BEREA—In his State of the City address to business and other community leaders last Thursday, Mayor Bruce Fraley hit the high notes of each department in City Hall, presenting an entirely upbeat snapshot of all municipal activities in town. He also referenced what is yet to come, including the possibility of an indoor youth recreational facility.

"We've been operating in the black for several years," Fraley said in his address. "This has resulted in substantial savings of taxpayer funds ... we are looking at ways to reinvest some of these back into the community." He referenced the first ever youth survey distributed during the initial phase of the Comprehensive Planning process that started last year and is still underway in the City.

The results of that survey overwhelmingly were in favor of the City building a designated youth center.

"I think we need to take a look at our reserves and see if we can use some of those to invest in an indoor recreation facility, hopefully close to our public school system—that will make for easy access," Fraley said, noting that an effort is already underway to collect feedback from relevant stakeholders about the best path forward to realizing that goal. "It's the number one thing we are doing," he said.

The luncheon event was sponsored by the Berea Chamber of Commerce and catered by Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken. At 117 persons, attendance is thought to have been at a record high for the annual event. The event was held at the Acton Folk Center.

City Administration

Fraley began his merit roster by crediting City Administrator Shawn Sandlin for his work supervising multiple infrastructure and other improvement projects over the past year, beginning with the re-paving of 25 streets, the addition of a lit "welcome to Berea" sign at Exit 77 off Interstate-75, and the completion of the shared-use path on Ellipse Street which now connects all such trails across the City.

The City is also nearing completion of a sidewalk on Scaffold Cane Road, which will connect the Berea College campus and College Square to the Boone Trace trail at Brushy Fork. In addition, the federally funded Kenwick Street extension project, which also includes a shared use path, is underway.

Fraley also mentioned Sandlin's work with the Tourism Commission to put forth a new vision for Community Park, which will include an amphitheater for music and other entertainment, a food truck and picnic pavilion, and rehabbed soccer and other ball fields.

Most exciting, according to Fraley, is that ground was broken this past May on the Triple Crown Regional Business Park, a project that Fraley claimed would lead to at least 700 new jobs. "I think that is on the low side," he said.

Fraley extolled the novelty of the project, the first of its kind in central Kentucky, uniting four jurisdictions across the Bluegrass region into one business agency. The project has to date received $4.1 million in state funds from the Kentucky Product Development Initiative, and $2 million in federal funds procured by US Rep. Andy Barr.

The project is situated on about 300 acres within Berea's Industrial Park. About 180 acres sits within a flood plain along Silver Creek. Fraley mentioned that the City is exploring how to turn those remaining acres into a recreational facility that could include a kayak launch, a restroom facility, and multiple soccer fields.

Codes and Planning

Amanda Haney's code enforcement division got a shout out from Fraley for its initiative in addressing affordable housing in the City. Some of the actions taken by Haney's department, along with the Planning Commission, include approving smaller lot sizes for subdivisions so that more homes can be built within them, compliance with a new state law requiring all residential zoning accept "qualified" manufactured homes, and certificates of occupancy issued to several new duplexes in town, helping to bring the total spend on new builds across the City to $60 million, according to Fraley.

Finance Department

Two major initiatives completed this year by the Finance Department under its director, Susan Helton, according to Fraley, are the collaboration with Berea Municipal Utilities to swap out old water and electric meters for updated digital ones that no longer require meter readers, and the launch of online tax payments. Helton was also designated as one of the top government finance officers nationally for the fifth year in a row, Fraley said.

Business Development

Fraley said Business Development Director Donna Angel has helped to bring in multiple companies in the last year alone, and has helped lead the way toward improving the region's workforce development efforts, especially now that the regional business park is set to expand job opportunities in town.

Parks & Recreation

The new trailhead restrooms and concession stand at the entrance to Community Park was on Fraley's list of accomplishments for Priscilla Bloom's Parks & Rec team, as well as for Sandlin, who oversaw budgets and construction for the project. Memorial Park also benefitted from a restroom renovation.

Fraley also called attention to the new shade canopies erected over the ball field bleachers earlier this year, the renovation of Ball Field #2 for better drainage, and the completion of full scale renovations to Community Pool which he said would hopefully last another 30 years.

The opening of the brand new pickleball courts was noted as a success, including the addition of lights for nighttime play. Upgrades to the Skate Park are also underway, Fraley said.

In a recent City Council meeting, Sandlin unveiled the aforementioned plans to renovate Community Park. Fraley noted how that might mean the Spoonbread Festival will move from Memorial Park over to Community Park.

Public Works

The Public Works Department under Roy Curtis has been busy implementing many of Tourism's beautification and other initiatives, according to Fraley, including watering and caring for multiple oversized flower planters and hanging baskets throughout the City, as well as installing banners commemorating the service of Berea's many veterans that now hang throughout town.

Currently, there is an emphasis on rehabilitating and replacing drainage infrastructure at various points where this summer's heavy rains have evidenced weaknesses in the City's stormwater system. Ginger Drive and Misty Drive have been hit especially hard, Fraley said. He noted the street paving again, and that there have been multiple maintenance training programs on offer to Public Works staff this year.

Tourism

Fraley noted that the Tourism Commission under Nancy Conley has had a lot of crossover lately, including spending over $1 million on the revamp of Community Park, as well as its participation in the completion of the pickleball courts and the shared use paths and trailhead restrooms.

He commended Tourism's national and regional media outreach for more visibility, cementing Berea's reputation for being Kentucky's arts and crafts capitol, as well as Tourism's growing emphasis on outdoor activities such as hiking the Pinnacles and playing pickleball.

Fraley also noted that the Christmas light display in Memorial Park was a surprise hit regionally this past Christmas.

Future goals for Tourism, according to Fraley, are to increase Berea's reputation as an ideal small conference destination, more bus tours, and to increase beautification efforts through landscaping and public murals.

Fire Department

Fraley called attention to the Berea Fire Department, which has, under Chief Charlie Russell, made many inroads into secondary education, including the expansion of the fire sciences and fire fighter training program at Berea Community School and the Ignite South Academy, and the addition to the program of professional emergency medical technician training.

Students who graduate from the programs are qualified to work as fire fighters and EMTs across any of Madison County's first responder agencies. Student interest in the program has grown so much over the past couple of years, schools across the district have agreed to pool resources in order to hire a full-time administrator to oversee it, according to Fraley.

During the recent deadly flash floods in the region, Berea's fire fighters were among the first to offer water rescue response through the City's mutual aid agreements with other jurisdictions. Ongoing safety and advanced fire science training continues with all Department staff, Fraley said.

Police Department

Fraley said how under Chief Jason Hays, Berea's police force has increased its focus on ending narcotics trafficking in the City, and on cybercrime enforcement, although Hays's reputation for emphasizing good community relations between his officers and Berea residents still tops the list of the Department's achievements. Fraley added that more aggressive DUI enforcement has also become a priority for the Police Department.

A recent article published by the Kentucky League of Cities highlighted the Department's statewide leadership for promoting and supporting mental health in police officers, according to Fraley. "I'm very proud of them," he said.

Information Technology

Daniel Brindley's IT Department has helped oversee the overhaul of the City's website so that it is now ADA compliant, as well as overseeing the upgrade the City's wi-fi services in all public spaces. There is also now better cybersecurity systemwide, even though a network upgrade as well as file server upgrades, are still underway.

Utilities

Under its general manager, Kevin Howard, Berea Municipal Utilities has been especially busy as plans for the expansion of the Owsley Fork Dam have been nearing completion while at the same time, a Citywide upgrade of water and electric meters–a project happening in tandem with the Finance Department—all across town has been underway.

This past year, Howard's department has outperformed industry standards across a number of utility metrics, including reliable electric service. Fraley said Berea ranks among the highest in the state for least number of power outages, lowest cost per customer, and for highest water quality. Berea's wastewater treatment plant also won multiple industry awards this year for being the best-operated wastewater facility in the state.

Additional projects now underway include the upgrade of the City's sewer system, Fraley said.

Revenues

Because the City has operated in the black for the past seven years, Fraley said that he would honor his commitment to all Bereans by including a focus on the youth, which is why he is helping to lead investment in the youth indoor rec center.

Fraley concluded his address by inviting attendees to join him in committing to work hard and to bring people together, not sow division. "Our strength is in each other," he said.