Chamber Breakfast: City, County, Schools, and Legislative Updates

By PJ Martin

Editor | The Herald-News

 

The spring chamber breakfast was held on Tuesday, April 21, and the event was attended by almost one-hundred community members.

A quick announcement was made by Bill Lagermann about the flags for Veterans’ graves, and that Cathy Nunn is heading that project. The July 3^rd parade will be at 5 p.m., followed by activities at Bowling Park around 7:30 p.m. “The only requirement in the parade is you’ve got to have an American flag.” All vehicles, tractors, horses, etc., are welcome.

Chamber President Gina Gibson thanked Diane’s Cakes & Catering for the delicious breakfast and the Garden Club for the table flowers and seed packet decorations. This was followed by the Invocation by Josh Hurt.

Gibson announced, “I’m going to introduce the Business of the Quarter, and that is the City Grill.”

“Diane Blythe, owner of the ‘Grill’, started the business in 1999 with the help of her daughters, Melissa, age 11 at the time, and Kayla, age 9. It became a family affair, and in July 2006, Diane moved to her current location on North Main Street.”

Melissa pursued a career in education, but Kayla focused on baking and cooking at an early age and now works in the Grill with her mother. You might even see her two daughters helping on occasion.

Susan Clemmons has been with them for 20 years and is one of the family. The City Grill’s known for its home-cooked specials, wonderful desserts, and curly Qs.

Congratulations to the City Grill.

The breakfast was sponsored by Ralphie’s Fun Center and The Grove. Co-owner and manager Jason Kuykendall spoke about the decision to join his brother-in-law and create Ralphie’s Fun Center, which he now manages. His dream was to build an amphitheater, and that led to The Grove’s development behind Ralphie’s, which has live music, weddings, private events, and more. The season began last week and goes through October.

Next, Mayor Doug Smith presented the city update. “Thanks to Representative Amy Neighbors and Senator Max Wise, we have been included in House Bill 900 to receive $6 million,” which will be used to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant without raising rates for residents.

The city has requested discretionary funds from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to pave city streets, and additional requests were made beyond regular municipal road aid. Additional funding received to date is $328,575, again thanks to Representative Neighbors’ assistance in securing these funds.

Edmonton has received a Community Development Block Grant of $750,000 for the community center amphitheater and is waiting on an ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission) grant decision for $1 million.

Edmonton received a Land and Water Conservation grant totaling $395,539. (50-50 match) for blacktopping at the Edmonton Memorial Park and concrete pads under bleachers.

update. He began by getting everyone laughing. “I think it’s one of the top priorities in Metcalfe County. Mayor Smith has already mentioned it…I’ve already had two meetings with some people that are very, very interested in putting in a grocery store here. We’ve looked at three locations, and they’re excited. And I’m going to say the county, we’ve offered them an excellent package if they will come… if we get it, let’s support it big.”

A youth group wants to establish skeet shooting at the county lake and park, and the county is helping them to set that up.

The county has blacktopping planned and new equipment for roadside trimming of more roads, thanks to Magistrate Ronnie Miller, who helped get the sidearm.

“I just thank God that we’re still in a free country. That we can still raise our family…I want to make this one of the best and safest places you can grow up and live,” exclaimed Wilson.

Representative Amy Neighbors stated, “We wrapped up the 60-day session in Frankfort just last Wednesday, and it was a busy one. Over 1,200 bills were filed, and 171 of those are now law.

The biggest thing that we worked on this year was the state budget. It’s a $32.4 billion two-year budget…It really comes down to something pretty simple: living within our means, prioritizing what matters, and spending responsibly.”

The items focused on were education, public safety, infrastructure, veterans, monitoring Medicaid, and pension programs. Transportation funding for long-term projects like the Summer Shade Bypass and Highway 163 improvements, and the Edmonton Wastewater Treatment improvement. “I want to say thank you to Mayor Smith, Dawn Devore, and Moe Hensley. They did a lot of legwork on that project…”

Neighbors ended by saying, “I want to thank everyone for being here this morning, for the support, and for staying engaged.”

Senator Max Wise took the podium next and called it the “best small-town chamber in the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

He focused on the budget, referring to himself as a limited small government person. He noted that passing more laws isn’t always the answer. Sometimes that is the responsibility of the local government.

He explained that they cut back on some things and invested in infrastructure, in transportation, and got back to the basics of what needs to be spent by the government. “Not frivolous things, not overspending on things.”

“We made an investment of an additional $20 million statewide to make sure that every school campus across the Commonwealth will have a school resource office…and a mental health portion of that as well.”

“We have a school principal leadership program,” which will provide a five-year training pathway and funding for new principals.

School violence, discipline, and weapons are problems, so now, for students in grades 6 – 12, assaulting a teacher results in disciplinary action and suspension. “We want to make schools a learning environment for everyone.”

He also spoke about school boards being held accountable for their financial decisions and getting utility costs down to manage one-time spikes. Also, constitutional carry for 18-20 year olds if they have an extensive background check and complete a training program.

The first Senate bill passed was SB7 to return driver’s license testing back to each county, but it did not pass the House; however, a new regional office is being located in Barren County, and the plan is to keep advocating for it.

Wise ended with, “Thank you all so much. God bless.”

Gibson thanked the sponsors and the garden club and thanked everyone for attending.