City Council approves the use of UTVs on local roads, discusses recycling

The Hopkinsville City Council approved ordinances allowing the use of special-purpose vehicles on city roadways and repealing the Hopkinsville Solid Waste Enterprise’s commercial recycling guidelines at Tuesday’s meeting.

To start the meeting, members of the Hopkinsville Fire Department and the Hopkinsville Police Department were recognized for recent promotions and retirements.

From the fire department, Brandon Peck was promoted to lieutenant and has been with the department since 2010. Then Lieutenant Larry Dale Meacham was recognized for his recent retirement after serving with the fire department for 22 years. From the police department, Joseph Bufford was promoted to the rank of sergeant.

During the 2025 Kentucky General Assembly, lawmakers approved Senate Bill 63, legalizing the use of street-legal side-by-side vehicles and UTVs on state roadways. However, local governments can add guidelines concerning the bill’s implementation.

While reading the ordinance, City Clerk Brittany Byrum shared that special-purpose vehicles can only travel on city roadways with a speed limit of 35 MPH or lower, operators must have a driver’s license and passengers under the age of 18 must wear helmets.

In August, council members voted to end Hopkinsville Solid Waste’s curbside recycling program because of low participation. On Tuesday, they voted to repeal the guidelines for the commercial recycling program, which spurred some discussion about finding a company to continue local commercial recycling services.

Hopkinsville Solid Waste General Manager Bryan Silver says their commercial recycling program currently has 159 customers. He says they can start reviewing recycling guidelines once the council determines whether they want to select a third-party service or allow companies to find their own recycling services.

The current recycling program concludes on September 30, and Ward 7 Council Member expressed his concern that the search has not begun yet for a third-party recycling service. City Financial Officer Melissa Clayton reminded the council that an ordinance would have to be changed in order to allow any outside companies to collect recycled materials in the city.

Clayton says she has contacted surrounding cities to explore different recycling options, and she believes the best option is for the city to issue a bid for an agreement with one franchise to continue curbside and commercial recycling rather than leaving it in the hands of the companies.

When it comes to the ordinance that needs to be repealed, City Attorney Doug Willen says he will have a better idea of what changes must be made once council members decide how they want to continue recycling services in the city.

The city will discuss recycling options at a future council or Committee of the Whole meeting.

To conclude the meeting, the council approved three municipal orders transferring funds from the Hopkinsville Home Improvement Program to the Public Facility Improvement Program. The transfer comes after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved an amendment allowing the unused funds to be used for critical infrastructure improvements and parking lot resurfacing.

Around $144,000 of unspent funds from the past three fiscal years will go to the Public Facility Improvement Program. Clayton says the first project the funds are set to go toward is the repaving of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Boys and Girls Club parking lot.