Hopkinsville City Council will be considering the closure of four CSX crossings at its next meeting, along with a new investigative tool for the police department.
During the Hopkinsville Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday night, City Attorney Doug Willen presented a memorandum of agreement with CSX, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and the City that will allow the state to fund a portion of a safety project to close 4 railroad crossings.
In addition, Willen said they would make upgrades to safety measures at 6 crossings – 2nd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, and 14th streets. He said the crossing closing would be up to the city council, the Committee would also need to approve an ordinance to close those 4 crossings.
Willen also said pursuant to the agreement that CSX will do all of the work required to close the crossings.
Additionally, he noted CSX has agreed to pay the city a monetary donation of $400,000 for the four crossing closures. Chief Financial Officer Robert Martin added the funds could go into the General Fund or he recommended creating a special funds account in which the city council could decide how to best use the money in the future.
Willen said changing the Deed of the East 9th Street train depot property from non-profit use to commercial use was also part of the agreement.
After some discussion, the committee unanimously voted to forward the agreements to the city council.
In other action, the Hopkinsville Police Department requested the committee to forward an approval to purchase 10 Flock cameras that would be set up in different locations around the city. Captain Seth Meek explained a Flock camera is an enhanced license plate reader.
H added that each camera system could be leased at a cost of $2,500 a year with a total cost of $25,000 per year for the ten cameras requested by the police department.
He noted the Flock cameras will sit on the side of a road, takes a series of pictures, and then alerts dispatch or officers.
Chief Clayton Sumner said the purchase of the cameras would be covered in the police department’s budget and would probably be added as a line item each year.
The committee approved forwarding the purchase of the Flock Camera System with Councilman Chuck Crabtree voting no.
