Briefs: Park Hills, Lakeside Park, Florence, Ft. Mitchell, Taylor Mill, Covington, Kenton Cty.

By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter

PARK HILLS

Park Hills city council discussed giving approval for an event permit for Park Pointe HOA. The approval could mean closing a gate that leads into the Park Pointe subdivision, and there is some opposition among residents about closing a gate when the road belongs to Park Hills.

Council decided they needed more details about the event, including an event permit from Covington, who shares the subdivision with Park Hills. This will probably necessitate a special meeting.

Senator Chris McDaniel came to the meeting to brief council members on what happened during the legislative session. He answered questions from council members.

Jennifer Sierra, who is running against McDaniel, was also at the meeting.

Council passed an ordinance adding Juneteenth to the holiday schedule, and another ordinance setting the tax rate for property at .17 per $100 of assessed value.

LAKESIDE PARK

Lakeside Park City Council voted to reduce the property tax rate from last year’s rate of .255 per $100 of assessed value to .240 per $100. The recommended rate to give the city the same income would have been .270 per $100.

“We have been fairly frugal with what we are doing, and we haven’t had any large construction projects,” said Mayor Paul Markgraf. “As far as I know, I don’t know of any other city that has actually cut property tax rates in the 20 years I have been involved with government. I am very pleased that we should be able to do that. It is the right time to do it.”

The personal property rate is 1.481 per $100 of assessed value, and motor vehicle tax is .2769 per $100 of assessed value.

The city has a new police officer, Joel Tigner, who was introduced to council.

Mayor Markgraf gave a shout out to his daughter-in-law Sarah for her doctorate at the University of Louisville.

FLORENCE

The city of Florence administered the oath of office to Thaddeus Ecklar, a 7-year veteran of the police force, who was promoted to sergeant, and Joshua Koors, an 8 year veteran, who also was promoted to sergeant. Darryl Hucherson Jr, Patrick Taylor and Ethan Manly, who have been on the force 7 years, 3 years, and 10 years respectively, were all promoted to corporal at the council meeting Tuesday evening. A new recruit, 24-year-old Cole Rankin, was sworn in and will soon go to the police academy to complete his training.

Lana Brueggeman from Center street came to the meeting to again complain about the six foot tall bushes in her neighbor’s yard that prevent anyone in the driveway from getting a clear sight of the road or sidewalk. This time she was incensed that her complaint was identified as being from her, which doesn’t help good neighbor relations.

Public Works Director Eric Hall promised to look into the report which allows her name to be associated with the complaint. He also said the code enforcement people took care of the bush that was in the right of way, but Brueggeman said the main problem is the other bushes that run along the property line. Unfortunately there is no code that determines the height of bushes, so she came back to council to ask if they could change the code to limit the height of bushes to 3 feet.

“This is a safety issue,” she emphasized. “I don’t enjoy coming here, and I am really disappointed this can’t be resolved.”

Another resident came to request lights on Weaver road where a child was recently killed.

FT. MITCHELL

Ft. Mitchell city council passed the park tax, at .02 per $100 of valuation, and listened to the first reading of the property tax rate of .108 per $100 of valuation. The rate is the same as last year. It was recommended to do the compensating rate of .107 per $100 but council voted for the .108 per $100. The second reading of the trash rate was passed at $216.36 per unit, and the city will have two more years on the current extension of the contract.

Council also approved the KCPC recommendation of the Concept Development plan for the Ft. Mitchell Gateway Project. Mayor Jude Hehman said that there is a road that comes off which follows the site to the Wessels’ property and a request has been submitted for sidewalks on one side.

Chief of Police Rob Nader gave a report on electric scooters in the city. He said they are definitely here to stay, but since they have to use the sidewalks, there have been some problems with kids not wearing helmets and also problems sharing the sidewalks with pedestrians. The scooters usually have horns, but if pedestrians have headphones on they can’t hear the horn. Chief Nader said the kids are not looking when they cross business driveways or crosswalks, so police officers warn the kids but if they do it again, parents are called, and parents can be cited.

“These scooters are the new bicycles,” Chief Nader said.

TAYLOR MILL

Amanda Peters, from the Office of Drug Control Policy, and Independence Detective Mike Richman came to the Taylor Mill commission meeting to present an alternative to what to do with the opioid settlement money.

“We’re looking at having multi-jurisdictional police social workers,” said Peters. “They will be called Law Enforcement Navigators, but they will be second responders. They will have a radio, but no gun, and very different training.”

It is not a new idea; Campbell County police is following the same model, Boone County has hired three, the city of Erlanger has one, and Covington and Independence have indicated that they want to have their own program. Peters said they want to have 20 of these police social workers in the region by next year.

She said what they really want this program to do is to reduce calls and reduce the burden on Police Officers. The goal, she stated, is to help folks get healthy. To this end, some families will be able to call the social worker directly if they need help, instead of the police.

“This is what community policing is all about,” Detective Richman said.

The money would all go to Kenton County Fiscal Court, and then be distributed from there through an interlocal agreement.

“This is current money,” Peters explained. “We have more lawsuits coming down. This is not going to be committing you forever and so on. The county is going to fund that gap.”

It is destined to be a regional initiative, for Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties, and social workers will conform to the specific police department they are assigned to. The direction will be through Kenton County Police Chief Spike Jones, and Detective Richman is the direct supervisor.

Peters said they have the blessing of the state Opioid Abatement Advisory Committee, and NKADD is her fiduciary agent. Other people on board are Dr. Jennifer Mooney from the Health Department, Kentucky Representative Kim Moser, and Garren Colvin from St. Elizabeth Hospital. She indicated that the money should not run out for about 18 years, but again, the county is committed to carrying it forward.

In response to a resident asking if the city is going to carry AED units on their first responder police cars, Commissioners were very interested in making sure they have the life-saving unit in their cruiser. Police Sergeant John Vollet said they currently have two, but there are grants out there, and the Police Chiefs Association is interested in helping put the units in all first responding units. All together the city currently has five units. Commissioner Ed Kuehne mentioned that they are about $1200 apiece.

Commissioners passed the second reading of an ordinance specifying that all property where shooting occurs has to be a minimum of 5 acres.

Three ordinances had first readings; the first is the nuisance amendment, which also includes specifications for ATV’s and dirt bikes, as to how many acres they can ride on as well as the hours they can ride. Another first reading set the tax rate for real property at .372 per $100 of assessed value, which is the compensating rate. The personal property tax rate will be .535 per $100 of assessed value.

The solid waste fee will be $255 per unit per year.

A resolution allows Mayor Daniel Bell to sign a right of way agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for phase three of the sidewalk project.

COVINGTON

Covington city council passed an amended ordinance allowing medical marijuana businesses in the city. The amended part of the ordinance is that the city is assigning zones that the businesses can be in, instead of changing the zones through PDS.

Director of Special Projects Elizabeth Wetzel gave a timeline for the new Covington City Hall building. She said a groundbreaking will be Tuesday, October 29, at a time to be determined. A ribbon-cutting for the finished building should be in June of 2026. The building will be located in the 600 block on Scott Street, which has the Post Office to the south and the Kenton County public library to the north.

During the city manager’s report, it was stated that the Emergency Shelter is unwilling to participate in any type of management audit. Suggestions as to how to handle the situation will be forthcoming to commissioners.

Ten ordinances were read for the first time, including one authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to accept up to $191,858 for the Madison Avenue signal reconstruction project, and several to officially re- name small streets and alleys.

Elese Daniel from the Green Umbrella gave a presentation urging the city to form a task force for Climate Action.

KENTON COUNTY

Doug Armbruster, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Core 5, talked to commissioners about a project slated to come to the area and locate at Hapeville Court and Garvey in Elsmere. Commissioners were asked to approve the use of Site Development Funds, held for the county by the NKY Port Authority, to fund a portion of new transmission lines in the amount of $600,000.

“If the support isn’t there we would lose this project,” said Kenton County Judge Executive Kris Knochelmann.

Commissioners approved the resolution.

Kenton County set the tax rate for the coming year at .125 per $100 of assessed value for real property, .16 per $100 of value for personal property, and .158 per $100 of value for motor vehicles. The real property rate is two points below the compensating rate and less than last year’s rate of .133 per $100. Judge Knochelmann said it is the lowest rate since 1983 when it was .095 per $100, but he hasn’t given up.

“We’re still fighting to get there,” he said.

Commissioners approved the formation of KORA, the Kentucky Ohio River Authority, which is hoping to operate in several cities and counties along the Ohio river. The Kentucky Legislature approved the formation of the authority this year in the legislative session, and it was created to mirror the same initiative in the mountain region of Kentucky.

County Administrator Joe Shriver said while there is no allocation from the state yet, he wants the county to get a seat at the table so they can be ready whenever an allocation of funds is available.

Animal Services Director Kelsey Maccombs reported that they are ready to hire a full-time Veterinarian for the Kenton County Animal Services to help them with TNR, which is Trap, Neuter or spay, and return, program. This program is a gentler way to cut down on the feline reproduction rate for feral cats.

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