News from May 20, 2003 issue


County considering adult business regs
A recent request by a local resident has prompted the Crittenden Fiscal Court to examine the idea of regulationing adult-oriented businesses. Although no such businesses are to anyone's knowledge currently operate in Crittenden County, the county government was asked to begin a serious, pro-active measure to draw up some regulations in case something does establish here.

County Attorney Alan Stout submitted a model ordinance he designed based on other such laws in McCracken and Lyon counties. Stout think it is a good idea for the fiscal court to deal with this issue now, rather than waiting until some such business is in operation in the county. He said many cities are tightening laws regarding adult businesses and in some cases the businesses are moving into rural areas where regulations don't exist. He said a similar situation occurred in Hodgenville.

The proposed ordinance is a 16-page legal document which defines adult businesses, states the logic for restricting them and sets other guidelines for how close a live entertainer or dancer can be from a patron and prohibits full nudity.

The fiscal court will review the model ordinance and decide next month whether it will implement the regulations.


New city hall pricetag is higher than hoped
Prices for renovating the former Save-A-Lot grocery store building downtown and turning it into a new city hall and police complex have come in almost 30 percent higher than anticipated.

Bids were opened Friday for the city's proposed new municipal center in the former English Manor Shopping Center. Only two companies bid on the project, the least expensive was a general contractor in Paducah, M&W Construction, at $1.2 million. The other bid was from Elder Construction of Louisville. It was $75,000 higher at almost $2.3 million.

The city's architect, CMW of Lexington, has the bids and is reviewing them to make sure the contractors have met all requirements of the project specifications.

City Administrator Garry Barber said the architect, which had estimated the project to cost just under $1 million, will complete review of the bids within a week or two. After that, it will be up to the city council to determine whether to proceed with construction. At one time, the council had hoped to be finished with the project by this fall.

However, that will not be feasible at this point and the entire project could be in jeopardy ­ at least as it stands now. Councilman Allen Lynn, who serves on the committee overseeing the project, said Monday night during the council's regular monthly meeting that he isn't sure if renovation is the right idea.

The city purchased the building last year for $300,000. Lynn said the city believed it had a certain amount of value in the former grocery store building and that's why it decided to explore remodeling it instead of tearing it down and starting from scratch.

"I'm not so sure we have a 15-percent value in the building as we were led to believe," Lynn said. "I know this is a bad time to be doing a project like this because material prices are very high, but I just think it's too much money."

Lynn suggested waiting for the architect's review of the bids and then determining if perhaps another course of action is prudent. He suggested possibly razing the old building and constructing a new metal building with an attractive facade much like the Ed-Tech Center at the Industrial Park.

"We might look at putting the fire department there, too," Lynn said. "Unless something changes over the next week or two, I think we need to take a closer look at this thing."

New VFW post organizes in Marion
The Marion post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) organization officially came into being Saturday in an inauguration ceremony held at the Crittenden County Ed-Tech Center.
State and regional VFW officials were on hand to welcome post 12022 and its 26 charter members to the organization. Though 26 names appear on the member list of the new post, only eight veterans were on hand to be formally sworn in by the state commander. The membership of the new post is composed of local veterans of wars ranging from World War II to the first Gulf War.

The post was officially dubbed "Marion Post 12022" on a vote from its members. The organization is a member of the Kentucky VFW District 2, along with Uniontown, Providence, Smithland, Henderson and Grand Rivers.

The mission of the VFW, according to state commander Michael Penney, is support of veterans and active duty personnel in the armed forces. Penney said the group works with elected officials to support veterans and their families, especially the needy. VFW posts also support local community activities such as "Walk Across America," and the "Voice of Democracy" for students.

Newly elected local commander Joe Lanham said the Marion post was an effort two years in the making. To establish an official VFW post, he said, a minimum of 25 members are required, a number the Marion post exceeded by one. The organization will be meeting in the county courthouse until a building can be found to house the post.

Recruiting is the post's current goal, Lanham said. They would like to have as many as 100 veterans on the local membership roll, he said. Lanham expects membership to grow with returning veterans of the current war in Iraq.

To be eligible to join the VFW, a prospective member must have served honorably in the armed forces outside the continental U.S., in a time of conflict. For more information, contact Lanham at 965-2136 after 6 p.m.