Eminence Kentucky-Minutes

The City Council of the City of Eminence, Kentucky met in a regular session on Monday, August 10, 2009 at 6:15 p.m. at the Eminence City Hall Council Chambers with the following members present: Danny Meadows, Polly Troxell, Shawn Bright, Lee Ann Armstrong, and Leo Mason. Absent were Mayor Jim Petitt and Council Member Drane Stephens.

In the absence of Mayor Petitt, Attorney Brammell called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. and announced that the council would need to elect one of themselves to preside over the meeting. The person elected would still vote on all issues. Motion made by Member Armstrong and seconded by Member Mason to nominate Member Meadows to preside over the meeting. No other nominations were made. On a call of vote, all members present voted “Yea”. Member Meadows will preside over the meeting.

Subject: Game Room – Citizen Rodney Vanlandingham was present to express his concerns with the new game room located on Main Street having the windows blacked out and curtains up making it impossible to see what goes on inside. This along with the location being close to a bar creates a lot of concern for him. Mr. Vanlandingham stated he has five children and if any of them are in the game room he wants to be able to drive by and see what’s going on and would appreciate any help the City could provide on this. He stated he feels the game room itself is a good idea if we are able to get it opened up to some light. Member Meadows stated he has heard from others parents expressing the same concern. Attorney Brammell stated there is no ordinance on the books or any case law that he could find on this. We can certainly try to regulate this by ordinance but must remember it could be challenged on a constitutional basis. Member Meadows suggested a letter be sent from the Mayor or City Attorney requesting the owner’s cooperation in making the suggested changes. Chief Duncan stated the owner did take the curtains down, but the window tinting is so dark it didn’t make much difference. Discussion followed with the council agreeing this appears to be a cool place for the youth to hang out with the artwork, but they still felt more light is needed. Consensus of council was to try and handle this through a letter from the Mayor requesting the owner’s compliance with the suggestion to have more light.

Subject: Minutes – The minutes of the previous regular sessions held on July 13, 2009 were reviewed. Member Meadows asked for any additions or changes to the minutes. With no additions or changes forthcoming, Member Meadows stated they would stand approved as presented.

Subject: Community Center Transfer Status Report – Attorney Brammell reported there has been some communication and information exchange between the chool board and the Mayor on a possible agreement and it is anticipated this will be ready for council review at the next meeting.

Subject: One Call Now Report – Clerk Doane reported on the first community-wide message sent out to inform the public of the new system and to also invite them to participate in Eminence Day. The office received a lot of calls from people who saw our number on their caller ID but had no recorder on their phone to get the message. The report showed 1,072 calls were attempted with 873 delivered, 194 undeliverable and 5 numbers being disconnected. Clerk Doane stated she would like to do a press release to the public through the local paper to let people know about the system and how they can retrieve a missed message without calling City Hall. The public will be able to go to the City’s website at www.eminencekentucky.com to add additional phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses. They will need to already be in the system to add numbers so if they are new they will have to contact City Hall to add them. Clerk Doane reported there are a lot of duplicate listings on the roster as well as some people who do not need to be on there at all. Clerk Doane stated she will attempt to clean this up prior to renewal.

Website Manager Joyce Meyer reported she was able to install the link from One Call Now on our website after getting them to change the code to eliminate a tracking cookie which was embedded in the link. The link for people to go to is located in the frequently asked questions section of the site with a banner on the home page for people to click on to link them to the place where they can add additional numbers and/or e-mail addresses. Ms. Meyer stated she feels this is a great community tool and it is good to have a familiar voice rather than a pre-recorded message on the calls. She could possible add a sub-message on the site to help with educating the public on the missed message retrieval.

Subject: Website Report – Website Manager Joyce Meyer reported some statistics on the City’s website use with June having 1,029 unique visitors and the past year having 6,889 unique visitors and 11, 431 total visits. The peak usage time is 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Subject: Housing Authority Request to Change Speed Limit – Council discussed a letter received from Housing Authority Executive Director Glenda Lucas requesting that the speed limit be changed from 15 mph to 25 mph on Lou Avenue. Ms. Lucas indicated that the 15 mph is just too slow and the employees of the Housing Authority sometimes have to respond quickly to emergencies as they are all on 24 hour alert. Since last month’s request for the 15 mph speed limit to be strictly enforced due to the children playing in or near the street, a total of 63 warnings, 22 charged offenses and 12 citations have been issued on Lou Avenue. Chief Duncan stated if doing something is not sensible or reasonable it can sometimes cause more problems. Motion made by Member Mason and seconded by Member Armstrong to change the speed limit to 25 mph on Lou Avenue and to authorize the changing of the signs. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, Members Mason, Armstrong, Meadows, and Troxell voted “Yea” with Council Member Bright voting “Nay”. Motion carried.

Subject: Police Department Report – Police Chief Carey Duncan reviewed the monthly activity report with council which showed total contacts of 353 for July. Chief Duncan reported that 19 individuals were arrested on 33 charges.

Subject: Property Ordinance Enforcement Report – Chief Carey Duncan stated there were forty-two property ordinance violation notices issued this month, with most being given more time due to the recent rains. Member Bright asked for additional details on the individual complaints for this report next month.

Subject: Public Works Department Report – Public Works Director William Smith reviewed the monthly activity report with council reporting that employee Dustin Hamilton has received his certification as a Class II Water Distribution Operator and is scheduled to go to classes/testing for other certifications soon. Mr. Smith reported they have installed one new water service on Lone Oak Drive and two in the Quail Run Subdivision. Mr. Smith reported that the new Dollar Store should be about ready to commence construction. Mr. Smith reported that the lights at the park are now on a timer with the breaker boxes being inaccessible after replacement of the new door locks.

Subject: Request Permission to Proceed with the Kentucky Utilities Electric Upgrade – Public Works Director Smith explained that the Kentucky Utilities Electric upgrade project will help eliminate loss of electricity at one of the critical pump stations on Mulberry Road by moving the disconnects beyond the pump station resulting in less power outages for this pump station. Public Works Director Smith reported he did confirm that the current bid price is still valid in the amount of $14,835.00. Motion made by Member Troxell and seconded by Member Armstrong to authorize this project for the not to exceed price of $15,000.00. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, all members present voted "Yea".

Subject: Administrative Office Report - City Clerk Sandra Doane reviewed the monthly administrative office report with council. Clerk Doane reported that we have received the federal and state share of the FEMA approved expenses from the ice storm in the amount of $22,395.25. The City will have to absorb 13% of the total expenses. Clerk Doane reported that the Eminence Fire & Rescue returned $26,153.78 for return of overpayment funds.

Subject: Occupational Tax/Net Profits/Business License Review - Clerk Doane reviewed the first quarter occupational/net profits/business license tax collection pointing out that this collection includes occupational tax for the period ending June 30, 2009.

Subject: Request for Sewer Adjustment – Clerk Doane reported that Ms. Elza Matheny is requesting an adjustment of her sewer bill. Ms. Matheny’s total bill this month was $458.65 and was extremely high due to leakage. The water did not go through the sewer, so this adjustment would only be for the sewer. Ms. Matheny has had one leak adjustment during January of 2009. Motion made by Member Armstrong and second by Member Mason to allow the sewer adjustment for Ms. Matheny in the amount of $182.12. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, all members present voted “Yea”.

Subject: Fourth Quarter Budget Comparison – Clerk Doane reviewed in summary the fourth quarter and year end budget comparison indicating that the overall expenses in every department were under budget with some areas of income being over the budget amount.

Subject: Fire Department Report – Member Meadows reviewed the monthly Fire Department activity report with council which showed a total of ten runs and 39 manpower hours for the month. Member Bright thanked Chief Lucas for all his help with the Eminence Day activities.

Subject: Community Center Report – Member Bright reviewed the monthly community center report with council reporting that rental of the center is down due in part to the broken basketball goals/backboards. Donna McClamroch has been named as the replacement for Don Aldridge as Vice Chair and member of the board. Motion made by Member Bright and seconded by Member Meadows to ratify the appointment of Ms. McClamroch as the Vice Chair and board member replacing Don Aldridge. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, all members present voted “Yea”. Member Bright stated that Ms. McClamroch is already working hard and making a positive impact on the employees at the center. Member Bright stated he would like to see the basketball goals repaired or replaced at the center as many people are asking about them. Discussion held including the timeframe involved if we are able to transfer the center to the school. Attorney Brammell indicated at best it would still be a few months before this transfer could take place. Consensus of council to table this for now.

Subject: Festivals Update – Member Mason reported he is pleased with the overall Eminence Day Festival with all the comments being positive that he has received so far. The committee did make note of some problems which will be resolved before next year. Member Mason thanked everyone involved – the employees, Fire Chief Lucas, and community members. He would like to see more community involvement next year. Member Meadows stated he has been contacted by some of the vendors who want to be involved in the follow-up meeting.

Member Armstrong reported she has already received some constructive comments on Saturday. She pointed out that she loved all the fire trucks and ambulances who came from other cities to participate in our parade, but felt the sirens were too much as it was hurting the kids ears. She stated she felt having this along with the Henry County Youth Football League was a great idea. She would like to see another tent put up next year for the senior citizens to be able to get under away for the heat.

Member Bright expressed his thanks to other communities who participated in helping us with the parade and other events. Member Mason reported we were able to rent the stage and tent for the bands for a fraction of the usual cost from Clay Cottongin with the Shelby County Parks System.

Member Meadows stated he felt everything was great and especially thought the daily cleanup was a positive aspect and that the kids worked really hard on this.

Member Armstrong reported the booth rental brought in $1,175.00 with $1,000.00 of this going back to the youth groups who assisted with the cleanup. We also received $145.00 in donations and $140.00 for the Little Miss/Mister contest.

Member Bright stated the next and final Music on Main would be held on September 11, 2009 with the Ruckus Band playing. We will also have the national anthem sung prior to the band starting.

Subject: Parks Update – Member Armstrong reported that the landscaping is complete and that Member Bright has power washed the bathhouse in preparation for painting. It was discussed that Judge Brent will be providing community service workers in a week or two to do the painting. Member Armstrong asked if we had discussed having the police officers on duty lock and unlock the bathroom doors at the park. Consensus for the morning officer to unlock the bathrooms and the night officer to lock them 30 minutes before dusk each night.

The dedication of the park was discussed with it being suggested to have this in conjunction with the homecoming parade.

Subject: Property Tax Rates - Clerk Doane reviewed the proposed property tax rates. Clerk Doane reported that the personal assessment has increased by 8,524,831 and has been confirmed with the PVA and the state revenue cabinet as a true figure as we have had an industry that has not been reported their tangibles for several years. The City has been and will receive the tax from the state under the omitted tangible filing for this industry. Clerk Doane recommended taking the 4% allowed rate which would set the real and personal rate at .299 per $100 assessment and keeping the vehicle and watercraft rate at .266 per $100 assessment. Discussion held. Attorney Brammell stated that taking the compensating rate only maintains the status quo and if the 4% allowed rate is not taken it cannot be made up next year which sets the revenues back. It was also discussed that not taking the allowed 4% rate could negatively impact grant applications as the reviewers feel if you are not utilizing all the revenue sources available to you that you don’t need a grant. Taking the 4% allowed rate will increase the real rate by one tenth of one percent with the personal rate decreasing by 19.6%.

Subject: Ad Valorem Tax Ordinance – Attorney Brammell held the first reading of the ad valorem tax ordinance setting the 2009/2010 rates at 29.9 cents per $100 assessment for real property, 29.9 cents per $100 assessment for personal property and 26.6 cents per $100 assessment for motor vehicles and watercrafts.

Subject: Ordinance Adding the Position of Water Distribution Operator – Attorney Brammell held the first reading of a summary of an ordinance adding the position of water distribution operator at a grade 27 to the city’s positions. This does not mean we are filling the position.

Subject: Warrants - The warrants presented for payment were reviewed. Motion made by Member Armstrong and seconded by Member Troxell to approve the warrants for payment as presented. On a call of vote by Clerk Doane, all members present voted “Yea”. Motion carried.

Subject: New Business/Council – Member Meadows asked if any council member had anything they wanted to discuss.

Member Troxell stated she appreciated all the hard work by the City on Eminence Day and that she too has been approached by some of the vendors to be included in any follow-up meetings.

Member Bright stated he would like for the city to consider the speed limit change just made for Lou Avenue and to consider the demographics and that maybe we could add speed bumps. Attorney Brammell stated he has checked on this and has found nothing regulating the addition of speed bumps and that we can use them if we want to, however usually the insurance companies recommend not having them due to the possibility of liability. Discussion held. Member Bright stated he will talk with Mrs. Raisor who first came to council about the speeding on Lou Avenue.

Member Meadows reported that he just received information indicating that Homecoming is September 18, 2009 which would put the parade on September 17th. Consensus of council to have the park dedication immediately after the parade at 6:00 p.m. on September 17th. Member Troxell stated she would contact the television stations again about attending this event.

Member Bright reported that Member Mason will be able to get us some platforms for free which would allow us to build our own stage but we will need a place to store them. Public Works Director Smith stated we could store them.

Subject: Mayor’s Update – Clerk Doane reported for Mayor Petitt stating that we still have not heard from Frankfort on the TE grant. We are still waiting on the contract.

With no further business to be discussed, motion made by Member Bright and seconded by Member Mason to adjourn. All members present voted “Yea”. Meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m.

Hosted by

This site owned by The City of Eminence Kentucky.
Custom Graphics and Design © Copyright 2001-2012 Joyce K. Meyer. All Rights Reserved
(Except where otherwise noted.)
This site was created by My Cottage Web Studio 04/15/01and revised on 05/10/12.