing standards. So that's required report under governmental auditing standards. Um you are also required to have a report if you receive federal awards of more than 750,000. uh this is uh required under the US

office of management uh known as a uniform guidance compliance supplement. This report discloses our findings if uh if any regarding city's compliance that could have a direct or material effect on the provisions of your city's major federal awards or grant agreements. Uh as noted in the second paragraph, in our opinion, the city has complied with all material respect uh with these types of compliances that could have a direct or material effect on each of your major federal awards. Um as noted in paragraph five, compliance with federal statutes, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements is the responsibility of management. Uh in addition, the city is responsible for effective internal controls over compliance. As noted in paragraph six, our responsibility is to consider the city's compliance for the purpose of planning performing our audit to obtain reasonable assurance that the city has complied with type of compliances which could have a directed material effect on your financial statements and federal awards. Uh and as noted, we note that no instances of non-compliance or other matters required to be reported under the uniform guidance. That concludes our reports on your all's financial statements. At this time, I'm open for any questions. Any questions from commissioners? I want to make sure I want to just make clear that I want to make light of the of the fact that that we're going through this audit because it's very important. The city's very proud, you know, of our financial standing, the way that we handle our finances and, uh, it's really one of the things I think that sets us apart. So, uh, we appreciate you being here.

Well, we certainly appreciate being here and serving Euro's organization. You've got an excellent group of staff. They do an excellent job for you and they take it quite seriously what they're supposed to be doing and doing it the right way and we certainly appreciate that. It makes our job a whole lot easier. We're doing it the right way. So, great. Thank you. Again, thank you all for this opportunity. Thank you for being here. Feel free to reach out to me if you ever had any questions or to Laura. Uh and we're always available for any question. I look forward to meeting her at another meeting sometime. Yes, sir. All right. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Okay, second on the agenda, um before we bring uh Main Street up here, you know, the city in last year made a big bet uh on Main Street uh spinning that organization out of the city into an independent um 501c3 and we've seen some great um uh some great progress and um I want to welcome David here to give us an update. Um, I see we got Blaine and Carly here, too. Aren't you gonna let them talk? Oh, yeah. [laughter] It's the David Blaine Carly show. It's a dance.

Welcome.

Great. Yeah. Thanks for uh letting us come talk. Yeah. It was six months ago, 7 months ago when we were first uh framing up the idea of of turning this into a 501c3. So, um, you know, we've had, uh, a great 6 months and as you all know, I mean, there's a there's a buzz downtown right now and, you know, we'll take some of the credit, but it's also the big credit is people know that we are investing in downtown. They know y'all's commitment uh, to the downtown market and a lot of things are happening. So, so we want to kind of report on some of that uh and what we've sort of seen and what we've been involved in and then also then where we're where we're going over the next uh 6 months uh to to finish up this year, you know, uh in terms of our our first year of existence. Uh we got some of our board members here. Uh so, I mean, we've got a great board. It's uh you know, we got eight people who are all downtown committed uh individuals. So, you know, they've all got a big stake in making downtown successful. uh Blake uh Calhoun and of course Carol were our original board members who really we helped set this thing up initially uh in sort of designing how it would work. Uh Carrie Hopper Sigma is here today. Joe uh is here and Deb Donkey and Donkey and Alexis Mars uh as well are on our board. And so um we're very proud of of of what we're being able to pull together there. and um you know we are trying to make a lot of big decisions to to help make things work. So it's great to have a a board that's so uh uh incited in terms of understanding what's happening downtown and gives us some great advice. And then then our management team uh Carly Dick is our assistant manager. Blaine McDonald is our executive director. Uh they are a great team. Uh you know both of them come from experience in working in the city. uh they they brought a lot of energy

downtown that you that you guys have seen and um you know they're they're a lot of fun to work with. They've uh reduced my age about 15 years and just [laughter] trying to keep up with them and so it's it's been a lot of fun. Um Blaine, why don't you come on up and uh you know, let's we'll talk a little bit about um you know, what is Main Street? What are some of the functions of Main Street? And um then we've got a few numbers. You know, I I used to have an old boss that says if you've got good numbers, talk about your numbers. And if you don't have good numbers, talk about something else. And so so we've got some good numbers. So we're going to talk a little bit about some of that as well.

Yeah, a lot of numbers actually. Um hi everyone. Thank you all for having uh both Carly and I tonight. This has been such a good transition for both of us and we're so excited that you all are investing in us as not only individuals but also as you know a Main Street organization because like David said we've really seen the boom. Um I'm going to kind of do the nuts and bolts. Uh one thing about Main Street, we operate on the main street realm of how everything works. So that model has four different pillars. Um those that you see on the screen, but the important part about Paduka Main Street is our goal is economic development. That's what we want to see because when people are in developing in downtown Paduka, that's when things start to happen. Um, and so that fourpillar approach is economic vitality, promotion, design, and organization. And I think it all works like a big wheel. So in order to achieve all of those and you have to have the promotion side of things. So that's the events, that's how you get feet on the ground in downtown Paduka. That's how people begin to fall in love uh with our area that we all love so much. And then it's also, you know, the merchant advocacy. What do our merchants need? How can we help them? How can we, you know, advocate for them? Uh, not only on social media, but to you all. What do they what are their direct needs and how can we help them? And so those events make the economic vitality part come to life because that's how things begin to happen. So we have them on the streets, they fall in love with downtown. You how can we help them put their business here? How can we help them start a business here? And then we come to the design. So when you have the feet on the ground, that's when people fall in love with the area, whether that be the gazebo, whether that be market house, whether that just be the streets and the beautiful buildings that have their own stories to tell. Um the beautifification side of things, you know, the beautiful flowers in the spring. It's all of those pieces working together. And then we have the organization. How do we fundra for our um organization? How do we keep the ball moving all the time? Um how do

we get more feet on the ground with volunteers? and they tell all their friends about how much fun they had volunteering at Paduka Main Street. Uh, and then it only continues to grow because more people begin to know about it. And then we have our accreditation. Um, how do we keep that accreditation growing and we become, you know, one of those um, highly recognized organizations in the Kentucky Main Street and the National Main Street realm. So that's my favorite story. Downtown at a glance. Uh, here are those hard numbers. We know everybody loves statistics and hard numbers. So, here we go. So, in our main street footprint, there are 189 buildings. Uh, 20 127 of those are businesses in operation, but you'll see the breakdown again. That doesn't include the 22 restaurants and bars. Uh, that doesn't include [clears throat] the 13 museums, galleries, and theaters. Um, now, you know, there's a little good and there's a little bit of bad. Uh, there are 21 vacant buildings. those are not for sale, but of those 21, 11 of those are either under construction or they've been recently sold. So, you know, that number drops down a little bit. So, really only 10 are truly vacant properties in our downtown area. And we know that um we're all working together to kind of fix that problem and get the ball rolling. Um and then there are three vacant buildings that are for sale in our downtown. So, you know, you drive by and you see the vacant properties. Well, there's a lot of things happening in downtown. We're just not there just yet. So, we're very excited about that. And our downtown has a rate of 87% building occupy occupancy. So, that's something that we're very proud of because some of you will remember when that number was 50%. So, that's again something that we're really proud of and we can't take full credit for it because a lot of things were happening before us, but you know, we're able to use our platform to get the word out about those projects so that more projects will continue to happen in our area. Um, so then our six-month growth, like I said, we really hit the ground running

in July and we've we're so proud of the success that was already happening and then the success that's happened in those six months. So, there are 26 development projects in our downtown area. That's both complete and in progress in the last 6 months. And I think that's a number to be truly proud of. Um, $14.7 million in reinvestments happened in quarter 3 and quarter 4 of last year. um that number is three times higher than it was in 2024. So that's a big jump and and I mean it's a big jump. And in quarter three and quarter 4, nine buildings were sold. So that really hits all the developmental side of downtown. And then we go into the downtown [clears throat] events. That's kind of the fun topic. Um there were 11 holiday events in downtown Paduka. You guys will remember the big Christmas tree came through and made its way to the cap. if you saw the finished product, it was beautiful. Um, and there were a lot of people in downtown that night. So, I think that gave us a lot of uh excitement to keep doing things like that, even if it's just a quick little three-hour event in downtown. Um, and then we had monthly merchant meetings, which we still have. We had our January one. We had a lot of people there, a lot of people excited for 2026 and our merchant community. Um, we had our upstairs downtown showcase. So that was actually you got the opportunity to go into a lot of the downtown properties to see what residential living there looks like, maybe even to spark your own um mind to put your own property in downtown to become a resident because you know it's a great walking area. We we walk everywhere. Um and then we had our pork stock fundraiser which kicked off barbecue on the river. Uh another event that everybody was excited for because we had a big rain plan and luckily we threw it all together and it still happened. Um, but again, it shows the support we have from our merchants because we were able to say, "We have 500 people that we have to put in downtown. Can you help us?" And they did and they showed up and showed out and that was something that we're very proud of because it shows that we have a great

community and I don't think I have to tell anyone in this room that. Um, and then we had six cocktail trails, two music festivals. So, there was a lot happening in six months. And I would say that I pat my team on our backs because holy cow, this was not something that was done by one person. Um, and then the other side, so with both the development and the events happening in downtown Paduka, just the snap of a photo or a quick video, we throw it on social media and you see those million numbers. Um, those two combined put us right at that 2.5 million engagements, followers, um, all tied into one number. So, it's something that people are noticing what's happening in downtown Paduka or they hear, you know, what is Paduka Main Street? So, they search us. So just that quick interaction makes that big number there and more people again are talking about it and wanting to know what's going on in downtown Paduka. One thing we began doing at the end of the year was um the weekend roundup. Um so one thing about social media is you know you can put out all kinds of stuff happening in downtown but if people don't know about it they're not going to come. So but just by making that quick a minute and a half video so many people knew what was going on in downtown Paduka so they were able to come. and that's something that we're going to continue to do. Um, yeah, so just pictures and videos and getting the word out there has been something that we've seen. Um, that's just been very successful and it's very quick and easy. So,

and you know, in terms of goals, yeah, stay up here. The, um, when we first set up, I mean, be honest with you, we didn't know exactly what goals we were supposed to set up, you know, and what we could achieve. Uh but you know, we said we wanted 10 new businesses this year. We've already got 10 new businesses. And I think, you know, we're on a a glide path to at least have 20 uh new businesses by the end of June. That'll be new downtown. Apartments, condos take a little longer. Obviously, you know, usually that's a two-year kind of construction process, but uh we're making progress. You know, we we'll hit that number. We need some more developments going on down there. That's got to be a priority. Continue to recruit more developers. And I'll talk a little bit more about that. And uh and then the events, you know, we've already almost hit our 25, but you're going to hear in a second about what some of the plans are for the summer. And so, you know, we'll be over 40 events. Um we needed to raise money. You guys asked in our contract, you know, you should raise at least $50,000 of your first year budget. So, we've done that now. And you know, I think based on where we are, we're going to be over 100,000 before the um you know, before the end of June. So, we're making really good progress there. We've started a you know, a formal campaign that uh Carly and Blaine are are actually recruiting businesses and uh you know, we're uh happy to announce that uh we now have our presenting sponsor lined up, which is FNB Bank. And so they're going to be our our lead sponsor for the whole summer music series and and for this year. And so we're very excited uh about them. They uh you know, they actually underwrite a lot of investments downtown. And so it's it's a very natural relationship there. But uh we're also then going to be rolling out some of the other uh big investors. A lot of companies are still in the process of trying to make decisions, but hopefully by the end of February, we'll have the the the [clears throat] total list uh

completed and uh we'll be able to start communicating uh that who who those uh organizations are that are making those big investments. Volunteer hours uh we're going to need a [snorts] lot more. We're going to need a lot more even than the 4,000 that we have. But, you know, we're we're doing very very well in terms of getting that set. So far, it's mainly been around our committees and getting uh people to who have volunteered to work on all the different committees that Blaine was talking about earlier that you know we have committees on the for economic um development and promotions and uh design and organization and so now we're going to need a lot of volunteers for all the uh summer activities and so that's going to be real key.

I'm going to hit the button here and then uh so this is this is where we're going next six months. This is our primary focus activities. Business recruitment, you know, we want to continue to recruit businesses. Businesses show up two ways. One is they just show up and uh and that's the the best kind. You know, literally the first second day we were open where we just rented the office. No chairs. Yeah. We didn't have any [laughter] we had uh an individual walked in and said, I you know, I'd kind of like to move downtown Paduka and relocate to this area. And uh you know we walked David and I literally were standing just like this and we looked at each other and we were like [laughter] Yeah. So we started walking say this really works. Yeah. Let's come back tomorrow.

Yeah. We walked around town, showed her different properties, you know, and you know, and now she's, you know, she's uh in business downtown. And uh so we've done 45 outreaches to other organizations um that are not in Paduka to try to uh entice them to to come to Paduka. We've done uh uh four site visits. We've got two companies that are we are in negotiations with and uh we've got three others that are are shortlisted and you know we're and we're still trying to get more and more and that's comes into play with with the commission because we'd love to engage you guys, you know, once we get somebody who's very interested to help close them on why they'd want to uh invest and come to Paduka. [clears throat] And so that activity is is hopping and and that's that's moving along uh very nicely. And then um we really at this meeting we're announcing the Fridays after five music festivals. And Blaine, why don't you talk a little bit about Yeah. why that is.

So when Carly and I um took this job, so many people were coming up to us and saying, "Please bring back downtown after dinner. Please bring back downtown after dark." And Carly and I would just kind of look at each other like, "Okay." You know, neither one of us were here when all of that was happening. So we reached out to our friends and our business partners in downtown and we were like what did you like about this? What did you not like about this? And so to for our knowledge we now know that we have taken down town downtown after dinner and really elevated it. So it's going to be 10 weeks, 10 straight weeks of music from June the 5th to August the 7th. And it's going to be 30 different bands in those 10 weeks. So each week, um, Fridays after 5, you know, we gave it the name so that no one was confused when it was and no one was confused what time it was. Um, so while it's kind of the name doesn't really tie into downtown Paduka, it ties in everything else. Um, so yeah, three stages per week, we're going to be able to shut off um the first and second blocks of Broadway and kind of bring in Wilson Stage and add two more stage aspects to the um to the festival. And we're super excited because, you know, there's the opportunity there for some vendors. Our downtown merchants have the opportunity to put um their own, you know, movable storefront into the first and second blocks. Um and maybe it becomes an innovation hub of sorts that we can grow small businesses right there and they can become um able to put in a shop in downtown their own because that's where they got started. Um and yeah, we're working with different bands and different partners, both local, some Nashville, some young, some old. So, we're super excited. Yeah. So, that's going to that's going to be a big deal. Uh we do have some, you know, some really good names. We've probably got 24 something of the 30 uh groups. So, if you know somebody else that you'd like to be playing, we're going to one of the stages will be youth. Uh so, we'll have uh you know uh youth performances every Friday night as well. So, so that's going to be exciting. That's where we're going to

need a lot of the volunteers. Uh, one of our volunteer strategies is to recruit organizations, charities to to help um provide some of the staff and then they would get some of the proceeds from from some of this as well. Almost all this is being funded through those corporate sponsors that are, you know, bringing money. We'll have all the stages. We'll have naming rights on the different stages, VIP seating in uh, you know, the different stages. So, it's it's going to be a lot of fun and uh, you know, it's really going to rock downtown uh, all summer long here. Uh we just hope it doesn't rain on every Friday. Don't even I shouldn't even said that. I shouldn't even said that.

Other things we're doing, the day jobs, we've got to get our accreditation right and uh so, you know, we're working on that. Um Blaine [clears throat] and Carly are are going to the national convention. They've done the state uh event. Carly just finished the accreditation um um uh report for the state and federal. So, we're we're very optimistic, you know, that we'll get back in good standing. Uh, from from that perspective, uh, our board and uh, needs to go through official training and we've got that already lined up and we'll be doing that with our staff and volunteers as well. Uh, each of our committees that I mentioned earlier. um they all have agendas of both uh operational issues to to address but also strategic things about you know what are things we ought to try to do in Paduka that we hadn't thought about in the past and I expect some of these things we'd be coming back to you guys and talk about you know could we do this kind of event could we make this kind of investment downtown so that's what I hope you'll be hearing about here in the next uh few months is some of the results coming out of those committee meetings And then, you know, what Blaine Carly has done on this promotion stuff is just magnificent. Um, we we need to start doing a newsletter, too, though, just so everybody knows what's going on, which is a little more uh nuts and bolts of things we've been accomplished, things we got going [clears throat] on next month. So, you're all going to start receiving uh monthly newsletter, and we'll kind of figure out how to uh publicize that to a a broader audience as well. But communication is obviously so important on this. And then, you know, what we've also learned is it takes lots of months to plan all these things. So, so we've got to already start thinking about what are we going to do at Christmas? What are we going to do with the fall activities and and kind of get uh all that figured out? Do I have another slide? Okay. So, so we we shot through that fast. Um but, uh let me just stop there. And y'all have any

questions or uh concerns or things you want us to deal with? you know, when we uh released you guys to uh to to start your 5.1C3, I was a little leerary of doing that simply because I guess it had never been done before. But even before uh your report tonight, I was convinced that this was indeed a good move for our downtown and for our city. [snorts]

And I was just thinking if I had anything to bring downtown, I would bring it simply because of the inviting and calming uh personality and demeanor of Miss McDonald. I have I [laughter] have I have enjoyed seeing her on Facebook with the social media. It has been exciting just to watch. And so with you, we'll we'll we'll put you in there. And with you and Blaine and Carly and the staff, I I think this has been a really plus or is a plus for for us in downtown.

I I absolutely 100% on what Commissioner Henderson said, and I I really like the idea. You know, years ago, a lot of these events were just to get people downtown, which is great, but I really like the focus on not just getting people downtown, but also supporting the merchants because just an entertainment venue for people come down there without supporting the downtown is and [clears throat] then supporting downtown is really good because that's what makes things work downtown is the businesses and attracting more businesses. So, kudos to you all. I'm I'm really pleased. I think y'all are doing a great job.

I love everything you're doing and I want to be you when I grow up. [laughter] I think you all the spirit, the passion, Yeah. everything that you all Thank you.

Well, [clears throat and cough] I concur with all that and I made a few notes. Um first of all, I want to thank the board members uh for serving. Uh I'm reminded every day I appoint to 31 32 boards and I'm reminded every day the importance of the strength of a board and so you guys have done a great job of of selecting board members but I just want you to know how much we appreciate your service. Um [clears throat] you know one of the things social media has been crazy 2.24 million engagements. I mean that's I mean people I mean we serve 8 to 10 counties in western Kentucky plus southern Illinois, you know about west West Tennessee and um uh you know getting people to come to our downtown that social media really uh it really helps um jobs in our community drive downtown because all this that we're working on downtown. We got to have support. I mean, we've got to have a reason. We got to have people that want to come downtown. And, you know, this community is bursting or getting ready to burst with projects um in particular nuclear. So, I do hope that you're talking with the some of our new nuclear uh partners, you know, about u getting involved in downtown because that's going to help them recruit, you know, as as they are looking for new employees. So, um the newsletter, um I you know, we've got we've got our own newsletter, uh or we like to refer to it as Pam Grahams. Um, but [clears throat] we have 10,000 people on it. So, I don't know how we can, you know, how we can work with you on that. Um, I mean, we can't manage your newsletter, but maybe we can

somehow work together uh to give you access to, you know, some of our folks. I think that would that would make a big difference, you know, somehow. And, um, and then I'm also I just want to make an a comment. I'm uh my wife and I, Angie and I went to a musical performance uh last week. It was awesome. I mean, I'm just u blown away by the musical talent, you know, that we have in our community. A lot of people working on that. So, I hope uh that we can find it sounds like you got six slots opening, you know. So, I've got one I could suggest.

[laughter] [clears throat] But um you guys are doing a great job and uh we're so appreciative of the partnership and it it just shows the value of leadership and uh choosing the right folks, getting the right people on the bus. So, well, we appreciate that. We're we're honored to do this. You know, when you love your job, it's a lot easier. And uh you know what I see in Bla and Carly particularly, they love their job and uh that's pretty clear.

Yeah, it's very clear. And so so we're having a lot of fun and uh you know y'all support is everything and so you know we'll continue to u u push the envelope a little bit and in terms of what we can do and what we uh will try to do and you know we value y'all's opinions and direction and leadership as we uh keep going on this thing. Okay. Commissioner Smith and I would be grateful and delighted to be a part of the Friday amplifier. [laughter] Yeah, absolutely. Performance and Commissioner Wilson, we'd all like to be part of that. You all [laughter] we could do an insult thing or a roast. We could roast each other.

We need comedians. That's the one thing we haven't tapped into yet. So, we we need to separate these two. [laughter] It's a it's a problem. So, um [clears throat] I will have to say Carly laughed at the social media comment because um if you all could see the blooper reel in my camera roll. Um yes, that's all I have to say. [laughter] Thank you so much. Thank you guys. Hey, mayor. Were you referring to the Bloom initiative? Uh that's part of it. Yeah, that's one of the things. Incredible. This last week I didn't I was out of town for that. That was really good, too. So, there's just a lot of things going on with music. So, okay. Um, [clears throat] city manager, are there any additions or deletions uh to the agenda?

Mayor, none this evening. Okay, we will uh we've got a new employee introductions and um I'd [snorts] ask um uh Chief Kyle uh to come up and make those introductions.

Good evening, mayor, commissioners, city manager, and city clerk. uh this evening. We're excited to while uh one of them's been with us for a couple months, we've been late getting him on the agenda. Uh we're really excited to uh introduce these two guys to you because they're [snorts] kind of rounding out uh some vacant positions that we've had uh in our fire prevention vision for a long time and uh we're getting some experience here as well and just excited about what they're bringing to the team. The first is Deputy Building Inspector Scott Herren. He started in August of this of last year. He's got 35 years in construction of residential and commercial experience and spent eight most recently spent eight years as a third party inspector working on projects for Toyota. Uh he moved to Paduka to be close to his family. So Scott Herren,

welcome Scott. Uh secondly, we have Chris Lyens who uh came to us in October of last year. He's from Mayfield and worked uh retired from Mayfield Fire Department after 20 years of experience. He's also worked in construction while he was at the fire department on his off days because fire firemen have jobs on their off days in case y'all hadn't heard that. [clears throat] But uh and he ran a small business on his own. So, we're excited to have him. We originally hired him to be our fourth code [snorts] enforcement inspector, but Steve threw a kick in that by retiring last fall as well. So, we're excited to have Chris on board. Welcome.

Welcome guys. Um I just uh I'll just make a couple of remarks. I mean the the the fire prevention department there's been a lot of focus on the fire priv fire fire prevention fire prevention and code enforcement and uh you guys are coming into a a team that's um you know the commissioners have been had a lot of focus working to you know make uh improvements and and really we've got a rental ordinance that we're considering right now which is going to we're going to require a lot of finesse uh as we get out there once we get it. And um so you guys are going to be very important to uh a lot of our initiatives. So we look forward to working with you.

Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. [applause]

Okay. So we'll move to the consent agenda. Items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the board of commissioners and will be enacted with one one motion and one vote. There will be no separate discussion for these items unless a board member so requests in which event the item would be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. So the city clerk will read the items unless anybody has an item they'd like removed. So, city clerk

approved minutes for the January 13, 2026 board of commissioners meeting. Receive and file documents. Appointment of Latoya Burton Richardson to the Human Rights Commission to replace Robert Hernandez who has resigned. This term shall expire July 25th, 2026. Reappoint of Mark Burkeman to the Electric Plant Board. Said term shall expire February 6th, 2030. Reappoint of Marcus Turnley to the board of ethics. Said term shall expire February 10th, 2029. Personnel actions. A municipal order authorizing the finance director to make payment to the McCracken County PVA in the amount of $58,265.50 for the GIS consortium's portion of the aerial imagery of McCracken County. Municipal order authorizing the public works department to release a request for bids for the city hall administration renovation. Municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute an application for a Kentucky Fire Commission personal protective [clears throat] equipment grant in the amount of $7,000 accepting any grant funds awarded by the Kentucky Fire Commission and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to same a municipal order declaring the real property located at 3110 New Hold Road Road, Paduka, Kentucky to be surplus property. Authorizing the real estate purchase agreement for the sale of said property and consideration of $1 and authorizing the mayor to execute the agreement deed and all documents related to same. A municipal order approving and authorizing the execution of an agreement to renew the employment agreement with the [snorts] city manager Darren Jordan. A municipal order amending the fiscal year 2026 position of pay schedule for the full-time employees of the city of Paduca, Kentucky. A municipal order amending the fiscal year 2026 job grade schedule for the full-time employees of the city of Paduka, Kentucky. a municipal order authorizing the application and acceptance of a US Environmental Protection Agency communitywide brand brownfield assessment grant in the amount of $500,000 to continue with assessments and redevelopment planning with emphasis on city-owned properties and acquisitions of new properties. A municipal order authorizing and directing the city manager to release a request for proposals for the fiscal year 2026 cyber security assessment. a municipal order declaring certain police

vehicles to be surplus property and approving the [clears throat] transfer of surplus police vehicles to the Paduka Independent Schools and consideration of $37,000. So moved. Second call roll. Commissioner Henderson I. Commissioner Smith I. Commissioner Wilson I. Mayor Bray I. So we have three municipal orders tonight. The first one is our capital improvement plan. And I know that uh Audra and her team and city manager have been working on this. This is very important to the city as we look into the future to see where we need to make our investments. And so Audrey, welcome. Thank you very much. Um I too really like my job and

[laughter]

uh so I'm really excited to present this to you tonight because I think this is going to be a really great step in terms of strengthening our long-term financial planning. like you said, looking more [clears throat] out into the future and uh being prepared [snorts] for things that uh that are going to come our way. Uh so I'm going to start by explaining tonight what a capital improvement plan is. It is a long range planning tool that outlines the city's major capital projects, equipment replacements, and infrastructure investments over the next five years. And it includes their estimated cost and uh proposed funding sources. I also uh is very important to explain what it is not. So this adopting this plan tonight does not establish or authorize any appropriations. All projects are subject to separate approval through the budget process that we're getting ready to roll into. So the question may be why why are we doing this capital plan then? If it doesn't set appropriations, why are we doing it? Well, there's several reasons listed up here, but I choose to describe this as a road map. Um it organizes and prioritizes our needs in a structured manner from now until five years uh down the road. Thus the road map. Uh in doing that it keeps a database of projects so that nothing falls through the cracks and it keeps our budgets more predictable and we have fewer emergency costs and we can also look ahead toward funding strategies having all of our needs laid out. And so all of this uh speaks to the importance of long-term planning. Uh and evidence of this uh long-term planning can also be advantageous the next time we get a bond rating, potentially increasing our rating, which would lead to lower interest rates on future bonds. So this is the timeline of how the pro uh how this project came together. Knowing that it would require a lot of time and effort, we started um educating the directors about this during this

past spring during the the fiscal 26 operate uh budget process. So, we uh laid out the timeline with them, kind of got them thinking about it, and then projects were submitted through September using our uh capital project software. Uh we then began a reviewing and ranking process with the city manager's office followed by an assignment of potential funding sources to each project. So, this plan contains 38 projects and the total cost for all years is 104.2 million. I I want to point out a few things that this plan does not include, things that you might be looking for, but they are not they're not in here. And that's uh any enterprise funds such as solid waste, those are all handled in accounting like a separate business. So, any capital improvements for solid waste um are within that fund. We also don't include replacement vehicles in this plan because we have our fleet uh management plan that we do that we uh budget for separately. And also paving is not included. That goes through um our MAP fund. We do have some road projects that but those are like new construction or mass improvement. It's not it's not paving. So that has its own um fund it's done through. So right here is a listing of all projects by type. And as you can see by looking at this, the majority in terms of project cost are within facility improvement replacements and storm water improvements. This next chart uh displays all of the projects by priority with imperative being the projects that must be done kind of working its way down to the bottom ranking which is desirable which means we would like to do this but it doesn't have to be completed during the time frame of this plan.

So tonight I thought I would highlight my presentation the projects that were ranked as imperative. I've got two slides here um that show these projects. There's a variety of project types. I noticed as I was studying this how it fell out in our ranking process. It includes a variety of project types. There's facility improvement replacement, parks and trails, storm water improvements, land improvements. Um I was interested to see how after we did this [clears throat and cough] it was actually quite a variety of of items. So you can see that's that is the total of the imperative. Okay. The next slide identifies the varying funding source the various funding sources that were assigned to each project. And again, the the assignment of these potential funding sources is just a starting point. That is uh you know, when we get to actually budgeting for these projects, that will be what we look at first. It does not mean that [clears throat] it's it's permanently identified with that source. That's just where we're going to start. So, as we move in uh to the budget process over the next few months, the the available funding sources will be more defined and we'll be able to identify which of these projects will we will be able to fund for fiscal year 2027. And that leads me to my final slide which is next steps. So once this plan is adopted, we will be utilizing it in the 2027 budget process and once final budget decisions are made, we will amend this plan to reflect what actually happened. So we will have a clean plan through 2027 and use that as the starting point for our new plan uh which will be 28 through 32 that will start in September of next year. So it'll be an annual plan of adoption and then amended after

rolling five years. Yes. Okay. Yes. And so next year uh should should go a lot uh more smoothly and with more ease because we'll have something to start with. It'll be adjusting, moving. There'll be some new things and there'll be some circumstances that have changed, but we'll have something to start with. Does anybody have any questions? Questions, commissioners? [clears throat] I think by looking at it, so you're saying it's it's the road map. It's where we would want to be if [snorts] we had all funding sources that we wanted.

It's nothing that's committing us to any particular project. These are just the needs that have been identified for the city moving forward. Correct. It is um it is a it is a tool in the budget process and so it gives us uh that that starting point to say hey we [snorts] are being aware that we've got some major uh u items that are going to have to be considered in the near future uh in the next 5 years. Um, and we want to be thoughtful about it, begin having those conversations, and so they just don't show up on year five and say, "Oops, we should have been planning for this, you know, four years ago." And we can remove and or take off anytime.

Yeah. And each budget process, that's what Audrey was talking about. As we go through the budget process, that's formalized whatever comes out of the budget, then it puts back in the plan, and then we come back and it starts all over again. And as you all know, I retired out of the the private sector and big company [clears throat] in, you know, that ran large distribution centers and had to make, you know, big big acquisitions of equipment and and this is something that's used in the private sector to keep your eye on the ball on the big, [snorts] you know, the big amounts of money that you're going to have to spend. And and you know, that rolled up from the bottom and and that's exactly what this has done. We've gone to the directors. We said, "Where is our needs? What are our most critical needs?" So, this is not,

you know, the, you know, just the finance department saying, "This is what we need. This is this is all of our managers with their input." So, I think it's very important that that we do it and it'll change every year and I just really appreciate all the time and effort you put into it. Thank you. Yeah. I I I love the continuity it provides, you know, of changes that occur over the years, you know, with the commission, um, with staff. It just keeps a living document so nothing falls through the cracks and it just, you know, keeps everything in perspective of what all we have going on. Very good. Okay. Anything else? Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Audra.

You ready for me to read? Yes, please read it. A proposed motion that the board of commissioners [clears throat] adopt a municipal order entitled a municipal order adopting the fiscal year 2027 through 2031 capital improvement plan. So move. Second. Call roll. Commissioner Henderson. I. Commissioner Smith. [clears throat] I. Commissioner Wilson. I. Mayor Bray. I.

Okay. Uh the next item is a um an amount of money that the riverfront the riverport authority I'm sorry has the Paduka McCracken County Riverport Authority has come to us and they're in the pretty intense planning stages for [clears throat] the future and um one of the things they're planning for is a completely new riverport uh out at the Ohio River location of the triple rail site. And so in planning for that for [clears throat] that um what we're calling Riverport West uh they have some debt that they want to uh they want to retire and they've come to the city and county and they've asked us for um the total the total amount is 289,000 whatever two times this number is 145 314 24 and they've they've gone to the city and county and ask for a grant in that amount. And um Commissioner Wilson and I met uh with them. Uh Commissioner Wilson, would you like to make a comment about it? Um

sure. Well, I've met with them a couple of times about it. I'm [clears throat] also working with them very closely on advocacy side for Riverport West, and I think getting this cleared off of their debt list would be very beneficial to them. It is legacy debt from years and years ago. Um, the city has used money from the riverport before many years ago that they had for some projects that we were p pushing promoting at the time before any of us were on the commission. But I do think they are a really strong partner. They have a lot of potential for development. They're out of sight out of space uh here uh at the riverport downtown. They need new expansion. It is near also near the department of energy site which also gives it some opportunity to work with re-industrialization of the department of energy site. It can work with the triple rail site but it is also a new riverport facility for us and they have outgrown where they are and need more space.

So you want to talk about the grant? Uh we've gotten a $3.5 million grant already for the design of the new Riverport West, but uh I think we have in uh in our crosshairs, you know, a very large federal grant that we're working on.

The state did give them, I believe, 3.5 million to do all the the work for design and they they are almost ready. I mean right now the federal government is looking for projects that are build ready like this that are building up the infrastructure within the country. Uh this would definitely be one of those. They are [clears throat] also we're asking the state for matching money from the the state government to match federal fun uh grants. So they are applying for three different grants from the department of transportation. It's a little unusual but it's very common now to be applying for multiple grants through one department. Uh so all of that has been cleared. They will be having [snorts] meetings with the Department of Transportation. Uh obviously our local legislators are helping lead the effort to get the federal matching money that would do that. So this really just helps get them one step closer to having this closed out down here so that they can pursue new, you know, new funding for a new facility without being hampered with old debt.

Any question? Yeah. But do they are they looking at moving their entire operations out? No, they're still they still keep this one here. So, this will still be very much of a working Riverport for them. As I said, they've out of room. There are some facilities in Southern Illinois that have Town International, for example, is one that's already talked to them about using it. They use them now. They would be able to use that one. I I do think that there will be some projects coming in at Triple Rail and at the DOE site that will also be using it. Excellent. Questions? Anything? Commissioner Anders? I'm fine. Thank you. Okay. I'll ask the um city clerk to please read it.

A proposed motion that the board of commissioners adopt a municipal order entitled a municipal order authorizing the finance director to make payment to the Paduka McCracken County Riverport Authority in an amount of $145,3124. So moved. Second. Call. Commissioner Henderson. I. Commissioner Smith. I. Commissioner Wilson. I Mayor Bray I. And the third municipal order um for this evening um I'm going to let uh our city manager do his best to talk about uh the Duke and Duchess Foundation initiative. Okay. You want the clerk to read it first or you'll be talking?

Sure. That'd be great. A proposed motion that the board of commissioners adopt a municipal order entitled a municipal order authorizing a matching grant for the Duke and Duchess Foundation of Paduca, Kentucky in an amount of $25,000. So moved.

Second. Mayor and commissioners, um as uh you are well aware, uh the historic nature of the Duke and Duchess awards for um for the city, uh handing those out for uh for um recognition of of service and and other things. And so the there's been a foundation uh outlined and being brought together uh to expand upon that Duke and Duchess to actually do some more um charitable work in the community and leverage private dollars to continue [cough and laughter] to do that. And so the request has come before us. uh they have uh raised [snorts] already uh right at $25,000 and help match that um that that amount for the city to uh increase their foundational uh bank so they can start looking at those uh those areas in the community where they can make some some positive improvement.

So, um I think you all are aware of the work that we've been doing to establish the foundation. We have a couple of ladies here tonight that could answer any questions. They're on the advisory board soon to become a full-blown foundation. So, ladies, would you like to come up and just answer any questions and tell us the work you've been doing?

Yeah, we've got uh some very brief prepared marks. First of all, I'd like to introduce u Jennifer Macintosh Lasher and I'm Ray La Trigg and we are representing the board of the Duke and Duchess Foundation this evening. So, I'll start. Jennifer will wrap it up and then we'll try to answer your questions. So prepared remarks are always nice. Glasses are even better. The Duke and Duchess Foundation of Paduca is an emerging charitable organization established to build upon a longstanding honorary tradition. Its mission is to bring together honores from across the country and channel their civic pride into meaningful support for Paduca McCracken County and the broader western Kentucky region. Modeled after several other well-known statewide philanthropic groups such as the Kentucky Colonels, the foundation is structured to award grants which will enhance quality of life and strengthen local nonprofits once it becomes fully funded and fully operational. A little bit in the way of the history, a call for organizational volunteers was issued back in March of 2025. It was followed very quickly by the working group's first meeting in May. Since that time, the group has drafted and adopted bylaws and articles of incorporation. We have developed a financial plan, and we have begun receiving donations through an account established with the Community Foundation of West Kentucky. Confirmation of the foundation's 501c3 status was received just last week. Additional efforts are underway to gather updated information for contacts of past honores as preparations are beginning for a public launch event scheduled later this year. Overall, the foundation seeks to transform a historic local tradition into a sustainable philanthropic resource, one that supports community-based initiatives, offers Duke and Duchess honores a meaningful way to remain engaged, and to provide significant support for our region. Ultimately, the foundation aims

to elevate the stature of the city of Paduca by strengthening the legacy of tradition born within a caring and forward-looking community. Very nice. Any questions? Questions? Okay, I'm going to recuse myself because I've been involved in this from the beginning. So, how do I do that? Step out. I just want to step right through. Step back through there. Oh, well, you can sit there, but you just need to Okay, as soon as he Are there any questions? No, sounds like a good project.

Okay, then I think we've already had a motion and second. So, city clerk, if you could call the role. Commissioner Henderson. I. Commissioner Smith. I. Mayor Pro Tim Wilson. I Good. I'm sorry to tell you that we just didn't think we could do it, [laughter] but the motion passed and thank you for your great work. I think it's a great idea. We all really do and we've seen the great work that have been that's been done in other organizations like this. So, thank you, Mayor Ray. I know this was your brainchild work on it. And thank you, Raila, and and uh Jennifer. Thank you for being here. Great job.

Yes. Thanks to the commission. We appreciate your have [clears throat] They sent out anything to pastor Dukes and Duchesses yet? Not yet. Okay. It's being planned. We do have a membership and marketing committee already. Okay. Okay. We have one ordinance to adopt tonight and I ask the city clerk to please read it.

A proposed motion that the board of commissioners adopt an ordinance entitled an ordinance amending chapter 70 article 3 of the code of ordinances related to the Brook Stadium Commission. This ordinance is summarized as follows. Sordance amends the composition of the Brook Stadium Commission to allow the board of commissioners to appoint one or more exhibition non- voting members to the Brook Stadium Commission to serve in an advisory role. Said member shall serve [clears throat] at the pleasure of the mayor and board of commissioners and shall not receive compensation. Further, the city commission appoints Eddie Jones to replace Dr. Frank Doc Haidig whose term is expired. Said appointment shall be for a term of January 27th, 2026 to December 5th, 2029. Further, the mayor with the approval of the city commission hereby appoints Dr. Frank Doc Haidider as an exeicio non- voting member of the Brook Stadium Commission to serve in an advisory role.

So move second. Any questions, discussions? I just make a comment. I think this is a great I'm on the Brook Stadium Commission and I think it's good because we're basically adding another board member and we're keeping Doc Haidig's expertise and experience. So, well, we're honoring the legacy of Doc Haidig as well. Absolutely. who's meant so much to this community. [snorts] Uh, call roll, please. Commissioner Henderson, I. Commissioner Smith, I. Commissioner Wilson, I. Mayor Bray,

I. We have two ordinances to introduce. And the first one is a street name change. And I'll ask the city clerk to please read it. A proposed motion that the board of commissioners introduce an ordinance entitled an ordinance renaming Downs Drive as Steve Dittle Drive. This ordinance is summarized as follows. This ordinance authorizes the renaming of the public street currently known as [clears throat] Downs Drive to Steve Dittle Drive. The board of commissioners finds that the renaming is appropriate, reasonable, and in the public interest in recognition of the long-standing public service of Steven D. Doodle. The board further directs that all applicable city, county, state, utility mapping, and emergency service records be updated to reflect the new street name. This action is taken at the formal request of McCracken County Fiscal Court, owner of the sole address affected by the name change.

So moved.

Second. So I'll um so this initiative um obviously and clearly got started upon the sudden and tragic death of uh Steve Doolittle who has served both uh the city uh and retired from the city and then is most recently as deputy judge executive at the county and uh his leadership um has left a footprint all over this community. all over this community and um uh I just want to thank Commissioner Bill Bartleman who really who's very passionate about getting this started and um and garnered support uh on the part of the fiscal court and uh talk with me and others about it and um and so the the fiscal court did pass a recommendation from the city standpoint. Uh the city is uh is hesitant to to change uh street names um because it affects a often affects a lot of people on on on the street with change addresses. In this case um it didn't change any addresses except that of the the sports park. And so it's a very short almost you'd say twob block um street uh from where you enter in uh by the Honda dealership into the main opening of uh of the sports park. And so that's the origin of of all of this. And I'll open it up to any questions or discussion.

Okay, we all good? No. Then we have uh one other um uh ordinance and I'll ask the city clerk to read that one as well.

A proposed motion that the board of commissioners introduce an ordinance entitled an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute a shy agreement with Chapman Property Development LLC accepting a subdivision shy bond in an amount of $150,000 accepting the street acceptance plat for Melody Lane and accepting the dedication of public rightway and public improvements. This ordinance is summarized as follows. This ordinance authorizes the mayor to execute a shity agreement with Chapman Property Development LLC, accept $150,000 shity bond, and accepts the street acceptance plat for Melanie Lane. The ordinance further accepts the dedication of public rightway and public improvements with city maintenance responsibilities to begin only after the required public improvements are completed, inspected, and formally accepted.

So move second. Greg, you want to tell us about this? Yeah. Good evening, mayor, commissioner, city manager, city clerk. Uh like uh the city clerk explained, this is a uh street improvement off of uh Nolan Drive over by uh Lone Oak Road. This would be the area behind um

McDonald's um over on Lone Oak. Give it by an idea. There's a apartment complex u Melody Hills has been uh under construction and this is the uh street extension that would allow access to that development about roughly a 300 ft long uh street extension. So, what are we actually voting on?

The acceptance of the uh dedication of the the rideway already exists is a little bit unique uh situation. Typically, the rideway would be dedicated at this time, but this rideway already exists. This is establishing the street itself. So, you're voting on accepting the um public improvements, the street, the drainage structures. Okay. The shy agreement to see this the completion. What's being built there? Is it um apartments? Okay. There's eight structures, I think, four units a piece. So, about 32 units. Okay. Good. Great. More. Okay. Need a lot more, don't we?

All right. So, thank you. and you can just stay up here cuz you're you're on deck. Um, okay. The next item, the last item on the agenda before the executive session is a discussion about uh the the build grant, uh the riverfront build grant, which is going great guns. And so we're all anxious to hear um how things are going. There are cranes in the river. We just go say it. Yeah, there are four cranes in the [laughter] river. It's amazing. You got to stop saying that. No, I love it. It's amazing. [laughter]

Uh, yes, you should all have a handout as well to help with the slideshow here. So, I'm just going to book. No, basically show some some pictures that kind of just walk through what the current status of the project is. CR [laughter] progress.

As a reminder, so this is the excursion pier that's currently under construction. You can see uh the cranes in the water and the uh piling being set and the concrete um panels all being said. This would be your deck [snorts] of your pier and just kind of the process of what's uh what's going on downtown. So, those are placed on top of the grade and then it's not like poured concrete. So, these were wait show a couple pictures. Hold on.

So, these were pre-cast uh panels offsite that were then [snorts] delivered and they set them on the pier on the uh uh piling and then basically when everything's in place, there will be some final concrete tie-ins that kind of help put everything together. But yeah, these were all constructed offsite. And we went and allowed to do that because uh it helped speed up the process. So during the time that um normally it would not be in the water and having to wait to be able to cure, they could go ahead and and prefab them and bring them on site. Go ahead.

Just some additional pictures of what the the panels uh in place and the Wow. The picture in the lower right can seem oh maybe [clears throat] the port of Paduca letters. These are the base that those letters sit on to give you an idea of what that will look like at the grand uh staircase opening. Oh yeah, I see.

But yes, the um Christmas tree opening. So now some of these pictures here, the one on the upper left is over by uh the convention center and looking at the Fourth Street opening there by the Holiday Inn and looking towards the main entrance uh to the convention center and the um improvements to the trail along there. And then the other two are the Compass Rose area and the um elevated terrace section, the Commons area, the Harrison Street uh opening Tell tell us about the compass or the comp would you you say compass?

Compass compass rose. Yeah. Um it's the centerpiece of that uh area of the project. When you walk through Harrison Street opening and then over towards the transient boat dock area. Um it is see if I have another picture. You'll see um well the upper left there. the in or the compass row, the north arrow is the the centerpiece of that design where you will be able to drive through but also host events um have uh ballers that are set up during uh normal times to help direct traffic but then can be removed to allow various events to take place in that area kind of be the showcase of the commons area. So, if you were looking overhead once it's complete, you'd be looking down on to what actually would be a compass and that's what you would visualize. And that's that's the inlay with the brick and everything. That'll that'll be that. It'll be a a major focal point in that area. Not only when you're driving through there, but as as Greg says, when we close off the area for special events, that'll be a nice focur.

Yep. You know, Mayor uh Kaylor is, I believe, the current chair of the Quilt Muse Murals Association, and I know that they have planned multip more, many more uh walls that they've already been paid for, or they're working with the artists to get those installed. Does this is there any funding in the build grant that would allow for like some park benches and tables or anything in that area? Nothing that accounts for that at this time. Um, no, nothing for that nature. It may be something that the city may want to consider at some time then kind of to make that more into a park area, especially as they develop that along that wall. Okay.

Well, especially that is the bike, isn't that the bike path right there? That's part of the trail. So, yeah, that would make sense. How how how much in the future is I think they have u a couple this year and then they have funding for have funding for four or five more walls. There are other um like shelters um on the at other locations on the project. I think there's even a picture. Yeah, I saw one. This next one here, this is actually the bus shelter by the quilt museum in the lower left. Okay.

And um show you on this next slide how well you can see the upper right hand picture. There are the shelters that are along the riverfront on the existing trail that match those that are on other locations of the trail in the city. I I'm sure we can design something in the future and budget for it in one of the future. I think that's a great idea. Make it kind of into a park there by the murals. [snorts] That bottom left was the amphitheater. Yes. Sorry. I'll jump back. Yes. Can you go into more detail about what that's going to involve? I see you [snorts] got a beautiful picture. So, yes, thank you.

There you go. Says it better better than I could. Here's your compass rose that we're talking about. And this is the the elevated amphitheater that would allow you to look out. Show it to the audience. Vanna, [laughter]

I'm just going to say since we still have Blaine and Carl and David here that amphitheater would be some great a great place for some events. [clears throat] would solve a lot of problems this year. [laughter] And then these are your portfolio. Oh, that will be there at the Christmas tree opening. Great. Pretty cool. Mhm.

Excited. And the lower right hand picture there shows the uh improvements at the convention center opening uh that were made for the traffic improvement. Yeah, there much improved. These pictures are showing between Harrison Street and Executive Boulevard openings. Just another uh way of looking at what the commons area is shaping up to be. the the trails, the um green space, the trees, the shelters along the trail, uh closer to the riverfront, just what that area is going to look like.

But probably asking a question you don't know the answer to. What type are these? Are these like a I got you, didn't you? Yeah, [laughter] I can find out for you. No, that's that's fine. I I know that um arburist was Jonathan Perkins was very heavily involved when the species was selected. right kind of tree that'll occasionally tolerate a flood maybe. Yes. Cool. Before you get into the money part, can can we talk about one more thing? You know where I'm going to go with this. When you drive through the the flood wall entrance, the two concrete monolith. Yeah. Whatever. Yeah. The buildings. I just buildings.

So, I mean, I just don't think we can leave. You're going to get to that. All right. Perfect. Oh, okay.

The fun part. You get to show all the pretty stuff. Um, we just wanted to kind of give an overview of where we are with our budget, with our project. Um, so this is where we have spent the money. This is or this is where our money is budgeted. You'll see that most of it is construction. The $21 million. Um, the 2.4 is our design and engineering. And then we have had a small amount of what we were call we call non-grant um expenses. So this is stuff that wasn't covered under the grant. The biggest portion of that was for our environmental.

I'm sure you all will remember the environmental uh that went on and on and on. So uh that's where we're um spending our money. That's where the budget breaks out. Um this is how much we've spent. Uh we're at about 15 million that's been spent. Um, we've got eight and a half to go. Uh, we're closing in on that. We'll, uh, have all of it. Promise you we'll spend it all. [laughter] Thanks. So, we wanted Any questions on what we've already gone over before we get to Mr. Wilson's. Thankfully, we were prepped. We were prepped for this one. You knew I was going to ask that.

We did. This is a This picture is very hard. And I'm Hang on. She's got it back on the money side on on the spending part. So on the money that we're getting that would come back to us from the tiff district. Mhm. That can be used for infrastructure. We missed this one. Okay. Can that can that be used? So it has to because it is in in under the the guidelines money that we get back in on the tip first has to go in towards debt repayment first. And so that that will those dollars come in will have to go first towards debt repayment. So debt repayment on on our on our bond money for Okay. So, it is being helped to pay for that. Okay, great. That's that was my question. I'm sorry, we did miss that slide. Is it being

Let me go back to that because we went through a calculation you and I did when we were talking about that. So, you know, the the tip money in any one year could be more than the bond payment for that year. And so that money could then be used for something else is the way I s Yes. And so let's just say that if we had bond payment uh in a given year of a dollar and our tiff monies that came in were a dollar, 100% of that has to go towards our bond payment because it's in the district. If our tiff dollars that came in were $1.50, that additional 50 cents could go into infrastructure inside the tiff district. It wouldn't have to go straight to the bond. So we could use it for other

use it for the but the dollars first in because it is in the tiff district. Oh no, that's good. To go to pay off debt, but it does help pay off the bond. Yep. Mhm. Okay. Okay. Anything else before we move on? I'm dead. Okay. Okay. Back to you, ma'am.

All right. So, I looked and I I I searched to find those monoliths in use, and this was the best thing I could find. Um, this is the 1957 flood, I believe. Um this is your um Water Street Jefferson Street opening. So we're driving in through what we call Greenwick Trail 5. Uh there's your [clears throat] gauge station. Here's your monolith. They were part of a coal shoot operation that came off of the I'll be there

off of the um river. I did find a picture of this when they were actually building the wall. I mean, they built the wall right up under that thing. Anybody has a lot of time and you want to see pictures of the wall being built, they're actually very interesting. That's that's what those are cuz, you know, everybody's like, "What are those things?" They were just support pillars for um a tramway over the br the wall into the river for coal. So, they can can they just be torn down? Yes. Yes, they can.

Yes, they can. So once again, we went to our um BFW, Jonathan Perkins. I said, "Jonathan, take them. Take them off." So that's what it would look like. This is an actual picture that he used and he just made the the columns go away. They could they could go away. Um [clears throat] we could paint them solid white. I mean, they're already white. We could repaint them and take those trees that are growing out of them out. Um or I said, "Show me something pretty." Well, at one time we had some potential artwork, some potential ideas for that.

We did have some potential ideas and they were a little over the top. So, I said, [laughter] "Show me something. We could paint them obviously quilts. We could put pictures on them. We could do something rivery. I think that's all that's what I've got. There was one uh I I believe from being on the river riverfront authority that had like welcome to Paduka, Port of Paduca, something that were letters that were running across from one to the other. I know they're not even, right? Yes, they are not. I've driven it enough lately to right

check all of that. But we did have some initial concepts of having some something going horizontally across here. Um I don't know how strong they are. I mean they're obviously strong enough to hold up, but I don't know what's inside of them. That would require That's a question I have is they're so big. They would imply they're pretty robust. What are they made? What's the center of them made out of that? I really don't know. It's so trees grow out of the top of them. Yeah. So, at least there's some they may be some soil in the middle in the top, but I'm sure most of it.

No. No. They're not storage. Someone said, "Oh, it's storage for part of the No, it is not a vault for the flood wall. They they they have no use for them right now. We have no Was there an estimate on just taking them down?" No. Let us ponder this a little longer. Yeah, we pondered it for a hundred years or 50 years. So, let us ponder. The pressure is on because I just don't see us wanting to roll out this big beautiful build project with those two things just sitting there still nothing done to them. Either take them down or let's figure out something to do to them. And then of course we have to find the funds to do that with. Right. Correct.

That's not included as part of the bill. And if we want to take them down, now's the time to do it. While that's, you know, if we just knew someone that had some sort of portable, robust ladder that was based on a truck that could drive over there to see what's how they're made would be kind of neat. Now, public works may know exactly how they're structured because they have gotten the trees out of top of them before. So, [laughter] so Chris Jarbert or you know and his folks may know exactly what they're made out of. Um, but I would say they're pretty

robust like you said. So, what's your estimate of when it would the project will be finished for [clears throat] us to say? I'd have a ribbon cutting or whatever of some sort. Some May, June, July, September, August, September, probably somewhere in the July to September range is what I would expect. We But we are on target and there is a deadline. Just I don't want it to make it sound like that. Oh, no. But we are on target. No, but if we were going to do something, I mean, that's going to take quite a bit of work, planning, ideas. I mean, you know, we have to do something in the next couple of months. We have to make a decision.

Well, yeah, because it needs to be done when we when the project is finished. I don't I don't think we should just leave those there without being without them being No. And and I've had that conversation with staff already. Yep. So, so next recommendation, my recommendation quickest probably is to take them down and then that gives you a clean slate for something in the future if you want to put something back to to tie into [snorts] with you give you a few years to look at how it's all being used and everything and then if you wanted to go back with something else there you could. But um

they don't have any special meaning. Correct. No, they they were just support. They were support for a chute. They they have historical significance in that there was a time long ago where our river was you at that point part was used for industry you know and and so you know Paduk has changed so much obviously in the last hundred years and um but I don't know that anybody would know that. I was gonna say how did you know that putting a plaque? Well, because I saw the pictures. I know, but before that you didn't. So, nobody would really know that. A lot of the buildings [laughter] that could be said about a lot of things. I just don't know that they have any

I I I don't want to make a decision, rush into a decision, but at the same time, I don't think we should ponder it for long. Drive by there, look at them, visualize it. Do we have to keep them for any reason? Because if you put artwork, you're spending money on them anyway. And in some ways, it's like we're doing this because this is ugly. and in the way. So, why not remove them? Um, if we have to get some pricing.

Yeah. And we'll we'll that we'll team will work together and and bring bring back a re a formal recommendation. But, mayor, to your point, you put me on the spot tonight, that would be my recommendation is is to remove them and it gives you a clean slate. But it also uh to your point, Commissioner, uh it is one less thing to keep managing and upkeep and all of that, you know, in the future. and they're going to I think uh you know you've got this $22 million project that you're doing to your point you know you need to do something with it so it doesn't detract from that. So so why don't you get us an estimate on taking them out? We'll do that. No problem.

Great job. We're all excited about the project and it's really that along with everything that's going on with Main Street. uh this I mean it's got a some great things going on. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, city manager. Any comments?

Uh just two real quick. Um [snorts] we um want to let the public know that the community southside chili supper uh that was scheduled for this week on Thursday has been moved uh to Thursday, February the 5th at 5:30 p.m. Uh it will remain at the WC Young Center uh which is located at 505 South 8th Street. Uh doors will open at 5:00 p.m. And for more information about that, you can contact our planning office. But uh uh because of the weather uh it has been postponed till February the 5th. Is there a program with that? Were you speaking? Okay. What time will that be? 5:30. 5:30. Okay.

And uh speaking about the weather uh you know our our crews uh you know were on top of it. Uh staying on top of it. Uh, you know, I know that the commission uh received at least one uh email, positive email from citizens uh appre giving appreciation and and just wanted to let our team know publicly how much we do appreciate those that have to to go out in the bad weather to get us uh where our our our facilities can uh get open. We get travel around in the in the community. It was um u I think they were they were on top of it, put in a lot of hours and they continued to stay on top of it. Yeah, I texted back and forth with Chris some. I mean, he's got a text from him late this afternoon and he's really pleased with the way things are looking. The sun helped a lot today.

Will they start back picking up trash tomorrow? That's the question I got. Right. That's the ultimate question. Yeah. Okay. Comments. Any comments?

I have a comment. And uh you know, we've got all these uh all these fiber companies putting in fiber and it just seems like they just don't Ah, thank you. It just seems like they uh they're under no rush to get it done. They've got a lot of yards torn up. They've got a lot of pieces infrastructure hanging off the poles. It just it looks bad and it it just seems like there's no is there is there any um any way when they do this type work? Do do they have any kind of uh rules

I found that they have to follow to get this work done x amount of time or can they just leave it going up indefinitely? And I'm I'm catching you all cold so the answer to that that you know our our engineering department uh is the one that manages those those um those so Greg could speak to it.

Yeah. Um so we do oversee the work that these fiber companies do with the underground installation and the ride ofway. They have to get permits with our office. We um oversee what the process looks like. As far as a time frame, um, no, there's no hard set you must have the project done in so many days. Um, but as far as any disturbance and restoration efforts, I mean, those are monitored and kept in check to make sure that things don't um, get out of hand. Um, some of the projects that are ongoing in the community though fall outside of that process. Any type of aerial work, uh, for example, um, that's kind of outside of our scope. We still reach out to them and help manage the project, but there's no um it's not tied [cough and clears throat] to their permit.

Is there some way where we can probably these other people are grandfathered in. Is there some way where we could specify if they're doing work, it's got to be done within a certain time window or some of this stuff's been going on, I think, a year. Um there's ways we can look at that and explore ways to kind of help keep the projects moving. um in a way that's going to be more beneficial to everybody. Something we would um should consider next time someone comes.

I I think they gave us a map, didn't they, of of where they were going to be in certain neighborhoods. It's just that I mean, I'm not defending them, but I it's a huge project them laying laying fiber all over the city. A lot of them have several thousands of feet scattered throughout all across the city. Um, like I said, it's just a large uh footprint and trying to keep track of everybody with that. Greg, maybe it'd be a good idea to get an update uh from each from whoever's laying fiber as to where they are in the project and maybe let the commission know. Yeah.

Just so we have an idea of just give us a snapshot of where where the projects are maybe to communicate concern, you know. I guess it is considered in a way a lot of capital investment coming into our community from these companies that are wanting to serve our citizens. But if I've got one of those in my front yard, I know I'm not too happy about it. I will say they did come into our neighborhood, tore up a lot of yards, but they did ref they did replace them and fix them. And that's the question I had that they were responsible for putting yards back together. I've received calls where yards are messed up. People are upset, but they did in my neighborhood. If you got that is a requirement that

if you got a yard messed up they let us know and we'll we'll get after them. Yeah. And I I took pictures and sent them to Yeah, we Yeah. Just want to make sure because I know that I know the others are going to ask the same kinds of questions. Okay. Thank you, Greg. Yep. Thanks, Commissioner Smith. Okay, that's it. [clears throat] We do have an executive session tonight. Uh we do not uh anticipate taking action afterwards and I would entertain a motion to go into executive session.

A proposed motion that the board of commissioners go into close session for a discussion of matters pertaining to the following topics. A specific proposal by a business entity where public discussion of the subject matter would jeopardize the location, retention, expansion, or upgrading of the business entity is permitted by KRS61.810 subsection 1G. So moved. Second. Call roll. Commissioner Henderson. I Commissioner Smith I Commissioner Wilson I Mayor Bray I