Paducah City Commission Meeting Summary – August 12, 2025
Paducah City Commission Meeting – August 12, 2025
The Paducah City Commission met on August 12, 2025, for a regular meeting that included a presentation on the Greenway Trail extension, public comments, approval of grants and contracts, adoption of the South Side Revitalization Plan, introduction of budget and solid waste ordinances, and a discussion on allowing golf carts on city streets. The meeting also included a moment of recognition for the police department and a tragic event over the weekend.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of July 22, 2025, commission meeting.
- Received and filed documents.
- Reappointment of Karamy Underwood to the Senior Citizens Board (term ending June 30, 2028).
- Joint appointment of Kimberly Davis to the Commitment Center Board (replacing Tom Padgett, term ending June 30, 2026).
- Appointment of Laura Grumley to the Transit Authority Board (replacing Mary Byrne, term ending June 30, 2026).
- Personnel actions and municipal orders for:
- CARASOFT contract ($89,690.64) for Microsoft 365 licensing.
- Asset works contract ($142,172) for maintenance modules.
- Tetrotech contract amendment ($36,300).
- Solid waste dumpsters and parts (up to $160,000).
- Purchase of track skid steer ($82,708.28).
- Fleet maintenance agreement with Kentucky Fire Commission.
- Purchase of one-ton service truck from Linwood Motors ($138,373).
- Contract modification with Communications International Inc. for radio testing.
- Contract modification with A&K Construction for sports park (73-day extension).
- Release of RFQ for Greenway Trail South Side Expansion design.
- FEMA port security grant application ($50,000) for police cameras.
- Item G (Barclay Regional Airport funding) was pulled from the consent agenda and considered separately.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Bonnie Koblitz (resident of Woodville Road, outside city limits) expressed concern about the lack of public input opportunities for the redevelopment of the former USEC plant, citing health and safety risks, and noted that groundbreaking occurred on August 8, 2025, without prior community engagement. She urged the city to provide avenues for public response.
- Mike Muscarella (resident of Martin Circle) thanked the commission for supporting initiatives like the Greenway Trail and the warming center, and for their commitment to neighborhood health and improvement.
Discussion Items
- Greenway Trail Extension Presentation: Russ Clark (National Park Service) and Austin Hart (Kentucky Transportation Cabinet) presented the planning process for the South Side expansion. The presentation highlighted survey results (435 responses, 50% citing safety as top concern), proposed phases (Phase 1: riverfront to Bridge Street; Phase 2: Irving Cobb complete street), and community input. 48% favored Phase 1 in proposed locations, 67% favored Phase 2. Austin Hart noted that the Kentucky Avenue lane diet project (3rd to 28th Street) was awarded to Jim Smith Contracting, expected to begin spring 2026. The complete street on Irving Cobb is estimated to take 2-3 years. The city will issue an RFQ for Phase 1 engineering.
- Barclay Regional Airport Funding: The commission approved a $120,000 municipal order for general aviation and air carrier services. City Manager explained that the city annually provides this amount to cover operational shortfalls not covered by federal funds; the county provides a similar amount. Commissioner Smith requested clarification on the purpose.
- Homeless Services Grants: Three grants were awarded:
- Paducah Cooperative Ministry ($50,000) – for emergency shelter, food, hygiene, and operational costs (matched dollar for dollar).
- Family Service Society ($50,000) – for rental and utility assistance for 140 households at risk of homelessness (matched).
- Washington Street Community Warming Center ($25,000) – for part-time administrative support (matched). Commissioner Henderson recused himself from the vote on the third grant. The remaining $25,000 of the original $150,000 allocation remains in a project fund.
- Consolidated Plan for CDBG Entitlement: The commission approved submission of the 2025-2030 plan to HUD. Paducah was designated an entitlement community for Community Development Block Grant funds, receiving $583,406 annually for five years. The plan focuses on neighborhood revitalization, infrastructure improvement, and economic development. The city will no longer have to compete for state-level CDBG funds.
- South Side Revitalization Plan: The commission adopted the plan as an addendum to the comprehensive plan, designating the South Side Program Area (3.3 sq. miles, 3,678 parcels, eight neighborhoods). The plan includes incentives for housing rehabilitation, with CFSB offering 100% financing. Next steps include reconstituting URCDA, repealing pilot ordinances, and public outreach (developer breakfast, pastor luncheon, door-to-door canvassing).
- Budget Amendments: Introduced (first reading) for:
- FY2025 budget amendment transferring $5,300 from insurance fund balance to deductible accounts, and $200,000 from health insurance fund balance to claims account. Audra explained that large claims in the first half of the calendar year caused the shortfall; the city has not raised employee health insurance premiums in over 12 years, but this may be reconsidered.
- FY2026 budget amendment transferring $643,446.89 from Solid Waste Fund balance to purchase a sidearm and knuckle boom for the public works department.
- Solid Waste Ordinance Changes: Introduced (first reading) to amend ordinances for recycling, brush pickup, and bulk item changes. Starting soon: recycling will be every-other-week on the same day as trash pickup; brush pickup will be weekly without needing to call. Later (early 2026): twice-yearly free bulk item pickup, with fees for additional pickups.
- Golf Cart and Special Purpose Vehicle Discussion: City Clerk Lindsay presented research on state legislation (Senate Bill 63) allowing cities to opt-in for golf carts (under 35 mph, with specific equipment) and special purpose vehicles (ATVs, UTVs) for short-distance travel. The commission discussed safety concerns, enforcement challenges, and potential benefits. Chief Laird provided collision data (1,800+ collisions per year, inattention leading cause). The commission expressed interest in pursuing golf cart allowances only, possibly limited to streets with speed limits of 25 mph or less, and requested further study on cross-street implications. No vote was taken.
- Mayor’s Remarks: The mayor expressed condolences for a tragic event on August 8-9, 2025, associated with Emancipation Celebration activities, resulting in one death and one critical injury. He stated the city would take action to prevent future incidents. He also congratulated the Paducah Chamber of Commerce (led by Mayor Pro Tem and CEO) for winning Chamber of the Year.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous approval of consent agenda (all items except G) and Item G (Barclay Airport funding).
- Unanimous approval of homeless services grants to Paducah Cooperative Ministry and Family Service Society (each $50,000).
- Approval (4-0, with Commissioner Henderson recused) of grant to Washington Street Warming Center ($25,000).
- Unanimous adoption of the South Side Revitalization Plan.
- Unanimous approval to submit the consolidated plan to HUD.
- Introduction and first reading of budget amendments and solid waste ordinance changes; final adoption expected at a future meeting.
- Discussion only on golf cart allowances; staff will gather additional information for a future decision.
- Executive session entered for discussion of a business proposal (no action taken afterwards).
The commission adjourned following the executive session.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon everyone and welcome. Um I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order on August 12th, 2025, and ask the city clerk to please call roll. Commissioner Henderson. Present. Commissioner Smith? Here. Commissioner Thomas. Present. Commissioner Wilson, present. Mayor Bray, present. Um I will ask Commissioner Thomas to do the invocation, and then I'd ask everybody to remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to gather again today. Continue to guide our footsteps as we make the decisions for the city. Allow us to have the wisdom to make the right decisions for all that reside here in Jesus' name we pray. 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. Okay, the first item up is a presentation on the Greenway Trail extension, and I'll let uh Hope Reasons do the introductions. Good evening, Mayor Commissioners, City Manager, and City Clerk. Um it's been almost two years now since we first had our first meeting about the Greenway Trail. Um, and we have been through a lot of steps over those two years. And so I am really excited to stand up here and introduce Russ Clark with the National Park Service. He is going to do a presentation over the steps that we have taken and what the proposed Greenway Trail, the path of that is going to look like. So part of our our effort in assisting a community is helping with organizational development, and so we established the city leadership uh team and we established the steering committee of community members, and then we started a project partners meeting bringing everybody together and did a tour of the community on a bus to help everybody get on the same level of what the possibilities might be within the city of Paducah. Then we went into a strategic planning workshop process. That primary effort was to put the vision down in terms of what we are trying to accomplish, establishing an analysis through SWAT of what the possibilities might be and some brainstorming, ultimately leading to some goals of what this project was how we're going to accomplish the project, and then establishing subcommittees within the steering committee to help move those goals forward. And the goals that we came up with were connecting neighborhoods, creating an urban loop, offering community education on the value of the expansion of the greenway, implementing a complete streets process, and looking at improving safety as well as bolster the economic development in the area, and have Paducah become known as the destination for attracting visitors and new residents, and then Paducah as a great place to build a life and raise a family. And it's all quality of life factors when you put these types of recreation amenities forth. The accomplishments over the course of the planning process, we had 12 planning meetings. And we had a strategic planning workshop in December, January, December 23 and January 24. And then we did engaged in a public engagement process, which the staff was a tremendous asset in putting together leaflets and reaching out to the community and trying to engage folks to come to those public meetings because there are always so many public meetings that involved through the process of community development. So we did two community meetings over a couple day process and seven focus groups, and we did an online survey to collect additional information. I'm sorry, next slide. There we go. What we heard was we had 435 responses to the survey, which was fantastic. We had 128 participants in the two public meetings, and the seven focus groups looking at economic development, the cyclists, the runners, the health and wellness community, young professionals, and trail adjacent businesses, as well as city staff. Each of these focus groups came and worked with us on the maps, providing ideas, looking at concerns, and providing their input on what this vision might look like for the South Side expansion of the greenway. And there were over 900 flyers distributed through this process. 50% of the responses was safety. Safety was the number one concern for folks that responded to the survey. 39% was looking at personal safety concerns as well as cycling safety. And 33% indicated that they'd really like to have barriers if possible to help separate cycling and vehicular traffic where that's possible. They also indicated that they're looking for comfort and conveniences, restrooms, number one, number two, water stations, places to get drinking, fill up a water bottle, and 50 29% of the residents said they'd like to have shade trees along this corridor as well. And the other, in terms of amenities, was uh it's important to expand this greenway system into more areas of the community, even beyond the south side. And so we did look at multiple alternatives through this process. So in the planning process, we came up with a recommendation, and this is a the initial recommendation of getting from the riverfront down to the uh Wayne Sullivan area of the community of the South Side where the commercial development is, where there's employment opportunities, where there are services for the residents, and we broke that down into two phases. The first phase was from riverfront to Bridge Street, looking at a couple loops in there, utilizing primarily on street uh bike lanes in lower volume traffic roadways, where is the safety aspect is come is important, and we're looking at connecting the assets of this neighborhood together, being parks and services. The second phase of this project is Iron Cobb as a complete street, looking at being able to provide the safety considerations for walkers, for cyclists, and for vehicles, and that is a complete different type of effort in most cases, and we'll be uh Austin will be talking a little bit more about that aspect because this is the state corridor. And that gets us down into that service area that was the destination focus for this expansion. We had a community review of these master plan concepts in May.
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