City Council approves changes to residential improvement programs

Hopkinsville City Council Members approved amendments to the Legacy Hopkinsville Rental Rehabilitation Incentives Program and the Housing Empowerment Plan at Tuesday’s meeting.

Before any program changes were voted on, Mayor J.R. Knight says the local neighborhood watch group and the Hopkinsville Police Department will start working with the neighborhood associations to post crime deterrent signs. Knight showed off a sign that says, “We’re watching, and we will call the police,” and the Crime Stoppers phone number is displayed at the bottom.

Knight says Hopkinsville Police Chief Jason Newby will share more information about the signs at Monday’s Chats with Chief on the Hopkinsville Police Department Facebook page.

Turning toward the Legacy Hopkinsville Program, Holly Boggess from Community Development Services (CDS) presented the suggested program amendments. CDS runs the program, and it focuses on ensuring rental properties in Hopkinsville’s inner-city areas are up to code and are energy efficient.

Boggess says the modifications include the provision of up to $8,000 for demolitions, new construction must start within nine months of demolition, property owners can submit two applications per 6-month period and applicants can also apply for new construction incentives.

Ward 5 Council Member Amy Craig serves on the Legacy Hopkinsville Committee and she says the recommendations will help the program be more effective and will encourage more property owners to apply.

Then, the Housing Empowerment Plan is available for the same inner-city neighborhoods that are covered by the Legacy Hopkinsville program. The plan focuses on helping owners of single-family homes repair issues causing code violations. Boggess the recommendations include a $15,000 repair cap per property, insurance for all repairs and folks can only use the program’s services every ten years.

The recommendations for each program were approved, but a discussion began concerning the programs’ service regions, which does not cover all of Hopkinsville. Ward 7 Council Member Clayton Sumner says he believes the programs should not have geographical boundaries and should instead be available to all Hopkinsville residents.

Boggess says the inner-city area surrounding downtown was selected as the service region based on the quality and age of the housing stock and the income levels in the area.

Knight agreed with Sumner that there are older neighborhoods around Hopkinsville that are not in the inner-city area that could benefit from the programs. Before proposing any changes, Knight says the city will issue a survey to get feedback from the community regarding the programs’ service regions.