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2012

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Airport Survey Confirms Potential (Somerset) Commonwealth-Journal

 

Article was originally posted to the (Somerset) Commonwealth-Journal’s Web site http://somerset-kentucky.com/newslive/x1951907198/Airport-survey-confirms-potential

by Bill Mardis Commonwealth Journal

Somerset —

Results of a regional survey of airline travelers announced Tuesday indicate a robust market in this Southern Kentucky area for commuter airline service at Lake Cumberland Regional Airport.
Released by the Somerset-Pulaski County Development Foundation, the survey indicates a potential annual enplanement of 142,166 passengers who would use airline service in and out of the Somerset airport.
Both Martin Shearer, executive director of the development foundation and Luke B. Schmidt, president of L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC, project consultant, said a airline company is interested in providing commuter service at the local airport.
“It’s like recruiting an industrial prospect,” said Schmidt. “Name of the interested commuter service is confidential at this point.” He said there is still a lot of work to do, “ … dotting i’s and crossing t’s … like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.”
Schmidt noted the survey’s two strategic goals:
• Recruit a regional airline that is aligned with a major carrier such as American, Delta or US Airways.
• Establish service to a major connecting hub.
Schmidt said the interested airline service meets these objectives. The company has service in several small markets and  “ … has been around a long time,” Shearer revealed. He said the company is interested in establishing connection with a major airline hub and flying out of Somerset.
“We have made a lot of progress toward establishing a major market profile,” said Schmidt. The survey’s findings include the following information:
• Responding companies reported booking a total of 312 round trips by air each month.
• Approximately 612 visitors fly to the region each month to meet with responding companies.
• Total number of round trips by air to/from the region with responding companies equals 923 each month.
• Lexington is currently the preferred airport for flyers in Somerset, London and Corbin.
• Hours required to drive (one-way) to the primary airport in Lexington averaged 1.5 hours.
• Ninety-one percent of responding companies will use the service if a major connecting hub with reasonable fares is provided.
Although a commuter airline service out of Lake Cumberland Regional Airport would ultimately serve 16 counties in Southern Kentucky, Schmidt said the survey focused on the Somerset, London and Corbin areas. The reason, he said, is because these communities are the core of the proposed market with a combined population of 384,000. Schmidt met personally with several large employers in Somerset, London and Corbin areas.
A Florida-based commuter airline operated out of Lake Cumberland Regional Airport, first to Nashville and then to Washington, D.C., for a little more than two years. It was subsidized with about $900,000 obtained by Congressman Hal Rogers from the U.S. Department of Transportation and $100,000 in local matching funds. No sustaining local source of funding developed before the federal funds were exhausted and the airline shut down February 19, 2010.
The survey to reestablish commuter air service out of Lake Cumberland Regional Airport is an effort by Somerset-Pulaski Development Foundation, Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce, Somerset-Pulaski Convention & Visitors Bureau, Corbin Economic Development Agency, London/Laurel County Chamber of Commerce, local airport board and Somerset and Pulaski County governments

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Airport gets $1 M pledge (Pikeville) Appalachian News-Express

 

 

Article originally posted to the (Pikeville) Appalachian News-Express Web site http://news-expressky.com/

BY RUSS CASSADY

Editor

After months of waiting, the controversy over whether coal severance funding should be used to finance a commercial air service project at the Pikeville-Pike County Regional Airport ended Friday when it was announced that $1 million had been allocated to the project.

In a press conference at Pikeville City Hall on Friday, representatives of the groups working to establish commercial air service at the airport gathered to make the announcement, made official by a statement from Gov. Steve Beshear that the project would receive the funding.

Pikeville City Manager Donovan Blackburn, who has been an active participant in several events and announcements this week regarding new projects in the City of Pikeville, said during the press conference that the air service project is “extremely important” to the success of the region.

“The face of Pikeville is forever changing,” he said. The commitment of $1 million in multi-county coal severance funding, Blackburn said, brings the total that those working on establishing the service have to $1.75 million, which will be used to establish a revenue guarantee program for the carrier which commits to coming to Pike County.

And, with the commitment, the air service could be established fairly quickly, according to Luke Schmidt, the consultant hired by the Southeast Kentucky Chamber of  Commerce, City of Pikeville and Pikeville-Pike County Airport Board to work on establishing the service.

“We hope to have a commitment in hand by the end of the first quarter of next year,” Schmidt said.
According to Schmidt, he works in several communities throughout the state, but that this one sets itself apart. “This is clearly one of the most progressive cities in the state,” he said. And according to Chamber President Jared Arnett, this project is just one of many that is helping to change the  business climate in Eastern Kentucky, despite questions over the energy industry.

“It’s imperative that we step up … and create a climate conducive to new investment,” Arnett said.

A statement from Beshear’s office said the successful recruitment of an airline will “significantly enhance economic development efforts and the creation of new jobs not only in Pikeville and Pike County, but also in the surrounding 12 counties.”

The funding was almost not obtained earlier this year. After announcing that the funding was  possible and that the support of Floyd County’s fiscal court had been obtained, organizers ran into questions from the Pike County Fiscal Court over the viability of the project and whether the multi-county coal severance funding, which had been uncommitted, should be used for the project.
After weeks of debate and a public forum hosted by the Appalachian News- Express, the Pike Fiscal Court voted 5-2 to support the funding. The county’s support was required for the funding to be processed.

One of the “No” voters, Dist. 6 Magistrate Chris Harris compared the funding, which will guarantee revenue for an airline, to “corporate welfare.”

“Many of us here would like to see commercial air service in Pike County; that’s not the issue,” Harris said during a fiscal court meeting. “The issue is, ‘At what cost do we want to see commercial air service in Pike County?’ At a time when we are looking at a loss of jobs, declining tax revenue, a limited amount of funding, I don’t think Pike County, right now, I don’t think we can afford this kind of project.”

Both Blackburn and Schmidt spent time on Friday thanking Pike Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford and Floyd Judge-Executive R.D. “Doc” Marshall for their support. Blackburn said that a formal check presentation ceremony for the funding, which will include Beshear’s presence will be held at a later date.

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Pike airport receives $1M grant Williamson (WV) Daily News

Pike airport recieves $1M grant

Pike_airport_recieves_1M_grant0_1351912898
 Julia Roberts Goad

Staff Writer

PIKEVILLE, Ky. — The Pikeville/Pike County Airport came a step closer to commercial air service with the announcement of $1 million in grants from the Kentucky Department for Local Government from multi-county coal severance tax money.

The grant will be awarded once an airline is selected to provide commercial air service to the airport (PBX).

In addition, a Federal Small Aviation Grant granted the Pikeville City Commission received in 2011 was granted an extension of the $750,000 grant that was received for commercial air service last year, bringing the total of funds for the airport to $1.75 million.

Two commercial airlines have expressed interest in serving PBX, although both companies have remained anonymous.

Recruiting an airline to provide commercial service is one of the purpose of the grant. One of the methods of recruiting an airline is a revenue stream package. An airline doing business in the county would set a financial goal for each month. If the company falls short, money from the revenue guarantee package would be used to bring the amount of money the airline makes up to the monthly goal. The money would be given to the airline on a monthly basis so the company would not incur financial losses during the first two years of operation.

Luke Schmidt of LB Schmidt Associates, a consulting company which has been working with the City of Pikeville and the East Kentucky Chamber of Commerce on the airport project, said the revenue stream package is essential to an airline.

“It is expensive to for an airline to start a new route,” Schmidt said. “They have to invest in new planes, employees, equipment. If they lose too much money too soon, they aren’t going to stay. We need to make it profitable sooner rather than later.”

The grant was obtained after garnering support from the Floyd and Pike Counties Fiscal Courts.

However, the support of the Pike Court was not unanimous vote. Two of the six magistrates on the Court were not in favor of asking for coal severance tax money for the airport. Both Chris Harris and Jeff Anderson said they felt the airport would not be profitable. After initially refusing to throw his support behind the request for coal severance funds, Judge Executive Wayne T. Rutherford did vote in favor of the request.

Millions of dollars have already been used in the development of PBX, Pikeville City Manage Donovan Blackburn said, including $3,383,971 to complete the parallel taxiway alongside the airport’s primary runway, $330,513 in improvements and repairs to the primary runway, 679,000 for a new nine-aircraft T-hangar and $109,304 for the installation of a new Automated Weather Observation System.

Jared Arnette, President of the East Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, said the airport is the result of groups working together.

“This is the best example I have ever seen of teamwork,” Arnette said. “Our businesses spoke in one voice. The airport is part of the vision of economic development, they see value of a commercial airport. It is a milestone we have reached. In a time when people are concerned with energy, it is important to step up and say we are creating opportunity.”

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Governor Beshear Announces Airline Service Grant in Pikeville (Press Release)

 

Press release originally posted to Kentucky.gov Web site http://kentucky.gov/Pages/home.aspx

Friday, 11 02, 2012

Kerri Richardson
Terry Sebastian
502-564-2611

Multi-county coal severance tax grant to support new airline service at the Pikeville – Pike County Regional Airport

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Governor Steve Beshear and the Kentucky Department for Local Government today announced a pledge of a $1 million multi-county coal severance tax grant to the city of Pikeville. The grant will be used to support the development of new airline service at the Pikeville – Pike County Regional Airport (PBX).

Pikeville’s elected officials, along with the Pikeville – Pike County Airport Board and the Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce have been spearheading efforts to develop scheduled passenger airline service at the Pikeville field for more than two years. The grant will be awarded once an airline is selected to provide the public service. The proceeds of the grant will be matched with a $750,000 federal grant that the city of Pikeville received last year, and will be used as part of the project’s revenue guarantee program to assist a carrier in reaching sustainability during the start-up phase of service.

“So far, two airlines have expressed interest in serving PBX,” said Gov. Beshear. “Local officials have demonstrated strong leadership on this project, and the Commonwealth is pleased to partner with the community and airport officials to support ongoing efforts to develop new airline service.”

The grant will play an important role in the final stage of recruiting an airline to PBX. The successful recruitment of an airline will significantly enhance economic development efforts and the creation of new jobs not only in Pikeville and Pike County but also in the surrounding 12 counties.

“This is great news for our community,” said Sen. Ray Jones of Pikeville. “This grant puts us further down the road toward our goal of establishing scheduled airline service at PBX.”

“I want to thank Governor Beshear for his support of this important community goal,” said Rep. Leslie Combs of Pikeville. “We’re getting closer to our goal of new airline service to a major connecting hub which will truly connect Pikeville and Pike County to the global economy.”

“Our city appreciates the support of Governor Beshear and the Commonwealth,” said Pikeville Mayor Pro-Tem Jimmy Carter. “New airline service at PBX will help us to create new jobs in the coalfield.”

“The Commonwealth has been a wonderful partner at PBX ever since the field first opened in 1983,” said Bill Hickman, Chairman of the Pikeville – Pike County Airport Board. “This is yet another confirmation of this partnership as the airport continues to grow and serve the community.”

“New airline service at PBX will make it much easier for our business and professional community to compete in the global economy,” said Jared Arnett, president and CEO of the Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. “This grant helps us get closer to our goal of securing service.”

“This project enjoys widespread support,” said Luke B. Schmidt, President, L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC and consultant to the project’s leadership group. “Airline service will be a real game-changer for this community. I want to also thank Pike County Judge/Executive Wayne T. Rutherford and Floyd County Judge-Executive R.D. “Doc” Marshall for their support of our grant application.”

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Commercial air service funding secured for city of Pikeville WYMT-TV (Hazard, KY)Web site

 

Reporter: Paige Quiggins

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (WYMT) – It is a project that has been in the works for quite a while and on Friday, officials in the city of Pikeville announced they have been able to secure funding to bring commercial air service to eastern Kentucky.

“If it’s ever going to happen, this is going to be the time,” said Jared Arnett, President/CEO of the Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

Officials said that time has come.

“It’s just not conducive to the global economy to not have ticketed service right here locally,” said Arnett.

Arnett and many others said it was the time for officials to announce $1 million in multi-county coal severance money has been set aside to help bring commercial air service to the region.

City officials said it is an economic boost that will help industrial parks within the region. He said when they are told the closest airports are in Lexington or Louisville, it changed the game for some.

“When these site developers say ‘we want to come look at it’ and when we tell them you have to fly in and drive three hours, we really don’t even get into negotiation stage,” said Arnett.
“If we could have the opportunity where they could fly right in, see our sites, it would make a tremendous difference.”

Mayor Pro-Tem Jimmy Carter of the City of Pikeville said it will affect more than a dozen surrounding counties.

“This definitely makes us the hub of eastern Kentucky and with commercial air service, it solidifies the whole deal,” said Carter.

The project’s consultant said carriers must agree before the project fully takes off.

“We are in a great position to go and make our final push on recruiting with the two airlines who have expressed interest in this market so our intent to be now to get in front of them as quickly as we can,” said Luke Schmidt.

Schmidt said they could know that answer by March of next year and if the two considering commercial carriers commit by then, it will likely take six months to a year from then for the services to begin.

Officials said this million is in addition to a $750,000 federal grant which has already been set aside for the project.

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Sensible ruling on liquor sales Lexington Herald-Leader Editorial

 

Article originally posted to the Lexington Herald-Leader Web site http://www.kentucky.com/2012/08/24/2309254/sensible-ruling-on-liquor-sales.html#storylink=cpy

Published: August 24, 2012
Unfair to prohibit sale by grocers
You can fill a prescription at many grocery stores. You can pick up a gallon of milk at many pharmacies. You can buy a six-pack of beer at groceries and pharmacies.
But if it’s bourbon or a little of the bubbly you want, you’re good to go in many pharmacies but out of luck at most groceries. (A grocery can get a license to sell the hard stuff and wine if there is a separate entrance to that part of the store.)
This distinction between pharmacies and groceries when it comes to the sale of alcoholic beverages is unconstitutional, according to U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II. In a ruling issued last week, he said the Kentucky law barring liquor and wine sales at groceries and convenience stores violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Kentucky’s statute on this issue dates back to Prohibition days, when a prescription was need to buy alcoholic beverages. But Prohibition and the prescription requirement ended decades ago. Logically, the playing field should have been leveled then. But it wasn’t. As is so often the case, a statute outdated by changing times stayed on the books until someone (in this case, Maxwell’s Pic-Pac Inc. of Louisville and the Food and Wine Coalition) asked a court for a common sense application of the law.
And Heyburn’s ruling makes perfect sense. As he noted, the difference between modern groceries and pharmacies is minimal. So minimal that treating them differently on alcohol sales not only is unfair but is also totally illogical.
Heyburn’s ruling may well be appealed, which could delay its effect for months or years. However, there is a way to render any appeal of this decision moot.
Gov. Steve Beshear recently appointed a task force to study the state’s laws on alcoholic beverages. In a state with more than 70 different types of licenses for the sale of booze and wet, dry and “moist” conditions that can change voting precinct by voting precinct, the panel has much to study.
But one of the task force’s easiest calls should be a recommendation that the 2013 General Assembly repeal the archaic law that limits groceries and convenience stores to the sale of beer while allowing pharmacies to cater to all alcoholic beverage tastes. It’s the fair and sensible thing to do.

 

 

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Commercial flight info to be gathered (Corbin) Times-Tribune

Article originally posted to the Corbin Times-Tribune Web site http://thetimestribune.com/local/x543538315/Commercial-flight-info-to-be-gathered

 CORBIN — By Carl Keith Greene / Staff Writer


By Friday, Aug. 31, information regarding installation of a commercial flight from the Somerset airport will be ready.

Information will be released from a survey that has been taken in the Corbin, London and Somerset areas to help with the decision whether or not to seek a commercial flight.

In February, the Somerset-Pulaski County Development Foundation began to survey 15 counties in the area.

The counties have a population of 384,000.

Martin Shearer, executive director of the foundation, said, “Business and industry leaders throughout the region have asked repeated when air service will be restored” at Somerset.

He added that “A bigger reason is that all of us in the community, from a business and economic standpoint, should be able to make our existing business and travel connections.”

The nearest commercial flight locations are at Lexington to the north and Knoxville, Tenn. to the south.

He also said that if local commercial flight will be out and in at the Lake Cumberland Regional Airport, it could boost the future of economic develop in the region.

There has been no charter service at either the Somerset or London fields for several years.

So, Shearer said, commercial flights will simplify travel efforts to get to and from the Somerset area.

Luke B. Schmidt, who worked up the first survey, said he is in the middle of a more detailed survey sent by e-mail in the past week.

That went to every member of the Somerset, London and Corbin chambers of commerce as well as members of industrial communities in each city.

He added, “This second survey builds on the first and is to provide a bit more information regarding demand for air service in southern Kentucky.”

In the first survey, the Lexington airport is the regular airport for travelers from this region followed by Louisville and Cincinnati.

Survey participants want air service to key business destinations.

The participants recognized that having reliable airline service in Somerset is good. It would eliminate early morning drives to Lexington.

And for air service to be successful, service to a major connecting hub is needed.

Schmidt encouraged business and professional people who have received the current survey to complete it and return it to him no later than Aug. 31.

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Judge overturns Kentucky’s ban on sales of liquor, wine at grocery stores Lexington Herald-Leader

Published: August 14, 2012
By Jack Brammer Herald-Leader
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a Kentucky law prohibiting grocery and convenience stores from selling wine and distilled spirits is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II of Louisville said the state law “violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause in that it prohibits certain grocery stores, gas stations and others … from obtaining a license to sell package liquor and wine.”
In Kentucky locations where alcohol sales are allowed, beer — but not wine or spirits — may be sold in grocery stores. Grocery stores, however, may get a license to sell wine and liquor if they provide a separate entrance to that part of the store, where minors are not allowed to work. A store employee of legal age is required to conduct beer sales.
Such requirements do not apply to drugstores.
“You can walk into a large CVS or Walgreens, and they can have as many groceries to sell as many grocery stores do. Yet they can sell alcoholic beverages in the store while a grocery cannot,” said Steve Pitt, a Louisville attorney who represents Maxwell’s Pic-Pac Inc. and the Food and Wine Coalition in their civil lawsuit against the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Heyburn said his order would be put on hold until the court could hold a conference with the parties involved to discuss various issues. He did not provide details of those issues.
Dick Brown, a spokesman for the state ABC, said the agency was “studying the ruling to determine its impact.”
If it stands, the ruling could swamp the state with license applications from grocery stores, convenience stores and gas stations that want to sell liquor and wine.
The judge wrote in his 29-page order that there was little difference today between grocery stores and drugstores.
Pitt said the ruling would allow more convenience for consumers, especially those who shop in grocery stores. He noted that the ruling does not affect businesses in dry counties that prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages.
Eric Gregory, president of the Frankfort-based Kentucky Distillers’ Association, said his group’s members had not had a chance to discuss Heyburn’s ruling.
The group has opposed proposals in the state legislature to allow sales of wine in grocery stores, saying it would hurt small liquor retail businesses.
Daniel Meyer, executive secretary and general counsel of Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of Kentucky, based in Louisville, said he was surprised by the ruling but noted it was not a final order.
“We were not a part of the lawsuit,” Meyer said. “I guess now we’ll have to see what the parties have to say about it and what this conference the judge wants might produce.
“The law dealing with the sale of wine and liquor in pharmacies and grocery stores dates to Prohibition, when prescriptions could be obtained to buy alcohol at drugstores, Meyer said.
The sales were restricted in grocery stores, he said, because the thought was that minors are often in grocery stores and should not be exposed to liquor.
Kentucky has a hodgepodge of laws dealing with the sale of alcoholic beverages.
Gov. Steve Beshear has set up a special task force headed by Public Protection Secretary Robert Vance to try to modernize and streamline Kentucky’s laws.
It is to hold the first of three public forums Thursday in Frankfort and report its recommendations to Beshear in January for possible consideration during the 2013 General Assembly.
Jack Brammer: (502) 227-1198
Twitter: @BGPolitics.
Blog: Bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com.

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Radcliff to hold town hall meeting on unification The (Elizabethtown) News-Enterprise

Article originally posted to The News-Enterprise Web site: http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/content/radcliff-hold-town-hall-meeting-unification

By Marty Finley
Thursday, August 9, 2012 at 4:07 pm (Updated: August 10, 6:26 am)

Radcliff is wading back into the waters of unified government.

Mayor J.J. Duvall has organized a town hall meeting 6 p.m. Aug. 27 at Colvin Community Center with Hank V. Savitch serving as the guest speaker.

Savitch, a professor of urban and public affairs at the University of Louisville, published an analysis last year of the merger of Louisville and Jefferson County governments into a consolidated metro government in 2003. Savitch’s study, which was commissioned by state Rep. Darryl Owens of Louisville, found the merger failed to accelerate job growth and economic development as promised and was unsuccessful in streamlining government services.

Owens, an opponent of merged government, commissioned the study as a supplement for the task force appointed by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer to study the effectiveness of consolidated government in Kentucky’s largest city.

Duvall said he wants to present an alternative view on unification from an expert who has studied consolidated governments for years and can present quantifiable data rather than opinion.

“He has told me his opinion won’t factor in,” he said of Savitch.

Anyone in a leadership position asked to vote on creating a unification commission should attend the meeting or recuse themselves from the process, Duvall said.

In addition to the Louisville report, Savitch is a former co-editor at the Journal of Urban Affairs and former president of the urban section of the American Political Science Association. He also has published nearly a dozen books or monographs on urban development, public policy and regional governance, according to Radcliff.

Radcliff City Council approved a resolution opting out of all formal discussions about unified local government after publicly challenging Hardin County United, the volunteer organization that drafted the report on the merits of unification.

In one exchange last August during a forum at Meadow View Elementary School, Duvall and Radcliff Councilman Edward Palmer asked for demographic information of the group surveyed by HCU about unified government to determine where the majority of respondents lived. Palmer said this information was pertinent to city leaders because they needed to know how Radcliff residents responded.

Luke Schmidt, a consultant for HCU, sent the survey to more than 100 community leaders across a cross section of fields, including elected officials, educators, plant managers and agricultural representatives. The study found roughly 90 percent of respondents believed unified government should be studied.

Schmidt said he promised respondents the information would remain confidential and refused to release the documents, which furthered the divide between HCU and Radcliff.

Following Radcliff’s decision to opt out of unification, Palmer and other council members expressed interest in hosting its own town hall meetings and public forums on unification as a means of due diligence but also to ensure HCU cannot use their lack of action as a weapon.

Duvall said Savitch’s study of Louisville government is relevant to the discussion in Hardin County because HCU has pointed to Louisville as an example of a successful merger.

Duvall said proponents of the Louisville merger and HCU also have argued the same points when promoting unification, including an expanded state and national profile, the ability to speak with one voice and an increase in economic development.

“I think we need to hear a different view that’s not opinion or (not) someone that’s a paid consultant but is based on facts and numbers,” he said.

The meeting has attracted attention farther south. Elizabethtown Mayor Tim Walker said he is reading Savitch’s study and has forwarded it to Elizabethtown City Council.

“I plan on being at the meeting on Aug. 27 and I hope the council will be too,” Walker said.

Elizabethtown has taken no action to opt out of unified government but the majority of the council has been critical of the plan.

Hardin Circuit Judge Ken Howard, chairman of the HCU governance subcommittee, has said either Elizabethtown or Radcliff must opt in for unification to be viable.

Hardin Fiscal Court is scheduled to hear first reading of an ordinance Tuesday to establish a unification review commission, whose members would be appointed by participating governments and be tasked with drafting a charter Hardin County residents would vote on.

Should the county approve the creation of the commission, HCU would move to the six cities requesting their participation.

Marty Finley can be reached at (270) 505-1762 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (270) 505-1762      end_of_the_skype_highlightingormfinley@thenewsenterprise.com.