Corbin Mayor talks infrastructure, Exit 29 during address to chamber

A need for state funding to fix flooding issues on Master Street, the need for the town to improve its infrastructure as a whole so it can grow, expansion of The Corbin Center, and the status of Exit 29 were all topics discussed by Corbin Mayor Suzie Razmus during her annual address to the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce during its monthly membership luncheon Tuesday.

Corbin Mayor Suzie Razmus (pictured) served as the special guest speaker at the January 2024 Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon, which was held Tuesday inside the Corbin Center.

Razmus noted that Corbin City Utilities spent a lot of money about five years ago on Master Street to keep sewers from bubbling up during heavy rains.

She said there is still a problem with storm drains overflowing and flooding on the street. The estimated cost to fix the storm drains is about $7 million.

Razmus said that she is really hoping that this legislative session, the city can get funding to fix the Master Street flooding problem.

“It continues to get worse as development has occurred in that area of town,” Razmus said.

Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bruce Carpenter noted during Tuesday’s meeting that the state of Kentucky has set aside $500 million for infrastructure with most of it earmarked for rural areas.

Razmus said that the city would like to obtain some of this funding to not only make repairs to its aging infrastructure but to also make improvements and expand city services.

She noted that there are parts of the city, which don’t even have sewer service. She would also like to improve infrastructure in order to spur growth.

“At the end of the day, you have to grow or die, especially a town of 8,000 people,” Razmus said.

Razmus admitted that some city roads and sidewalks could be in better shape, but she noted that the amount of municipal road aid money that the city gets from the state to help keep up roads has diminished in recent years.

Razmus added that some streets going through Corbin, which need repaving, are actually state roads, such as Kentucky Street.

The Corbin Center expansion

Razmus said that work has already been done to move water and sewer lines at The Corbin Center, which is slated to undergo a planned expansion and renovation to portions of the building.

In addition, the city will also soon be closing on a deal to see a portion of the property, which is adjacent to The Corbin Center, to a developer, who plans to build a hotel that will connect to The Corbin Center.

“I think within a couple of years this is going to really look completely different. I think you are going to see a lot of increased business and opportunity in our area because of it. I think the convention business is right for a new place, a place of our size,” she said.

Exit 29 update

When asked about the status of annexation at Exit 29, Razmus noted that “the wheels are turning.”

She said that London’s decision to de-annex portions of land along the Cumberland Gap Park from Exit 29 to Malfunction Junction will enable lawsuits over that annexation, which Corbin filed, to be dropped.

This doesn’t mean that Corbin could annex Walmart in southern Laurel County tomorrow, if it wanted to.

Because of problems elsewhere due to some cities forcibly annexing land in their county, which reduces occupational taxes for the counties, the state legislature has a temporary moratorium in place barring additional annexations.

However, Corbin was able to annex land along US25W from the Whitley County line up to Malfunction Junction last year because that was already in the works before the moratorium was put into place. Corbin also annexed three tracts of land adjacent to that portion of the roadway.

City Pool

Razmus noted that last year when she addressed the chamber of commerce, she spoke about the city pool being closed for the summer and in need of about $1 million in repairs.

In actuality, the repairs costed about $2.2 million, much of which came from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The city also cashed in a certificate of deposit to cover the remaining costs on the project.

Now the city has a completely renovated pool with a dome, which makes it usable than the traditional three summer months. New heaters were delivered for the pool Tuesday morning.

The pool isn’t meant to be a four-season pool, but Razmus is hoping that the city can possibly make it one in the future thanks in part to the dome.

Donations

Also, during Tuesday’s luncheon, Carpenter presented the Corbin Independent School District with a $2,000 donation on behalf of the chamber to go towards workforce development and education efforts in area schools and technical schools. It is earmarked for trades and training for HVAC and carpentry.

Corbin Superintendent Dave Cox noted that the money will be used for mostly supplies.

After this presentation was made, Tommy Black made a $2,000 presentation to the Southern Kentucky Chamber in support of its workforce and education development efforts.

The presentation was on behalf of Bluegrass Realtors Association, which has about 4,440 members in 40 counties.

“Their primary focus is holding their agents to a higher professional standard and a higher ethics standard than what the local, state and federal law allow,” Black noted.

Carpenter noted that this was the fourth or fifth time that the chamber has received funding from the group.

In addition, the chamber introduced four new members of its board of directors, including; Aaron Schuhmann (Hometown Bank), Dr. Robert Hayes (Corbin Housing Authority), Jeannie Hensley (Cumberland Valley National Bank), and Keyla Stubblefield (The Job Shop).

The chamber also recognized board members Randy Bargo (Cumberland Valley National Bank), Samantha Schuhmann (Pepsi Corbin), Lisa Harrison (Times Tribune) and Kristina White (Sallie Davidson Realtors), who are all leaving the board after serving two terms.