The City of Corbin is annexing its first Laurel County property along Cumberland Gap Parkway since opening that area up for annexation last summer.
Go Time Convenient Store at Exit 29 and its adjoining businesses has requested to be annexed into the city, Corbin Mayor Suzie Razmus announced Monday afternoon during the Corbin City Commission’s regular monthly meeting.
The commission was presented with an ordinance outlining the annexation of the property during the meeting, which commissioners voted unanimously to approve. A second reading was held and also unanimously approved during a special-called meeting Tuesday.
“We did it, guys. Only took 40 years,” Razmus said jokingly following Monday’s vote.
There has been a long and storied battle at Exit 29 as the City of Corbin, the City of London and Laurel County have attempted to stake claim to properties along that corridor for quite some time.
Most recently, Corbin and London took the issue to court after the London City Council approved an ordinance that annexed several sections of right-of-way in that area in August 2020. Within days of the first reading of that ordinance, the Corbin City Commission voted to file a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the annexation, arguing that the City of Corbin owns infrastructure in that area, namely utility lines there provide water and sewer service.
The issue remained tied up in court for the next few years until the London City Council voted by a narrow 4-3 margin to bow out of the ongoing lawsuit in October 2023. The council subsequently approved ordinances to repeal London’s annexation in that area.
In August 2024, the Corbin City Commission approved an ordinance that annexed the right-of-way along I-75 from the Whitley County-Laurel County line up to Exit 29, and the right-of-way along Cumberland Gap Parkway, starting at the KY-770 bridge to the intersection of US25E and US25W, colloquially known as “malfunction junction.”
Following Tuesday night’s approval of the second reading, the ordinance still must be advertised in the legal newspaper of record in Corbin, which is the News Journal, for one week before the ordinance will go into effect.
After it does so, the business and its employees will be paying a second 1 percent occupational/payroll tax on wages and net profits in addition to what the business and its employees already pay in occupational taxes and net profits to the Laurel County Fiscal Court.
In other city commission business:
– The commission discussed possibly making a future amendment to its ordinance regarding trash disposal at the Corbin Public Works (CPW) office on Miller Lane.
Jeff Nantz, director of CPW, addressed the commission during Monday’s meeting, where he said there have been ongoing issue with a number of people bring large amounts of trash to be dumped at CPW. Nantz noted that he believed many of the individuals who have been bringing frequent loads to be hauling the waste from jobs performed outside the city.
Several options were discussed, from placing a cap on the number of loads that can be brought to CPW before implementing a fee to outright ending the acceptance of outside waste disposal.
“We can’t take that burden on without being reimbursed,” said Razmus.
No formal action was taken, though the issue is expected to be revisited at a later date.
– Commissioners voted to advertise for bids to repair the roof at the Corbin Civic Center.
Corbin City Manager Scott Williamson said that the roof is currently “in really bad shape” and in need of immediate intervention.
Razmus asked the commission to approve a seven-day advertisement period in hopes of getting the work done as quickly as possible.
– The commission met in a 20-minute executive session to discuss personnel and pending and/or proposed litigation. No formal action was taken during the executive session.
