Mayor Wendell Lynch ran Hopkinsville City Council’s first videoconference meeting Tuesday night — and despite poor audio quality on the Zoom video feed, the council moved quickly through a relatively brief agenda.
(Jennifer P. Brown photo)
In a vote involving the biggest project on the agenda, the council unanimously approved the Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority’s plan to secure a $45 million loan from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority. The loan will fund an expansion of HWEA’s Hammond-Wood Waste Water Treatment Plant on Gary Lane.
The council also:
- Gave final approval to rezone 1.7 acres on South Elm Street from R-4 (Multi-Family Residential District) to B-2 (General Business District).
- Heard two executive orders appointing new Ward 6 council member Travis Martin to the E-911 Advisory Board and to the Hopkinsville-Christian County Ambulance Service Board.
- Approved a payments in lieu of taxes agreement for the Housing Authority of Hopkinsville.
- Approved a management contract for the Hopkinsville Family YMCA to operate Tie Breaker Family Aquatic Center.
Under an emergency measure adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly, public agencies are conducting meetings through video or teleconference to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Lynch connected to the meeting from his office in city hall. The council members were all in their homes or private offices. The public could watch a live stream of the video on the city’s website or Facebook. At times, the audio had a crackling sound of background noise.
Lynch, who took office just weeks before the virus forced the closure of most public facilities and many businesses, told the council a budget is being prepared for their approval in the coming weeks. It will take into account a substantial loss of income from the city’s main source of revenue, the payroll tax.
“We are going to put together the best package we can,” he said, adding that the spending plan might need to be amended later in the fiscal year.
Typically, the city adopts a budget in May or early June. The new fiscal year begins July 1.
In a closing remark for the meeting, Councilman Tom Johnson said, “We’re all in this together. One team and one fight.”
(Jennifer P. Brown is the editor and founder of Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org.)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
