Marathon City Commission meeting covers A to Z

Apr. 16—ASHLAND — The Ashland City Commission had a jam-packed meeting Thursday, taking up 26 items ranging from utilities to infrastructure to parks to the fight against blight.

In the three-hour mega-meeting — which included a 1-hour, 45-minute executive session — Mayor Matt Perkins issued three proclamations.

Even public comment was lively, with David Williams once again assuming the podium and trumpeting the need for a vocational school at Ashland Blazer High School. At one point, Williams began to question the building of a convention center at the former site of Ashland Oil headquarters.

"I have concerns about this convention center," Williams said. "I don't want to see another situation where we had the two malls built — that was with private money. I don't want to see that with public money."

Williams added, "That building is still pretty solid. I don't see why we would tear it down to make a parking lot and a convention center."

Perkins defended the teardown of the Ashland Oil building — he said the amount of asbestos and disrepair made it a blight to the city and it needed to be torn down. As far as the convention center is concerned, Perkins said it would undergo a feasibility study before moving forward.

"Judge (Eric) Chaney has been on record saying he wants to see our convention center successful, and I am on record saying the same about the county's," Perkins said. "I believe the two projects will complement one another, not compete."

Commissioners Amanda Clark and Marty Gute backed up the mayor, with Clark stating the markets Ashland and Boyd County's respective convention centers are trying to capture are different, while Gute called them "apples and oranges."

Commissioner Cheryl Spriggs said the building needed to come down because it was a hazard.

Here are some other highlights from Thursday's marathon meeting:

Utilities

The Department of Utilities saw some big moves Thursday, with $341,630 contracted out for engineering on sewer line, water line and culvert replacements on Oakview Road, Rober Drive, Chestnut Drive, Hicks Road and Bybee Road.

The projects are on the list put together by the Capital Projects Committee, which includes commissioners and staff who look a the priority of projects for water and sewer line replacements throughout the city.

Utilities also saw the purchase of key ingredients in the water and sewer treatment plants — as discussed last month, the cost of these key chemicals continue to soar. For instance, sulfur dioxide cost $739 per ton last year — this year it came in at $1,135 per ton. Liquid caustic soda just about doubled in price. Liquid polymer, hydrofluoric acid and aluminum sulfate saw rises as well.

Even the cost of getting rid of sludge hopped a bit — the city commission voted to approve a contract with Rumpke at a rate of $17.04 per ton of sludge, up from $15.28 per ton in 2021. That's a projected increase of $114,508 in the latest contract, while the city paid $102,681 last year.

Commissioner Josh Blanton called utilities "probably one of the single biggest issues facing our city."

"We're not going in there and fixing these lines, we are proactively replacing them," Blanton said.

Infrastructure

The city commission voted unanimously to take steps toward buttoning up one project while laying the ground work for one down the line.

The commission voted unanimously Thursday to approve $21,149 decrease on the Dixon Street sidewalk, gutters and sidewalk project, which originally began on the federal dime but was shifted to the city after an administrative error. Phase II of the project will now be done for $492,309 by Wolf Creek Contracting.

The commission also voted to execute an agreement between the city and the Transportation Cabinet on the streetscape project on Winchester avenue, with the state kicking in $320,000 and the city kicking in $80,000, for a total of $400,000 on the grant. While this isn't the total funding of the project, it's part of the effort to gather up funds for the eventual project on Winchester.

The commission also voted to close an alley between 11th and 12th Streets between Winchester and Carter, in order to make way for the drive through lanes of the Ashland Federal Credit Union, which is going in at the former bowling alley that was recently torn down.

Parks

In what commissioner Gute called "money well spent," the city saw multiple contracts awarded for playgrounds and park improvements.

Dawson Pool will have a playground installed at a cost of $94,998; Wendell Banks Southside Park is getting a $209,168 playground; Oliverio Park is getting new fencing at the ball fields to the tune of $105,000.

The city commission has pushed hard for park improvements over the last year, after voting on a bond that included park improvements along with the funds to tear down the Ashland Oil building to make way for a convention center.

Blight

The fight against blight continued Thursday with votes to award contracts four contracts in the amount of $19,050 to Bobby's Mulch and Lights Enterprises for teardowns on dilapidated houses on Hilton Avenue, Newman Street and 29th Street. The commission also voted to squash two contracts in the amount of nearly $27,000.

The reason for rescinding two contracts is due to injunctions placed on demolishing the houses, according to City Manager Mike Graese. One home in the 1600 block of Hilton Avenue is actually going to be brought back up to code by the property owners, saving the city $21,000, according to a fiscal note.

Commissioner Clark asked Graese to find out how much cash is left in the city's $2.9 million demolition budget, as well as on the bonds taken out last year. Commissioner Gute said he liked Bobby's Mulch, joking that he thought he find a piece of a home on Moore Street in the mulch the high school sold for a fundraiser recently.

Odds and Ends

During commissioners' comments, the mayor issued proclamations declaring April Fair Housing Month in Ashland, Autism Awareness month in Ashland and presented a plaque to Matt Saunders at Boyd E-911 for National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.

Commissioner Clark put in a plug for the "Sound the Alarm" campaign for fire alarm installations on May 14 in Ashland. With the recent fatal fire in the city this week, Clark said the push for functional fire alarms in homes is important. Anyone needing a fire alarm is asked to call the Red Cross at (304) 340-3650.

Commissioner Spriggs said Ashland is "popping" with so many ribbon cuttings at new businesses it's hard to keep up with. She also reported the Vietnam Veterans appreciation lunch in Grayson went well, which was put on by the Poage Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Spriggs refrained from discussing the parks improvements in an effort to avoid being "an unwitting participant in jingo lingo" before turning it over to Commissioner Gute.

Gute put a plug in for an Easter Egg Hunt and a cleanup at Central Park on Saturday morning. He said the eggs — which will be hidden by 50 players from Blazer football — need to be stashed well to prevent the squirrels from running off with them.

"You ever seen a purple egg run up the side of a tree?" Gute said.

Anyone familiar with the fat squirrels in the park should know those critters like to eat.

Blanton also echoed Spriggs, stating that ribbon cuttings have "become a weekly chore" — a good one at that, he noted. Blanton said every time he goes to visit a new business, he asks what processes they went through with the city to get opened up and what the city can do to help them be successful.

Gute completely broke the over-under on "kudos" for "Commissioner Lingo Bingo," uttering the word nine times in a row. Graese, during his report said "kudo" once, resulting in a half-point on the board. Toward the end of the meeting, Mayor Perkins and commissioner Gute issued two back-to-back uses of "echo." While "team" came up a few times, "teamwork" was not uttered, resulting in no points for those playing at home.

(606) 326-2653 — henry@dailyindependent.com