City touts 2023 accomplishments during State of the City presentation
Mayor Tom Watson outsourced his “State of the City” address to the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce Thursday, electing to show a video highlighting the city’s accomplishments in 2023.
A centerpiece was the city’s financial position, where the city ended the year with an increase in general fund balance of $6.2 million. The increase came from higher city revenues, including “record high” net profits and occupational tax and interest revenue, and reduced expenses.
“I think the conclusion I would dray is how much better (condition) we are than when I was elected” eight years ago, Watson said after the presentation.
Watson said, when he was reelected to the office in 2016, the city had a budget deficit of more than $17 million. In a recent audit presentation, an independent auditor said the city has enough unallocated revenue in the general fund to cover 199 days of government operations.
“We are no longer in the hole, and there’s an opportunity to move forward with projects like the indoor sports complex” downtown, Watson said.
One of the city’s accomplishments in the presentation was the announcement that the Owensboro Police Department would create its own police academy in a new training facility built by the city.
OPD officials announced the department would start its own academy at its new training center, with the first class starting before spring.
“This provides an exceptional opportunity for single parents or mothers and fathers to become police officers,” Police Chief Art Ealum said in the video. “One of the deterrents to becoming a police officer is the fact that they would have to go to Richmond to attend the police academy.”
In the video, Ealum said, “We have had a number of people who turn us down, because they did not want to make that journey to Richmond, Kentucky” to attend the police academy, which lasts more that 20 weeks. “They have to have the family support to be able to do that, so now they’re afforded the opportunity to not only a join a rewarding profession, but to do it locally, here at home.”
In the Northwest Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area, a priority in the coming year will be the beautification of First Street. The plan calls for making improvements to seven intersections between Poplar Street and Hanning Lane.
City Community Development Director Abby Shelton said after the meeting that the project was bid last month, with RiverTown Construction of Newburgh being awarded the contract.
“It came in under budget, around $1.1 million,” Shelton said.
The estimated cost of the project was $2.1 million, Shelton said. The initial plan called for removing utility wires and burying them underground, but that aspect was removed because it was cost-prohibitive, Shelton said.
The contractor hasn’t released a timeline to start work but the hope is to have the all the intersections done this year, Shelton said,
The Northwest neighborhoods have seen $10.2 million in investments through the Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area project, which uses federal and local funds to spur redevelopment of homes, rental properties and business facades. As of December, the city has put forward $4.153 million in grants in the area, which was matched by $6.063 in private dollars.
“We are sending out post cards to let people know funds are still available” for revitalization projects in the area, Shelton said.
The city also continued progress on its fire facilities last year, starting work on the new Fire Training Center at 1323 Daviess St.
After the presentation, city Fire Chief James Howard said the hope is to have have the training center completed and ready for use by May or June.
Howard said, before then, officials will be moving ahead on plans to replace Fire Station Three on Cravens Avenue.
“We’ve already done a significant amount of design work,” Howard said. “They are finalizing the documents to go out to bid, and we are hoping that’s by March.”
The current Station Three will be demolished “by the end of the summer,” Howard said, and that the tentative schedule is for the new station to open during the summer of 2025.
The training center and Station Three are part of “Operation Firehouse,” which the city will invest $30 million in upgrading OFD’s infrastructure. The first station to be renovated was Station Two on East Parrish Avenue.
Watson said after the presentation that a major goal for the future is straightening the connectors from I-165 to U.S. 60 and bringing them up to interstate standards. The project was submitted to state legislators to be considered for funding in the state road plan, which lawmakers will approve in the current General Assembly session.
“Being able to move forward with that is a big thing,” Watson said.
James Mayse Messenger-Inquirer