Bowling Green industrial recruiters added to their inventory of available properties Monday when Warren County Fiscal Court voted unanimously to approve first reading of an ordinance establishing “local development area No. 6” on an 85-acre tract being absorbed into the Kentucky Transpark.

The land along Mizpah Road was annexed by the city of Bowling Green in March. Eighty-one of the acres were purchased by the Inter-Modal Transportation Authority last June for $1.14 million.

Monday’s action, if approved on second reading, will establish an occupational license fee of 1.5 percent of the gross wages of people employed within the new development area and designate the Warren County treasurer as the agency responsible for administering a special fund set up to cover the cost of bonds and projects in the area.

“At the rate at which we’ve been growing, we have a real need to add inventory,” said Ron Bunch, president and CEO of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. “Now this property is all set up to be marketed.”

Bunch said establishing the local development area is “just part of our process to get the property in our inventory. …

“We’re not facilitating it for any particular project,” Bunch said. “There’s nothing imminent, but we have active discussions with several prospects.”

The large parcel will allow Bunch to market the property to the type of large manufacturers that have already landed in the transpark since Bowling Green Metalforming became the 800-acre industrial park’s first tenant in 2004.

The transpark is now home to about 3,000 jobs but is nearly full. Bunch is looking to add more jobs either within the transpark or in other parts of the county.

“We’ve been looking at various places in the county to establish new industrial land,” he said. “We need to add inventory. It could be in the transpark or near the transpark.”

In other action Monday, fiscal court voted to approve a comprehensive inspection and design services contract with an Iowa-based nonprofit called Workin’ Bridges to come up with a plan and cost estimate for restoring the Old Richardsville Road bridge. The one-lane bridge over the Barren River was closed to traffic last month after a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet routine inspection found structural deficiencies in the steel trusses.

Workin’ Bridges, which has analyzed more than 30 bridge restorations and started or completed construction on seven projects, will be paid $8,000 for the inspection and design services.

“They will do a full inspection above and below,” said Josh Moore, Warren County public works director, “and get an idea of what needs to be repaired.”

Moore said Workin’ Bridges can also do the construction work and has helped procure grants for projects in other states.

He doesn’t expect a final report from Workin’ Bridges until May but anticipates a final price tag to restore the bridge to be “north of $250,000.”

“There is some federal bridge money that we’ve used before,” Moore said. “It’s usually capped at $240,000 or so. The state would put in 80 percent, and we would have a 20 percent match.”

The magistrates also took action Monday to improve access to the tornado safe rooms at county parks.

Two expenditures – one for $4,236 and another for $10,164 – are expected to improve door access control for the safe rooms at Ed Spear, Phil Moore, Buchanon, Basil Griffin and Ephram White parks.

The safe-room contracts with Bowling Green’s Booth Fire and Safety were approved on 5-0 votes, with First District Magistrate and Booth Fire and Safety owner Doug Gorman abstaining.

Moore said the new access controls will allow the doors to the safe rooms to be opened remotely in case of emergency.

Warren County Emergency Management Director Ronnie Pearson said: “We had one instance where we had trouble with a keypad (at one of the safe rooms) and couldn’t get in, so we decided to go with this new technology. This will cover all our county parks.”

The magistrates also approved Monday an expenditure of $12,370 to Scotty’s Contracting for paving the county’s 13th Street parking lot. It was the lowest of two bids.