Corbin Commission drops proposal to lower 17th Street speed limit to 15 mph

A proposal to turn 17th Street into a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week school zone with a speed limit of 15 mph got a chilly reception Monday from Corbin city leaders, just one month after it received unanimous support.

The city’s five-member Board of Commissioners scuttled the proposal Monday during its regular monthly meeting, failing to consider the idea for a second vote needed for passage.

In October, commissioners were in favor of the idea. City Manager Bill Ed Cannon said criticism of the proposal and time to think over the issue brought city leaders to a different conclusion.

"Fifteen miles per hour is too slow for that street, especially when there is nobody in school," Cannon told the board.
Commissioner Bruce Farris, who was mildly critical of the plan when it was presented in October, reiterated his position that making the entire street a school zone was just too much.

"I just don’t think we should restrict driving in a town any more than necessary," he said. "I think it is a great idea not to have it go the length of 17th Street."

City Collector Dortha Weber, who lives on the street, joked that reducing the speed limit to 15 mph was so slow it would force her to walk to work.

Ideas on what should actually be done varied.

Cannon offered a proposal to create a school zone that extended 300 feet beyond the property boundaries of Corbin Intermediate School in each direction on the road. He also proposed installing lights that would flash during school hours when reduced speeds would be enforced.

Commissioner Dennis Lynch questioned the need for lights, saying that during drop-off and pick-up times at the school there is always a city police officer on-site to supervise traffic.

"You can’t even go 10 miles an hour then," he said.

Farris said he was not in favor of authorizing City Attorney Bob Hammons to draw up another ordinance on the issue until the cost of flashing lights is determined. He also questioned the need for them in the first place, saying normal signs would be sufficient.

Other ideas included making the school zone extend only 300 feet from the center of the school property, 200 feet from the outermost boundaries, and even an idea to just make the zone include where the school is on the street.
The Commission reached no consensus on the idea so tabled it for further consideration at a future date.

In other business, the Commission:

¥ Heard a presentation about the upcoming 2010 Census from Dale Turner of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Turner, who oversees counting of a 13-county area in eastern Kentucky, said the Census is vitally important to the area because it is crucial in determining grant funding and other federal funding.

"Fifteen to $20 billion are distributed every year based on Census counts," Turner said. "Anything that has anything to do with public services, somewhere there is federal money in it and somewhere there is a Census number."

He said forms would be mailed soon to every person who has a mailing address. He encouraged residents to fill out the forms and return them to ensure an accurate count. He said eastern Kentucky has notoriously been undercounted in the Census.

He noted that seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are determined by the Census. Twenty years ago Kentucky lost a seat because of declining population.

"We are going to do our very dead-level best to get a full count in every county," he said. "We are hoping to hold onto our seats this year. There is no way we will gain seats based on population trends, we just hope we don’t lose another seat."

¥ Heard a presentation from Gary Fox, a representative from the American Postal Workers Union regarding plans to move all sorting from regional post offices to Lexington. He accused the Postal Service of conducting a tainted study of the idea and said the change would have a negative impact on the local economy because at least 20 workers would be moved or lose jobs. He asked the Commission to pass a resolution supporting the Union’s opposition to the plan.

Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney, a retired Postmaster, said he’d like to take more time to contact the Postal Service and find out exactly what their plans entail.

¥ Approved the first reading of an ordinance annexing property in south Corbin off of Cumberland Falls Hwy. owned by Dr. Mohammed Jawed. A medical office building is planned for the site.

¥ Heard numerous complaints from Donna Farmer of Mountain View Lodge regarding the motel’s high water bills. She also complained about the city’s three percent restaurant tax and four percent tourism tax on motel room rentals.

Farmer said Mountain View Lodge has gone from renting 200 rooms seven days a week to just 10 a week. The Lion’s Den, which is the restaurant at the motel, is now only open on Fridays and Saturdays. To further highlight the decline of the motel, she noted that it used to employ 30 employees but is now down to just five.