Okay, it's five o'clock, straight up and down.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Welcome.

It's always great to see uh see a crowd here, and I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order on March 10th, 2026 and ask the city clerk to please call Rome.

Commissioner Henderson.

Present.

Commissioner Smith.

Here.

Commissioner Thomas.

Present.

Commissioner Wilson.

Mayor Bray.

Present.

And then we'll all remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Lord of Heaven, again, we're grateful for the day that you've given us, and we are grateful for the blessings that we right now enjoy.

Father, we are so grateful that you've given us the privilege of serving this city called Paducah.

And we always pray, Lord God, that you'll give us wisdom and discernment and help us to make decisions that will be good for the masses and not just for a few.

Father, we pray for those who serve here, we pray for those who work here, we pray for our citizens and ask your you to cover us all in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And the second one is for Brain Injury Awareness Month.

So I'll come to the podium, go to the podium over there, read the proclamations, and then those of you who are in the audience that are here for that, we'd like to take a picture, if we could.

So, you know, we're going to be able to whereas uh March is recognized as American Red Cross Month, a time to honor our neighbors across the nation, both staff and volunteers, who make the humanitarian mission of the American Red Cross possible.

And whereas for our 145 years, the American Red Cross has provided relief, comfort, and hope when help cannot wait, reflecting a compassionate spirit that runs deep within our community.

And whereas the American Red Cross is a volunteer-led organization, and these dedicated volunteers represent the very best of our communities, generosity and civic spirits, and whereas these collective efforts are a power powerful reminder that the strength of our community lies in our shared commitment to care for one another and ensure no one faces an emergency alone.

And whereas Red Cross Month provides an opportunity to celebrate our local heroes and renew our commitment to service, preparedness, and comparison, compassion.

Now therefore, I George P.

Bray, Mayor of the City of Paducah, do hereby proclaim the month of March 2026 as American Red Cross Month.

All right, we can all we want to do it over there.

Thank you for all your work that you do with the community.

Thank you very much.

And I know we have some folks here from Neuro Restorative.

Did I say that right?

Okay.

So I've been there.

I was there for your grand opening.

I'm really impressed with all the work that you do there.

So whereas brain injuries are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, affecting millions of people each year through traumatic and acquired injuries, and whereas millions of Americans sustain brain-related injuries from falls, vehicle crashes, assaults, opioid overdoses, sports-related injuries, and other accidents every year.

And whereas brain injuries can result in lasting physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavior behavioral effects that impact individuals, their families, caregivers, and communities, and whereas prevention strategies greatly reduce the risk for brain injuries, and whereas brain injury awareness month serves as a time to promote brain health and injury prevention and honor the strength and resilience of those affected by brain injury.

Now, therefore, I, George P.

Bray, mayor of the city of Paducah, do hereby proclaim March 2026 as brain injury awareness month.

Okay.

I don't have much.

Okay, the next uh next item is um city manager.

Are there any additions or deletions to the agenda?

Uh mayor, there are none this evening, but for the record, would like to qualify that uh Commissioner Wilson is absent because she is attending a meeting on the city's behalf.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Okay, now we have uh uh public comments, and we have a few people here that are that want to make uh how many people do we have?

Three, four.

Um these comments are related to uh I think uh the catterjon site, so we'll start out.

Mr.

Taylor, Richard Taylor.

And sir, before you get started, just state your uh name and address if you would, and um and the commission is really not geared to answer questions or interact, uh, but we would um just ask that you respectfully keep your comments to three minutes.

Okay, thank you, sir.

Good evening.

My name is Richard Taylor.

I live at 1501 Jefferson Street.

Uh I'm the uh president of the Jefferson Street Area Association, and uh this association is on the National Register in 1982.

We were put on the National Register for Historical Are and this uh paragraph summarizes what we do.

The residential qualities of the Jefferson Street Fountain Avenue area have been protected by the efforts of the Jefferson Street Area Association.

Members of the association have worked for 30 years to prevent commercial encroachment into the neighborhood.

The fact that the neighborhood retains so many of its historical structures is due to the work of the neighborhood association.

This was in 82, so since then, so it's you know over 56 years that we've been in association, we won't protecting our uh neighborhood.

We were uh very shocked uh when uh less than a month ago on the 12th of February we came to a planning commission meeting and they presented that there were the uh Catterjon block was going to be uh like this with 12 houses, all six houses face facing six houses without any um facing Jefferson or Broadway.

So we were very shocked about that.

So the timeline I believe you have a copy.

Uh the clerk has given you a timeline of all that we've done.

Uh we won't go over that, but um uh we have been hard at work uh since the uh 12th of February uh because this was a shock and we didn't know what it you know we didn't like it uh because uh uh with this plan uh then along Jefferson and and um Broadway uh people will just see sides of houses and uh and and perhaps privacy fences.

So therefore that's not very good to the neighborhood.

It doesn't add to the neighborhood, it it detracts from the neighborhood.

And so therefore, this timeline shows all the different things we've done, talking to the planning commission uh two times, uh meeting uh several times, and uh we've tried to do our best to uh uh see what can be done to uh stop this.

Uh now the proposal number three that I think you have uh is uh list what our third proposal to the uh about this project and um and one of the things on point number five is 9800 square feet is what the depth of the four lots that we would we're we're saying they take uh the four lots uh near Jefferson, turn it around and put four houses facing Jefferson.

That's our proposal.

And so we've done that.

Uh we've talked to Steve Mills, we've talked to he met with us, we talked to Kyle Jorner, his uh civil engineer, and uh unfortunately uh he tells us that um the minimum buildable space is six thousand square feet uh uh for Paducah.

And we have uh with all these different uh things here that put setbacks and easements that I met with today, and he he instructed Kyle instructed me on how to change this, so this is not exactly right.

Then we have only 3944 square feet of buildable space left after all the easements, and so therefore it's under the 6,000 square feet, unfortunately, and we're not pleased with that.

Um, but we're not sure what we can do because uh that was our proposal is to change to four lots.

Uh the option would be to take six lots and put four houses, uh, but that would uh be ten houses instead of twelve houses.

So that's uh our situation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Taylor.

Mr.

Coscarelli.

I am oops, I'm about to set my watch.

I'm Bill Coscarelli, 220 Fountain Avenue, Paducah, and this is my second time in discussion with zoning issues for the historic district.

A generation ago I lived in Carbondale in a historic district.

I swore I would never live in one again, and now I live on Fountain Avenue, and I'm a member of the Jackson Jefferson Historic Agency.

When I was in Carbondale, um I was involved in a couple of community events with zoning, and I got to know uh one of the city managers, the planner, and she she was really nice.

She said, you know, I think there's a special place in heaven for people that care about their city, and I hope to be there, and I think she will be.

I do.

She cared about it all.

And where she told me about this, when I was sitting on a curve with seven other neighbors on a street, Main Street in Carbondale, talking about a zoning issue.

She felt that before they went anywhere else with discussions, she should talk to the neighbors who were infected affected.

She brought us all together, and this is where we had our discussion about what they were thinking of do, what they had to do, what was going on.

And it was before anything ever showed up officially.

After the staff had worked with the stakeholders, you know, people that lived in the neighborhood, people that paid the taxes.

And so my comment is is that I do think the houses need to face Kentucky.

We have a my theme has always been Kentucky.

Jefferson, sorry, not Kentucky Jefferson, is the necklace of Paducah.

We need to maintain that necklace.

We don't need to have things sticking out on the wrong end of the so what my sense is that I think a lot of these last minute issues could be avoided by early on discussions with the people.

And the city planning people know the people that are involved.

It'd be easy to make a call and get a meeting and just get on with it.

So I my sense is I speak to the idea of maintaining the integrity of historic district.

That's one of the things that attracts people about this place.

We have a lot of people coming once the nuclear stuff takes off.

There's a lot of people that are gonna be interested in having their family in Paducah and they're willing to make the drive out to West Paducah.

Uh and so I think this would be a logical and likely place.

So I just encourage you to follow the history of Paducah and to change the planning practice.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Cosquaryl.

Jack Burry.

I think I'll pass uh Mr.

Mayor uh Richard and uh Bill have pretty much summed up what I would say.

Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it.

Miss Burry.

Um I don't think there's anything that we can do to change uh the planning commission and what you're going to do tonight, but I just wanted to express that uh Jefferson Street Area Association has been here for a long time.

Jack and I have lived here, we lived downtown for four years, moved away for six, came back back for 28 now, in the same.

We're just five at actually five houses from where we were at the beginning on Jefferson Street.

So disappointed that no one thought to check with anybody on that, you know, neither the historical district or the Jefferson Street Association before the plans went into effect.

So and then and then thinking of new people coming into town, what's to take keep them from buying a couple lots just right down like 13th to 15th and doing another little subdivision.

So I mean it's just um it's just seems odd.

I I have faith that it will turn out nice and look nice, but um it's it's very disappointing that we weren't uh considered or consulted or even see you at the coffee shop and talk about it.

So um I hope that things will change too and and echo what everyone else has said.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Okay, uh before uh we move on to the consent agenda.

Uh I'd like to um uh make a couple of uh awards tonight.

Uh we have a couple of uh guests in our uh in our audience tonight, uh Mr.

Brandon and Nikki Allen.

Uh so I want to talk a little bit about this, and I don't know if the mother commissioners really uh have met uh the Allen's or are familiar with Allen Music.

Um Allen Music is um um is a business downtown.

Uh Brandon, I believe is third generation.

Uh you can correct me if I say anything wrong, Brandon, but uh it started out as Allen sewing machine in 1945, and uh so and since that time uh it eventually converted into a music business.

They have uh they have taken over uh a lot of the buildings uh in the uh between second and third street on Kentucky Avenue, and they have expanded.

I mean, it's uh they've got one entrance right there on Kentucky Avenue, but when you go into the building, I mean you can you can see you know Paducah is really an arts community and music is part of that arts.

And um and Brandon and Nikki have you know taken the taken on the task from uh you know from Brandon's family, you know, to carry this this uh this business on.

And it's where um so many musicians in Paducah go and buy instruments, uh they trade in instruments.

I mean, you you cannot believe the collection of uh traded and used uh instruments that they've got.

I mean, bands they got a practice they got practice rooms there for bands.

Uh it's really an amazing facility that you really can't tell uh from the outside.

And uh so I wanted um uh Brandon, we got together uh a couple weeks ago, and he was showing me a me around and um and and it was the second time I've been in the in the building, but uh I just uh I wanted to make everybody else aware uh that weren't of uh the fantastic job that they do.

And uh tonight I wanted to make both of them each of them one of them a Duke of Paducah and the other one a Duchess of Paducah.

So if you'd come forward, I'd like to bestow these awards on you.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

Congratulating working in Jersey.

Uh yeah, yeah.

I will try to get your your t-shirt on.

So I mean I wear one six days a week.

Appreciate you coming.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

If I could just play one instrument.

I don't think so.

I flunked out of harmonica lesson.

So radio is an instrument, right?

All right.

Okay, we will move on to the consent agenda and items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the Board of Commissioners and will be enacted by one motion and one vote.

There'll be no separate discussion of these items unless a board board member so requests in which event the item would be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately.

So I'll ask the city clerk to read these items unless anybody has an item that they like to pull off.

Uh so go ahead, Lindsay.

Approved minutes for the February 24th, 2026, Board of Commissioners meeting, receive and file documents.

Appointment of Jennifer Cook to the Paducah McCracken County Senior Citizens Board to replace John Durbin, who has resigned.

This term shall expire June 30th, 2029.

Appointment of Paul King to the Commissioners of Waterworks to replace Randy Dehart, who has resigned.

This term shall expire January 6th, 2029.

Appointment of Rick Cochran and reappointment of Mark Kettler to the Paducah Golf Commission.

Said term shall expire March 26, 2030.

Personnel, a municipal order acquiring the property located at 729 South 13th Street and reimbursing the current odor, owner Teddy Bear Estates, Sheila Kirk and Dahl, the sum of 9,729 dollars, and authorizing the mayor to execute the deed and all documents related to SAME.

A municipal order declaring the real property located at 715 Jones Street, Paducah, Kentucky, to be surplus property, authorizing a real estate purchase agreement with Teddy Bear Estates for the sale and of said property in consideration of one dollar and authorizing the mayor to execute the agreement, the deed, and all documents related to SAME.

A municipal order authorizing and directing the engineering department to release a request for proposals for the repair of storm pipe at pump station number five.

A municipal order authorizing and directing the engineering department to release a request for proposals for the design engineering permitting and construction administration of the Coleman Road Sidewalk Project.

A municipal order authorizing the application for and acceptance of a Kentucky Pride Fund composting grant in the amount of 502,416 for purchase of a TR6500 TX track traumal screen and authorizing the mayor to execute all documents related to SAME.

A municipal order declaring certain proper certain police vehicles to be surplus property and approving the transfer of surplus police vehicles to the McCracken County Schools in consideration of $19,000.

A municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute an addendum to the Hotel Metropolitan Co-stewardship Agreement between the City of Paducah and the Upper Town Heritage Foundation, providing for a one-time advance payment of $25,000 for operational support of the Hotel Metropolitan and the Purple Room.

So move.

Second.

Call roll.

Commissioner Henderson.

Aye.

Commissioner Smith.

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Mayor Bray.

Aye.

So the next uh next item on the agenda is municipal orders, and the first one is the development agreement uh with Westwood Development for the property, the Ode Catterjohn property.

And I'll ask the city clerk to read that, and then um Carol Gault will come up and uh give us an update.

A proposed motion that the Board of Commissioners adopt a municipal order entitled A Municipal Order Declaring the Real Property Located at 1501 Broadway to be surplus property, authorizing the transfer of the property to Westwood Development LLC in accordance with the development agreement and authorizing the mayor to execute the agreement, deed, and all documents related to SAME.

So moved.

Second.

Good evening, Commissioners, City Manager and City Clerk.

And this evening we have before you the Westwood Development Agreement for the Catter John site and in the 1500 block of Broadway.

As you all will recall, we issued a request for proposals that was due back in to us on March the 31st of 2025.

And at that time we only received two, um, one of which um was fully funded and was essentially ready to go.

And we did some negotiation with that developer from that point on, and then we've ended up where we are today with the plat that was submitted and the appraisal and all the things that came in your packet with the development agreement.

Um at the end of the day, where we've ended is 12 homes with an average of 400,000 for each home, eighteen hundred square feet.

So it's an um approximately a four and a half million dollar project.

The name will be Clayton Park, and you know, there had been some discussion about that, but um Mr.

Mills is has settled on that.

And then um we've set up a an incentive of a construction rebate of five percent.

And it is two years to break ground and start the development, and then the incentive caps out at five years.

And after the eighth lot is sold, everything that's in common space will transfer, including the private drives that you've seen on the side of the plat, will transfer over to the HOA in perpetuity.

He's met with um Greg Giebert, um, his engineer Kyle Jorner is present tonight.

If there's a question, um, Greg's present as well, and of course, it's been to the planning commission with two public hearings.

And as Mr.

Taylor mentioned, um, the Jefferson Street Area Association did meet with Mr.

Mills earlier last week.

So the process that we went through, we we had planning and went through you want to talk about the process.

Sure.

You know, just recap it for the commission.

We um, as we all know, we're in a housing crisis, and according to the Kentucky Housing Corporation study, we're a little right now in 2024 was the last time they did the study, we were about 3,800 rooftop shy.

And so I think it was at that time that the decision made.

We would like to to see residential um single family there if at all possible.

We wrote the RFP to try to attract that.

We had several developers that were interested in the beginning, but at the end of the day, when the time came, we only received two, and one of those um was fully funded.

The other one had not uh did not have funding was in search of a partner at the time.

And so at that point, we entered into negotiations with that developer, and and this is the end result.

And of course, it takes some time to get that final plat through, then it goes to the planning commission.

They make sure that it has stormwater and all the things that it needs by state law.

It's just a checks and balance system.

Um they found that that to be accurate.

And then the second reading, um, they typically don't have a public hearing, but we stepped outside of that process to give the neighbors a time to communicate and talk again and and but then the planning commission um did make it as a favorable recommendation to the commission.

Okay.

So we did go above and beyond uh what we should what we normally would do to the process.

Our president is sure that the neighbors knew, understood, and we're ready.

Yes.

Um, I I think Mr.

Taylor would tell you, we've talked on the phone quite a bit in the last month, but um it typically there is a public hearing, and that's the first thing that's done, and the adjacent property owners are made aware of what's happening, and we followed that process.

Then after you they came and talked and made a second proposal, um we got the final plat in on Thursday before the traditional planning commission meeting, which is the first Monday of the month, which was March the second.

So I called Mr.

Taylor and explained to him that they would open it up for a public hearing again if they would like to come back.

And then we set up a meeting to meet um with Mr.

Mills and talk through why these changes and they they had made some proposed changes and why he felt like those couldn't be done.

And he he said, let me go back and meet with my engineer, which I believe he did, and Kyle's here tonight and can answer those questions, but I think they did spend some more time looking at trying to turn the houses, and of course, you know, when you get to impervious surfaces and storm water requirements, and there's lots of things that come into play there.

That's why they have engineers that do that.

And I and I asked that not to because I don't believe that was done.

I understand I asked that because I want to be have a resolve within myself that we did everything that we needed to do, and in this situation went beyond what we normally do to make sure that residents knew what was happening.

I I totally understand why you're asking.

Okay.

I appreciate the question, and I feel like we did.

And I, you know, I would say, you know, just I'll just say this.

I mean, I have followed this uh, you know, every step of the way, you know, from the very beginning.

Um, you know, of course, you know, I went through the process where neighbors were, you know, across the street from the Catterjon property, and when it was still there, you know, we're calling and complaining about you know, about uh, you know, everything, and then we went through a heck of a process, you know, to take that building down, you know, and definitely, you know, caught, you know, we had to be pretty aggressive, uh, you know, in order to get that done.

Um, but I think you know, the commission from the beginning has wanted housing to be in there because we have a housing crisis, you know, in America in McCrack in McCracken County in in Paducah, you know, and uh in the city itself, and so we we have wanted housing to go in there, you know, and uh and I think another thing that is we we thought about you know is that there's a trend away from you know the non-traditional home.

It's true, you know, away from you know, larger yards, you know, smaller uh, you know, lot lines that are this is a national trend.

You know, people want less maintenance, you know, and uh so these are all things that we considered, you know, in this in this process, and uh so um but I you know I understand that you know some people are not.

Absolutely.

Yeah, I just have a comment, and that's just you know, I really appreciate the passion and the caring, and it it comes from a good place in your heart.

And I lived on Jefferson too, and I understand how precious Jefferson is, so I just uh you know, I just understand, you know, I don't I think this is gonna be a good project, but I absolutely appreciate you all for your caring about City of Paducah and your neighborhood and all that, and I just I think that you know we well, uh I think Jefferson Street Association and other organizations that are passionate about Paducah, you know, or what one of the things that makes Paducah so special.

Absolutely, absolutely is a very special place.

Um other any comments here.

Okay.

Thank you all.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Gall.

Okay, I would uh please ask the city clerk to call roll.

Commissioner Henderson.

Mayor, if it's it if it's an order, may I just make a vote before before I cast a vote.

Uh, you know, I don't ever want uh our residents to come to these chambers and feel as if we have heard them, but we haven't heard them.

And certainly I want the same thing to happen tonight.

I want to make sure the residents know that we do hear their concerns, and so I've taken the time to try to understand all the challenges that are there to make sure that I know what's going on and I do.

I've driven around the property, I've done I've done all of that, and may even agree with some of the things that have been said.

However, with all of that, I still think that the bottom line in the overall uh of this, this is still a good project, and it is still going to be something that is going to be good for the city of Paducah.

And it is still going to be something that is going to be good for the city of Paducah.

And I'm always saying we want to make decisions that are good for the masses and not just a few.

And I think this is one of those decisions that will be good ultimately for the masses.

So I vote yes.

Commissioner Smith.

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Mayor Bray.

Yeah, I'm gonna explain my vote or just make a comment.

So you know, for all the reasons that uh, you know, Commissioner Henderson.

I mean, I I have watched uh, you know, watched both planning and commission meetings.

I didn't was not able to attend.

You know, I've seen the comments.

Uh I have worked with Ms.

Galt and the developer every which way that we could make uh to make sure that this was the project that we needed to do.

And I guess at the end of the day, I believe that this project, you know, five years from now, because it's gonna take a while for it to build out, but five years uh from now, not only will this be a project, you know, that's good for this city, but also will raise the values of homes on Jefferson and will be a good project uh overall for for those who live there.

Um it'll take some time for that to happen.

Um, but um but because of that uh I vote aye.

Okie dokie, um we have one more uh municipal order uh tonight, and I'll ask the city clerk to please read it.

A proposed motion that the Board of Commissioners adopt a municipal order entitled a municipal order authorizing the payment and discharge of the city's general obligation bond series 2013 A and the payment discharge and defeasance of the city's general obligation refunding bond series 2018 B, authorizing the deposit of existing general fund reson revenues of the city in the sinking fund for the series 2013 A bonds sufficient when combined with existing funds held therein to pay and discharge the series 2013 A bonds on their earliest practical redemption date, authorizing the deposit of existing general fund revenues of the city in an escrow fund for the series 2018 B bonds with U.S.

bank trusting company, National Association as escrow agent sufficient when combined investment earnings therein to pay the discharge this city the series 2018 B bonds through maturity, authorizing the execution and delivery of all additional documents or certificates necessary to achieve the foregoing and taking related actions.

So moved second.

Good evening, mayor, commissioners, city manager, city clerk.

Your approval of this municipal order tonight allows the city to retire two small remaining bond issues using existing funds that we already have on hand.

The 2013 A bonds are callable, so we can pay those off without penalty.

The 2018 bonds are not callable, so we will place enough money in the escrow uh with the paying agent to cover all remaining payments through maturity, which effectively satisfies that obligation.

Taking this step will eliminate these balances and reduce our future debt service commitments.

Um just a little background on these bond issues.

The 2013 A bonds were originally 1.12 million utilized to uh fine finance Noble Park pool renovations, and the 2018 bonds uh were 2.67 million, which refunded outstanding 2003 and nine KLC lease agreements, and those original agreements were utilized for various public improvements.

The outstanding principal amount on the 2013 A and 2018 B issues are 265,000 four hundred and ninety-five thousand respectively, and this early redemption will save us around thirty thousand dollars.

It will also reduce debt service requirements and appropriations of approximately two hundred and seventy thousand for each of the next three years.

So just curious, what were the interest rates on?

Well, I have also brought Mark Rawlings here with Bayer to answer uh those questions that you might have.

Those bonds had various um remaining interest rates on them that they were essentially four percent.

Um they're the highest interest rate bonds that the city actually has right now.

So um when Audra asked about which bond issues should we prepay, um, can you look at these two?

I was like, well, those are really your two best choices because they have your highest interest rates that you guys are currently paying.

So really, I guess we're not getting a big return on the money, the cash, I guess.

The money that we're currently uh how we have those current funds investment is yielding uh invested is yielding about 3.5%.

So you're earning less than you're paying on those, so it makes sense in that regard.

Red's just half a percent.

I just hoping it'd be more, but I know how things are now.

Ultimately, this particular uh redemption that we're doing right now is to free up more about freeing uh uh appropriations and bonding source.

Well, the problem, Commissioner Smith, is our finance people are doing too too good a job with you know it is you know of putting our money out and getting but that's crazy about it was to uh redo the Noble Park pool.

Yes, and then I hear rumblings that the pool needs to be redone again.

So which is that says about 20 years ago?

Yeah, 13.

13.

Okay.

So that's kind of sad.

Every 13 years you gotta spend a lot of money on the pool.

All right, thank you.

Any other questions?

We good.

All right.

Thank you, Audrey.

Thank you.

If the city clerk to please call roll.

Commissioner Henderson, Commissioner Smith.

Aye, Commissioner Thomas.

Aye, Mayor Bray.

Aye.

Uh we have one uh ordinance to adopt.

Uh we we had the first reading a couple of weeks ago, pretty rich discussion, but I'll uh I'll ask the city clerk to read it again.

I'll proposed motion that the Board of Commissioners adopt an ordinance entitled an ordinance granting a non-exclusive franchise for a term of 10 years for telecommunication systems within the confines of the city of Duca, Kentucky, to Lumos Fiber of Kentucky LLC, 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 the same.

This ordinance is summarized as follows.

This ordinance accepts Lumos Fiber's bid and grants a non-exclusive tenure telecommunications franchise in accordance with chapter 108 of the code of ordinances authorizing Lumos 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 move.

Second.

Any questions?

Uh uh questions.

Of course, we we mentioned last go around.

We probably hadn't had time to gather some information on the uh where this fiber is going to be run, because I know we've had this probably the third or fourth fiber company we've had is coming in saying that they're gonna got areas of the city that are underserved, and uh is this in the packet or so they actually provided an updated map today.

This is their full proposed three-year build-out plan on the first page.

So that shows that it is um basically covering most of the the city of Paducah um ultimately over that three-year build out.

The second page will be um the original map, the the original map that shows where they're kind of starting their build out at.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah, that's what I was kind of looking at because I was I was interested in where they're starting.

And I'm not sure that this tells me where they're starting.

Yep.

So um the second page kind of um where they will start is kind of um near Heartland.

So they're okay on this one.

And then spreading out that way, and their longer term plan covers most of the city.

Okay, and are they committed to develop this part in the city?

This is their plan as of right now for the next three years.

But is it they've engineered?

I guess is my question.

Um, so the franchise um agreement basically um it they have given us what is proposed right here, this starting area, um, and then they will go through the permitting process like others do through the right-of-ways um to to do the individual permits for each section that they take on.

I think Commissioner Smith's question may be could they do all this county and then not come to the city?

Yeah.

Well, and you may or may not know.

I mean, yeah, I mean, the the portion that we are only authorized, or you as a body only authorizes the city limits, yeah.

So yes, and so they they could yeah, uh do that out there, but you're authorizing for them to have uh agreement within the city limits, and I believe they've taken the same action with with the county for that aspect.

And Madam Clerk, correct me if I'm wrong, their intent is to be mostly underground, is that correct?

Correct.

The franchise, the purpose of it is to protect the right-of-ways.

Um it does not hold them to um exact areas that they're going to.

They give us an overview plan and then they do their permitting just like any other um.

They can change your plan.

It can.

Okay.

One thing, I know that uh it's coming up, and uh, and uh, I apologize you guys because y'all are coming in after, you know, three and I don't know how many we got, three or four.

And there's been a lot of I I think just uh it's done a lot of wrecked yards for long periods of times.

I understand you have to do that, you know, wires, stuff hanging down off telephone poles for a long time.

Just I really think poor customer service from the uh the way the city looks.

I talked two guys in my office were complaining about uh ATT having wires running on the surf top of their yards for uh two and three months saying, Oh, we're gonna get there, we're gonna get there.

And I just um I've asked Greg if he could that city engineer if he could uh make sure in the permitting process that there's uh that there is uh something in there where you guys say, hey, if we're gonna do this, it's gonna be done in two months or whatever.

So I'm sorry, I know this is I and I don't know if he can do that, but I've just asked him to take a look at that, and I don't know.

Um, you know.

Well, I think uh so I'll let uh come right on up.

Yeah, so my name is George Kemp.

Um, just for the records, um, construction relations uh director for uh Lumos.

So to answer your first question that you had, the way we operate is that we actually have to have board approval um for our our corporation to be able to go into an area to build it out.

We have full approval to build out everything that's on that front page, so everything that you see for the entire city of of um Paducah that we've got painted out there, we're building that.

You you you can almost take that to the bank.

Um there I I haven't seen yet in any of our build-out areas where we have not built out what our KMZ file is, what that shows.

Um there would have to be something major.

Um maybe between us and the city they find out something that it's like well, you just can't go into that area for some reason, but um you you can you can take it to the bank.

Um we are coming here.

Um we are interested in building out your entire city.

Um that's why it actually threw me back a couple of weeks ago when we were here, and I didn't know that you actually got that other map.

That's just where we're initially starting uh because I had actually ridden out the area and I saw that we're gonna build the whole area.

Um, as far as restoration goes, when I actually sat down with your folks a couple of weeks ago, um, I shared with them that there are two things that actually make us totally different than anybody else when we come through.

Because we all always know the other fiber builders, the two things that we hear from municipalities are we didn't even know they were coming.

Their contract was in the area and they started building, they didn't even have a permit, and our residents are getting upset about it.

So we went through and we actually shared the number of ways.

We we communicate and overcommunicate multiple times before we even start construction with the residents where we're gonna be doing same thing with the city.

We provide daily street sheets and things like that for everybody to know that we're where we are each and every day, where we're working, so that we can be accountable.

Then on the restoration side, that's the second one.

Communication is really really bad with most fiber companies, restoration is really bad with a lot of them, and the ones that go before us hurt us because we're totally different than the rest of them.

We've got a great call center.

Um, we've got a card.

I give it out to most of the other ones.

I don't have them here with me tonight.

Um, that card, the information that's on it uh is is to a call center for construction only, so you're not going to the sales group.

That information is on all those pieces of information that we actually send to your residents in advance.

That information is on um sandwich boards that are in the neighborhood while we're doing construction.

Um we try to over-communicate how a resident or anyone else can get in touch with us and let us know if they've got a restoration issue.

Um we actually are required that when somebody actually contacts us about a restoration issue within 24 hours, we have got to.

It's mandatory with us to get in touch with that resident or the city um person and to be able to um understand what their concern is or answer their questions for them if it's just a question.

Um, and then in a short period of time, usually within two to four days for most complaints we can take the um and and resolve those issues.

Um so we understand.

I uh I usually share this up front as well.

We understand.

If we're gonna come in here and we want to actually get some of your residents to actually take on our our service, we got to take care of you through the construction phase.

Why in the world would you want to go with it?

We've actually heard that from some other folks where we've gone in there before, and the folks have said, Wow, um you you really did a great job here.

The the the fiber company that came before you just totally destroyed everything and never would listen to us.

So we're gonna abandon them and we're gonna take your service.

That means a lot to us.

I hope that's so that's why construction and restoration.

Now are we perfect?

It's construction.

And you got a crew out there that we may just be bringing in if it's new to us and we're we're checking them out.

Um we may have to get rid of them because they didn't restore properly, but we will restore.

We'll take care of it.

If a contractor doesn't take care of it, Lumus will.

Thank you.

Okay, that was about as good a sales pitch as I heard.

Yes, it is.

Y'all heard that guaranteed.

Thank you, George.

I'm just teasing it.

Yeah.

Um, before we vote, I just say one more thing.

You know, we I've seen all this work that's going on down here on Third Street.

You know, into the city, you know, where they've got one lane.

Who is that just doing that work?

Uh Greg, is that gas?

Yes, I think it's Atmosphere.

So the only thing I would say is that I would like to make sure.

I mean, I'm I assume that that you know where all the work is.

I'm I'm making an assumption that as city engineer that you know exactly where all the work is generally being done, maybe not.

And I think that it would be good for the commission, you know, to kind of understand where that work is done in terms of some sort of an email with a map.

Here's here's what's going on this month, this week, whatever, you know, because uh I'm not sure we always know where work is going to be done, but I guess I'm relying on on you, city manager and you, Greg, to make sure that we do know, and I assume you know where the work's being done.

And if they move, if they leave or they come in, you know, I think we need to know that.

And uh, I just don't know how that communication is happening uh on the other end.

Yeah.

Uh and it's a great point, Mayor, and and uh assistant city manager uh smolin and I have talked about this, and we've talked about that with engineering.

With our GIS mapping, we think that there's some opportunity that we might be able to plot some of that information uh for the commission and have a broad sense of of where somebody is or is going to be.

So we're working on some opportunity I think that would be very helpful for all of us to know where it's a good idea.

That's great idea.

Okie dokie.

Um so where are we?

Ordinance adoption.

Okay, well, I'll ask you to call roll then.

Commissioner Henderson.

All right, Commissioner Smith.

Aye.

Commissioner Thomas.

Aye.

Mayor Bray.

Aye.

So we have three ordinances to introduce tonight.

And I would ask the city clerk to read the first one.

I proposed motion of the Board of Commissioners to introduce an ordinance entitled and ordinance amending chapter 126 zoning, section three definitions of the code of ordinances of the city of Paducah, Kentucky.

This ordinance amends chapter 126 zoning, section three definitions of the code of ordinances of the city of Paducah to allow medical cannabis dispensaries to use their logos, symbols, and branded colors on their signage at their dispensary premises.

Signage cannot be illuminated by neon lights, and off-premises freestanding signs are expressly prohibited.

The Paducah Planning Commission had a public hearing on March 2nd, 2026, and forwarded a recommendation that the city commission approve the amendment.

So move.

Second.

Pretty much, Lindsay just summed it up.

It's pretty cut and dried.

Um NatureMed is coming in and they have other locations and they strictly want their signage to match what their other locations have.

Um they have two here in Kentucky, Erlinger and Carrollton, and then they have um five that are in Missouri, and it it pretty much just allows them to utilize the same signage and operate the dispensary, which you all know where that's being built.

There's only one in our community, yes.

I I guess I I don't remember I read it, but I guess I didn't really didn't really see it.

What's the difference between our current currently we don't allow any logos, any you know, a certain font.

We wouldn't allow that.

We don't allow any color.

I mean, right now we didn't really have anything in the text amendment.

This is new for us.

This is the first one we've had.

So it was just for the this type of industry.

It's only for medical cannabis dispensary, yes.

And we developed that uh staff looked at what the state was requiring and not requiring, and so uh took took the uh took that as the baselines.

There are certain things that still that the state prohibits from doing uh, but uh you know, an oversight on our part is not to to check that and be similar to saying that uh a big box store retailer couldn't have their logo up on the thing.

I understand that you know that wasn't the intent.

It was just an oversight on our part on the front end, and so we're looking to correct it.

At the time there was question about whether it would have cannabis leaves and the logos and those kinds of things, and it does not, and it doesn't allow for that.

Thank you.

Okay.

Anything else?

No.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, I would uh ask the city clerk to read the next uh ordinance introduction.

A proposed motion of the Board of Commissioners to introduce an ordinance entitled an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement between the City of Paducah and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL CIO, local 1586.

This ordinance is summarized as follows that the mayor is hereby authorized to execute an agreement and other associated documents between the City of Paducah and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL, CIO, local 1586.

This agreement shall be effective from July 1, 2026 through June 30th, 2029.

Some second.

Good evening, Mayor, City Commissioners, City Manager, City Clerk.

I'm just here to highlight a few of the changes from the AFSME agreement.

So beginning in January of 26th, the city negotiated updates to the labor management agreement, including revisions to the grievance procedures, vacation policy alignment with our personnel ordinance, clarification on personal day request.

The agreement adds veterans day as a holiday, increases the boot allowance, updates uniform and equipment report replacement language, and reduces the number of required labor labor management meetings per year.

It also provides base wage increases to maintain competitive rates with cost of living adjustments tied to state compensation limits.

I know you can't go for the whole thing, but the grievance procedure.

Okay.

So this is uh this is the introduction of the ordinance.

And the next one, you know, this is for the this is for ASPE.

The ASPE union, and the next one is for the police department.

So we've got both of those uh contracts settled once we pass.

Yes, at the second reading, um both ru both will have representatives here to do a signing for those agreements with you.

Similar to, I'm sorry, go ahead.

Similar to uh the next one you'll hear uh is that uh you know there we we started from a base of how do we be competitive?

How do we also take some of the language that's in the contracts that we have in personnel policies that's good for the whole organization?

Um and we have duplicative language in there, so we want to make sure that they aligned up with um so the uh so that's where the basis I want to give uh you know kudos uh to Stephanie and our other team members that have been involved with this and negotiation, but also to ASME's representation, and I'll say the same for uh the police department bargaining unit.

They both came open with a willingness and a uh a spirit of this is the city that we work for, and it's not the union that we work for, and so we came to we believe as a a fair and uh agreeable contract, and I think because we're here tonight, you know that's been borne out.

Yeah, great job, Stephanie.

Thank you.

It was uh both only took three meetings, so it went well.

That's great.

Yep, excellent work.

They do good work too.

Okay, uh, I would ask the city clerk to read the uh the next one.

A proposed motion of the board of commissioners to introduce an ordinance entitled, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement and other associated documents between the city of Paducah and the Paducah Police Department Bargaining Unit.

This ordinance is summarized as follows that the mayor is hereby authorized to execute an agreement and other associated documents between the city of Paducah and the Paducah Police Department bargaining unit.

This agreement shall be effective from July 1, 2026 through June 30th, 2029.

Some second.

Is there anything really much different here?

I mean it's the only uh change on this one are the mandatory annual physicals.

And um that's pretty uh we removed we're phasing out the retiree life insurance from those.

So anybody currently taking it would be grandfathered in, but as of July 1, that will no longer be offered.

And this is the mandatory physicals for our police department.

Correct, that four.

Okay.

Everybody good?

Okay, I think we can move on then.

Thank you, Stephanie.

Stephanie, thank you very much.

Great job.

Uh the next item is is a discussion item.

Um about uh Noble Park, uh, one of the city's uh greatest assets, uh celebrates our hundredth anniversary this year.

Um and I know Taylor is here representing our parks and recreation department to talk a little bit about how we may celebrate this.

Thank you.

Mayor, City Commissioner, City Manager, City Clerk.

Appreciate the opportunity to talk to you about Noble Park 100, which is the hundredth anniversary of Bob Noble Park here in Paducah.

Alright, I've been a resident of Paducah for 11 years, so I have only lived through a small portion of the 100-year history.

But I've been able to do a lot of history research, as well as talk to some other people who've been around a lot longer than me.

So the history portion is because a lot of that research that I'll talk about here.

But first, I want to talk about the goals of our Noble Park 100.

First, that is to recognize the history of Noble Park.

Over 100 years, a lot has happened that's benefited our community and our region.

So we will be highlighting that throughout the year through social media posts, through information in the park as well.

Secondly, we want to celebrate memories that were made within the park.

This includes memories that have been made over the years from people with their friends and family, but also the memories that will be made during the celebration the upcoming year.

And then thirdly, we do want this to act as a springboard for future improvements in care.

We know a lot of people care about Noble Park, and we want to make sure that we are caring for this park into the decades to come.

Through some work between myself, Pam Spencer, Amy Clark, and Dan Shepherd from WKCTC, we did come up with two logos for the Noble Park 100.

The logo on the left there, I would consider it to be the main logo, recognizes Noble Park 100, the years of the park, as well as Paducah, Kentucky, and then the logo on the right will be an alternative logo that we will use with different things as well throughout the year.

Alright, I'll give everyone a little bit of a history lesson now on Noble Park.

So 1926 is when the story begins.

Robert Noble was kind of a park commissioner at the time.

He also was a successful businessman.

He owned sand and gravel company in Paducah.

And so he was willing to make that 10,000 $10,000 donation with kind of the notes that the park would be named after him, and they would build an entrance and a fence to kind of note the entrance of the park.

So in April 2024, the park was officially named Bob Noble Park.

That was his request, not Robert Noble Park.

He wanted Bob Noble Park.

And then also that time, Irvin Cobb wrote an inscription for a bronze tablet that would be dedicated at the park.

That is still in the park.

It's been moved to the inner park loop there, kind of between the road and the lake.

But you can still find that tablet there.

1926 was a busy year.

They did build the castle entrance.

At that time, they built the concrete wall as well as they dammed the lake and they added lighting in the park that could illuminate at night.

So moving on to 1928, more park improvements.

There's a golf course, six tennis courts, baseball field, horseshoe pitching grounds were also opened in the park.

And then moving on to 1935.

This was the last kind of major donation by Bob Noble, but made another donation to pave the roadways in the park as well as improved the playground areas of the park.

1937, that was when the Noble Park Pool opened.

Also, that was the year that uh Robert Noble did pass away as well.

Um he is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

And then the other kind of note for this time frame was 1951.

Um on the H.

C.

Mathis uh road side of the park.

Um, there is kind of a stone entrance built there as well.

Um that was built in 1951 that was dedicated to the early um kind of park superintendent LL Nelson.

I do have a couple pictures here from the early portion, a little small on the TVs, uh, but that is Captain Robert Noble.

Um he was not in the military, but everyone did refer to him as Captain Noble.

Um the top right, those are pictures from the newspaper that does show the original castle as well as some pictures of the lake.

Um on the bottom left there, that's from 1935.

That is construction of the Noble Park Pool.

Um and those are um, I believe horses or donkeys helping with that construction.

And then the bottom right picture that is from the newspaper as well, but that is opening day at the Noble Park Pool in 1937.

All right, next time frame, um 1953 to 1988.

Um, that does coincide with um kind of the opening and closing of Funland in Noble Park.

Um so 1953 was when Noble Park Funland did open to the public.

Um as well, the 1950s.

Basically, our two major parks that were sit there were segregated.

Stuart Nelson opened in the late 30s, Stuart Nelson Park, and that was for African Americans, while Noble Park was for whites.

So the 1950s that started to change.

Don't have a whole lot of documentation on this, but at that time is when the pool and the park became more available to everyone in Paducah.

Again, 1953, that's when Funland opened.

1972, that was the first major renovation of the Noble Park pool.

At that time, too, the size of the pool was reduced.

In 1977, the tennis courts opened in their current location where they are now.

And then 1985, the Wasinton statue was dedicated, and in 1988, that was when Funland closed.

A few more pictures here.

Top left was one of the trains from Funland with the lake in the background.

Bottom left is their carousel.

The top right, that is a picture of the castle entrance from 1965.

And then the bottom right is another picture of the pool that was from 1959.

It's still the same pool house as that time, but it was originally white, and the roof was flat.

People could go on top of the roof while they're at the pool.

Alright, next 1989 to present day here in 2026.

There's a lot of work done in the 90s.

1992, there was another major renovation of the pool.

Then 1994, the original castle entrance was demolished and replaced with the entrance that we have now.

1995, there were major improvements to the Noble Park Lake.

They drained the lake, they rebuilt the gazebo, and they added the footbridge across the lake.

At that same time, they built the playground on the south side of the lake, and that's the existing playground that's still there now.

So both of those were done in 1995.

1998, the tennis courts next to the pool were converted to basketball courts.

So for a period of time, there were two separate tennis court facilities.

And then in 2000, that is when construction began on the Peck Edition Road.

Mr.

Lane Peck donated that property in 1999 in honor of his wife, which connected Noble Park to Carroll Road.

Also 2005, moving on, the current amphitheater was constructed and shelter 16 opened to the public, which is our largest shelter in the park.

2006, our Noble Park Skate Park opened.

In 2008, the Greenway Trail opened, and there's the trailhead there in Noble Park.

And then 2008 also the Boundless Playground opened, and that was the first accessible playground in Paducah.

2010, there were major roadway improvements in front of the pool in the amphitheater.

So basically the configuration you see now with the parking lots and the road, that was all redone then.

2013 was the last major Noble Park Pool renovation.

In 2014 and 2017, we had the Noble Park Lake phase one and phase two bank stabilization projects on the south side of the lake.

Using the term Noble Park Lakes, because in 2018 that was when it was officially renamed Lake Jerry B.

Montgomery.

And then 2020 was when the Noble Park Music Garden opened.

2023 was when the picklebar pickleball courts opened, and 2024 was opening of the dog parks.

These were all staff pictures that we found in the photo album.

The top left there is construction of the new castle entrance.

The top right is a picture from the ribbon cutting of the new basketball courts in 1998.

The bottom left picture is of the Noble Park Lake in 1995 when they drained it before they built the footbridge.

And yes, those are people walking through the lake at that time.

And then the bottom right there, that's a picture of the pool from the early 90s after that 1992 renovation.

And that's the history lesson.

So our plans for this year.

First thing decided to talk about is our Noble Park 100 tree planting.

So a great way to celebrate 100 years of the park is to plant 100 trees in the park.

The goals of this is to add more diversity to the tree species within the park, as well as plants many younger trees to complement all of our existing older trees.

A few numbers for everyone.

At that time, there are 1,733 trees.

And at that time, 59% of those were either post oak or cherry bark oak.

Lots of trees have fallen or been removed.

We've planted some new ones too.

That kind of just gives you an idea of basically there's live oak trees in Noble Park.

So our goal is to plant more trees, and we will be planting some white oaks, some bald cypress, some red maples and sugar maples.

That will add some more youth to our tree canopy.

This will be one opportunity that we'll be asking businesses, individuals or clubs to sponsor trees for this tree planning.

So essentially it'll be one tree for $200, but there'll be options for them to sponsor three trees, five trees, or ten trees, and that will cover the purchase of the tree, the planting, the mulch, and then making sure we were watering and caring for them to get a high percent of these to last throughout the first few years.

Are the trees going to be interspersed within the other ones, or are you gonna plant them in an open area?

How do you do that?

And and if someone wants to sponsor a tree, is there like a name tag or anything, or is that I know that's a lot of work?

So some trees will be planted in open areas, but for the most part, these trees will be planted within the current groves that we have.

Um so if let's say 10 years from now, maybe uh there's a pest that knocks at all the oak trees, there will be some trees already coming up.

Um and then the plan was to recognize all these companies within the park, but not at each individual tree.

Just at like one location that's um public facing.

Uh we'll also will have a gift shop, all of our parks and recreation office.

So if anyone is interested in buying some Noble Park items, um we'll have some things for sale.

Think of t-shirts, posters, magnets, some of your swag items that you've seen elsewhere.

Um there'll be opportunities for that in the coming months.

And then our Noble Park 100 celebration.

Um we have planned for this on Thursday, July 30th through Sunday, August 2nd, a multi-day celebration of Noble Park.

Um, this will incorporate some things we already do as well as some new things.

Um so, for example, the Thursday nights, we will have our movies in the park showing back to the future, as well as a pop-up farmers market before the movie starts.

Um, we will have concerts planned for Friday and Saturday evening, as well as on Saturday will be kind of the big day with the most activities, but we'll have recreation activities like a fun run, yoga in the park, we'll have kids' activities, um, arts and craft stations, maybe some mascots as well.

Um, and then we'll also have kind of a history walk.

Um, so the goal is to have some signage around the lake for people to learn about the history, but also if we're really fortunate, we may have uh Mr.

Robert Noble make an appearance as well.

Um and then lastly, um discount race at Noble Park pool to encourage people to use that facility, which has been one of the the longest serving facilities of the park.

And there's me citing my sources of the pictures in the history research.

Um that's all I have for the presentation.

Um if anyone has any questions, I can try to answer those best I can.

Um that's all I have.

Really interesting.

Yeah, thank you for thank you for your work on that, your planning.

Uh I think I think it is I think a lot of people are interested in the Hunters Anniversary.

I do think there's people that would be interested in helping with trees.

I've had a couple of reach people reach out to me, one in particular, uh, who actually does not live in the city but is uh a tree guy, and he's reached out to me and and wanted to have a specific telephone conversation about uh how we were going to take go about replacing trees in Noble Park.

Because of their age and coming down, you know.

So I think there is interest from from the community on this, and so um we just need to work to publicize it.

Uh work with Pam.

Pam Pam will do a great job of helping you on that.

So thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you, Taylor.

Good job, Taylor.

Okay.

Umager, any comments?

None this evening, Mayor.

Okay, comments from commissioners.

Uh just a quick one.

Just I've really talked to a lot of people that are really happy about the tree program.

They're excited about getting their tree, and so just kudos to I guess this commission for approving that, and but also kudos to city staff because I know there's a lot of work going into that.

So well, let's be honest.

Kudos to you, you know, for because you helped lead this effort.

Yeah, well, and uh so that was you know, really uh really really keep going.

So um anyway, yeah, that was um it's been great.

So uh unfortunately this last week I did have somebody stop me in a coffee shop and say, Mayor, um, you know, I really want a tree, but I didn't uh but I didn't get I didn't get my name in and in time.

And so I checked with Amy and we're already into this, and so I had to tell them wait till next time, you know.

And I never like to tell people no, but yeah.

And I was I was tasked with reminding you about that.

I I okay, done.

Okay, that goes to the pot the show about the popularity of it, and we've already talked about in the budget process of continuing that.

Yeah, so there'll be another opportunity for folks that didn't get in on the first one.

Okay, we will have an executive session.

Oh, sorry, I'll be fine.

You forgot about me because I haven't talked lately, but what's up?

I don't know, the weather probably, but no, it's getting warmer.

But no, I just wanted to say because we've had a very successful past year, and when it comes to housing, especially with this big decision tonight.

Um I've had a lot of feedback from community members really pushing on that affordable housing piece.

Um and I know even with the South Side plan, you know, that's housing that's coming.

So I'm just hoping now that we've you know agreed on the Catterjohn project that we're looking for the next opportunity to really put a focus on that affordable housing piece, because um that's one of the things I've really been wanting to push on, and a lot of community members have been pushing on because you know, Catterjone that's for um a higher price bracket, so really just looking for that next opportunity for a project that can focus on affordable housing.

Well, actually, I'm glad you brought that up because uh, you know, I mean that that is a focus.

Um it may not appear that it's a focus, but it is a focus.

I know that um uh Carol has told me that there's gonna be a development on the north side.

It's it's out outside of the south side, but I mean Carol is talking with developers constantly.

I mean, I talked with somebody this week, you know, and we're trying to get you know, people interested in in the South Side lots.

We have all these lots, and um I don't want to recant this, go through all this, but you know, it's hard to build anything for less than a couple hundred thousand.

I mean, it's very challenging, you know, in today's market with the price of materials and labor and whatnot, you know.

So, you know, the city's South Side program is designed to, you know, prop up, you know, the price of these these houses, affordable housing for people who want to, you know, want to work up.

And so um, I'm glad you brought it up.

We're still focused on it.

It's it's really important.

You know, and I can't, I mean, really, this is a time to say, you know, I mean, Paducah is getting ready to to really grow.

And we've got projects going everywhere.

Uh in my lifetime, I've never seen it like that.

And so there is going to be a need for housing, more housing.

And uh not only uh single family homes, but rental.

Uh there's gonna be all kinds of construction jobs that are gonna be coming here.

It's gonna take a couple of years for all this to roll out, but it's gonna happen.

Yeah.

And um, and it's exciting.

So thank you for bringing that up.

Okay, now I will uh we do have an executive session tonight.

Uh we are not gonna take action afterwards, and I would ask the city clerk to please raise the motion.

A proposed motion of the board of commissioners to go into closed session for discussion of matters pertaining to the following topics.

Future sale or acquisition of a specific parcel of real estate is permitted by KRS 61.810 subsection one B.

Proposed or pending litigation is permitted by KRS 61.810 subsection one C issues which might lead to the appointment, dismissal, or disciplining of an employee as permitted by KRS 61.810 subsection one F and a specific proposal by a business entity where public discussion of the subject matter would jeopardize the location retention expansion or upgrading of a business entity as permitted by KRS 61.810 subsection one G.

So move.

Second.

Call roll.

Commissioner Henderson?

Aye.

Commissioner Smith.

I.

Commissioner Thomas.

I mayor Bray.

Aye.

Thank you.