Bowling Green city commissioners emerged from a lengthy closed session Tuesday night to order the condemnation of “any and all interests” of Spence Holding and Keeton Corrections in the building at 707 E. Main Ave., formerly owned by LifeSkills and bought by the city for two purposes.

One of those is a new home for the Public Works Department when City Hall is expanded in a few years. The other purpose was to prevent Spence, and its parent company Keeton, from placing a 40-bed halfway house on the site next to an existing clinic, city park and neighborhood.

LifeSkills had agreed to sell the building to Spence/Keeton last year for $915,000, but the city swiftly outbid them by $35,000, plus a promise to defend LifeSkills from any resulting legal action.

That came in February, when Keeton filed suit in U.S. District Court. It claimed breach of contract, accused the city of interfering with the deal, breaking the state open meetings law by discussing the land deal in closed session, violating the Fifth and 14th Amendments and extortion.

The last charge was filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, usually used to prosecute organized crime.

Judge Joseph McKinley dismissed the suit July 30, finding that none of the complaints was a viable federal claim, but Keeton attorney Rick Walter of Paducah vowed then to litigate again. He said in February that it was unlikely the company would actually get the building, but was seeking whatever damages it could get.

Seeking to hedge themselves against that, commissioners passed the condemnation order 3-1, with Joe Denning absent and only Brian Strow opposed - on philosophical grounds, not legal ones.

“I don’t believe the city should condemn property for office space,” Strow said.

The order makes note of Keeton’s lawsuit and the city’s unsuccessful attempts to buy out Keeton’s claim.

Shawnee closings

At a nonvoting afternoon work session, commissioners moved closer to permanently closing the Shawnee Way and Navajo Drive entrances to the Shawnee Estates neighborhood.

The streets have been blocked since 2005, after residents complained of heavy and fast cut-through traffic from large new apartment complexes nearby. Since then, traffic-calming devices have been installed on Shawnee and a new outlet for apartment residents - Fields Drive - has been built. Commissioners promised to revisit the issue this month, and so threw Tuesday’s work session open for public discussion.

More than a dozen Shawnee Estates residents showed up, and seven of them spoke. Of those, five were for reopening the streets or at least doing new traffic counts to see whether the changes effectively reduced traffic through the area.

Commissioner Joe Denning said he had to leave the meeting, but wasn’t dodging the issue - he’s heard from residents on the subject for years and is firmly in favor of keeping the streets closed based on those comments, he said.

Bob Wood, a 39-year resident of Yuma Drive, said commissioners promised in 2005 to at least do new traffic counts before settling on permanent closure - and that would require reopening the streets, at least long enough to count the cars.

“There is no way you can do a credible count without opening it, at least for a period of time,” he said.

Public Works Director Emmett Wood confirmed that the city had said it would do new studies; those could be done in a couple of months, after letting drivers get used to the reopened streets, he said.

Victor Mann of Geronimo Way also lobbied for a study, saying it was “ridiculous” to close already-built streets permanently without another look.

“If you’re not going to take a study, then you’ve wasted my taxpayer money,” he said.

Larry Martin of Navajo Drive, however, said he appreciates the effect of the closure and wants to keep it. Marvin Hood, a 19-year resident of Navajo Drive, backed him; since the streets were closed, many more walkers are enjoying the streets, and residents contend with less trash and noise, Hood said.

Yuma Drive resident John Figgins said he was concerned that the closure limited access for emergency vehicles, and Jonathan Britt of Mohawk Drive said he considers greater access to Kroger and other stores more valuable than a reduction in traffic.

When Mayor Elaine Walker said a majority of neighborhood residents seemed to be for keeping the streets closed, Henry Thompson of Shawnee Way let out a yell and waved his arms. It’s only a group of people who live near the closures that want the streets closed, he said. The closure has increased traffic on Yuma Drive by forcing down it cars that would otherwise be split between that and Navajo, Thompson said.

Nevertheless, commission sentiment remained against reopening the streets, even long enough for a new study. Commissioner Brian “Slim” Nash said he urged permanently severing the streets in 2005, and new traffic counts won’t change his mind. Commissioner Bruce Wilkerson, elected in 2006, said the city should keep its pledge for a new study - but most of the 50 phone calls he’s gotten on the issue have favored keeping the streets closed.

Walker said commissioners didn’t appear interested in a new study and called for an ordinance to be presented next month to permanently close the streets.

Old Morgantown Road

Cannon & Cannon engineers won the contract for final design of improvements to Old Morgantown Road by a 4-0 vote, despite not submitting the lowest bid.

Cannon’s $118,750 price is $13,750 higher than the bid from Landmark Engineering, but far lower than the other 13 bids received on the project. City staff had estimated the job would cost perhaps $300,000, City Manager Kevin DeFebbo said.

Wilkerson said he talked extensively with Assistant City Engineer Melissa Cansler about why Public Works recommended Cannon over Landmark, and asked her to recap that discussion.

Cansler said 50 percent of the choice was based on cost, and 50 percent on the firm’s experience. She noted that Cannon has substantial experience in redesigning roads through already-developed areas, and many members of its staff are very highly rated. That didn’t mean Landmark was unqualified, just that Cannon fit the need almost perfectly, Cansler said. The job may not cost as much if it’s done in less than the expected six months, and Cannon has already suggested it could be done in five, she said.

The Forest Park neighborhood and businesses along the road have lobbied for several years for upgrades. An earlier proposal to make it a three-lane road with additional features foundered on the $11 million price tag, so city staff went back to area residents and asked what they could cut. The final proposal comes in at $3.9 million. It calls for two 12-foot lanes, two five-foot sidewalks, plus curb and gutter on both sides, for a total width of 42 feet. It may be another year before the city begins buying land, moving utilities and construction.

Board member residency

Walker’s attempt to relax residence requirements for people serving on city-sponsored boards died for lack of a second. Current policy limits appointment to volunteer boards to those who live in the city, with exceptions for a few hard-to-fill boards. Commissioners have granted rare exemptions for people with specialized knowledge.

The new ordinance would have changed that, applying to all city boards. Walker said it would make eligible people who work in the city - and therefore pay city occupational tax - but live outside the corporate limits. At the ordinance’s failure, she asked commissioners to help find quality candidates, especially for the Tree Advisory Board.