Paducah City Commission moves forward on 911 without the county

During Tuesday's Paducah City Commission meeting, a motion was passed on a unanimous vote to move forward with the 911 upgrades without the McCracken County Fiscal Court.

Carol Gault, the commission's representative on the joint 911 working group, said that continued delays warrant that the city release the requests for proposals immediately, pushing forward on the upgrade of the emergency system. 

The system is owned by the City of Paducah, but the city and county signed a memorandum of understanding on partnership in the upgrades in February of 2021. The request for proposals was crafted about 3 months ago, but according to Gault, the Fiscal Court asked for two more weeks to review it. 

The 911 working group recommended a water meter tax county-wide. The money collected from the tax will go back to the city commission and be adopted by ordinance at a later meeting. 

The release of the requests for proposals opens a 90-day window for vendors to submit their bids.