City Commission Meeting Highlights

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

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Convention Center Paducah Power Bills

The Mayor and Commission approved an ordinance to pay Paducah Power System for half of the delinquent utility bills through November 2011 for the Julian Carroll Convention Center and the Paducah Expo Center.  The City will pay $57,070.13 with McCracken County paying the other half of the delinquent bills.  City Manager Jeff Pederson says, “We are hopeful that the convention centers will be able to cash flow this expense moving forward.”  The Mayor and Commission approved transferring the funds from the Commission Contingency account to pay Paducah Power.  The Convention Center Corporation has paid the December Paducah Power bills.  With the City and County’s payments, the account with Paducah Power will be current.    

Ordinance to Create Main Street Department and Advisory Board (vote January 24)

The Mayor and Commission introduced an ordinance to abolish the current Paducah Renaissance Alliance (PRA) ordinance and create a city department called Main Street with an advisory board to be known as Paducah Renaissance Alliance.  City Manager Jeff Pederson says, “It’s a major change to the current ordinance.”  Since the creation of Paducah Renaissance Alliance in 2008, the City has been working to determine the best structure for promoting, developing, and enhancing downtown and LowerTown.  With the approval of this ordinance, the four-member staff at PRA will become the Main Street department which will report, in the same fashion as other City departments, to the City Manager.  The Main Street Department will use the National Main Street 4-Point approach which includes the components of design, economic restructuring, promotion, and organization.  Pederson says, “Importantly, this ordinance continues to recognize the value of the name Paducah Renaissance Alliance.”  The Main Street Department will continue to use the logo and PRA name in marketing.   The nine-member PRA board will function as an advisory board to provide input on Main Street mission promotions, program review, and visionary planning.  The PRA board currently functions in a management capacity. 

Quick Highlights:

• Ordinance approved for sublease agreement between the City of Paducah and Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey, River Heritage Museum, and Paducah Film Society for the city-owned property located on Water Street and Maiden Alley.  The agreement will expire in 2021.
• City Manager Jeff Pederson provided a quick update regarding the Riverfront Redevelopment Project and the plan to move the project downstream away from the densely packed area of mussels.  The area downstream has less than 100 of the fat pocketbook species of mussels which is a significant decrease in the mussel density.  A draft of the environmental statement was submitted last week to U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

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