By Ryan Clark
NKyTribune reporter
They weren’t there to talk specifics. Not money or timelines. But there was still a lot to see.
At the city Commissioner’s regularly scheduled legislative meeting this week, officials viewed a presentation with designs for the new City Hall building. The new City Hall will be located at 620 and 622 Scott Blvd., and some have hopes to move into the new site in 2025.
“What we’re trying to do with this presentation tonight is simply to inform the members of the Commission and the broader public of where we are in terms of the concept of City Hall,” Mayor Joseph U. Meyer said. “We are not getting into issues we’re not prepared to get into — issues of when we’re going to start this project or how much. We’re just not far enough along to deal with that.”
But, the Mayor said, the city needed an update.
“We thought it would be important to let the public see where we are today and see what direction we’re headed in,” he said.
Representatives from Brandstetter Carroll Inc., as well as Elevar Design Group, presented a concept for a three-story, 42,000-square-foot building, complete with two wings, a plaza, a balcony, a basement and several windows throughout to let in natural light.
Officials said the structure, which would be built to last about 50-75 years, will also have the ability to occupy about 15 to 20 percent growth of the staff over that time. Further expansion opportunities could exist in an office building on the corner, as well as a parking lot to the north.
Representatives also made sure to note that public input helped drive ideas for the design, and the notion that the public will also utilize the site was always front of mind.
Most seemed pleased with the concept.
“I’m in and out of this building quite often — there’s no doubt that it needs to be replaced,” said Commissioner Ron Washington. “We are faced with some challenges down the road, and we have to look at those challenges and figure out how to pay for a new City Hall. So, I can only speak for myself … I believe (the) Board of Commissioners believe the same thing.”
New DCJ police facility for NKY
The city commission approved a resolution asking for “a new training facility in Northern Kentucky to aid in alleviating the time required to get newly hired police officers trained and in service to the communities throughout the Commonwealth.”
“The current training facility for Basic Training of new police recruits is located in Richmond, Ky., and is the only option available to the majority of Kentucky police departments to train new recruit officers,” the resolution states. “The current wait time for agencies across Kentucky to get newly hired recruits into the required Basic Training program is approximately six months after the completion of the hiring process.”
And the combination of the hiring process (required under Kentucky law), the wait time to start basic training and the length of the training “routinely leaves agencies across the state without a trained officer for a period of at least one year.”
Mayor Joseph U. Meyer said last week that a new area facility will “help alleviate the time required to get newly hired police officers trained and then service to the communities throughout Kentucky.”
Afterward, Mayor Meyer asked that the resolution be sent to Fort Wright Mayor Dave Hatter, who has championed this cause, as well as all members of the Northern Kentucky legislative caucus.
Short-term rental app fees
Commissioners suspended the change in fee structure for short-term rental applications. On Nov. 1, when short-term rentals would change to permitted use from conditional use, the yearly license was scheduled to increase from $30 to $500 due to the applicants no longer having to pay the $600 application fee for the conditional use permit.
The zoning change — which must go through the county zoning agency — has not yet occurred. Hence, the suspension until the change.
Streetscape Updates
The Commission approved two agreements with Adleta Construction for:
• The Madison Avenue Streetscape project (from 8th to 11th Streets) in the amount of $2,964,331.93 to be paid for 80 percent in Federal SNK funds and 20 percent matching TIF funding.
• The 7th Street (from Washington to Greenup) Streetscape project in the amount of $3,328,293.28 to be paid for 80 percent in Federal SNK funds and 20 percent matching TIF funding.
Construction is set to begin once the Notice to Proceed is received from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Central Office — and officials said Tuesday night they’d received that notice.
In order to move faster on the projects, Commissioners also approved a professional services agreement order to pay for the budgeted services of an on-site inspection, to be carried out by Palmer Engineering (as assigned by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet).
A pre-construction meeting is scheduled for next week.
Hires
Commissioners approved these hires:
• Hannah Feilhauer — Human Resources Manager
• Christopher Bussell — Police Officer, Police Department
• Heather Justice — Clerk Typist, Police Department
Each was placed on next week’s consent agenda.
OKI Council
Commissioner Steve Hayden was approved to be the Covington representative on the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council of Governments.
Halloween hours
Commissioners reminded everyone last week that Halloween hours are always set for 6-8 p.m. Halloween will be Tuesday, Oct. 31.
Next Meeting
The next regularly scheduled Covington Commission meeting will be a caucus meeting held at 6 p.m., Nov. 14, at the City Building at 20 W. Pike St. in Covington. The meetings can be followed live on Fioptics channel 815, Spectrum channel 203, the Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky (TBNK) website, the TBNK Facebook page @TBNKonline, and the TBNK Roku channels.