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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinances Book 15, Page 466, No Resolution Numbert,66 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF PADUCAH, KENTUCKY, APPROVING, AFFIRMING AND ADOPTING OFFICIALLY THE TEXT OF A SETTER WRITTEN JANUARY 23, 1965 BY JAMES A. DAVIS, JOHN W. HORNSBY AND WILLIAM L. KRESSENBERG, COMMISSIONERS OF SAID CITY, TO THE CHAIR- MAN OF THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL COMMISSION RELATIVE TO THE PRO- HIBITION AGAINST CERTAIN SEWER EXTENSIONS IN SAID CITY BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF PADUCAH, KENTUCKY SECTION 1. That the Board of Commissioners of the City of Paducah, Kentucky does hereby approve, affirm and adopt as an official.action all the provisions contained in a letter written January 23, 1965 by Commissioners Davis, Hornsby and Kressenherg to Mr. Minor Clark, Chairman of the Kentucky Water Pollution Control Commission relative to the prohibition against certain extensions to the sewer system in said city, which letter is in words and figures as follows, to -wit: "January 23, 1965 Mr. Minor Clark, Chairman Water Pollution Control Commission c/o Department of Fish and Wild Life Resources Frankfort, Kentucky Dear Mr. Clark: Your commission is meeting January 26 to consider cancelling a porhibition against new connections to the sewer system in a large part of Paducah. This prohibition was established by your executive director last November. It is.our understanding that your commission will consider the cancellation of this pro- hibition upon receipt of evidence that a serious effort is being made to improve the Paducah sewer system. This letter is being addressed to you by three of the city Com- missioners of Paducah. We constitute a majority of the Commission. As such, we have a responsibility which we cannot delegate to the Mayor, or our consulting engineers, to your executive director, or to fiscal agents. In 1961 Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company recommended four projects for immediate construction (Step 1 in their report) and nine additional projects for construction as soon as practical (Step 2 in their report). The 1964. cost of these projects is estimated to be about $2,500,000. These 13 projects will significantly reduce the frequency of local flooding in the City and the related hazard of bringing a mixture of storm water and sewage to the surface when storm water overloads the combined sewers. We believe the benefits to be obtained from these pro- iects are for the general welfare of the City and have no con- nection with the use of water by individual residents or businesses. We believe they should be paid for by general obligation bonds. We hereby pledge ourselves to take all legal action necessary to obtain authorization by the voters for a bond issue sufficient to pay for these 13 projects. We also pledge ourselves to re- commend to the voters that the bond issue be passed. We also believe the voters will pass it. No other projects, either for extensions of sanitary sewers, construction of storm sewers, or construction of relief sewers have vet been recommended to us by the consulting engineers. On January 16, Mavor Wilson wrote Burns & PficDonnall asking whether they now wished to make any further specific recommendations. Their reply added no projects but indicated that certain ad- ditional projects mi?ht be recommended at vour meeting January 26. You would not expect us to agree in advance to support re- commendations we have not seen. You would not expect us to take a position on any recommendations which may be made January 26 i without halving had an opportunity to study them. t. 67 We know, and we believe all citizens of Paducah agree, that a plan for the orderly extension of sanitary sewers should be adopted and followed. We cannot pledge our support to any specific plan, because there is none. We do, however, commit ourselves to the development of such a plan and to taking - appropriate action to put the plan into effect. There has been much loose talk in Paducah about $2,000,000 sewer programs, $5,000,000 sewer programs, and $10,000,000 sewer pro- grams with no reference to the specific projects which are to be built. It is our obligation to recommend to the citizens of Paducah programs of construction which we believe are sound and which can be explained to the voters in terms of specific pro- jects and expected benefits. In our opinion, any program presented in any other way will be defeated at the polls whether it is based on revenue bonds, general obligation bonds or both. We have decided we should not attend your meeting January 26 and we are also recommending that no other Paducah citizens attend unless they appear only as observers. We believe you will agree that nothing but further confusion can result from a many sided public debate in Frankfort over details of a Paducah sewer pro- gram. We also feel that this letter adequately explains the position of the majority of the Paducah City Commission and that we could not add anything if we were present. We therefore request that you immediately permit the resumption of sewer connections in Paducah. You are aware, we believe, that practically all construction activity in Paducah will stop within a few months if this is not done. We, in turn, will commit ourselves as individuals and as the majority of the City Com- mission to: A. Do everything required to permit the construction through general obligation bonds of the 13 projects recommended by Burns & McDonnell as Steps 1 and 2 of their 1961 report. B. Develop a plan for the orderlv extension of sanitary sewers and put it into effect. We will begin by spending a substantial amount for this purpose in 1965 out of funds already available. C. Study any future recommendations for construction of specific projects which may be made by Burns & McDonnell and take any action which we believe appropriate. D. Explain fully to the voters of Paducah the projects we recommend and the benefits which may be expected. Very truly yours, /s/ James A. Davis, Commissioner City of Paducah /a/ John W. Hornsby, Commissioner City of Paducah /a/ William L. Kressenberg, Commissioner City of Paducah" SECTION 2. That the Clerk of the City of Paducah, Kentucky for- ward a certified copy of this resolution to the Kentucky Water Pollution Control Commission at Frankfort, Kentucky. SECTION 3. This resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after its adoption. 2C mak/ ZC 7V.L n - mayor Passed by the Board of Commissioners January 26, 1965 Recorded by Sarah Thurman, City Clerk, January 26, 1965.