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Bowling Green council adopts emergency appropriation for small parcel in South Main Street improvement
Summary
City Council unanimously adopted Resolution 3876, authorizing appropriation (eminent domain) of a small parcel needed for the South Main Street Improvement Project to allow curb cuts, pedestrian beacons and a turn lane; the emergency clause makes the measure effective on the mayor's signature.
On Jan. 9, 2025, the Bowling Green City Council voted to adopt Resolution 3876, authorizing the appropriation of portions of two parcels for the South Main Street Improvement Project and declaring an emergency so the measure takes effect upon the mayor's signature.
The measure, described by staff as an appropriation that is “essentially an eminent domain action,” drew questioning from council about negotiations with property owners and the need for urgent action. Hunter, city staff working with the engineering department, told council the resolution covers a “little sliver” on the southeast corner of South Main and Napoleon that is needed for curb cuts and pedestrian beacons and to accommodate construction tied to a new turn lane. “The resolution on the agenda for all 3 readings is for part of the South Main Improvement Projects necessary for a turn lane,” Hunter said. “It is essentially an eminent domain action. Yes.”
The resolution lists property owned by Action Rentals LLC and by Albert L. Potter II, trustee, as parcels needed for water main replacement, pavement resurfacing and intersection improvements at the Napoleon Road intersection. Hunter said most other parcels for the project have been negotiated and purchased; the Potter parcel remains unresolved and the city retained outside counsel, Marshall & Melhorn, to handle property interests that require court proceedings. Hunter said the Potter parcel is a very small piece — about an “8 square foot little sliver” at the corner — and that without it the city might need to “scrap the crosswalk sign.”
Council asked whether the emergency clause was necessary. Hunter and other staff said the outside counsel advised keeping the emergency language, in part to support the city’s position in any future court proceedings dealing with the taking and to meet timelines related to the legal process. Council President (name not specified) summarized the public-safety rationale: “The primary need for this small triangle of property is to be able to put in curb cuts and pedestrian beacons, so that we have a safe crosswalk going across South Main and Napoleon Road.”
Council suspended the usual rules to consider Resolution 3876 on second and third reading, adopted the emergency clause, and then adopted the resolution. Roll-call votes recorded the measure as adopted unanimously. Hunter said that if the remaining parcels were not approved, the project would be limited — the crosswalk improvements and small corner work might be dropped — and that the larger project otherwise continues with parcels already acquired in writing.
Next steps, as discussed in the meeting, include outside counsel proceeding with the appropriation process; if the owner contests the appropriation, the matter would move into court where the city and property owners would litigate compensation and legality. The resolution states work covered includes water-main replacement, pavement resurfacing and intersection improvements at the Napoleon Road intersection and is intended to allow the construction work necessary for the new turn lane and associated pedestrian improvements.
Council recorded no amendments to the resolution during the meeting. The resolution takes effect immediately upon the mayor’s signature because the emergency clause was adopted.
