By GAGE WILSON
for Glasgow News 1
During a rescheduled meeting on Monday, Feb. 17, the Cave City Council voted to prohibit medical cannabis use among city employees and passed a resolution opposing a state proposal to centralize the collection of occupational taxes.
Newly appointed member Leticia Cline spoke to the council about the importance of establishing an entertainment district within the municipality.
“For those of you that don’t know this resolution is about the establishment of an EDC, an entertainment district center,” she explained. “So basically, they are tourist destinations and make it easier to have events and parades.”
Leticia Cline (center) speaks on the advantages of establishing an entertainment district. Gage Wilson/for Glasgow News 1
According to KRS 148.853, an entertainment district must be located in a wet city or county that has passed an ordinance establishing its boundaries and determining that the designation would promote economic growth and tourism. Additionally, Kentucky law requires that the district include at least 100,000 square feet of building space and be within one mile of a major tourism attraction or convention center. State regulations allow businesses within an entertainment district to serve alcohol at nonpermanent locations within common areas, provided that security and control measures are in place.
“We have a lot going on downtown,” Cline said. “As a business owner, when we sat in on KLC meetings, I noticed that EDCs were discussed quite a bit. I was always hesitant before when I was on the council to bring this up because I was the only business downtown.” Cline said that the vote for the entertainment district would be done without her as to avoid a conflict of interest as she is the owner for ACE Coffee Co. on Broadway Street.
Park City and Bowling Green have established their own district’s with minimal consequence or disruption to the cities.
Mayor Dwayne Hatcher pointed out that signage would be erected to indicate the areas that patrons could carry an alcoholic drink. Using downtown as an example, Hatcher asked if businesses that serve alcohol that are “off the beaten path” could take advantage of this endeavor.
This question was answered by city attorney Bobby Richardson, who said that boundaries need not be continuous, meaning that the boundaries of the district would not have to meet.
Hatcher and Cline both agreed to meet with Tourism Director Jennifer McNett to better explore the establishment of an entertainment district. While ultimately left to the city Tourism Commission, McNett commented that she supports “… anything that brings in more tourists to our area and that locals can also enjoy.”
The council then moved to something that has been gripping the commonwealth since the beginning of the year, the use of medical cannabis by city employees. As of December of 2024 the Barren County Fiscal Court disallowed medical cannabis use for employees, with Glasgow’s council following suit the month after.
Councilman Brandon Wright was the first to question the order, asking what other prescription drugs were prohibited under this item.
“The city is a recognized ‘Drug-Free’ workplace, we actually get a little discount on our insurance for that,” Hatcher said. “Although it is medical cannabis that is legal in Kentucky, federally it is still against the law.”
Wright repeated his question with Richardson answering, saying that any substance that an employee could be “intoxicated” by would be subject to this policy. Wright then refuted that the resolution before the council did not reflect this, instead singling out the use of prescribed medical cannabis. Richardson responded saying that any inhibiting drug found in a city employee, who is “on the clock” would be submitted to equal disciplinary measures regardless of the substance. As the comparison was made to “pain pills,” Cline pointed out that these medications would work through a person’s system more quickly than cannabis, ultimately making it more difficult to determine if a hypothetical employee was under the influence at the time of their accident.
BRADD grant writer, Matt Pedigo, updated the council on ongoing grants, as well as how policies may affect federal grants moving forward. Gage Wilson/for Glasgow News 1
Barren River Development District representative Matt Pedigo advised the council that the failure to pass this measure may also affect the cities grant eligibility through federal agencies.
“Maybe if the people up in Washington D.C. would get involved, which they should’ve done a couple decades ago, we wouldn’t be here” declared member Denny Doyle. “I’ve read the laws, half of them make perfect sense and the other half are so far out there.”
The resolution passed with a 3 to 2 vote with Councilman Wright and Doyle being the dissenting votes, thereby prohibiting employee usage of medical cannabis.
Hatcher then gave the floor to Wright to discuss an ongoing issue, that of new body cameras for the city’s police department.
CCPD chief Paul Reynolds answers council questions about police equipment. Gage Wilson/for Glasgow News 1
Originally, the city planned on taking advantage of a grant to help with the cost, according to Wright, however, “The government just isn’t giving out money like candy anymore.” Placing the onus of the cost on the taxpayer, which was quoted to be around $50,000 a year for the department.
This figure was given by AXON, a private company specializing in surveillance and police protections. Wright explained that while the council had approved the spending with the understanding that the city would receive a grant to offset cost, no spending happened to purchase the body cams, as the council only voted to purchase the cameras should the grant be approved, which it was not.
The council approved Wright’s motion that even should the city fail to receive the money to purchase new body cams for the police department, the city would effectively foot the bill.
Shortly thereafter the council moved to adjourn, with its next meeting scheduled for March 10.
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