A large group was in attendance to hear discussion of proposed city park, EPB board member appointment fails in vote.
(HENRY ROYSE/WCLU NEWS)
The question of whether or not to move forward with a proposed downtown park got a little closer to being answered at last night’s city council meeting. Wes Simpson, chairman of the Downtown Park Steering Committee led a discussion seeking to get the design- and-build request for proposal process started. Nearly 100 citizens filled the council chambers, about half of whom carried signs signifying support for the park. Simpson said he asked to be there to figure out where we were going.
“We want to be together as a community and we want to move forward with something positive and figure out a way to make it work. There’s enough smart people in this community we can figure out a way to make it work and I think bringing those private dollars in and looking at Partnerships with Community organizations which way do that so that way I come to you tonight with a request to be on the agenda because I’ve got some big questions about where we stand on this and will this RFP actually be advertised and will our committee be allowed to finish the work that we started,” said Simpson.
Wes Simpson, chairman of the Downtown Park Steering Committee, addresses the city council at Monday night’s meeting. To his right, via zoom, is attorney Jason Hallington from the law firm of Frost Brown Todd, who will be putting together the RFP documents for submission to potential bidders.
Also, Simpson specifically questioned a statement Mayor Harold Armstrong had given to a Bowling Green TV station saying he was not in support of the park. Armstrong quickly spoke to correct the way he was quoted.
“I said to the TV Station if it’s legal, the council wants it. If it’s legal and we can afford it, fine…. I don’t think we can afford it so that’s what I said. I wasn’t quoted totally like that, but the legal part is what I told you if we’re going to do it this way we have to have an expert to do the legal and then if the council wants to do it we get the legal then the council was a who will vote for it,” according to Armstrong.
The legal aspect is of course important, so, in preparation to discuss the issue the city had arranged to have attorney Jason Hallington with the Louisville firm of Frost Brown and Todd at the meeting via zoom. Hallington has a large amount of experience with Private Public Partnerships representation, and understands the laws relating to them.
Hallington has seen the request for proposal drafts submitted by Simpson. When asked he described the proposal as “Strong”
After much more intricate back and forth discussion the council unanimously agreed to have Attorney Hallington move forward and prepare the final request for proposal documents. This would allow answers, such as can the city afford it, to be obtained.
An order appointing a new member to the Glasgow Electric Plant Board failed. Mayor Armstrong had nominated Sherri Myers to serve on the EPB for a 4-year term. A roll call vote was taken, with only Council members Marna Kirkpatrick and Marlon Witcher voting in favor, while the other 7 council members voted no.
On the Glasgow Board of adjustments, Randy Gibbons was appointed and Shannon Rust was reappointed by unanimous votes.
Also at last night’s meeting the council voted unanimously to resign as the trustee of the Lera B. Mitchell Clubhouse, a long standing community center in our town. By agreement with the heirs of the Mitchell estate, T.J. Samson Hospital will now be the trustee. The CEO of T.J. Samson, Neil Thornbury is very excited to be taking over this community treasure:
“The opportunity we have to be the trustee of the Lera B. Mitchell Clubhouse is a real honor. We are looking forward to working with the four primary groups associated with Lera B. Mitchell, which is the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Garden Club, Musicale Club and the Business and Professional Women’s Club. We are very hopeful that in time we’ll be able to work together to really enhance this treasure in our community to sustain and even further programs for Seniors and groups that want to come in and utilize the clubhouse. We see Lera B. Mitchell directly in line with the mission and vision of the hospital, which is really to go out, educate and work with the community especially in the area of healthcare and we see this as a partnership where we can work with many groups and provide those services that will hopefully make a big difference in the groups that utilize Lera B. Mitchell,” said Thornbury.
Also last night, 2nd reading was passed rezoning property on Prestwick Drive and Hume way to Heavy Industrial.