The outdoor sports facility project and the improvement of the 911 radio system were both topics of discussion at the finance court session on Monday evening.
McCracken County Judge-Executive Craig Clymer said the sports complex project is at a stage where the county and city of Paducah would need to sign an inter-local agreement outlining how the city and county would split the costs of the sports complex, he believes The district is not willing to enter into an inter-local agreement for the 911 system without having an idea of all the options available for improvements to the 911 radio system.
According to Clymer, Paducah Mayor George Bray told Clymer last week he would not sign an inter-local agreement for the outdoor sports complex without the county agreeing to sign an inter-local agreement for the 911 system.
Clymer said he believes the sports tourism project should not be “held hostage” to reach agreement on the 911’s improvements.
“I think the logic is that we’re… held to the fire to sign the 911 [interlocal agreement]they will not sign the sports [agreement] until we sign the 911 [agreement]but the 911 [agreement] is at least weeks away to make a decision. Probably months off, it could be a lot longer,” Clymer said.
Bray confirmed to The Sun he would not sign the sports complex agreement without the county signing a 911 system agreement and said he would raise the issue further at today’s city commission meeting. Bray added he is confident that the city and county can resolve their differences and find a solution that best serves city and county residents.
At the fiscal court hearing, Clymer said the city appeared to be operating under the impression that the county would not honor its agreement set out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support improvements to the 911 system. Clymer said he has assured the city that the county will honor that letter of intent and will work in good faith with the city to reach agreement on improvements to the 911 system.
Commissioner Bill Bartleman said he doesn’t understand why the city thought the county didn’t want to work as a partner to improve the 911 system, especially since there is a joint city-county 911 communications oversight committee studying options to improve the system. Bartleman also urged the city to honor its commitment to the sports complex.
When the sports complex opens, it will generate an estimated $3 million per month in economic impact, including promoting business for local retailers and hotels, Clymer said. The longer it takes for the city and district to agree on the inter-local agreement, the longer it will take for construction to begin. For Clymer, that means losing millions of dollars in economic impact that the county and city could see if the park doesn’t open in 2024 as planned.
“Obviously any kind of delay along the way is going to cost money,” Jim Dudley, chairman of the Sports Tourism Commission, told the Finance Court.
In its session on Monday, the finance court also approved the budget for the 2022/23 financial year beginning on July 1. District Attorney Sam Clymer advised the court that under state law, the entire Treasury Court had to be present for the reading of the ordinance, which meant the court had to wait for Eddie Jones to arrive from a business trip before reading the budget. The budget for fiscal 2022-23 is set at just over $43 million.
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In other financial court transactions
- The President of Greater Paducah Area Development, Bruce Wilcox, provided an update to members of the Treasury Court on a quarterly basis. GPED will host a group from the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development next week and show the group various locations in Paducah. Wilcox also met with the Treasury Court in a board meeting for about an hour to discuss other matters.
- Joint Sewer Agency Executive Director John Hodges briefed the Treasury Court on ongoing JSA projects in the district. The JSA will introduce a 4% increase in the fee, but Hodges said the new fee would still be just 70% of the state’s average sewage cost.
- The tax court approved a payment of $1,000 to the Paducah-McCracken County NAACP to sponsor the June 12, 2022 celebration scheduled for June 20.
- Clymer, with encouragement from the Open Gate Garden Club, declared June Garden Month in McCracken County. The garden club is hosting a flower show at the McCracken County Fair next week.