County, city split on sports complex, 911 agreements

According to Clymer, Paducah Mayor George Bray told Clymer last week he would not sign an interlocal agreement for the outdoor sports complex without the county agreeing to sign an interlocal agreement for the 911 system.

Clymer said he believes the sports tourism project should not be “held hostage” in order to reach an agreement on the 911 improvements.

“I guess the logic is, we’re being held … to the fire to sign the 911 [interlocal agreement], they won’t sign the sports [agreement] until we sign the 911 [agreement], but the 911 [agreement] is at least weeks off in making any decision. Probably months off, it could be much longer to that,” Clymer said.

Bray confirmed to The Sun that he said he would not sign the sports complex agreement without the county signing a 911 system agreement and said he would further address the topic at today’s city commission meeting. Bray added he is confident the city and county can sort out their differences and find a solution that best serves residents of the city and county.

At the fiscal court meeting, Clymer said the city seemed to be operating under the impression that the county would not honor its agreement, outlined in a memorandum of understanding (MOU), to support the 911 system improvements. Clymer said he assured the city that the county would honor this MOU and would work in good faith with the city to reach an agreement on 911 system improvements.

Commissioner Bill Bartleman said he did not understand why the city thought the county did not want to work as partners to improve the 911 system, especially since there is a joint city and county 911 Communications Oversight Committee that is exploring options to improve the system. Bartleman also urged the city to follow through on its commitment to the sports complex.

When the sports complex is open, it is estimated to bring in $3 million per month in economic impact, including driving business to local retailers and hotels, Clymer said. The longer it takes for the city and county to come together on the interlocal agreement, the longer it would take for construction to begin. This, to Clymer, means losing millions of dollars in economic impact that the county and city could see if the park does not open in 2024 as scheduled.

“Obviously, any kind of delay is going to start costing money along the way,” Sports Tourism Commission Chair Jim Dudley told the fiscal court.

The fiscal court also approved the budget for fiscal year 2022-23, which begins on July 1, at Monday’s meeting. County Attorney Sam Clymer advised the court that per state statute, the full fiscal court had to be present for the reading of the ordinance, which meant the court needed to wait for the arrival of Eddie Jones from a business trip prior to reading the budget. The 2022-23 fiscal year budget is set at a little over $43 million.

In other fiscal court business

• Greater Paducah Area Development President Bruce Wilcox provided a quarterly update to fiscal court members. GPED will host a group from the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development next week and will show the group different sites in Paducah. Wilcox also met in an executive session with the fiscal court for about an hour to discuss other business.
• Joint Sewer Agency Executive Director John Hodges updated the fiscal court on ongoing JSA projects within the county. JSA will be implementing a 4% increase in rates, but Hodges said the new rate would still only be 70% of the state average sewer cost.
• The fiscal court approved a $1,000 payment to the Paducah-McCracken County NAACP to sponsor the 2022 Juneteenth celebration planned for June 20.
• Clymer, with the encouragement of the Open Gate Garden Club, proclaimed June in McCracken County as Garden Month. The garden club will be hosting a floral show at the McCracken County Fair next week.

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