HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-19-2019 Joint CalledMARCH 19, 2019
At a Joint Called Meeting of the Paducah Board of Commissioners and McCracken County
Fiscal Court, held on Tuesday, March 19, 2019, at 5:30 p.m., in the Commission Chambers of
City Hall located at 300 South 5th Street, Judge Clymer and Mayor Harless presided. Upon call
of the roll by the City Clerk, the following answered to their names: Commissioners Abraham,
McElroy, Watkins, Wilson and Mayor Harless (5). Upon call of the roll, by the County Clerk,
the following McCracken County Fiscal Court members answered to their names:
Commissioners Bartleman, Jones, Parker and Judge Executive Clymer (4).
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mark Wattier led the pledge.
PRESENTATION
2020 CENSUS
Mark Wattier with the U.S. Census Bureau, made a presentation to the City Commission and
McCracken County Fiscal Court about the upcoming 2020 Census. A copy of the presentation
can be found in the minute file. The following is an excerpt from meeting highlights by Public
Information Officer Pam Spencer:
Partnership Specialist Mark Wattier with the U.S. Census Bureau provided a
briefpresentation about the upcoming census and the importance of creating a
Complete Count Committee (CCC). A CCC is comprised ofgovernment and
community leaders from various organizations including education, business, and
healthcare with the goal to create an awareness campaign for the upcoming
census to encourage citizens to respond to the census questionnaire to ensure a
complete countfor our area. Wattier said, "The goal of the 2020 Census is to
count everyone once, only once, and in the right place. "
Wattier also discussed the importance of a complete and accurate count in
determining congressional representation, the determination of legislative,
school, and voting districts, and the appropriation offederal funding.
So far more than 1400 CCUs have been created across the United States. After
the presentation, the Paducah Board of Commissioners and the McCracken
Fiscal Court issued a joint proclamation in support of creating the Paducah
McCracken County Complete Count Committee. McCracken County Judge
Executive Craig Clymer has asked Zana Renfro to chair the CCC.
Wattier also emphasized that there are part-time jobs available with the Census
Bureau. Online applications are accepted at https.•II2020census.gov/jobs.
JOINT PROCLAMATION
Mayor Harless and Judge Clymer presented a Joint Proclamation supporting the Paducah
McCracken County Complete Count Committee.
PRESENTATION & DISCUSSION
E-911
Paducah Police Chief Brian Laird and McCracken County Sheriff Matt Carter made a
presentation to the City Commission and McCracken County Fiscal Court about E-911. A copy
of the presentation can be found in the minute file. The following is an excerpt from meeting
highlights by Public Information Officer Pam Spencer:
McCracken County Judge Executive Craig Clymer led off the discussion of the
current organizational structure and financial challenges of the E-911 Center
which provides emergency and non -emergency services for the residents of the
City of Paducah and McCracken County. Judge Clymer said, "911 provides for
the protection of citizens. The protection of citizens is the first and highest
priority of government. "
Paducah Police Chief Brian Laird and McCracken County Sheriff Matt Carter
together made a presentation about the current organizational structure and
equipment needs. Chief Laird said, "Some of the key components in the 911
Center have become obsolete. The system was originally installed in 1994 and
upgraded in 2008. " Chief Laird and Sheriff Carter both discussed the need to
upgrade the portables (handheld radios) and the mobiles (radios in vehicles) and
the need to increase the antenna coverage around the County.
MARCH 19, 2019
911 Communications Services Manager Ed McManus explained that so far $1.7
million has been invested in the 911 Center with upgrades in the telephone
system, logging recorder, and CAD system (computer-aided dispatch). However,
the radio infrastructure, radios, and antennas have not been upgraded with an
estimated cost of $13 million to complete those upgrades.
Emphasizing the importance of a 911 center, Paducah Mayor Brandi Harless
said, "It's [911] there. We always want it to be there in case we need it. This is
our core function as public leaders to make sure our community is safe. "
Mayor Harless added, "We know how strapped our budgets are with the pension
issue. We need to get creative in how we fund this."
Both elected bodies discussed the funding challenge due to declining revenue
streams. Funding sources have changed significantly over the past couple of
decades with land line fees funding 100 percent of the operating costs 25 years
ago. But with the recent decline in land line use, those fees fund less than 30
percent of the operational costs with cell phone fees funding only about 21
percent of the operational costs. This decline in revenue has led to local
governments across the country struggling to subsidize their 911 centers. The
City of Paducah uses more than $600, 000 of its General Fund to subsidize the
911 Center annually.
Regarding f ending, Mayor Harless and Judge Executive Clymer proposed
abolishing the landline fee by both the City and County. However, there would be
a new fee created that would appear on utility billing. The other revenue sources
including grants, wireless fees, and user fees f •om non-city/county entities would
continue.
They also proposed a new organizational structure for E-911 by making it a City -
County consolidated 911 agency. The proposed new structure would create an
independent agency that would have a seven -member board comprised of two
Paducah Police appointees, two McCracken County Sheriff appointees, one
Paducah Fire appointee, one McCracken fire appointee, and one citizen at large
appointed jointly by the Mayor and Judge Executive.
Members of the Paducah Board of Commissioners and the McCracken County
Fiscal Court acknowledged the importance of determining a funding source for
the 911 operations and plan to continue their discussions and information
gathering.
Since 2016, 911 Communications Services has been structured under the City of
Paducah with various user groups contracting for dispatching services. E-911
currently is a division of the Paducah Police Department with 23 authorized
positions. The 911 Center receives more than 150,000 calls per year.
ADJOURN
Mayor Harless offered motion, seconded by Commissioner Wilson, to adjourn the meeting of the
Paducah Board of Commissioners. All in favor.
Judge Clymer offered motion, seconded by Commissioner Parker, to adjourn the meeting of the
Fiscal Court. All in favor.
Meeting ended at approximately 7:06 p.m.
ADOPTED: April 9, 2019
City 'lerk Mayor