Photo by L
isa Bicknell
Ravenna Mayor Valerie Flinchum walks out of the Ravenna Council meeting on Monday night, as Ravenna Fire Chief Ken White, at left, and other guests Chuck Ferrell, Sharon Snowden and Brandon Hisle look on.
By: Lisa Bicknell
Ravenna City Clerk Angela Napier was the first to walk out of a long and contentious Ravenna City Council meeting on
Monday evening.
Responding to remarks by Councilman Budd Tucker, Napier said, “You can have it.”
Less than an hour later, Mayor Valerie Flinchum also said that she was done.
“You fought me every step of the way,” Flinchum said, as she handed her keys over to the council then walked out.
Tensions were high from the moment official business began. Some council members declined to approve minutes of the special called meeting on May 27, 2021 because Mayor Flinchum wrote them up at home after the meeting. Clerk Napier had been absent from the meeting.
There was a lengthy discussion about naming three separate short sections of unnamed roadway in Ravenna.
The city was in agreement about naming the entrance to the Kiwanis Ball Park in honor of deceased baseball coach Blake Crowe.
Councilwoman Amy Crowe said the family preferred that it be called Blake Crowe Way.
Mayor Flinchum said that the PVA is checking deeds for the exit to the park beside Ravenna Church of God. It could be included as part of Black Crowe Way.
Councilwoman Tammy Smyth recommended naming the Y on Main Street in front of Sammy King’s Furniture after Art Long, who left an inheritance to the city. The council agreed. Another short unnamed section of road will be called the 300 Block of Elm Street. Roadsigns will be paid for from LGEA funds or Municipal Road Aid funds, the mayor said.
Greyson Evans from Bluegrass Area Development District was introduced to the counsel. He was there to tell the council how to form a selection committee to review proposals from engineering firms.
Evans explained that the process is a required first step in applying for a FEMA grant to help solve water drainage issues in the city, particularly in the 6th, 7th, and 8th Street areas.
Evans said the process of reviewing proposals is informal. Mayor Flinchum said that four people would be on the committee: herself, Clerk Napier, William VanCleve, and one other person. She said no council person wanted to be on the committee.
Councilwoman Amy Crowe said she had not been asked, having been absent from the last special called meeting. She said she’d like to serve on the committee, but she would not serve with VanCleve.
After much discussion, the council agreed that Flinchum, Napier, Crowe, Wayne Babb and Brandon Hisle would serve on the committee.
Evans said, because Ravenna is considered to be within “a small and impoverished area,” the grant would likely be funded in five years or less.
The city will be responsible for ten percent of the costs of hiring an engineering firm to come up with a design.
Ravenna Police Chief Ken White reported that the Ravenna Department had been very busy in the last month.
Ravenna Fire Chief David Harvey said his department has purchased a “combi tool,” a battery-operated spreader/cutter tool that is somewhat like a “jaws of life,” and is used to open doors, etc., in the event of car accidents or a fire.
He expressed the need for a simpler way of purchasing equipment for the fire department. He said he prefers not to purchase equipment online, but to buy in person, but he said the process of trying to spend money is complicated, because he has to ask for a payment order, etc., with each purchase. Harvey said he’d like for there to be a simpler way of doing it. Fire commission funds go back to the state if not used within a certain amount of time.
One council member suggested getting him a debit card to spend fire commission money. After much deliberation, the decision was eventually made to do so.
There was some disagreement afterward that about where the council was in the order of the agenda after “public comments.”
That is when Mayor Flinchum abruptly announced she was resigning as she walked out of the meeting.
After both the clerk and the mayor left, Councilman Budd Tucker made a motion that councilwoman Tammy Smyth preside over the remainder of the meeting.
Fire Chief Harvey said he’d also had problems with the internet. He thanked Steve Palmer for donating parts for Engine 5, and Patrick Jimmo and Tony Begley for helping work on the truck.
Ken White asked the council for a working telephone. He said he does not like to use his personal phone for work because he gets calls in the middle of the night. He said that he’d made multiple requests to no avail.
Councilman Chris Smyth announced that Hoyt Baber was named Ravenna Citizen of the Month. Tammy Smyth described her as “a fixture on Pine Street.”
Before adjourning, Councilwoman Amy Crowe said she’d find out the correct procedure to follow regarding the mayor’s vacancy and replacement.
Tucker said he thought that Mayor Flinchum was still mayor until the council meets again to appoint someone else.
Ravenna Pastor Chuck Ferrell, with the Ravenna Church of God, offered the prayer before the council meeting began. Ferrell said he’d been involved with disaster relief in several areas, and he came to Estill County just in time to deal with March flooding.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Ravenna City Council is July 12 at 6 p.m. at Ravenna City Hall.