By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
ELSMERE
Tuesday night in Elsmere was student government night and eleven students from St Henry, Tichenor, Lindeman, Miles, Arnett and Lloyd had a chance to help run the city. The students read from prepared reports, and each student’s voice was loud, clear and confident. The city representatives read a short piece about their student, and each student read about their representative and what job they do in the city.
When it came down to city business, KJ Nussbaum, a sophomore at Lloyd High school acted as mayor/emcee and instructed the enacting of the legislation. A municipal order passed which approved sending a text amendment to the Kenton County Planning Commission asking for the term ‘opaque’ to be eliminated in the screening description for outdoor storage.
The second reading of an ordinance passed which puts manufactured housing on the same zone footing as regular single family homes. Another second reading of an ordinance passed amending the occupation license tax rate for employees to be raised from 1.25 percent to 1.75 percent.
Each student received a certificate and a small gift, in addition to a supper before the meeting. They all got their picture taken with Mayor Marty Lenhoff, who said he looks forward to this night every year. He jokingly commended the students for not falling asleep during the legislative portions of the meeting and told them they did a great job.
The other students who participated are Asher Lamb, a sophomore at Lloyd, Seth Langdale, fifth grader at Lindeman, Te’Auni Jordan, fifth grader from Arnett, Liberty Treanor, seventh grader from Tichenor, Destinee Sebastian, eighth grader from Tichenor, Winston Whiteley, eighth grader from St Henry, Anijah Konneh, fifth grader from Arnett, Layla Myatt, eighth grader from Tichenor, Genevieve Burgess, fifth grader from Miles, and Alexander Mullen, ninth grader from Lloyd. Liberty Treanor was the only repeat student from last year’s program.
Council member Gloria Grubbs has served on the Erlanger Elsmere school board in the past and she also commended the students for the good job they did. She said she loves hearing about the students’ dreams and possibilities. She and Mayor Lenhoff have been doing this program for over 20 years.
Council member Joanne Barnett-Smith, who actively collects the students every year, also said this is the best council night of the year, and she was proud of how well the students did. She addressed the parents, and thanked them for allowing their child to take part in this activity.
“Thank you for sharing your child with us,” she said. “They are our future.”
PARK HILLS
Park Hills city council passed the second reading of an ordinance adding qualified manufactured homes into the same zone regulations as single family homes. Council member Pam Spoor stated that she was not in favor of the state telling cities how to zone their city. Council member Greg Claypool also objected, saying he didn’t think the ruling fit the city very well.
Council also voted to have Park Hills Police take part in the SWAT program. The agenda was then amended to include legislation to hire a part time police officer for the department.
A municipal order passed which re-appointed Steve Elkins and Laura Cardosi as the city’s representatives to PDS.
Former Council member Tony Darin gave a report on the Northern Kentucky Health Insurance meeting, saying the cost per employee on a per year basis has gone down 6 percent.
LAKESIDE PARK
Kenton County Judge Executive Kris Knochelmann came to Lakeside Park to give an update on what is happening in the county. He talked about Animal Control, and how they are making strides every day in their programs to control the animal population. He said he is looking forward to the UK School of Medicine and the Chase Law school to be located in Covington, and invited them to take a look at Spark Haus in the old Sims furniture building, because it is growing and becoming more popular for businesses. Knochelmann talked about the new park which will be built on the old golf course off Richardson Road. When asked about a timeline, he told council that dirt should start being moved this summer, and he thought maybe summer of 2027 wouldn’t be too out of line for a finish date for the park, which he said will be a tremendous recreation spot in the entire county, having bike trails, hiking trails, and even zip lines.
Mayor Paul Markgraf thanked the Judge for all that he does for the county.
The mayor also told council that they have put pictures of the past two mayors as well as council, and invited the community to contribute to that collection if they have any pictures of mayors who have served the community.
Markgraf mentioned that he would like to see an adhoc committee formed to see about putting together some celebration for this summer to commemorate the nation turning 250 years.
Council listened to the first reading of an ordinance setting the compensation for mayor at $14,000 a year, beginning on January 1 2027. If the city should hire a city administrator, then that compensation will go back to $10,000 a year. The salary has not been raised since 2010, and the official median salary for a mayor of a city the size of Lakeside Park is $12,099, while the median salary for a city administrator for a city like Lakeside Park is $74,745.
BOONE COUNTY
Brian Mauer came to the Boone County Fiscal Court meeting Tuesday evening to read a statement he had prepared saying that the Boone County jail is a community institution and should be returned to that status, favoring community people who violate the law, over individuals who violate federal law and need to be held until federal law officers can get them.
Amber Hoffman also came for the same topic, but she told the court she has friends in law enforcement and she has been told that currently the jail is overcrowded by 9 beds so 9 people from the community who have violated the law will be sleeping on the floor in a recreation room, because priority is given to the federal prisoners.
She pointed out that people in Kentucky have a problem with drugs, and when they are arrested their families do not expect them to be sleeping on the floor. If they are from the community, they should be able to have a cell and a bed, instead of giving them to the federal prisoners, a fact which Hoffman said will probably result in civil lawsuits.
In addition, she added, when the prisoners from the community are turned out of their cells, they are told that they have to give up their cells to immigrants being held by the federal authorities, and that, according to Hoffman, promotes a heightened risk of volatility against the immigrants and the feds.
Judge Executive Gary Moore said the fiscal court has no authority over immigration. He said they do have oversight over the jail, and Kentucky is the only state that has an elected jailer. He clarified that the county does not have a 287 agreement, which says that the local authorities have to cooperate with the federal authorities in matters of immigration.
They have had a 40-year long agreement with the Federal Marshals which says that the local jails can hold federal prisoners until they are picked up by authorities. The Marshals rent space from over 1,200 state and local governments to house prisoners. According to numbers, over 63,000 are housed in various facilities with about 75 percent in state, local and private jails and the rest in federal prisons. The average daily cost for housing these prisoners is $121. Hoffman said money is the key to whether prisoners get a bed in a cell or not.
Judge Moore insisted that this is not a money-making scheme. He said the court has asked for a formal response from the jail to quell rumors and correct any misinformation that has been spread in the community. The formal statement will either be presented at the next meeting of the fiscal court, or, if they don’t have all four commissioners present, the first meeting in March.
Boone County commissioners voted to award the bid for permitting and inspection software for the building department to Govwell Technologies. Assistant County Administrator Rob Franxman acknowledged that there had been problems with the company that had been in charge, and this company caters more to the smaller user. When the start up fees are taken into consideration, the program will be cheaper for the county, at $48,000 a year, but the main thing is that it should cut down on the complaints by one-time users. County Administrator Matthew Webster said they were most concerned with having people encounter a good experience the first time they use the service. They hope to have the new system up and running by the end of July.
Commissioners passed a resolution approving an agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for the construction phase of the Camp Ernst Road and Longbranch road roundabout project. Rob Franxman said he was really happy to see this project get restarted. In 2015 the county received a grant for $531,080 to make the area a T intersection with several streets going off the main one. With the popularity of other roundabouts, the county is now going to make it a roundabout, and they have budgeted $1.5 million in addition to the grant to make it happen. Commissioner Cathy Flaig asked when it could be finished, and was told they would work on it so it could be done by this fall. Judge Moore said the design had to go back almost to zero to make it a roundabout instead of a T intersection, but this should make the area safer.
The mini excavator for Public Works was approved for the cost of $83,112.10 from Southeastern Equipment. There apparently was a mistake on the bill after the order was placed, but the total was still lower than any other bid. Commissioners approved the bid.
A resolution passed which approved five different qualified companies that the county can contact for future projects, or for help in emergency repairs. Commissioners were told that years ago there were not enough companies that did fiber and tech, and then there were a lot of companies, but they are always busy and very difficult to get in touch with so the county decided to be proactive and have five qualified companies that they can contact.
COVINGTON
In a very short meeting for Covington City Commission, the commissioners authorized Mayor Ron Washington to enter into an agreement with Atlantic Emergency Solutions for the purchase of a new tractor drawn ladder truck for the fire department.
Two residents came to speak, one was Samuel Phillips, who told the commission in no uncertain terms not to let these ICE “come into our city and take it over.’
Joe Ackerman asked the city to look at the traffic situation at the base of the 12th street bridge, because pedestrians are having a very difficult time crossing at Wheeler street.
TAYLOR MILL
Taylor Mill commissioners passed the second reading of an ordinance which puts manufactured homes in the same category as single family homes, in accordance with House Bill 160.
They also passed a resolution stating the city’s petition to transfer a portion of Grand Avenue to state ownership. In a related matter, commissioners discussed whether they should contribute to an effort to do a study on Grand Avenue, attempting to see what can be done to fix the road. Commissioners decided they would see what happens first with the request to have the state take over the road, and then will decide on the study.
Commissioners agreed to join into an interlocal agreement to be part of the SWAT program.
Stu Bowns came to the meeting to ask about the miscellaneous expenses part of the budget which has quite a bit of money in it, but City Administrator Brian Haney said that very soon the money will have a line item of its own in the budget, as soon as a budget amendment is passed.
Terry Sandmann came to the meeting to ask about a storage container on his property which caused him to receive a code violation. He wanted to know if there was anything he could do to work something out about the violation.