By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
Park Hills City Council convened for a caucus meeting last week. The main topic was to resurrect the discussion about the space needs the city has, but this time with a possible new factor to consider in the mix.
The discussion was revisited because at the beginning of the meeting Mayor Kathy Zembrodt announced that there is a possibility of a building for sale. The address was not supposed to be disclosed because it is an acquisition.
Several years ago Zembrodt took it upon herself to go up and down Dixie Highway to see if there was a possibility of acquiring a building, that would hopefully be permanent, and this response is a result of those inquiries.
At the end of the meeting, a resident, David Costas, who had petitioned to ask a question, rose to speak, and took people by surprise as he accused the council of not being transparent, especially about this new property enterprise. He said he had been at the last council meeting, and he and his wife didn’t like how things that should have been a red flag were basically swept under the carpet. He had questions about how the mayor explained the real estate transaction.
“I’m going to mention the name of the address because it is on public record she mentioned that. It’s 1500 Dixie Highway, that’s the address of the property they’re trying to buy—–”
Mayor Zembrodt stopped Costas at this point, saying that she had been asked not to reveal the address.
“It doesn’t matter,” Costas interrupted back, “It is public record. It’s my first amendment right — You don’t have to discuss it but I’m allowed to say.”
“But it is not the rights of the other party in that transaction,” said Zembrodt. She suggested going into executive session, but councilmember Pam Spoor said no. She thought they should not speak of the matter as a matter of courtesy.
“My concerns relate specifically to what was said at the last meeting. It’s on the public record, there’s no hidden knowledge, I’m not going to disclose any insider knowledge — I don’t have any insider knowledge,” Costas spoke quickly.
“If I was proposing to purchase the piece of real estate on behalf of the city as the mayor I would start first with the potential conflict of interest which is that, the obvious, the glaring (fact that) the seller has the same last name as the mayor. Because I would think most people would be really concerned about that. But it wasn’t introduced like that. It doesn’t build any trust with the citizens. It’s clear I am not the only one to feel this way. I might be a vocal person about it, but It’s not some salacious rumor — it’s just the reality of what’s going on here. If there’s a great explanation to put this to bed, I’d walk away from this I’d feel fine about this. It’s never been brought up. It’s been buried from day one.”
Zembrodt said the City Attorney Daniel Braun did, in fact, address the controversy, saying that according to the ethics code, this does not violate any laws. Four years ago, when Zembrodt started a search for more room for the city, she became aware that a building on Dixie Highway might have connections to a relative, so she asked the city attorney at that time about it, and he also confirmed it was not a violation of the ethics code. Ethics code 31.018 specifies how close a relative has to be to present a problem with transactions.
The property at 1500 Dixie Highway is known as Global Technologies Transfer LLC. Individuals involved with the company are Mayor Zembrodt’s second cousin, Anthony Zembrodt, as well as his wife. When questioned, she said they are not especially close, and they speak sometimes at functions that they have both been invited to.
“Can you tell me how you found out about this property?” Costas interrogated. “It’s not on the market. It doesn’t seem transparent.”
Zembrodt explained how she used to be partners with a builder and she would go and knock on doors to talk to owners and see if they wanted to sell their property.
“Someone responded to me, after four years, that they would be interested in selling,” she said. “So I wanted to bring it to council to talk about it. We wanted to get the ball rolling.”
Costas then asked about how they would pay for the new building.
“We have a solid budget,” said Mayor Zembrodt. “There’s reserve, there’s cash. We have a lot of good things in our budget, that I don’t think we’d have a problem whether we would fix a building, or buy a building or rent a building. I don’t think we’d have an issue.”
She clarified the issue of timing.
“This was brought up so that we can start the ball rolling. If we pass the municipal order we can get things going. But we have plenty of time to discuss things. There is no hurry.”
Costas appreciated the fact that there is no hurry to buy the building without the input of the citizens. Council will have to pass a municipal order so that the mayor can sign the purchase agreement.
“There are things in the city, infrastructure wise, in need of immediate attention, and once the agreement is signed they won’t get the attention,” said Costas. “We don’t think it is inappropriate to make a decision right now and set ourselves back possibly 20 or more years.”
He said he appreciated council listening to him, and will be back. He and his wife Jasmine want the meetings to be more transparent, and wants the residents to have more of a say in what happens in their city. Even though the couple have lived in the city three years, their interest in the government peaked when the couple recently applied to have a parking pad in front of their house. Council has not made a decision on that issue.
Mayor Zembrodt mentioned that after the caucus meeting, both Costas and his wife submitted several more questions to her, and she answered all of them to the best of her ability.
“My understanding, my impression of the meeting was a little different than Mr. Costas,” said Councilmember Spoor. “My sense is that we will put out RFP’s (request for proposal), and get some hard numbers, and see what is the best way to fix our needs. But in a timely manner, since the needs of the police are becoming urgent.”
The current city building was built in 1937, with additions in 1954 and 1979. The council room can have 30 people in the room, but the staircase which accesses the councilroom is very steep. The building is not ADA accessible.
The city has struggled to keep up with public council meetings, but since they have very limited space, the city has rented places to hold their council meetings for 12 years. Mayor Zembrodt said that running out of space has had the most effect on the police department, because while the city can rent space to hold their council meetings, the police department can’t.
Police Chief Cody Stanley talked about some of the problems the police department has with their records, and for 11 years he has tried to make things work.
Council agreed that this space problem is not new.
“This has been our quest for years,” said Councilmember Joe Shields.
The same dilemna has affected other cities in the area, and it was brought up that Lakeside Park has built a center to house their city clerk, council chambers, and public works for $1,100,000. Ft Mitchell had a new addition in 2015 for a cost of $5,000. Elsmere is about to move into their new inclusive facility which cost $6.6 million, and Taylor Mill is considering a new fire house.
Mayor Zembrodt said she did not know if adding the possibility of a new building into the equation will help solve the space problem at the city, because she doesn’t know if councilmembers will be for it or against it, and she doesn’t know if more residents will get involved and protest how the money is spent.