City Commission - Regular Meeting

probably about 40 years ago I went to the Olympic Games for the first time in a long first time ever and one of the things I was most impressed with I bought tickets ahead of time and every single event started exactly when it said it was going to so I'm kind of a I'm passionate about starting our Our meeting's on time. Welcome, everybody. I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order on July 28th and ask the city clerk to call roll.

Commissioner Henderson?

Present.

Commissioner Smith? Here. Commissioner Thomas? Present. Commissioner Wilson?

Present.

Mayor Bray?

Present. I'd ask Commissioner Smith to do the invocation and 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.

City Manager, are there any additions or deletions to the agenda? Mayor, none this evening. Okay, we'll move right to the consent agenda. Items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the Board of Commissioners, and they're enacted by one motion and one vote. There will be no separate discussion of those items unless a board member so requests, in which event we will remove that item from the agenda and consider it separately. The city clerk will read the items recommended for approval unless a commissioner has an item they'd like pulled off. City Clerk?

Approve minutes for the July 14th, 2026 Board of Commissioners meeting. Receive and file documents. Reappointment of Jenna Dawson and Latoya Richardson to the Paducah Human Rights Commission, said term shall expire July 29th, 2029. Reappointment of Bonnie Koblitz to the Tree Advisory Board, said term shall expire July 26th, 2030. Appointment of Deborah Calhoun to the Paducah Riverfront Development Advisory Board to replace Paul Grillo, whose term has expired. Said term shall expire June 25th, 2030. Personnel actions, a municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute a contract with Sprocket Incorporated in the amount of $100,000. A municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute a grant application and all documents necessary to apply to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for the county city bridge improvement funds, accepting any grant funds and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to same. A municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute an application for the Homeland Security Grant Program from the United States Department of Homeland Security. Federal Emergency Management Agency for bomb squad equipment upgrades in the amount of $56,500. Accepting the grant funds awarded by the State Homeland Security Grant and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to same. A municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute an application for the Homeland Security Grant Program from the United States Department of Homeland Security. Federal Emergency Management Agency for a mobile command center to be used by the Paducah Police Department in the amount of $286,332. Accepting any grant funds awarded and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to same. A municipal order authorizing and directing the city manager to release a request for qualifications for the design of a new police department facility.

So moved. Second. Call roll.

Commissioner Henderson.

Aye.

Commissioner Smith. Aye. Commissioner Thomas. Aye. Commissioner Wilson. Aye. Mayor Bray.

Aye. We have one municipal order to approve tonight, and I'll ask the city clerk to go ahead and read that, and then I would invite Michelle Smolin and Chris Yarber to come up and tell us about it.

A proposed motion of the Board of Commissioners to adopt a municipal order entitled, a municipal order authorizing and directing the Mayor to execute a lease agreement between the WC Young Community Center and the City of Paducah for lease of the WC Young Community Center located at 505 South 8th Street, Paducah, Kentucky.

I move. Second. Chair.

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioner, City Manager, and City Clerk. I'm joined with our Public Works Director, Chris Yarber, and Erica Hudson, who is the Board Chair of the WC Young Community Center. We're excited today to bring forward a renewal of the lease agreement for the WC Young Community Center. I wanted to say that we really value the important role the center plays in our community, and we're excited to continue this partnership. We have some planned enhancements to the building. I'll talk a little bit about the lease. I'll turn it over to Chris to talk about the project, and then Erica can say anything that she'd like to add. The proposed agreement is a three-year lease with a two-year renewal option. The intent is to provide stability for both parties while giving us flexibility to renew the terms. The lease maintains, has maintenance terms that are consistent with our other lease agreements. So it's our approach, we are continuing our approach with other leases of partnering with them to share responsibility in the upkeep and the maintenance of the facility. But I think the most exciting aspect of this community center lease renewal is the planned enhancements we're going to undertake. So I'll turn it over to Chris.

I know you all, first of all, let me say good evening, Commissioner. Good evening, Chris. City Manager, City Clerk. I know you all have been to the community center, but we're excited to be a part of this because for years we've helped maintain the community center with the WC Young board. And for years we've been talking about improvements that need to be made and we've gotten to the point where we're able to do those improvements and it's pretty much, if you haven't been out by there lately, go take a final look because it will not look like it does currently. We're going to do a complete gut job of a renovation on the facility. And we hope to make it a facility that everyone in the community will want to use and be a part of. So we're excited about that. So we'll definitely come back once the renovation starts. We're not planning on starting until hopefully after the August 8th celebration. And then we'll start having meetings sooner so we can plan and get it rolling quickly and hopefully have it wrapped up by June of next year.

Erica.

Good evening, everyone. Again, as Michelle and Chris have stated, we are just very excited about this collaboration, continued collaboration with the city of Paducah. And of course, anytime that I met with them, I always said, I really want to bring the community center into the 21st century. So we are finally going to be there. And so I'm just excited to move forward with these plans and looking forward to this continued partnership with the city, the mayor, and the commissioners. So thank you.

You know, thank you, Erica, for your leadership. You know, one of the things that's kind of been on my desk for the last two or three years, I don't know how long the agreement had expired, but it had expired. And so one of the things that I was passionate about was trying to get the lease renewed. And then as it became obvious that there were some upgrades that needed to take place, it just made sense, you know, to do all of that, wrap it up into one agreement. And so I remember when Michelle and I met with the board, of which some of the members are here tonight. And it was an interesting meeting, but I think we got everybody on board with what we wanted to do. And, you know, there's an element of trust here, you know, that we wanted to do the right thing and, you know, to get the lease signed, but also so we knew what the future looked like, but at the same time do the upgrades. And so I think we're all tickled to death that we were able to wrap all of that into, you know, this document. So I appreciate your leadership and the leadership of the entire board.

Mayor, in that process, I read it somewhere, and I can't remember where I read it, but there are some things that the WC Young Community Center will do if it reaches a certain level. If it doesn't reach, can you kind of highlight that for us again?

There are certain components of maintenance to the facility that the City of Paducah is responsible for. Then there's other components that... they're responsible for up to a certain amount. For that amount, if the expense of repair or whatever replacement goes over that amount, the city of Paducah is responsible for the entire amount. And one thing that we want to assure the center of and the community is that, like with every other rental, if a certain problem is a continuous problem, we don't say, well, this time it costs this much, this time we take it in totality by the year to take care of it. So no one's They're going down to that.

So the community center amount has increased? Yes. Tell us what it comes from to what it is, $100?

It increased from $1,000 to $1,500. And it's for really the major mechanical systems like HVAC, plumbing, electric, that type of thing. You know, we talked with the WC or, you know, I talked with Erica and like our other leases that the city is really committed to being communicative, fair and reasonable. The other thing I would say is they do have some other maintenance responsibilities like landscaping and that type of thing. But the city also takes on like roof repairs. And if there's any kind of major like foundation type of things, the city would take on. So the intent, I think, is for the lessees to, you know, help with kind of those smaller items when appropriate so that it's really a partnership. That makes sense.

Yeah, it does. I just knew it was there. Just thought we'd bring it out. Yeah, great.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Chris, just for the public's understanding, talk a little bit about the renovations that we have done in the last couple years. Those were exterior, and I know we did some parking lot stuff, but talk about the focus that this is going to be and the estimated cost that we're going to be.

We anticipate spending in the neighborhood around $125,000 to $130,000. The city maintenance facility staff will act as the general, so we think we're probably doing it cheaper than we would if we just went straight out from bed for the whole job. We think it's something we can handle. The good thing about this facility is that it's more of a residential-like build, so you don't have the issues you have with the fire departments or city hall. It's more of a residential-type build, so the renovations will be easier. There's some floor leveling that needs to go on from an addition in the back of the building. The kitchen will be completely redone with new cabinets, new countertops, new appliances.

So the question is, who's going to cook first? Is it going to be Amina you're going to cook as a meal on it first?

I anticipate that the ribbon cutting, we're going to have a nice meal. Yeah, that sounds good.

I like that.

Ceiling tiles, ceiling grids will be replaced. The lighting will be reworked and redone. The bathrooms will be completely redone. The flooring is going to be really nice. We'll make sure it's something to be proud of. Thank you.

Yeah, it's just been a great partnership, really, I think, between the city and the WC Young Community Center and, of course, the role that you play with August 8th, organizing, which is right around the corner now. You know, it's so important to the community, so we're very excited about the future. Okay? Good.

Thank you. Thank you.

Call roll.

Commissioner Henderson? Aye. Commissioner Smith?

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas?

Aye.

Commissioner Wilson? Aye. Mayor Bray?

Aye. The next item is a resolution which I'm getting ready to read in a moment. But the effort for this started some months ago. when a group came to me in the community led by Jeffrey Williams wanting to officially recognize August 8th as the day when the Paducah community actually were notified of the Emancipation Proclamation. And to me, it sounded Very simple. I mean, it sounded like absolutely from the get-go the right thing to do. What I challenged Jeffrey and the group to do was to make sure that there was alignment within the community, that this is something that everybody wanted to do and wanted to be a part of. And so came back, we had a follow-up meeting. We had different groups in the community who were represented. I know we've got the Paducah Diversity Advisory Board here tonight. Of course, we got the WC Young Community Center. We have the NAACP represented here tonight. We have others in the community that have come together and supported this initiative. So I'm It took a while for us to put it together. We floated the resolution out there to multiple people to make sure that everybody was on board with the wording. And so that's kind of how we arrived here tonight. So as mayor, I am going to move that the Board of Commissioners adopt a resolution entitled a resolution of the city of Paducah, Kentucky, formally recognizing and memorializing August 8th of each year as Emancipation Day in the city of Paducah. Whereas August 8th, 1866, is historically recognized in Paducah, in Western Kentucky, and in many communities across the region as the date on which formerly enslaved people first learned of and celebrated their freedom. And whereas African American churches in Paducah, in Western Kentucky, and in many communities across the region were instrumental in the movement for equality and emancipation, serving as pillars of strength, faith, and community for their members and the community at large. And whereas Emancipation Day has been honored for generations in Paducah as a time for reflection, celebration, education, family reunions, and the recognition of the resilience, contributions, and cultural heritage of African Americans, And whereas the city of Paducah acknowledges the importance of preserving and uplifting the histories and traditions that shape the community, including those that highlight the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. And whereas formally memorializing August 8th as Emancipation Day affirms the city's commitment to fostering inclusion, honoring local history, and supporting opportunities for residents to come together in celebration and learning. And whereas recognizing Emancipation Day aligns with the City of Paducah's ongoing efforts to promote civic pride, cultural understanding, and community engagement. Now therefore, be it resolved by the City of Paducah, Kentucky, the City of Paducah hereby formally recognizes and memorializes August 8th of each year as Emancipation Day in the City of Paducah. The City encourages residents, community organizations, and institutions to commemorate this day through events, educational activities, and celebrations that honor the history and legacy of emancipation. This resolution shall be effective upon its adoption. So moved.

Second.

We have a motion and a second, and I would ask the city clerk to please call roll.

Commissioner Henderson? Aye. Commissioner Smith? Aye. Commissioner Thomas? Aye. Commissioner Wilson? Aye. Mayor Bray?

Aye. I would invite anybody that would like to say something in the audience to feel free to come up, but you're not obligated to.

Okay?

Be it resolved. Thank you, everybody, for coming. Thank you. Okay, we have a couple of ordinances to adopt tonight, and I'll invite the city clerk. We heard these a couple of weeks ago, so I'll invite the city clerk to read them.

I propose motion that the Board of Commissioners adopt an ordinance entitled an ordinance extending the boundary of the City of Paducah, Kentucky by annexing certain property lying adjacent to the corporate limits of the City of Paducah and accurately defining the boundary of said property to be included within the said corporate limits. This ordinance is summarized as follows. The City of Paducah hereby approves the consensual annexation of certain tracts of property contiguous to the present city limits located at 435 and 485 Berger Road containing approximately 30.78 acres. So moved.

Second.

Any discussion? Mayor, I just received a question about this, and just for understanding, and as it was read, this is consensual annexation. This is not, these had asked for and came into the city on consent, so it wasn't something that the city went out and did.

They asked to come into the city.

Just wanted to clarify that because the question had come up about it. Thank you. Call roll.

Commissioner Henderson? Aye. Commissioner Smith?

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas? Aye. Commissioner Wilson? Aye. Mayor Bray?

Aye. And I'll ask the city clerk to please read the second ordinance to adopt.

A proposed motion that the Board of Commissioners adopt an ordinance entitled, an ordinance granting a non-exclusive franchise for a term of ten years for a telecommunication system within the confines of the city of Paducah, Kentucky, to Windstream KDL LLC, a unity company, pursuant to the terms and provisions of chapter 108 telecommunications of the code of ordinances. And approving and authorizing the mayor to execute the franchise agreement and all other documents related to same. This ordinance is summarized as follows. This ordinance accepts Windstream KDL LLC, a Unity Company's bid, and grants a non-exclusive 10-year telecommunications franchise in accordance with Chapter 108 of the Code of Ordinances authorizing Windstream Unity to construct, operate, and maintain telecommunications facilities within the public rights of way subject to the city's regulatory standards, fees, and oversight requirements.

So moved. Second.

We heard from these folks two weeks ago. Are there any additional questions from commissioners?

Okay, I'd ask the city clerk to please call roll.

Commissioner Henderson? Aye. Commissioner Smith? Aye. Commissioner Thomas? Aye. Commissioner Wilson? Aye. Mayor Bray?

Aye. We have a couple of ordinances to introduce. The first one being an interlocal agreement between the city and the IDA. And I would ask the city clerk to read it and then Audra's up here to talk about it.

A proposed motion of the Board of Commissioners to introduce an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the City of Paducah, Kentucky approving and authorizing the execution of an interlocal cooperative agreement with the Paducah-McCracken County Industrial Development Authority related to the construction of 100,000 square foot speculative industrial building to be constructed at 5700 Commerce Drive in Industrial Park West. This ordinance is summarized as follows. This ordinance approves and authorizes the mayor to execute an interlocal cooperative agreement between the City of Paducah and Paducah-McCracken County Industrial Development Authority for the development and construction of a 100,000 square foot speculative industrial building at 5700 Commerce Drive. The agreement establishes the party's respective responsibilities for the project management, procurement, construction, administration, funding, reimbursement, compliance with the Kentucky product development initiative requirements, ownership, marketing, sale of property, and repayment of the city's project costs.

So moved. Second. Audrey.

Okay. She gave a pretty good summary of that. Stole a lot of what I had planned to say. But this started very quickly, though, so maybe they didn't catch all of it. This started back in July of last year when the city authorized the application for a $2 million Kentucky Product Development Initiative, or KPDI, grant for the construction of this 100,000-square-foot building in Industrial Park West. So under that application, the city would serve as the grantee and the Industrial Development Authority would serve as the project beneficiary. We had, with that same legislation that we passed live last year, it also authorized the city to provide up to $6 million in local funding towards the construction of the building upon approval of the grant. So we were anticipating total estimated project costs at that time of around $8 million. And the KPDI grant has since been awarded in full in the amount of $2 million. So because the city is the grant recipient and the funding partner, while IDA will manage construction and serve as the developer and owner of the facility, an interlocal agreement is necessary to define the responsibilities of each party. So under this agreement, the city will maintain the financial and grant oversight through reimbursement, reporting, audit, and other provisions, while IDA will be responsible for project management, procurement, construction, and ultimately the marketing and sale of the facility. So the municipal order before you tonight authorizes the execution of that agreement which establishes the framework for those responsibilities. It includes compliance with the grant requirements, the city's funding, commitment, reimbursement procedures, and repayment provisions upon disposition of the property.

Okay, thank you. So I think all the commissioners hopefully have had a chance to read the document. And so are there any discussion points? I think there is a discussion point.

You want me to? Yeah, if you don't mind. Okay, sure. Yeah, just a concern I had about it was that the city is funding this in its entirety. And if the building sells to a prospect, or less money than the money put in, then there's a deficit. But let me back up. The IDA is a creature of both the city and the county, 50-50. So if the city is funding this spec building entirely with city money, then if there's an overage, if we put in, $6 or $8 million into this spec building, and it sells for $8.5 million. And there's a $500,000 gain, and I'd like for the gain to be credited toward the city. It stays with the IDA, but also if there's future money that goes into the IDA between the city and and the county, then the city needs to get credit for that $500,000 overage that is staying in the IDA. So I'd like to see this agreement amended so that the city is protected and that everything stays. So city money is kept city money and it doesn't get thrown completely into the pot for the IDA and gets mixed in with city and the county money. So it needs to stay the city money or the city's contribution to the IDA.

So just to follow up on this a little bit more, we had discussions when we were developing the agreement. The city is protected on the low end, so if a prospect comes in and the IDA decides that we want to sell this building for half price because they're going to have 1,000 jobs. I mean, I'm making it up.

Then-

The IDA has to come to the city because we were all in by ourselves. The IDA has to come to us to get commission approval. What we didn't cover was if the building sells, which Commissioner Smith has pointed out, for more than what we have in it, you know, we, Commissioner Smith has raised the issue that we should get a credit against the money that we put in there because we are in there alone and to your point it's a city-county function 50-50 and it's you know it seems very fair to me that we get credit for that you know for that money now as as it relates to To spec buildings, you know, our history with spec buildings in Paducah, it's not such that people have been knocking our door down in past years to buy a spec building.

For more than what we have in it. So this would be a great problem to have. Yeah.

It's fairly unlikely, you know, in my experience, although you never know. I mean, I don't even think the IDA would probably... in the interest of trying to attract somebody, you know, they wouldn't try to charge more for the building than what we have in it because it's not really a profit motive. It's the motive is to get jobs in the community. But this is just a small protection just in case something like that were to have. And Bruce, if you want to, I'd invite you to come up and

Sure. Well, first and foremost, thank you to the city for your partnership with the Industrial Development Authority and working with us on this. So I understand what you're saying, and I assume we're going to talk about this amendment here momentarily. A couple of things. The Call it the bids that came in. They came in about $6.5 million. That does not include the price of the land. So when a building is priced, we would price it accordingly. That included the cost of the building plus the cost of the land. So what would that price be? We would have to determine that. But I would also be mindful that... While we're very appreciative from the city's partnership with us, this is effectively a loan. And the loan is at a net present value such that there's no cost to the city. The city's looking at doing a $6 million bond issue over a three year term. And then taking the net present value of that $6 million and discounting it down accordingly. And then also taking a haircut with the issuance costs associated with that, such that the net proceeds are somewhere expected to be around $5.2, $5.3 million, if I'm right. Erin, second? Yes. That's correct. 5.1 would be project dollars.

Yeah.

The intent of the Kentucky Product Development Initiative was to put monies in and then, you know, to help drive economic development. While, you know, Mayor, you're in a difficult position being the chair of the IDA, as I manage the IDA, I think the IDA is going to have issue with accepting that. You know, I understand the control mechanism that needs to be in place if the building were to sell for less than what is in it. I would be in the same position with you as well. But if you looked at it from the other side, the city is effectively acting as a financial institution. So think of it this way. If you borrow $100,000 from a bank and you turn around and sell your house for $150,000, the bank's not going to profit on your sale. So I think the members, this would definitely need to be taken back to the IDA board and discussed. While I can't speak, while I manage it, I don't have a vote, but I think it would be problematic and I don't think it would pass. Certainly with the way this motion is written, As I read the motion, the way it's written, it would include the $2 million of the KPDI because the net proceeds and the way this is worded, I think it's going to be problematic. Try to be candid, honest, open with you.

Yeah, so I appreciate that. And we don't necessarily have to do this motion tonight. But I think before we vote on it, I think the commission is going to have to be satisfied. And Audra, you know, all of us are going to have to be satisfied with the scenarios that could happen out there. Because without the city, there would be no spec building.

Right. Or we would have to go borrow the money from a financial institution or someone else. So, you know, maybe it's a discussion for executive session later. Yeah, probably so.

Happy to have that conversation if Otter if you wouldn't mind because I do have a question. There's yeah, right So my question was that So you have a motion on on the on the floor? Yeah, you have initial motion the original motion you have not read into the amended motion yet So a couple things so if there was no action tonight on on a motion, even though it's a first reading because it's an ordinance and there's no action on that. Since that original motion is there, it could always come back and be amended. But if we do not take any action, does that impact our issuance on the second issue?

Yes, that's what I was going to bring up. That's going to impact our timeline on our debt issuance. We wouldn't want to set that timeline in motion until we had an ILA in place.

Right.

So, and Madam Clerk, correct me, but we have the original motion on the floor. It's been read, and because it is an introduction, there's no vote on that. So I believe the body could leave it as is, and you could always have another first reading at a future date after you discuss this if you wanted to, and then that would not impact us moving forward with the authorization on the second matter. Is that correct? Would that hurt the timeline?

I mean, the... The hope or the plan was that the city would adopt the ILA agreement tonight and then we would start the process of notifying the contractor of the award and then we would get everything permits obtained and all that and start construction as soon as possible.

It was always just an introduction though.

We're not going to adopt tonight because it has to be an ordinance.

I wouldn't want to drag it out too long because You start doing dirt work too late in the year. Yeah.

Well, and the grant expires in September of 27. You know, everything's on a pretty strict timeline. I wish Mark was going to be here tonight. Mark had planned on being here. Does he need to go over the second ordinance? He's not here to ask him specifically about the timeline.

Well, as long as we have... We could come up with something pretty... Yeah, as long as we have the first reading in place and that if we want to adjust any language, we can still have the second reading. You could come back with...

If you're going to do a substantial change... Madam Clerk, correct me if I'm wrong.

If there's a substantial change to the ordinance or the ILA that would be large, then that would need to come back for another introduction.

Right.

And timing-wise, you could always call a special... Commission meeting for that sole thing and then with 24 hours after that you could have another meeting to have the second so you could have a first reading if you needed to do another first reading you could have that and you could do a second reading and vote on within 24 hours after that first reading am I I'm correct on that thought I had that right but I want to make sure thank you okay So I believe if you leave what you have right now, the motion as is, it's the first reading. You can move to the second like we would plan to do. And if there's any changes, we can do that in the interim and come back and adjust that.

We'll do that then.

That's the option for the commission. Yep. Okay.

All right. Any other questions or thoughts, Commissioner Wilson? All right, thanks for being here, Bruce. We'll be talking. Okay, I would ask the city clerk to read the next ordinance.

A proposed motion of the Board of Commissioners to introduce an ordinance entitled, an ordinance of the City of Paducah, Kentucky, authorizing the issuance of its City of Paducah, Kentucky general obligation notes, taxable series 2026A, in a maximum aggregate principal amount of $6 million for the purpose of financing the cost of a commercial building and related furnishings and equipment for the public purpose of promoting economic development within the city. approving the form of the notes, authorizing designated officers of the city to execute and deliver the notes, authorizing and directing the filing of a notice with the state local debt officer, providing for the payment of and security for the notes, establishing a note payment fund for the notes, affirming the maintenance of the existing sinking fund, authorizing the acceptance of the bid of the purchaser of the notes, and repealing any inconsistent ordinances. This ordinance is summarized as follows. This ordinance authorizes the city of Paducah, Kentucky, here and after the city to issue a series of general obligation notes to be designated as general obligation notes, taxable series 2026A, here and after the notes, in a maximum aggregate principal amount of $6 million for the purpose of, one, financing all or a portion of the cost of the acquisition, construction, installation, and equipping of the commercial building and relating furnishings and equipment for the purpose of promoting economic development within the city, Here and after the project. Two, paying capitalized interest on the notes if desirable. Three, paying all or a portion of the cost of credit enhancement on the notes, if any. And four, paying all or a portion of the cost of the issuance of the notes. Provisions are made in the ordinance for the payment of the notes and the security. Therefore, the application of the proceeds of the notes, the establishment of the note payment fund, the continuation of the city's previously established sinking fund, and certain covenants of the city with respect to the notes. The notes are to be sold at public competitive sale and shall mature on September 1, 2029. The notes pledge the full faith credit and taxing power of the city and provision is made for the collection of tax to pay the principal and interest on the notes subject to certain credits as provided in section 17 of the ordinance. The sale of the notes is contingent upon the satisfaction of the requirements and conditions of the city regarding the project. The following section 17 of the ordinance is set forth in its entirety. Section 17, general obligation. The notes shall be a full general obligations of the city and the full faith credit and taxing power of the city are hereby pledged for the prompt payment of the notes and the interest thereon. During the period the notes are outstanding, there shall be and there hereby is levied on all of the taxable property in the city in addition to all other taxes without limitation as to rate a direct tax annually in the amount sufficient to pay the principal of the interest on the notes as and when due. It being hereby found and determined that the current tax rate of the city are within all applicable limitations. The tax shall be and hereby is ordered to be computed, certified, levied and extended upon the tax duplicate and shall be collected by the same officers in the same manner and at the same time that taxes for general purpose for Each of the years are certified extended and collected the tax shall be placed before and in preference to all other items and for the full amount thereof Provided however that in each year to the extent that other lawfully available funds of the city are available for the payment of the notes and are Appropriated for such purpose the amount of such direct tax upon all of the taxable property in the city Shall be reduced by the amount of such other funds so available and appropriated so moved second

Okay, so this ordinance authorizes the issuance of the general obligation notes and amount not to exceed 6 million to finance the city share of project costs. The notes will be issued on a taxable basis because the ultimate intent is for the property to be sold to a private for profit entity. The anticipated structure is a three-year note with an estimated interest rate of approximately 5%. The note will be callable after one year and will require interest-only payments during the three-year term. If the building is sold during that period, the notes may be retired from the city's repayment proceeds after the one-year call date. If the notes remain outstanding at maturity, then the city would have to evaluate repayment or restructuring of a refinancing option at that time. So the city's total commitment to the project is capped at 6 million. And as Bruce said earlier, that's inclusive of all financing costs and interest expense. So that would include any of our financial advisor fees, closing costs, and interest expense over that time period. So based on current estimates, that's expected to provide just over 5.1 million in project funds. The IDA awarded the construction bid last week in the amount of approximately 6.523 million. With the $2 million KPDI grant, the construction bid is within the funding available for the project. So with approval of this ordinance, the notes are currently scheduled for sale on August 20th, with closing anticipated on September 3rd.

I'm having questions. I do. So with the interest, who's paying that interest? The city?

So, yeah. So how that would work is... Well, let me back. I'm going to, while we did a three-year note, we thought a one-year was a little bit too quick a maturity to get the building completed and sold and closed. So we thought a three-year note would be a reasonable period post-construction to get the building sold and closed out. So the way we structured it is during that time, the city will make the interest payments on the note, and we accounted for that in our fiscal 27 budget. And when we sell the building, the proceeds would reimburse us for those interest expenses that we paid.

Okay.

Good job.

Any other questions on that?

No. I have lots of questions on what our next steps are.

Yeah, I do too.

We'll sit down and talk through that. Okay.

All right.

Thank you. Bruce, thanks for being here. Audra, thanks for- helping out. Okay, the last item before an executive session is Taylor Morsing is here to talk about the 100th anniversary of Noble Park. Taylor, you come bearing gifts?

I do. I will save that for the end, though.

Nice shirt.

Nice shirt. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight in regards to the Noble Park 100 celebration. 2026 is the 100th anniversary of Bob Noble Park, which opened in 1926. And this week we are having our big event. So this Thursday, July 30th, is the first day. We will start off with an opening ceremony at 3 o'clock p.m. That'll be at shelter 10 in Bob Noble Park, which is in between the pool and the lake We will have some giveaway items if there's needs to be incentive for people to show up we'll also have remarks by our City Commission here if available and Hopefully that'll be just a fun way to start the week Then we will have our public farmers market from 3 30 to 6 30 and we have like 26 vendors I believe in one food truck and I'll be there for that. And then we will cap the evening off with movies in the park and a showing of Back to the Future on our inflatable movie screen, which will start a little after 8 o'clock p.m. And it will be cooler on Thursday. Not quite as nice as last week, but pretty nice compared to today and yesterday. Friday, we'll have our Noble Park Summer Music Series at the Amphitheater. What makes this night special is we'll have Jazz Patrol at 5.30, and then the Paducah Community Band will be at 6.30. So we'll have the full orchestra there. I believe they're planning to play songs from movies over the last 100 years. So it should be very good. On Saturday, we kind of have more of a full day of events planned. We're starting 8 o'clock with Yoga in the Park at the Amphitheater. So if anyone's interested in that, I encourage you to take part. Nine o'clock, we have our Greenway Trail Fun Run. Registration will be at Shelter 19, which is by the Arts and Crafts Building. It's about two and a half miles out and back. People can run, they can walk, they can do some of both. And then at 10 o'clock, we have our History Talk. They'll be at Shelter 5. We'll start there. We'll talk a little about the history of Bob Noble Park. And then we also have an arts and crafts station and family activities from 10 to 12, which will be by the Boundless Playground and on the Peck Education Trail. So a little bit of something for everyone that morning. And then in the evening, we have three amusement rides coming to Noble Park from 4 to 8 o'clock. Those will have free rides for anyone that is interested. We have a Berry Go Round, Phantom's Revenge, and a supersonic ride. So those will be in the parking lot, closest to the lake, but in between the pool and the lake again. And then also we'll have a concert at the Noble Park Amphitheater. At 4 o'clock we have kind of family music with Miss Reeves, Rosemary Reeves. And then 5 o'clock is Todd Belton's 630's Corey Evitz Band. They'll also wrap up around 8 o'clock. And then finally on Sunday, we have half-price admission to the Noble Park Pool. Noble Park Pool has been in operation in that location since 1937, so it's been a key part of the park for many years. So that will be how we recap the week. And now to the gift.

Now to the goodies. Did I say Noble Park Pool is going to be closing soon? Yes.

Record here. Yes. No park pool also closed on August 2nd. So that is the final day to attend the pool Will there be any like Food or drinks or anything Saturday afternoon while all that's going on We don't have anything in the morning But in the evening the noble Park pool concession stand will be open throughout the duration of the event So we'll have our hamburgers hot dogs drinks available there Now I have a t-shirt for everyone here. That is what I have on, too.

Oh. On Thursday.

You are allowed to wear them Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Wash it? I'm not sure about that.

I'm not sure about that.

Wash it, yeah. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Who designed that? Who did the logo?

The logo was designed by myself, Spencer, and Dan Shetler from WPC.

Okay, so any comments from commissioners?

I know you have been... Taking sponsorships for planting trees? Yes. Just wondering how that's going, and I'm sure you're still doing that?

Yes, we are still accepting sponsorships for our Noble Park 100 tree planting. Plants 100 trees this year to commemorate the 100 years. We did plant 50 trees in the spring, and we have raised the equivalent of 49 trees at this point. We are still open to sponsorships.

Do you have me down? Didn't I tell you that I was going to?

Yes, you have.

Okay, so.

I would just challenge.

Me too, Mayor, me too.

Okay, I would challenge all the commissioners.

Well, me too.

I'll sponsor one. What's it, $19, was it?

You should take three, Commissioner Smith. You should take three.

$19 for a tree.

Oh, wow. And then there's supposed to be a commemorative plaque or something that, you know.

Signifies on capsule you would yes, so we have been putting together a time capsule We have collected a variety of items up to this point. We've have some menus from local restaurants We have some of the pamphlets from the CVB that they have so some things of the time will include a park map will include the t-shirt and And so there will be some items in the time capsule. We're not bearing it on Thursday or anything. We plan to take pictures of the event and include all that in it, too. But, yes, there will be a time capsule.

And then also the first hundred people that come, is that on Thursday? Yes. That may be what you've been talking about.

The first hundred people that attend the opening ceremony on Thursday will get a giveaway item. We do have coasters that have some mobile park stuff. So it should be good.

So let me just say this, I mean, since I was a kid, You know, Noble Park has been, you know, a central part of my life. I mean, I can remember, you know, when my girls were young, we took them over there to ride the rides. You know, it used to be amusement rides over there. You know, the pool itself is so important, you know, to the overall community. We really don't have a lot of availability, you know, of outdoor pools in the community, so this is very important. And so Noble Park is really, you know, it's a central theme for Paducah. People that come here from out of town, from out in the county. Don't say anything, Commissioner Smith. Or in the outlying counties. you know, come to Noble Park to have picnics. I mean, it's just, it is our best green space. And, you know, I lived in Columbus, Ohio for 10 years, and they have an amazing series of parks up there that they've developed. And really, You know, from our perspective, you know, really, we've got a number of different parks, but Noble Park is the granddaddy of them all. And so there's a lot of people. Somebody that actually lives in the county outside the city limits came to me a few months ago concerned. Well, I don't mind telling you who it is. It's J.P. Kelly. came to me concerned about the trees, the life cycle of the trees. And the fact that they had a life expectancy and what were we going to do about the long term tree cover in Noah Park, how we were going to protect it. So the fact that we're selling sponsorships, planting more trees, is responsible actions toward making sure that there's going to be a tree canopy for future generations. So just a very important asset of the city, and I am off my soapbox. All right. Thank you very much, Taylor. City Manager, any comments? None this evening, Mayor. Okay.

Commissioners? I will just say one thing, because I didn't get the chance when we did the Massive Basin Resolution, but just wanted to say I'm proud that we've been able to make history today. It blew me away when I learned that the 8th of August wasn't an official recognized holiday yet. So just thank you to the community and to all of you up here that helped pass that resolution. So it's just great making history and for a good cause. Yeah, thank all of you all for showing up.

Commissioners?

Good. Okay.

All right, we will have an executive session. We will not be taking action. And I would invite the city clerk to read it.

A proposed motion of the Board of Commissioners to go into closed session for discussion of matters pertaining to the following topics. Proposed or pending litigation is permitted by KRS 61.810 subsection 1C.

So moved. Second. Call roll.

Commissioner Henderson?

Aye.

Commissioner Smith?

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas? Aye. Commissioner Wilson? Aye. Mayor Bray?

Aye.