Paducah City Commission Meeting: August 26, 2025 – Cable Franchise, Tourism, Business License, and Curfew Discussion
Paducah City Commission Meeting
August 26, 2025
The Paducah City Commission met on August 26, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. (as indicated by the meeting start) in regular session. The meeting included a public hearing on a proposed cable franchise with Ritter Communications, presentations from the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Human Rights Commission, a municipal order for Riverport funding, adoption of several ordinances, and a discussion on alcohol sales hours and juvenile curfew. The meeting concluded with an executive session (no action taken).
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of the August 12, 2025 Board of Commissioners meeting.
- Received and filed documents.
- Reappointed Buzz Vontesmarn and Albert Parker, and appointed Edward Healy to the Municipal Housing Commission (terms through 2029/2027).
- Appointed Jody Cybers to the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority (term through September 2026).
- Personnel actions.
- Municipal order accepting bid of MERTCO Inc. ($88,225) for pump house repairs at the Transient Boat Dock.
- Municipal order repealing and replacing solid waste pickup fees (Chapters 94 and 42).
- Municipal order authorizing engineering department to partner with PADD to apply for a $2 million Delta Regional Authority grant for the Branch Stormwater Project.
- Resolution appointing Hope Reasons as designee for the 2025 DRA award.
- Two municipal orders acquiring permanent right-of-way easements (at no cost).
- Municipal order authorizing a contract modification with Tesco Solutions for data cabling in City Hall.
Public Comments & Testimony
- CJ Davison (owner of Johnson Bar and KCs): Expressed strong opposition to any proposed reduction in alcohol sales hours or earlier curfew. He stated that limiting his hours would harm his business and his 24 employees, and that Paducah’s nightlife is important for attracting visitors from larger cities. He suggested forming a commission to inspect late-night establishments and urged the commission to consult business owners before making changes.
Discussion Items
- Public Hearing – Ritter Cable Franchise: The city’s legal counsel presented Ritter’s proposal to provide cable TV service across a broad footprint (south side, midtown, west end, downtown). Construction has already begun, with first residential customers expected in September. Ritter will use its own fiber optics, attaching to poles where space is available, and has clearance from Paducah Power and other utilities. Competitors like Comcast and Paducah Power already exist. Ritter’s channel lineup includes PEG channels. The ordinance approving the franchise is expected for a vote on September 2, 2025.
- Convention and Visitors Bureau Update (Alisa Ferrez): Provided an overview of tourism impact: 537,800 overnight visitors in 2024 (not including day trips), visitor spending of $321 million, supporting 2,400 tourism-related jobs (1,800 direct) and $71 million in earnings. Key visitor markets: Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Louisville, Memphis, Evansville. The CVB shifted to digital marketing (Google, Meta, billboards) targeting six visitor segments. They also produce printed guides and an events hub on the website. The CVB attends media marketplaces and builds relationships for earned media.
- Human Rights Commission Update (Robert Hernandez, Charles Gurley): The commission has focused on education and visibility. They partnered with Gorilla Marketing to produce a digital video explaining their mission. The video will be shared on the city website, via United Way, and at venues like Cinemark and Maiden Alley. The commission thanked city leadership for being present at community events.
- Riverport Funding and Update (Jimmy Garrett): Requested $150,000 to partially match a PIDP grant for the Bulk Yard Revitalization and Expansion Project. Garrett reported that the riverport moved nearly 500,000 tons of construction material in 2025, along with fertilizer and specialty products. A $4.082 million PIDP grant (7 projects) came in 6.9% over budget. The riverport’s FY2026 budget is balanced and self-sufficient, including grant matches and debt service. Future projects include new conveyors, a mobile crane, and Riverport West (design nearly complete). Riverport West would provide rail, river, and road access for the triple rail site. Also, a foreign trade zone (FTZ) has been activated; first customer PRCO began July 1, 2025. FTZ allows deferred duties on imported materials.
- Business License Fee Ordinance Introduction (Audra Kyle): Proposed to increase the gross receipts threshold from $3.5 million (set in 1986) to $11.65 million over five years, with annual CPI adjustments after Year 6. Currently, 4% of licensees (about 200) generate 70% of gross receipts but pay only 30% of fees. The change would rebalance this and generate nearly $2 million additional annual revenue by Year 5. The minimum fee would increase from $35 to $50. First reading held.
- Discussion on Alcohol Sales Hours and Juvenile Curfew: City staff reviewed current ordinances. Alcohol sales: on-premises consumption allowed until 3 a.m. (most businesses close earlier; only 5 are open until 3 a.m.). Package sales until midnight. Compared to peer cities, Paducah’s 3 a.m. is later (most end at 1 or 2 a.m.). Juvenile curfew: minors under 18 cannot be in public from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday–Thursday, and 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Friday–Saturday. Police Chief Lair reported 31 citations in 2024 and 20 year-to-date; enforcement occurs during patrols (e.g., car break-ins). Commissioners discussed whether to change hours; some favored 2 a.m., while others noted concerns about workers and late-night patrons. No action taken; staff will reach out to late-night business owners for input.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda approved unanimously (5-0).
- Municipal order for $150,000 Riverport matching funds approved (5-0).
- Five ordinances adopted:
- Annexation of two tracts (1541 Olivet Church Road and 6615 Landville Road, ~2.57 acres).
- Two budget amendments: $5,300 for insurance deductibles and $200,000 for health insurance claims (FY2025); and $643,446.89 for a sidearm and knuckle boom (FY2026, Solid Waste Fund).
- Two ordinances amending Chapter 42 (Environment) and Chapter 94 (Solid Waste) to reflect recycling, brush pickup, and bulk item changes.
- Ordinance introduced (first reading) to amend business license fee structure (to be adopted after second reading).
- Discussion on alcohol/curfew: No votes; direction to gather input from business owners.
- Executive session entered (topics: real estate, litigation, business proposal) with no action afterward.
- Recognition: City and county planners received an award for the comprehensive plan (joint effort).
- Memorials: The commission noted the passing of Steve De Little (city/county employee) and Sergeant Ryan Hudson (police), and of Jemina Walker and her baby.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome. Uh, it's always great to see uh kind of a crowded audience out there. We welcome people to come. I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order on August 26, 2025, and ask the city clerk to please call roll. Commissioner Henderson, please. Commissioner Smith. Here. Commissioner Thomas. Present. Commissioner Wilson, present. Mayor Bray. Present. I will ask uh Commissioner Wilson, please, to do the invocation tonight. We'll remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you on behalf of all of us who are gathered here for the many blessings that we have. Please be with the family of Steve De Little, who we've lost this week, who is a beloved employee of the city and the county, and who will be missed. And please continue to be with the family of uh Sergeant Ryan Hudson, who we lost with our Paducah Police Department and with our members of our police department, and look over for the same safety of all of those who uh lives are put in danger every day. We ask for your guidance as we make decisions on behalf of the city tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the divide of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under Godisable with liberty and justice for all. Ritter's proposal included a detailed plan for service delivery, including channel lineups, technical specifications, and financial capability. A map of the proposed service area included in their applications shows that Ritter intends to provide cable service across a broad footprint of the city covering neighborhoods set on the south side, midtown, west end, and downtown Paducah. This broad service area demonstrates Ritter's commitment to serving a wide cross section of our residents and businesses. The channel lineup Ritter has proposed includes a full range of broadcast sports, educational, family, and entertainment channels, along with public educational and government access channels that are required under city code. Ritter is also demonstrated through audited consolidated financials that it has the financial resources to construct, operate, and maintain a cable system in Paducah. Tonight's public hearing is part of the required process under Chapter 22. City code requires that a hearing notice be noticed at least 20 days in advance, which has been done. This purpose of this hearing is to allow members of the public and city commission to ask questions and provide input on the potential cable franchise with Ritter. The actual ordinance approving the franchise will come before the commission at a future date. We are shooting at this time for September the second. If approved, this ordinance would authorize the city to enter into new cable franchise agreement with Ritter, moving them from their telecommunications franchise into a cable franchise framework that allows for expanded services to the community. With that, I'd answer any questions that I can and open it up to comments. Commissioners, I have a question. So does that mean you know, on the existing Paducah power poles, they just add their equipment to it? Or is there some sort of sharing agreement where uh they pay Comcast a fee for utilizing their infrastructure? How does that work? There will be a combination. Um there will be some things that will um need to run cable underground, some will be attachment agreements. Um so it it will vary. Um their footprint is across the whole of the city pretty much, so it's gonna vary widely from part to part depending on what infrastructure is already there. Um we do encourage people to use existing infrastructure whenever available. Um but part of the uh reason we do these cable franchises is um so that there is um giving back to the city as far as um what is what they have to do in our right-of-ways. Um so this would transition them from what they're currently doing under their telecommunications to a cable franchise. The from my opinion, the competition's great. The only concern I have is just that all of a sudden we got all these telephone poles in Paducah, which will become much more cluttered. We've got you know, Paducah Power running fiber, we've got you know a couple other companies running fiber, which will I think for the most part be adding more strands on there, so our uh telephone poles could end up getting pretty crowded, so which is uh aesthetically that's not a good thing, but that is a conversation we had with them previously when they entered into their telecommunications franchise because it would be the same kind of issue. We sat down with our engineering department and talked to them about that to how we can limit that to as much as possible. Thank you. I always I mean, I think that's an excellent excellent points that you made, Commissioner Smith.
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