City Council approves bond agreement with Ascend Elements

After recognizing members of the Hopkinsville Fire Department, the Hopkinsville City Council approved entering a bond agreement with Ascend Elements and also approved the 2024 fiscal year property tax rate at their Tuesday meeting.

Hopkinsville Fire Chief, Steve Futrell recognized Bobby Hogge who was promoted to the rank of lieutenant after working at the department for over six years. Lieutenant, Spence Sowell was recognized for retiring in August after around 20 years of service with the department.

Throughout his service, Sowell has worked multiple roles in the department and completed the Nashville 9/11 stair climb 13 years in a row. Futrell presented Sowell with a plaque thanking him for his service.

Moving on to public comments, Alissa Keller, the Executive Director of the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County thanked Mayor J.R. Knight for his support of Museum Mondays at the Pennyroyal Area Museum over the summer.

The museum is typically open from Tuesday to Saturday, but during the summer they are also open on Mondays. Each Monday, the museum hosted an event geared toward kids and in partnership with Knight, museum admission for students was free.

Keller says they hosted around 10 Museum Mondays and around 200 students attended them. Keller also presented Knight with a poster signed by the kids who attended Museum Mondays.

Turning toward resolutions, the council approved the issuance of revenue bonds to Ascend Elements for the construction of sewage and solid waste disposal facilities to be located at Commerce Park II.

According to the resolution, the city will issue revenue bonds until Ascend Elements is reimbursed for the cost of the project which is around $320 million. Public Finance Attorney, Mark Franklin from Dinsmore and Shohl Law Firm says the bond agreement does not put the city at risk and they are not obligated to pay the bonds. 

Before the meeting concluded, the council approved setting the city’s 2024 real property tax rate at 20.9 cents per $100 of assessed value on second reading which is down from 22.3 cents in 2023.