To view the entire meeting, visit https://youtu.be/LS6GpZC2P6c.
Opening Remarks Regarding Tornado Response
Mayor George Bray and the Board voiced their empathy and long-term support to Mayfield and all of the communities that have been devastated by last Friday’s tornado. Since Friday, Paducah’s Fire and Police Departments, 911 dispatching, Paducah Power, Paducah Water, and Paducah-McCracken County Joint Sewer Agency have been supporting the emergency response efforts in Mayfield. Mayor Bray mentioned that numerous organizations and churches are organizing to collect monetary donations and items to assist those impacted by the tornado. Mayor Bray outlined four tornado relief programs that are accepting monetary donations.
Mayfield‐Graves County Tornado Relief Fund – mail monetary donations to an account set up through Independence Bank.
Mayfield-Graves County Relief Fund
PO Box 9
Fancy Farm, KY 42039
Community Foundation of Western Kentucky Disaster Relief Fund – donate funds online at https://www.cfwestky.org/ or mail to either of the two addresses with checks made out to CFWK Disaster Relief Fund.
Community Foundation of West Kentucky
CFWK Disaster Relief Fund
PO Box 7
Paducah, KY 42001
or
US Bank Building
333 Broadway, Suite 530
Paducah, KY 42001
Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund – Governor Andy Beshear established this fund with monetary donations online at https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/WKYRelief. To mail a donation, make checks out to Kentucky State Treasurer with "Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund” in the memo line. Send checks to
Public Protection Cabinet
500 Mero Street, 218 NC
Frankfort, KY 40601
Kentucky Red Cross – donate online at https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/ or text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. To donate over the phone using a credit card, call 1-800-HELP-NOW.
Bond & ARPA Funding Discussion
Mayor Bray and the Board discussed the funding allocations for the $19.8 million bond issued in 2020 and the $6.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funds that the City of Paducah is receiving. Regarding the bond, the City has obligated $12.5 million to the outdoor sports complex and $2.9 million to the new terminal project at Barkley Regional Airport. This leaves $4.4 million in unobligated bond funds. Regarding the ARPA funding, the City has obligated $4 million of the $6.4 million to stormwater projects. Projects being discussed for the unobligated funds include the 911 infrastructure upgrade and assistance to community non-profits.
Annexation Incentives
The Paducah Board of Commissioners introduced an ordinance that would provide incentives to attract commercial, industrial and residential developments into the City of Paducah through annexation. The consensual annexation of property will increase Paducah’s population and revenue tax base which will enhance Paducah’s economic well-being, aid in the maintenance of existing infrastructure & facilities. The possible incentives, which would be outlined specifically in a Memorandum of Agreement with the property owner, could include the following:
- Property Tax Rebate Incentive. This incentive would reimburse a property owner the City of Paducah real estate property tax revenues collected for five years with a defined beginning and ending date as approved by the Board.
- Sanitation Incentive. This incentive would allow for the City to provide free basic sanitation service for up to one year up to $10,000.
- Closing Cost Incentive. This incentive would allow a one-time lump sum payment to a property owner equal to the amount of closing costs with a cap of $1000 with the explicit intent to sell the property once it is in the City limits.
Public Works Department Updates
Public Works Director Chris Yarber provided to the Board an overview of the department’s divisions and responsibilities, the projects completed this year, and what is scheduled for the upcoming calendar year. Public Works includes facility maintenance, fleet maintenance, solid waste collection, and street maintenance. A few of the accomplishments this year include the remodeling of the Sexton House in Oak Grove Cemetery, increasing the number of outside service agreements in the fleet maintenance division, assisting with Southside Rise & Shine events, and installing new street identification signs in the Lowertown neighborhood. Projects in the works are installing GPS systems on the solid waste vehicles to improve route efficiencies and improving the landscaping and aesthetics downtown with trash cans, benches, and planters.
Christmas Parade Winners
The Parks & Recreation Department handed out the awards for the 2021 Christmas Parade held December 4 which had the theme It’s a Super Christmas. To view the Christmas Parade set to music (45 minutes in length), visit https://youtu.be/TC0sKdq_1KY. The parade top award winners are as follows:
- Themed Float – McCracken County Schools
- Religious Float – Kids in Christ of Salt & Light
- Non-float – MelRhea Balloons
- School Float – Paducah Middle School
- Band – McCracken County Band
LOVE Award Winners
The Board and City Manager Daron Jordan recognized the employees who are receiving LOVE awards this year. The Living Our Values Every Day Awards recognize employees who embrace the City’s organizational values. The employees are nominated by other employees with a city employee team reviewing the nominations to select one employee (or team of employees) for each of the six organizational values. Be sure to check the City’s social media pages this week to see the names of employees nominated for each value and images of the award recipients. The award recipients are as follows:
Action-Oriented: Kristi Gray, Finance Department
Customer Experience: Melanie Guardian, Finance Department
Every Person Matters: John Saxton, Public Works Department
Fiscal Responsibility: Taylor Morsching, Parks and Recreation Department
Personal Accountability: Claudia Meeks, City Clerk’s Office
Solution-Driven: Jim Scutt, Public Works Department
Mayor’s Award of Excellence
The Mayor’s Award of Excellence is a newly created award for the Mayor to periodically recognize community members who have contributed greatly in making a significant and lasting impact in the community or outstanding employees who have provided exemplary service and commitment to the organization. Communications Manager Pam Spencer is the first recipient of the award due to her dedication, hard work, and can-do attitude in supporting the Mayor and City Manager’s Office during a recent staff transition. Pam willingly accepted extra duties and worked additional hours to support City services. Mayor Bray said, “We are grateful to Pam for going the extra mile. She genuinely cares about the success of the office, the people in it, and exemplifies qualities that all should follow.”
Additional Meeting Information
- Several new City employees were introduced to the Board including Senior Administrative Assistant Beverly Underwood, Business Analyst Lori Dortch, Assistant Director of Parks Jared Marsden, and Assistant Director of Recreation Suzanne Davidson.
- Appointment of George Cumbee and reappointment of Jay Matheny to the Barkley Regional Airport Authority.
- Reappointment of Kristin Williams and Vick Patel and appointment of Michael Cochran and Sherry Kayne to the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau.
- Appointment of Chris Hook to the Board of Assessment Appeals.
- Municipal orders approved for the declaration and sale of city-owned surplus property located at 1142 North 14th Street and 1126 Park Avenue.
- Municipal order approved authorizing a supplemental assistance agreement with the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority for a loan for Floodwall Pump Station #2.
- Municipal order approved authorizing a one-year renewal agreement with Midwest Terminal for the City’s fuel supply.
- Municipal order approved for the purchase of a pumper truck for the Paducah Fire Department.
- Municipal orders approved to apply for two Assistance to Firefighters Grants requesting $11,340 for emergency bailout kits and $190,930.83 for fire station exhaust systems.
- Ordinance approved for the right-of-way closings near Clark Street, Polk Street, and Washington Street as requested by the Paducah Independence School District which owns the adjacent property.
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