Hopkinsville City Council approved measures related to the next portion of the Greenway System and incentives for White Drive Motors and Steering at Tuesday’s meeting.
The Transportation Alternatives Program Grant the City intends to apply for in the amount of $1.3 million requires 20 percent matching funds from the City in amount of $326,472. If awarded by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, the funds would be used toward the construction of approximately 4,390 linear feet of new trail, ending at Tie Breaker Park.
Councilmember Steve Keel had many questions about the cost and the project before concluding he would like to see this Greenway project finally finished, with Mayor J.R. Knight saying he’s not intending to build it out further than Tie Breaker at this time.
This phase of the project would include a lighted tunnel under the Eagle Way Bypass, complete with emergency services call boxes, security measures such as line-of-sight mirrors and video cameras. The municipal order authorizing the matching funds and agreement was approved unanimously after much discussion.
Council unanimously approved incentives for White Driver Motors and Steering that would let the company retain50 percent of the total occupational license fee revenues
otherwise derived by the City from salaries, wages, and other compensation paid to new employees in said industrial district for a period of twenty years. It also would be able to retain through a rebate, 80 percent of any increase in ad valorem tax revenue.
Councilmember Chuck Crabtree was the lone ‘no’ vote on the incentives, saying he felt council wasn’t given enough information to feel comfortable passing it.
In other action, council approved the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $2.6 million to finance the cost of purchasing ten-acres of land at 101 Walton Way that contains a industrial building to be converted into a Hopkinsville fire station.