Discussion of how to spend Alcoholic Beverage Control alcohol funds for the 2012-13 fiscal year was raised at the city council meeting Thursday by city council member and chair of the Public Safety Committee, Jay Morgan.
Morgan proposed that $50,000 of the revenue raised from alcohol sales be split up between Murray State, Calloway County Alliance for substance Abuse Prevention, Calloway County Project Graduation and Murray Independent Schools Project Graduation for alcohol awareness and education programs.
Of the amount discussed, $25,000 would be awarded to Murray State, $15,000 for Calloway County ASAP, and $5,000 a piece to Calloway County’s and Murray Independent School’s respective project graduations.
Judy Lyle, interim associate director of Health Services, petitioned for funds on behalf of the University to begin the purchase of an alcohol education class to address both the 1,600 incoming freshman to Murray State and freshmen at Murray and Alcoholic Beverage Control
Lyle said these programs would be used primarily to introduce students to alcohol education and to hopefully reduce high-risk drinking as well as underage drinking.
Incoming freshman to Murray State would complete a survey before they arrive to determine their current use of alcohol. The University will email students will be emailed the link to the program. Obstainers of alcohol will complete a different program focused on how to help friends who drink and about remaining a by-stander to alcohol use, while freshmen who do drink will receive a more traditional course.
Once the program is complete and students have been on campus for approximately 45 days, another survey will be administered followed by another education course and then a final survey. Freshmen will be tracked via email periodically to monitor their alcohol use, although students would not be required to answer the emails.
“We are hoping on the Murray State campus to have an implied mandate for the students to complete the education program,” Lyle said, “Obvioulsy freshman excited about coming on to campus who get an email saying ‘hey, we have this program you need to complete before coming on campus’, most of them will want to.”
Lyle said while Murray State is dedicated to alcohol education, funds for the program would primarily come from the $25,000 from the ABC Alcohol Fund.
The question of what the $5,000 proposed to be spent on Murray Independent Schools’ and Calloway County High School’s project graduations and the necessisity of this specific amount was raised by city council member Dan Miller.
Miller questioned if deciding on whether or not to award these high school’s projects the proposed money ought not to take longer when city council in the past has spent hours and multiple meetings discussing the budget of other projects asking for less than $5,000.
“Here, without any budget, without any review, on just one notice we’re giving $5,000 dollars to each school for project graduation?” Miller said. “It almost sounds like we came away with $10,000 so we’ll just give to two schools and we’ll cut it in half.”
Miller and other members of city council were opposed to the idea of the money simply being used on prizes for the students and incentives for them to come to project graduation instead of actual alcohol education.
“I support the schools, but my goodness this is still tax payer money, and to come up with a number and you don’t even know what it’s going to be used for?” Miller said. “After the debates we’ve had with Murray Main Streets, the Art Guild and the city park, I think these things need to be examined like anything else.”
Mayor Bill Wells, Dottie Kraemer, project director of Calloway County ASAP and Murray Police Chief Jeff Liles all spoke out in favor of funding both school’s project graduation, and the project’s positive effect.
An amendment to the initial proposal was eventually added restricting the amount of money to be allotted to the high schools at $5,000, not necessarily granting the schools all of this sum, and specifying that this money be used only for alcohol education.
This amended proposal passed unanimously with Morgan fully supporting the motion, but choosing to obstain from voting.
Also discussed at the city council meeting were the bids for the Livibility Sidewalk Grant, a proposed sidewalk project from the Murray Calloway Transit Authority and the City of Murray to better allow for transportation via sidewalks in areas of high traffic.
The council voted and for the bid of $207,622, a 120-day contract was awarded to sole applicant, Youngblood Excavating & Contracting, LLC at the recommendation of Peyton Mastera, project administrator.
Story by Ben Manhanke, Staff writer.