By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
ERLANGER
Erlanger city council members clearly had different opinions on whether the city should install a horse-type fence at the top of a hill by Alice street in Erlanger at the regular Council meeting. Duke Energy apparently cut down a number of trees on that hill, leaving it dangerously accessible to kids riding bikes or anyone who thought they could use it.
Resident Jeff Niceley came to the council meeting to again complain that the hillside is steep and needs a short fence so no one gets hurt. The land is a right of way owned by the city.
At one point, Niceley said, the city put up a temporary fence and then took it back down again when city attorney Jack Gatlin advised that the fence be taken down.
Added to the differing opinions of whether the city should re-install a short fence piece, and if the fence should be decorative or a more expensive, sturdy and permanent fence, council member Tyson Hermes, who is the Chairman of the Northern Kentucky Regional Ethics Authority, brought up a question of ethics due to the fact that council member Diana Niceley spoke about the safety of the area at the last caucus meeting and allegedly advocated for tax money to be spent for the ‘primary benefit of her family.
The Niceleys 93-year-old father lives very close to the hill, and Jeff Niceley also lives there. Councilmember Niceley prefaced her statements at the caucus by saying she was speaking as a resident, not a councilmember.
Hermes said there hasn’t been an ethics complaint yet and his speeches were warnings, but Niceley viewed it as a public attack, and said it is a safety matter for the whole city. Others have come to her defense. She denied having violated any ethics code.
“I am not on trial, and you are not an attorney,” she stated heatedly at the meeting.
Attorney Gatlin thought possible solutions would be to 1) do nothing, 2) deed some of the property to the Niceley family, and 3) do a beautification project at the site, or they could do some combination of those.
The hillside is not pretty, according to some council members.
It was ultimately decided to put the issue on the agenda for the beautification task force, when they have a meeting on May 21 in the council chambers. Residents can attend.
INDEPENDENCE
Independence city council listened to an overview on medical cannabis and the legislation that will go into effect January 1, 2025, given by PDS Director Sharmili Reddy. Next month they will have Dr Michael Reeser, who talked at last month’s Mayors’ Meeting, as guest speaker to attest to the benefits of medical cannabis to his patients.
Council passed the second reading of an ordinance establishing safety measures for open burning, allowing the police to have the authority to shut down burning that is illegal and unsafe.
Another ordinance was long debated in past meetings by residents who wanted fencing to be allowed on corner lots. This was the second reading, and it allows fencing on standard corner lots but not reverse corner lots. Both ordinances passed unanimously.
The proposed map amendment for the Madison Pike project was read for the first time without obvious opposition.
A resolution passed which approved the stage 2 design for the new Starbucks.
EDGEWOOD
Edgewood Mayor John Link declared the week of May 19 to 25 National Public Works Week in the city.
A resolution was added to the agenda at the last minute which was a cleanup of the Elmwood sidewalk project. The city has an 80/20 grant for the sidewalk, but it was decided to move the sidewalk a little farther off the street, which then requires temporary easements for about four properties on the street. The grant was amended to include the extra cost.
Council approved the resolution unanimously.
TAYLOR MILL
Senator Chris McDaniels visited the city to give a run down on all the laws passed by the General Assembly in this session.
Taylor Mill Mayor Daniel Bell was authorized to accept the legal contract for Jack Gatlin, as well as the contract for the accounting services, the mobile command center use, the use of Pride Park for the Center Point Church’s annual festival on October 26, and the reimbursement to Rodney Eldridge for the SD-1 cost share program.
When the subject of contract negotiations for the new firehouse was brought up for approval, however, Commissioner Mark Kreimborg and Commissioner Ed Kuehne would not vote to approve it, reiterating their opinion that the city should have fixed the old firehouse instead of creating a new one. The approval went through as written, 3 to 2.
BOONE COUNTY
Seth Cutter, from CVG, came to the meeting to talk about a project called Kentucky Product Development Initiative for a 300-acre site at the west end of runway 937. This area is not able to be developed as residential due to noise abatement issues, so the airport wants their leased developers, Hemmer Construction and Roebbelen Construction, to build 11 buildings in a ‘build to suit’ project that they want to move along quickly.
Cutter explained that the state can provide a certain amount of funds, $2 million, from the Kentucky Economic Development Financing Authority, that Boone County can apply for, but the county would act as a pass through for the money. The total cost of developing the land and creating the buildings is expected to be about $200 million.
Commissioner Chet Hand questioned Cutter extensively, trying to ascertain if any of the buildings would be used for logistics, which he didn’t want to have happen, and he was assured that they would do everything they can to have the buildings be developed for manufacturing jobs. BeNKY will be helping to market the buildings.
The resolution passed 4-0.
Commissioners also listened to a first reading of an ordinance requesting a zone change for a 3.6 acre site within Richfield Farms at the end of Asbury Way from SR-1 to SR-2. There would be 16 lots 50 feet wide, and Asbury way would be extended 300 feet and end in a circle for these lots. If the ordinance is passed and the zone is changed, there is also a variance to change the sideyard setback to 5 feet.