GLASGOW – The Glasgow City Council took another step Monday toward the installation of a downtown park.

The council voted 9-1, with two members absent, to approve on first reading a measure to transfer $320,000 from the unappropriated general fund to the Parks and Recreation land account to fund the purchase of a 4.31-acre plot between West Main and West Front streets. The city council in October passed a motion to authorize and direct city attorney Rich Alexander to negotiate the purchase of the property.

Jake Dickinson was the only council member who opposed transferring the money necessary to complete the purchase. Dickinson said he thinks the city council only wants to make the purchase because the property was made available and does not have any real plans for what to do with it.

“The only reason we bought it is because it was for sale,” he said. “We had no plans to put a park in there and now nobody can tell me what it’s going to cost to put a park there.”

Mayor Dick Doty said the purchase follows recommendations from a parks master plan compiled by consulting firm Brandstetter Carroll Inc. to establish more green space downtown.

“This is right dead in the middle of that area that they said we were lacking: the downtown area,” he said, noting that Brandstetter Carroll also recommended more green space to the north and south of downtown.

Doty said the property was put up for sale at a convenient time and that there are no definite plans for what to do with it.

“In that master plan, they recommended that you have just some(thing) minimally developed, so just green space basically, maybe a spraypad,” he said.

In another matter, the council voted to transfer a small parcel of land to Glasgow Christian Academy, which plans to add the land into a larger tract of about 5 acres it hopes to sell to a developer.

According to Doty, the land that belongs to the city is roughly 2,300 square feet near where Old Cavalry Drive and L. Rogers Wells Boulevard meet and is of no real value to the city.

Doty said the city is not interested in gaining any money directly from the transfer of the land.

“It’s just not important to us to get any compensation for that,” he said. “It’s just such a small piece, and what would be much more beneficial to us as a community would be if someone were to locate there just for the improvement of the community and the economic development that comes along with business investment.”

In one other issue, Eric Sexton, executive director of the Barren River Area Development District, spoke briefly, commending Doty for his stint as board chairman of the district’s executive council.

“The board chairman helps to oversee the executive council, which is our smaller representation of your 10-county region that really helps guide and operate the day-to-day business of the area development district,” he said.

Doty, who lost in November to Harold Armstrong in the mayoral election, has served as board chairman of BRADD’s executive council since mid-2017, Sexton said.

Sexton presented Doty with a Kentucky-shaped plaque that designated Doty as “A Friend of BRADD.”

“When I looked up (the definition of) friend, it’s someone who shares and encourages you in your endeavors and interests, and Mayor Doty has definitely been a champion for the BRADD,” Sexton said.

Speaking after the meeting, Doty said he didn’t expect the recognition, but commended Sexton for his service to the BRADD region.

“It’s been a pleasure for me to work with him and also to serve on that board of directors,” Doty said.