The Committee of the Whole chose Thursday night to wait until the February 18 meeting of Hopkinsville City Council for potential action on recommendations for how best to address the growing pension liabilities in the next several years.
Members of council are set to meet with state legislators Monday and will express their desire for pension reform and the capability to create new streams of revenue. Councilmember Wendell Lynch made the suggestion to forward the options onto city council without a recommendation, so council can discuss the options at that time.
In other action, the committee forwarded onto city council an amendment to the ambulance service contract, which Hopkinsville Fire Department Fire Chief Steve Futrell says absorbs Oak Grove EMS fully as employees of the City of Hopkinsville and will put personnel that operate under their license under HFD’s supervision.
Councilman Phillip Brooks was elected to serve as chairman of the Committee of the Whole, with Councilman Tom Johnson chosen to serve as Vice-Chair. Wendell Lynch was selected to serve as council presiding officer, in the event the mayor cannot be present for a council meeting. This is not the same as interim mayor, as there will be a presiding officer even when an interim is selected next month following the resignation of Mayor Carter Hendricks.