[May 20, 2013] Budget, radio system to be on Tuesday agenda Tweet May 20, 2013 (Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Radio communications and the budget will be up for discussion Tuesday during Bowling Green City Commission meetings. The City Commission will consider an interlocal agreement during a regular session, creating an agency made up of both city and county officials to execute contracts relating to a proposed emergency radio communication system. The regular meeting will start at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The City Commission will also discuss the budget for the upcoming fiscal year during a work session at 4 p.m. Tuesday. In a work session earlier this month, commission members heard details of a proposal from Motorola to provide a radio system to the city and county at a cost of about $7 million. The ordinance states that the agency will be made up of Bowling Green police and fire chiefs, the director of Warren County Emergency Services and a representative from the Warren County Sheriff's Office. It will have a similar makeup to the radio committee that has been in place for several years, working on the development of the request for proposals for the system and later negotiating with Motorola to bring down the cost of the system -- Police Chief Doug Hawkins, Fire Chief Greg Johnson, Emergency Management Director Ronnie Pearson and Maj. Tommy Smith, chief deputy with the Warren County Sheriff's Office. The new, four-tower system would provide 91.4 percent guaranteed coverage in the county and 95 percent guaranteed coverage in the city, compared to about 78 percent coverage in the city and 58 percent coverage in the county with the current system. City leaders will also consider a municipal order renewing its contract with Community Action of Southern Kentucky for fiscal year 2014 public transit services for during the regular meeting. The city will request about $775,500 in federal funds and $25,700 in state matching funds to provide transit services, according to the municipal order. GO bg Transit has requested an about 6 percent increase in funding for transit services, Public Transit Coordinator Ken Merideth said. Part of that increase is necessary because operational costs go up each year, he said. "We would like to have a whole lot more than we've got," Merideth said of funding. It would take about 20 different bus routes to properly serve Bowling Green. GO bg Transit operates with five, he said. The funding listed in the municipal order is in line with GO bg Transit's request. However, there is no guarantee that the city will get the funding it is requesting, making it difficult to budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Merideth said. Other measures up for votes at the commission meeting include the acceptance of a bid for $195,000 from Carter Douglas Co. of Russellville for the construction of a restroom and a pavilion at H.P. Thomas Park and the acceptance of a bid for demolition and site clearance services from Fletcher Excavation of Smiths Grove. The city will budget $60,000 for the upcoming fiscal year to go toward projects including demolition, environmental testing, environmental abatement and mowing services, according to the municipal order. Before a building can be demolished, code enforcement has to issue a condemnation finding, said Brent Childers, director of neighborhood and community services. Property owners are given notice of the finding and are given the option of making repairs to the property or doing the demolition themselves, which can come at a lower cost, he said. If the property owner isn't responsive or cannot be reached, the city moves forward with demolition -- notifying lien holders, testing for asbestos and going through the asbestos abatement process if it is present before having the structure demolished, Childers said. The city will also discuss the budget for the upcoming fiscal year during Tuesday's work session. Revenues for next fiscal year are expected to total about $53.5 million. The radio system is expected to be the city's top priority in that budget. Other expected investments include the purchase of 12 police vehicles, storm water management projects and sidewalk construction, City Manager Kevin DeFebbo said previously. -- Katie Brandenburg covers government for the Bowling Green Daily News. Follow her at twitter.com/BGDNgovtbeat or visit bgdailynews.com. ___ (c)2013 the Daily News (Bowling Green, Ky.) Visit the Daily News (Bowling Green, Ky.) at www.bgdailynews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]