Note: Due to the COVID-19 situation and the need to maintain social distancing, all members of the Paducah Board of Commissioners participated by video and/or audio conferencing.
Executive Director Sharon Poat with the Midtown Alliance of Neighbors provided an update to the Paducah Board of Commissioners. Midtown Alliance of Neighbors is a 501(c)(3) that began in 2008 out of the City’s revitalization efforts in the Fountain Avenue Neighborhood. Since that time, Midtown Alliance has been involved in a variety of initiatives to support potential and current homeowners including neighborhood workshops, the cleanout and maintenance of city-owned properties to prepare them for new owners, the salvaging of building materials, repair affair events, and rehabilitation assistance for low-to-moderate income homeowners. Poat said, “What has happened here with neighborhood revitalization is a model for other communities to follow.” New programming for Midtown Alliance includes the quest to become designated as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) which would qualify Midtown Alliance for housing funding. In 2019, Midtown Alliance also launched the Fountain Avenue Neighborhood Homebuyer program with homes under construction and to be constructed at the corner of North 14th and Harrison streets near the Pat & Jim Brockenborough Rotary Health Park. Poat also outlined the City’s catalyst funding over the past few fiscal years and how the funds have been assisting Midtown Alliance’s mission.
The Paducah Board of Commissioners introduced an ordinance for a professional services contract in the amount of $89,180 with BFW Engineering, Inc. for the South 25th Street Project. The South 25th Street project would redesign the roadway from U.S. 60 (Jackson Street) to Alabama Street. The project is funded in part by a $650,000 grant from Kentucky’s contingency funding. The Board also approved the $70,595 engineering design option for the South 24th Street Project.
The South 24th Street project would improve the roadway from 25th Street to South 28th Street. This summer, the City approved a contract with Jim Smith Contracting for the rehabilitation of the South 24th Street Bridge which was the first step in the road project. The bridge over Cross Creek not far from Brooks Stadium had received damage from flooding events. It received new bridge decking and was widened to accommodate ADA-compliant sidewalks on both sides of the bridge. The City of Paducah received funding for the bridge project through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance Program based upon the Major Disaster Declaration from the flooding and severe weather events that occurred in 2018. The City also has purchased the property at 2640 South 24th Street adjacent to the bridge with plans to remove the structure on the property and grade the land to improve the area’s stormwater drainage, stormwater storage capability, and management. This area was identified as one of the project areas during the Stormwater Master Planning process.
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