Beech Tree News Network

Another year has now come and gone, and as mayor, I have said before that it is very important to be entirely transparent, and to keep the citizens of Morgantown informed about all that has happened over the past year. 

 This will be the third “Grade Card” that I have released detailing each of the more noteworthy things accomplished throughout the previous calendar year as a result of the collaboration between the mayor's office and our dedicated City Council.

•  We worked to petition and subsequently received a grant for $45,000 from the TVA to improve our industrial park.

• We created our Sidewalks to School Projects initiative to get our children that walk to school off the roadways to and from school safer, and installed a series of new sidewalks with even more yet to come.
• We recognized our local veterans, and produced a proclamation in honor of World War I.
• We produced a proclamation in honor of American seniors to show support for our aging community.
• For the first time the City of Morgantown created a City of Ethics ordinance which establishes a mandate of conduct applicable to all elected officials and department supervisors.
• We passed the International Property Maintenance Code and Code Enforcement Ordnance to help clean up properties and our city.
• We hired a part-time Code enforcement & ABC Officer. 
• We created and passed a Fireworks Ordinance to better ensure the safety of our communities.
• The Morgantown Renaissance project was nationally recognized by the International City Managers Association, and recognized by the state as one of the top three projects in the state of Kentucky.
• The City of Morgantown was able to use fiscally responsible economic policies, allowing for the development of the largest city operating budget to date.
• We re-branded and created our city logo as part of an initiative to market our city regionally, nationally, and internationally.
• We helped to cosponsor “Waves on Wheels” to bring sea life to Morgantown for educational purposes for all ages .
• We partnered with the Butler County Public Library To bring the WKU Confucius Institute to Morgantown.
• We were fortunate to be able to hire every young adult who applied for a summer job with the City of Morgantown .  This gave 46 of our youth jobs here locally gaining experience in local government.
• I’m especially proud of the fact that this year, the City of Morgantown received its first perfect audit, and we were able to DOUBLE our savings from the year before.
• We were able to put computer and printer system with internal tracking into every police car. This rectifies any future concern of politics influencing the police department in the writing of citations, as citations will now be produced, sent, and received electronically, and therefore cannot be altered.
• We installed state-of-the-art security systems within the police department for increased security of criminal investigations.
• I have directed our police department to become accredited and they have successfully completed the first phase of making that happen. 
• The Kentucky League of Cities awarded the City of Morgantown one of only three Enterprise City awards given.

•  I was nominated and elected to the Kentucky League of Cities Board of Directors.

• For the third straight year we partnered with WKU Institute for Rural Health, and we were able to provide free flu shots for anyone in Butler County at Morgantown City Hall.
• And last but not least we are in the final process of selling the KY Copper building

 Because it is never too early, we are starting on 2018 projects now, so if you have any comments or suggestions (good or bad) please do not hesitate to call my office or come talk to me in person.

 Billy Phelps

Morgantown City Mayor