EXTRA CONTENT: Corbin leaders vote to impose curfew at Rotary Park

See the amended 2008-09 city of Corbin budget summary by clicking here.

See the current city of Corbin budget summary by clicking here.

Citing a need to decrease vandalism, and discourage loiterers and vagrancy, Corbin city leaders voted Monday to establish a daily curfew at a popular downtown park.

During the regular monthly meeting of the Corbin City Commission the new law received unanimous approval from the five-member board. If passed on second reading, the new law would make it illegal for any "unauthorized" person to be in any part of Rotary Park after 11:30 p.m. daily. Anyone caught violating the law could be arrested by police and charged with third-degree criminal trespassing – a misdemeanor offense.

The move was sudden and surprising. It was not listed as an item for discussion or consideration on the meeting’s agenda.
Rotary Park, located off of Barbourville and Wilson Streets, is adjacent to the Princess Vermillion McBurney Recreation Center. It contains fields used for baseball and softball, a picnic area, the Larry Stevens Memorial playground, a skateboard park, a multi-purpose field and a parking area.

City Commissioner Bruce Farris, in making the motion to vote on the issue, noted that absent the new ordinance, law enforcement personnel could do little but ask undesirable people to leave the park.

"It gives law enforcement more teeth," he said.

Marlon Sams, the town’s Director of Recreation, said vandalism at the park has been a problem recently and that he supported the curfew to help cut down on loiterers who congregate in the parking areas. The park formerly closed at 11:00 p.m., so the new ordinance would extend the official time it is open.

Sams said local police would use "common sense" when enforcing the new law and would not likely arrest local residents simply strolling through the area. Corbin Police Chief David Campbell could not be reached for comment on the issue Tuesday.

Corbin City Manager Bill Ed Cannon confirmed the ordinance was in reaction to recent problems at the park, including graffiti. He said he wasn’t sure if similar measures would be taken for the Engineer Street Bridge portion of the Corbin Creekwalk, which has recently been the target of vandals.

"I don’t know. I don’t write the laws."

Wary of further economic downturn and mindful of possible revenue stagnation, the city also approved a lean, no-frills budget Monday that passes, for the first year in a while, on employee pay raises, and makes only moderate increases in spending for most city departments.

Meeting in regular session, Commissioners approved the budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year and also accepted an amended version of the previous year’s budget that reflects actual spending.

Planned spending for this year stayed pretty well stagnant, and that’s by design said Corbin City Manager Bill Ed Cannon. Monday’s meeting followed a special meeting last Wednesday where commissioners voted on a first reading for the new budget.

The budget has total appropriations of $10,948,800 as opposed to $16,546,508 in planned spending last year. The city actually spent $20,960,812 in 2008-09. Most of the difference between the two budgets is in expenses for the construction of the Southeast Kentucky Agriculture and Exposition Center. The city spent $14.41 million on special projects last year, but plans only about $4.5 million this fiscal year. The budget contains only slight increases planned spending in departments over last year. To see the budget summaries for both years, go to www.thenewsjournal.net.

Cannon refused to provide the News Journal with a copy of the city’s line item budget, saying only that it was an "internal document" not mean for public inspection. As of press time Tuesday, city officials said they are reviewing the newspaper’s request for the budget with City Attorney Bob Hammons.

In other business, the commission:

¥ Approved an ordinance raising the city’s tax on alcohol sales and local restaurants from six percent to seven percent.

¥ Approved an ordinance raising the city’s tax on rental of hotel/motel rooms from three percent to four percent. According to state law, the extra revenue garnered from the one percent hike can only be used to help fund the operation of a convention center.

Farris asked Cannon if he was certain the money would go to fund the 5,500-seat Southeast Kentucky Agriculture and Exposition Center. Cannon and Commissioner Phil Gregory assured Farris it would.

The Corbin Tourist and Convention Commission, the board that actually collects the tax, manages the town’s other convention facility – the Corbin Civic Center. Ostensibly, the board could use the money to fund that facility instead.

¥ Tabled consideration of a Community Development Block Grant Application for the Corbin Main Street Program.

¥ Discussed final change orders for the Southeast Kentucky Agriculture and Exposition Center. Mayor Willard McBurney suggested approval of the changes pending a review by commissioners. According to Project Manager Todd Sadler, the change order amounts to about $270,000 to $325,000 extra cost for completion of the expo center.

Commissioner Dennis Lynch said he’d spent many hours studying over the documents, and much of the day before the meeting Monday, trying to understand them. He suggested commissioners meet in a work session meeting to discuss the change orders and made a motion to go ahead and approve them pending the outcome of that meeting. The motion died for lack of a second. City leaders set no time or day for a work session meeting to discuss the change orders, but did signal a need for a special meeting in the near future.

¥ Approved a budget for the Cooper-Heath Apartments.

¥ Heard a presentation from Sofcoast, Inc. Chairman and CEO John Surmont regarding ASAP, which stands for "affordable stationary aerial platform" the company has designed that would allow law enforcement personnel, emergency management experts, and others to elevate radio repeaters during times of catastrophe or for other reasons.

Surmont said the system, which is a wing-shaped balloon with air sacs that can be filled with helium, could stay aloft for 24 to 36 hours.

The company, which has an office in Corbin, designed the system at the request of the U.S. "Department of Justice’s Rural Law Enforcement Technology Clearinghouse" in under four months. Surmont was asking the city to purchase one of the balloons at a cost of $20,000. He said similar systems from other companies cost much more, up to $150,000.

"From our perspective, this system seems to meet a need in this area," Surmont said. "We looked at this platform as potentially a capability you can share between Williamsburg city and the Whitley County area."

Bob Terrell, Senior Executive Advisor for the company, said officials in Rockcastle County and elsewhere have expressed support for ASAP. He said commissioners should consider buying one of the systems to help support a local company that plans to create jobs in the area.

Farris said he would be reluctant to approve such a purchase without first having officials from the city’s police department and fire department express a need for such an item. He suggested Surmont meet with them, along with other area emergency officials, to discuss the issue. No action was taken.