Danville City Commission voted unanimously Monday to approve a resolution regarding the name change of the Community Arts Center, which will soon be known as Art Center of the Bluegrass. According to the resolution, the city entered into a concession agreement with CAC on Nov. 25, 2003, to provide the terms and conditions of the lease.

Executive Director Niki Kinkade said the center has served as a “creative catalyst, not just for Danville but the entire southern Bluegrass region.”  She said the new name reflects the “growing identity” of CAC as an arts destination.

Commissioner Rick Serres told Kinkade she and her staff “have done a great job, and the region benefits from it.”

“And thank you, to the city — because we could not do what we do without your partnership,” Kinkade said.

During City Manager Ron Scott’s report, he said city staff and CAC are “discussing revisions to the current rental agreement, primarily to clarify maintenance responsibilities.” A new lease agreement is expected to be reviewed in the near future.

Other business

Also on Monday, the city commission dealt with the following agenda items:

• Scott said there is “no progress to date” yet on the wayfinding initiative for the city. Commissioners asked him for an update of where the city was on the implementation of new signage to area attractions during a past meeting.

“We did approve a plan, and it was to be brought before the city commission for review of implementation of each section of that signage plan,“ Scott said. But the key coordinator of the plan, Municipal Utility Engineer Earl Coffey, is on vacation and Scott said he hasn’t had a chance to talk to him.

“It’s on our list, but it’s one that we frankly have not, to my knowledge, made any progress on. (Coffey) may have filed some preliminary encroachment permits with the state that I’m not aware of, but it’s on our to-do list,” he said.

• Scott said the city will soon begin a Master Plan update for Bellevue and Hilldale cemeteries. The city will work with Carmen, a company providing “professional planning services.” He said the update will address current conditions of the cemeteries as the city revisits the conclusions of the 2007 Master Plan, originally prepared by landscape architect John Carman out of Lexington, who also prepared the Wayfinding Signage Master Plan.

Scott said the study will also address how best to use the new property the city purchased from Danville Independent Schools that is adjacent to Bellevue Cemetery. “Recall that we did purchase that residential lot at the entryway to Bellevue. That will be part of the Master Plan update study. We’ll see how that will be best utilized to serve as a growth opportunity” in the cemetery, Scott said.

He said input is expected from the Danville Cemetery Committee, “as well as from any other interested persons, including various funeral directors,” about the update.

Two shelters, already included in the budget as well as in the Master Plan, are still in the plans to be built — one for each cemetery. Scott said the city is proceeding with developing the specifications for both.

• The City of Danville Compensation Study is also in process, Scott said, utilizing Hanna Resources in Lexington. All positions will be evaluated, with compensation ranges and competitive market recommendations to be made to the city manager for all positions. He said the study should be completed and returned by early October.

The city is also in the final legal review of the city’s personnel policies to comply with recently enacted state laws. Scott said the Personnel Policies and Pay/Class Ordinance will be on the Aug. 12 meeting agenda.

• Danville extended its deadline for firms to provide a Downtown Master Plan proposal by two weeks, changing the deadline to Aug. 14. Scott said this is “due to the increased number of firms interested in making a proposal.” The Downtown Master Plan is a requirement in order for the city to potentially land a federal “Opportunity Zone” economic development project.

• Scott asked the city commission to begin a process to revisit the ownership of the historic log structure previously located on Third Street, which was disassembled and stored over a decade ago. He said it has been stored in a number of places since it was taken down, but it ended up in the Public Works Building, which is planned to be renovated.

Scott said the logs are an impediment to the productive use of the workspace inside of the building. “So I’m going to ask the city commission or the AHB (Architectural Heritage Board) to come up with some process … to make a determination of where we can move those logs for a productive purpose.”

He said the chances of the logs being lost or damaged in a storage space is also a factor. “We need to determine the proper and final disposition of these logs in the coming few months.”