| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
City Council meeting, May 5, 2008 report In last night's City Council meeting
By Ed Waggener One would barely have known it from the published agenda, nor would one have known the biggest news without staying until after the meeting, but last night's Columbia City Council meeting, with its post session announcements, was big. Perhaps the top news came after a post session radio interview with Lisa Fisher-Clark in which Mayor Pat Bell revealed the name of the new Executive Director/Recruiter for the successor organization to CACIDA, the Columbia-Adair County Industrial Development Authority.Sue Stivers, who has earned accolades for her leadership role as Executive Director, is designated to be the Executive Director of the new Economic Development Unit, Mayor Bell told a hallway group following the radio interview. Ms. Stivers will be paid $12,000 per year for the duties, Mayor Bell and Adair CJE Ann Melton said. The $1,000 per month salary is far less than the CACIDA board had been paying recruiters and/or consultants. "We couldn't pay Sue Stivers what she's worth," City Attorney Marshall Loy said. "She does so much," he said. Stivers will continue to serve as Executive Director of the Columbia-Adair County Chamber of Commerce, but her salary in that role, $800 per month, is paid by the Chamber. New economic development board members named During the session, Mayor Bell announced, for the first time publicly or, officially to the Council, the names of the new nine member Economic Development Board. The slate was selected in Executive Sessions involving Mayor Bell, CJE Ann Melton, and Chamber Executive Director Stivers. The Mayor and the County Judge Executive will serve as members of the Board. As the revelation of each of the other seven members of the star-studded panel was announced, the City Council dutifully followed and approved them unanimously, by 6-0 voice votes. They are:
The panel is to be jointly approved by both the City Council and the Adair County Fiscal Court, which will have knowledge of what is going on 8 days before the court considers the appointments at its Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 7:00pmCT regular meeting. Mayor reports on land lease Mayor Bell told the council the results of the Thursday, May 1, 2008, bid opening for lease of 281 acres of the Green River Commerce Park for agriculture purposes. The CACIDA (or whatever new name the economic development authority goes by) will get $40,300 per year, a much higher lease rate than the $13-16,000 annual payment Mayor Bell and Judge Melton had said they expected. Mayor Bell said that the economic development authority can revoke the lease at any time on any portion of the land which might be needed by a new employer. Click here for detailed ColumbiaMagazine.com story posted Friday, May 2, 2008 Mayor Bell called the winning number "a wonderful bid." He said that the City and County have put in over $1,000,000 into the Industrial Foundation. Councillor Edwin Taylor asked if the leased GRCP land would be used for dairy farming and was told that it would not be. CJE Ann Melton said that some fenced areas would be used for beef cattle, but the rest of the tillable land would be put in corn. Mayor Bell said that the land would look much better to show to prospects as a cornfield than it does now. Mayor Bell said, "With the economy like it is, you know, we're not optimistic that any manufacturer will locate here," and turning to Councillor Craig Dean, who works at the huge Amazon.com facility in Campbellsville, he said, "I expect we'll be getting something like where you work." Mayor that Secretary Hindman will be here Mayor Bell announced that Kentucky's Secretary of Commerce John Hindman will be in Columbia on May 12 and 13, 2008, for a breakfast in the basement of the Chamber of Commerce building and that he will tour Green River Commerce Park. County Judge Executive Ann Melton requests 911 salary funding In what may have been an indication of the administrations plans on the subject, County Judge Executive Ann Melton presented her case for City participation in the funding of the salaries for 911 Dispatchers in the "Citizens Comments" segment of the Council meeting.Judge Melton asked the City to resume payments for 911 Dispatcher Salaries pro-rated on the Columbia Police Department's percentage of use. The city paid a portion of the dispatchers' salaries when Charles Marshall was mayor, but was discontinued in a dispute between Adair County Jailer Bug Knight and former Mayor Curtis Hardwick. At the time the Jailer was in charge of 911 dispatchers, she said. Of the calls, Judge Melton said, 22% are for the Adair County Emergency Medical Service, 49% are for the Columbia City Police Department, and 29% are for the Adair County Sheriff's Department. With an $86,000 shortfall, the city's share would be $42,140 per year. Judge Melton said that county government, with state and Homeland Secuirty aid, is paying for the entire cost of the 911 building and equipment, and will pay all of the center's utilities and maintenace cost. She said that the county pays for all of the cost of elections, including those for the city, held every two years. Judge Melton said that the county has paid for training for certification of all 911 dispatchers, all of whom have had training at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond. She said the six of the surrounding cities pay a portion of 911 center costs, and that Burkesville pays over $100,000 to support the Cumberland County center. Judge Melton said options for the county include asking the city to take over its own 911 calls. The only income the center now has is from a telephone tax, which is set at $2.00 per land line, 68 cents per month for cell phones. Because there are fewer and fewer land lines, she said, that income is diminishing. Mayor Bell said that no funding request is ever granted in the month it is requested. Mayor Bell said that city residents also pay county taxes now, and gave an example of the difference city residents pay vs. county resident costs when both entities contribute to a project. It works out, he said, that on joint and equally funded projects, city residents pay $5 to every $1 a county resident pays. Mayor Bell asked about the county tax on telephones, which is now the sole revenue for the 911 operation. The county could triple the land line monthly tax to $6, if it chose to. Judge Melton asked the council members to express their willingness to consider the county request. Only one council member, Linda Waggener, nodded agreement to consider the CJE's request. Councillor Edwin Taylor was openly against city aid to the center, while the other four members gave no indication of their positions. Tuesday morning, Judge Melton said that she was pleased with individual council members' responses to the appeal. "I feel really good about the prospect that the city will do it's share," she said. Mayor Bell indicated that matter might be considered at the Council's next meeting. Council approves second reading abolishing the Columbia Utilities Commission City Attorney Marshall Loy gave a second reading of the ordinance abolishing the Columbia Utililties Commission. No further revelations were made by Mayor Bell about how the affairs of the Columbia Utilities Commission would fare, except that it would be a function of City government. No mention was made of the Commission's financial situation nor of whether the ordinance is a prelude to a merger of the utilities commission with the the Adair County Water District. However, it is known that the overall outlook for the Columbia Utilities Commission is dire. With the CUC no longer selling water to the Adair County Water District, and with the new burden of paying for water purchased, the Columbia Water Department faces a $600,000 turnaround, which is the total of the loss of revenue and the purchase of water, wholesale, from the Adair County Water Treatment plant. The shortfall could be made up with rate increases on City Utility consumers, but rate increases by city owned utilities are subject to Public Service Commission hearings, which could take longer than the utilities company has to correct the new imbalance. In addition, the leaky pipes, some installed in WPA days, exacerbate the problems the city water department now faces. Nor was any mention made, at the Council meeting, of meetings now being initiated by the executive branch of the the City of Columbia, to consider merger of the utilities. One unofficial meeting has already been held and another has been tentatively agreed to by Adair County Water District Manager Lenny Stone, with the knowledge of Adair County Judge Executive Ann Melton. Finite details of the abolishment of the Columbia Utilities Commission, including relationships with bond guarantors, were not made public at last night's meeting. Many leaders in the county consider Utilities Merger a good thing, and a possible first step to full city-county merger; and they wonder, if making the Utilities Commission dysfunctional were part of a brilliant secret plan of Mayor Bell to force a good thing, merger, to happen. And, the urgency for the City to get the county utilities to take over the city system in a merger could carry weight in the county's request for funding aid for 911, though on the surface the two might appear unrelated. John Rarey, Chairman of Air Board, says State reneging on promise of funds John Rarey, Chairman of the Columbia Adair County Airport Board, came before the board to bring them up to date on the airport expansion. The board is in the middle of building a new 10-plane hangar, which will cost $240,000. The building is being constructed at about half the estimated cost had it been built with greater state funds and had it gotten a 50-50 matching grant from the state, which would have necessitated prevailing wage provisions and Davis-Bacon Act requirements. Former Commissioner of Aviation Paul Steeley had promised $65,000 in state aid for the project, Rarey said, but, he said, "Commissioner Steeley's last day on the job was two weeks ago." Now, he said, the new state administration is reneging on that promise, and is telling the local board they will not take any applications for funds until after July 1, 2008. "They've even claimed to have lost our application," Rarey said. In the course of his presentation, Chairman Rarey said that Adair County has more aircraft used for business purposes than any surrounding community, but that many of the craft, including his own, are kept out of county. "Adair County doesn't get the taxes on many of our own planes," he said. The new hangar will see the return of many of them. Rarey said that at this time he is only looking for political help, which Mayor Bell promised. "I'll contact Joe Prather," he said, "and get back on it." Joe Prather is Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary. The KTC includes the Kentucky Department of Aviation. City hears from Agape Bro. Gregg Troutt appeared before the board to ask for public funds for the operation of the Agape House Center for Problem Pregnancies. It is now in opeation he said, and has around 10 clients including those from out of county. No action was taken on the matter. Mayor Bell said that the city would aid by looking for faith-based grants for the center. First readings given to Parrott Avenue, Green Hills annexation Councillor Charles Grimsley introduced two ordinances for annexation of the Green Hills area and the Parrot Avenue neighborhood, into the city limits of Columbia. No votes were necessary for the first readings. The annexation is going ahead without 100% of the landowners asking to be annexed, though the Mayor has said that a big majority in both neighborhoods are in favor. The exact steps for the annexations were not announced at the meeting, but Mayor Bell has said he is confident that the annexations will be approved by Adair Circuit Court, and that funding agencies for the sewer project in those areas have accepted that projection. A $115,000 revenue bond issue ordinance received first reading at the meeting. The bonds for the Green Hills/Parrott Avenue sewer project. Most of the $1 million plus cost of the project is being paid for with a PRIDE grant and with a USDA Rural Development Administration low interest loan. Zoning maps for revised The Council voted 6-0 to approve a revision of the official Columbia Planning and Zoning Maps for Greenhills, with most of the area coming in a R-1 Low Density Residential and a small lot as I-1, light industrial. Bam Carney speaks Bam Carney, candidate for the Republican nomination for 51st District Kentucky House representative, appeared at the meeting and expressed a hope that he would be representing Columbia in the State House of Representatives. "I just wanted to stop in and get a feel for how you do things," he said. Council comments Councillor Charles Grimsley reported on progress at the basketball court at the VFW park. Mayor Bell added that improvements had been aided by the gift of topsoil by Richard Lee Walker, which was hauled to the park by Danny Pyles' firm. Councillor Craig Dean commended Coach Brett Reliford of the Adair County High School Academic Team and the success of Cameron Campbell, who won a first place State Award and will be competing on an international level. Councillor Edwin Taylor asked for action on an old traffic signal trip imbedded on Guardian Street. Councillors June Parson, Linda Waggener, and Joe Moore did not make specific requests, but Councillor Joe Moore, at 7:04pmCT, said, "I'd like to move we adjourn," continuing his tradition. And so they did. Meeting well attended The meeting was well attended, but not nearly the number one would ordinarily expect considering the import of the items considered, even the ones the administration announced. All six councillors, Charles Grimsley, Craig Dean, Linda Waggener, Edwin Taylor, Joe Moore and June Parson were present, as were City Clerk Carolyn Edwards, City Attorney Marshall Loy, and City Police Chief Mark D. Harris. Members of print, radio, and internet media were present. Citizen Roy Rademacher was present, and spoke against city aid for the county's 911 operation. End of Report for May 5, 2008 meeting About your Columbia City Council The Columbia City Council holds regular monthly meetings each first Monday in the Council Meeting Room, City Hall, 116 Campbellsville ST, Columbia, KY. Mayor Pat Bell. Councillors: Charles Grimsley, Craig Dean, Edwin Taylor, Joe Moore, and June Parson. City Attorney, Marshall Loy. City Clerk, Carolyn Edwards. Chief of Police, Mark D. Harris. City Street Department General Manager, Donnie Rowe. City Sanitation Department Supervisor, Ken Dulin. City Water Superintendent, Dana Rogers. City Gas Superintendent, Joe Hare. City Utilities Office Manager, Ann Marie Nixon. City Events Planner, Rhonda Loy. This story was posted on 2008-05-06 08:32:53
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.
More articles from topic News:
A.L. Sinclair posts schedule for Adair Co. Recycling Center AC Firemen respond to vehicle fire on N. KY 61 Nat'l Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive CWC SBDM nominations being accepted Casting For Cody Fundraiser, Sat. May 10, 2008 Adair Countian receives three honors at Somerset CC Taylor Burton is KY Cover Miss State Pageant winner Thanks to Nina Wood for reuniting family with Charlie WALKER REAL ESTATE: Earl & Frances Walker Huddleston estate Old fashioned meeting, fish fry at Egypt Christian View even more articles in topic News |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
