The Hopkinsville City Council voted to increase the fees at a couple local cemeteries and approved the appointments to the Opioid Remediation Committee and the Bluegrass Splash Committee at Tuesday’s meeting.
Before the meeting got underway, Hopkinsville Mayor J.R. Knight and Ward 10 Council Member Mike Velez read a proclamation spotlighting May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Knight shared that this year’s heritage month theme is “Power in Unity: Strengthening Communities Together.”
To start the meeting, Community Development Services Executive Director Tom Britton presented a zoning amendment concerning manufactured homes to ensure the city abides by House Bill 160 from the 2025 Kentucky General Assembly. Britton says the amendment would require housing compatibility standards to be applied to all new single-family houses. Some of those standards state that front entrances must face the street, roofs must have a minimum pitch of 5:12 and all new dwellings must be placed on permanent foundations.
Turning toward ordinances, the council approved increasing the rates at Riverside Cemetery and Cave Springs Cemetery. Starting on July 1, grave prices and services such as grave openings, infant burials, cremation burials and disinterment at both cemeteries will increase between 5% and 10%. Then on July 1, 2028, those rates will increase by a similar amount again.
Jumping to municipal orders, council members approved incentives for some local businesses. The incentive allows Camo Caravan and Genuine Fertilizer Solutions to retain up to 50% of the occupational license fees generated by employee wages, and allows Feed Mill Logistics to retain up to 50% of the increase in ad valorem taxes.
To conclude the meeting, the council approved the members of the Opioid Remediation Committee and the Bluegrass Splash Committee. Council Members Brittanie Bogard, Elizabeth Draude, Don Marsh, Vance Smith, Brandi Stallons, Mike Velez and Member at Large Kimberly Morris will serve on the Opioid Remediation Committee.
Ward Seven Council Member Clayton Sumner criticized the committee since it’s mostly composed of council members and says the Committee of the Whole should be tasked with the responsibility of recommending ways the Opioid Settlement Funds should be used.
Knight says the committee was created at the request of council members and the public. However, he says the committee is only composed of council members and one member at large, because if representatives from any local rehabilitation centers were on the committee, it could become an ethics violation.
Then, the Bluegrass Splash Committee will be composed of Council Members Jason Bell, Don Marsh and Clayton Sumner, along with community members Nikki Chambers, Becky Dearman, Chelsea Hahnfield, Shannon Lane, Terry Parker and Payton Rogers. Chi’Coreyonne Brodie was also appointed to the committee as the youth member.