| By KEVIN BOWDEN
Staff Reporter
Kenton is in dire need of repair work to its sewer system and city officials are hoping for a Community Development Block Grant to help pay for the work.
The Kenton mayor and board of aldermen applied for a state grant last year, but money ran out before the city’s application became eligible.
Now, the city is once again applying for one of the grants.
“Our chance of getting one this time is better, I think,” Kenton Mayor Virginia Davidson said Tuesday night during a 90-minute board meeting.
Grant writer Shannon Cotter met with the board Tuesday night and explained there was $9.3 million in block grants awarded to 21 of the 52 communities that applied for funding last year.
“We need that sewer bad,” Mrs. Davidson said. “We’re desperate.”
Ms. Cotter will file the grant application for the city and before slipping out of the meeting, she announced the city should learn by the end of the month the fate of its disaster grant application.
Tuesday night’s board meeting began with a half-hour Discovery Park of America presentation by Polly Brasher. She used a slide show and entertaining narrative as she walked board members through the Discovery Park complex.
Mrs. Brasher began with a brief history of the beginnings of the project and then took board members on a journey through the park with virtual images mixed with actual images of park facilities.
The 50-acre park is located off Everett Boulevard in Union City and features a 100,000-square-foot Discovery Center and special themed areas with a variety of exhibits and interactive displays. The park is projected to draw between 100,000 and 150,000 visitors a year and is expected to open this fall, according to Mrs. Brasher.
There will be manicured garden areas, a Great Lawn, a petting zoo, a 120-foot observation tower, pavilions, a 20,000-gallon aquarium, an oral history theater, an interactive starship theater and numerous exhibits and attractions.
Mrs. Brasher said Tuesday night’s presentation was her first to a city board. Judging by the response from board members, they were very impressed by the presentation.
“I enjoyed it,” board member Delores Agee said after the program.
In other action Tuesday night, the Kenton board:
• Approved beer permits for Little General and Kenton Mart.
• Sold a city-owned 2001 Ford Crown Victoria to Chicago Motors Inc. for $1,007.
• Approved a plan to increase water and sewer tap fees, due to the city losing money from unpaid water and sewer billings. Renters will be charged a $150 deposit and a $35 connection fee, while homeowners will be charged a $75 deposit and a $35 connection fee. The fees are a slight increase from the previous amounts charged to offset losses from bills owed by customers who move without paying their final bills.
• Was given a report by the board’s police commissioner, Angie Taylor, who said the department responded to 61 calls for service in December 2012, wrote 27 citations and 22 warning citations. She also led a discussion about renovation work going on at the police department. The board decided to start using inmate labor from the Obion County Sheriff’s Department due to a lack of progress by a contractor.
• Approved a three-page water meter policy that clarifies “previous informal policies of the City Public Works and Water Departments.”
Tuesday’s meeting was opened in prayer by board member Sarah Skinner. Published in The Messenger 1.10.13 |
