With Hopkinsville and Christian County officials preparing to host an “open house” for its new 100,000 square-foot speculative building this Thursday — Trigg County and Cadiz officials might not be too far behind the curve.
During Monday’s Trigg County Fiscal Court session, magistrates unanimously approved a resolution in which the Cadiz Trigg County Economic Development Commission requested authorization to submit an application to the Cabinet for Economic Development for an Economic Development Fund Grant — to Hopkinsville and for the benefit of the South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council — totaling up to $500,000 for a 100,000 square-foot spec structure at Commerce Industrial Park.
Located at 489 International Drive in Cadiz, a 15-acre pad-ready site awaits a strong, skeletal structure — already furnished with a 4-inch gas line, a 10-inch water line, an 8-inch sewer line, a completed Phase 1 environmental report, available geotech and resistivity reports and a certified mark of a “Kentucky Work Ready Community.”
Though there was little hesitation with the decision, Judge-Executive Hollis Alexander explained the choice to move forward with a resolution and grant application was a good one — in order to prepare for the next phase of job prosperity in the county.
If the Cabinet for Economic Development agrees to the grant, the approved resolution also supported the Kentucky Product Development Initiation, which would essentially commit the fiscal court and county dollars to pay interest payments on a bank loan for the spec building project.
What that loan would cost is naturally undetermined at this time, because the magistrates and Alexander don’t have any indication as to how much the grant will bring in effective funding. Once that’s clear, another step comes in the process.
In other court news:
— Magistrates welcomed and celebrated Trigg County Middle School students Caroline and Carter Kosak, who were on hand with their award-winning trash sculptures through 4-H ad the UK Cooperative Extension Office. Caroline built hers out of recycled New Year’s Eve party supplies and named it “Baby New Year,” while Carter built a lanky “Medicine Man” from recycled cabinet items, latex gloves and googly eyes.
— The cost of prisoner transport once again became a quick topic of discussion Monday night, as the court unanimously approved a budget amendment for more than $29,000 as an expenditure for a reserve of transfer. County Treasurer Lucy Kyler noted this was not an expected expense so early in the budget cycle, nor did it include the more than $7,000 spent in the last two weeks to extradite two criminals back to Trigg County: one in Bakersfield, California, and another in Virginia. These funds are typically located in the sheriff’s office budget.
— Magistrates also unanimously approved the surplussing of more than 50 older voting machines to be sold to other counties, as the shift from precincts to voting centers continues in Trigg County.
