Assistant City Manager Michelle Smolen reviews the commission's top priorities for the year.
PADUCAH — The Paducah City Commission unanimously approved an emergency order to fund partial demolition of the Katterjohn Building during a special called meeting Tuesday evening.
The commission had originally set the amount for $60,000 but raised it to an amount not to exceed $80,000 to fund the necessary demolition.
The city says part of the roof was collapsing, forcing it to condemn the building back in September. Along with demolition, hazardous waste also needed to be removed. This will cost the city about $75,000.
City Manager Daron Jordan says maintenance of the Katterjohn Building will once again fall on the property owner now that the city has handled the partial demolition. Leaders also had their final quarterly update for their commission priorities for the year.
Making improvements to the E-911 center remains at the top of the priorities list.
Paducah Assistant City Manager Michelle Smolen led the presentation on the commission's priorities. A main focus for city leaders will be gearing up to make millions of dollars in necessary improvements to Paducah's E-911 center.
"The city will issue the RFP. The committee did approve a motion recommending the hybrid government structure, and this week there was also a lot of conversation about revenue source," Smolen says.
Neighborhood development is also an ongoing area of focus, especially on Paducah's Southside. Mayor George Bray says the Southside is a large-scale project and will take time, but it is crucial for the city.
"There's a lot of these initiatives that really are sprinkled into what we need to accomplish on the Southside. So we've got to keep it all tied together," Bray says.
Jordan went over the figures of how much is left over from the city's portion of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The city received $6.4 million, with a majority of that money going toward stormwater infrastructure improvements.
"As we stand right now, we probably have about $300,000 of that still to put into stormwater projects of that $4 million," Jordan tells commissioners. "Some of that, if you will recall a couple commission meetings back, you authorized an application for a grant to be able to leverage those dollars and extend them further."
Other projects being funded by the city's ARPA funds include the Robert Cherry Civic Center's improvements, buying playground equipment for Robert Coleman Park and the emergency demolition for the Katterjohn Building.
