By Patricia Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
EDGEWOOD
Edgewood Mayor John Link formally gave city clerk Belinda Nitschke her award for becoming the Municipal Clerk of the Year for 2026, an award given by the Kentucky Municipal Clerk Association.
Nitschke was nominated by City Administrator Brian Dehner who described her as “exemplifying the very best of the municipal clerk profession through her leadership, integrity, professionalism, commitment to education, and unwavering dedication to public service.”
A representative of Branstetter/Carroll, Greg Bryant, came to the meeting to give council an update on the Dudley road project. He said they are waiting on update documents, and everything else is pretty much ready so they can go out for bids this fall and be ready for construction next spring. He said they will put in a clause for penalties for going over deadlines.
Council members Jamie Ruehl and Dr. Scott Spille asked CAO Dehner if he could provide council with names of those down in Frankfort who keep fighting to get legislation passed that is not in the best interest of local rule, so that council members know who is against the cities.
Mayor Link said that SB 9 was defeated but proponents have said they will bring the matter back next year, because the bill would have taken all control of Air B+B’s away from the cities they are located in.
“I want to point out that Senator Chris McDaniel went to bat hard for us to stop that SB 9,” said Dehner. “The others heard our voices, but McDaniel went in hard for us and shut the effort down to lose local rule. He doesn’t get enough credit for what he does.”
Dehner said it has gotten worse this year, and there is a body in Frankfort that has joined forces to take away home rule. He predicts it will get worse in the years to come.
Sergeant Jarod Buchanan gave a report on a theft in the city, and the police were able to use the Flock cameras to locate the perpetrators and bring them to justice as well as returning the life savings to the couple in Edgewood. He complimented Detective Jose Alejandro for his efforts in this case.
Spille related an incident of being in another country and the roads were very bad, so he complimented Edgewood on their roads having a score of 86 out of 100, which is a great score.
Dehner said it is due to this council and other previous councils caring enough to put roads as a priority.
FLORENCE
Florence City Administrator Josh Hunt explained a new ordinance that will be presented at the next regular council meeting. This ordinance deals with motor vehicle stacking in a business that spills out onto the road and blocks regular traffic on that road. While it was emphasized that this ordinance does not target any one business, there are a few in the city that have caused this ordinance to come into existence, and Hunt said he hopes these new rules will be what is needed to control the problem.
If a business offers to give out free stuff to the first so many customers, as a promotion for a grand opening, or to reacquaint customers with the business, many times that causes too many vehicles to crowd the business at a certain time, and that, in turn, creates chaos on the road because people that are traveling to other destinations get caught in that chaos.
Hunt said the purpose of the ordinance is to hold businesses accountable.
Financial Director Jason Lewis gave a report on the first budget amendment, which he brought forth before the budget workshop that will take place in the city in the next few weeks. He said several extra charges have come into the budget due to the federal investigation of the diversion of funds issue. Some is for the professional fees for the enhanced audit services, as well as the advisory services from a risk assessment agency, and the city has hired a separate auditing firm, Dean Dorton. There are also attorney fees for outside counsel. Lewis said they hope to recoup the extra fees through insurance claims, and/ or civil litigation.
Lewis also mentioned a grant the fire department had with a non-profit called Copic which included the Covington Fire Department and St. Elizabeth Hospital for two extra retired paramedics to take over services for patients, such as helping get medicine for patients, or trying to prevent re-admittals to the hospital over smaller issues.
Police Chief Jeff Mallery added a discussion on police regulations, saying these regulations were updated in 1983 and again in 2002, and while some of the updates have to do with grammar, spelling and gender specifications, according to a KRS law they have to update the disciplinary process for officers.
Council voted to pass the second reading of an ordinance changing zoning text amendments for the definition of mobile homes.
They also listened to the first reading of a change in concept development plan for a 10 acre site for an outlot in the Florence Village site in order to install a Dutch Brothers coffee house and drive through service.
NEWPORT
Newport commissioners approved a project to do the repairs on the Purple People bridge, but that entails the bridge to be closed to people from May 4 through June 8. This was originally going to be two separate 6 to 8 week closures, and the company was able to reduce the closed time to the period between May 4 and June 8. This is to complete repairs.
More news on the Purple People bridge — it is possible that the bridge may not stay the color purple. It was announced that Newport was able to get $2 million from the state of Kentucky for the purpose of installing LED lights, and that could lead to painting the bridge a neutral color and letting the lights bathe the bridge in colors like red for the baseball team and orange for the football team, or purple for day to day colors.
Commissioners passed an order which raises the pay for the police 7 percent, a move that will encourage more new recruits to be able to keep the city competitive.
Another order which passed will make the first hundred feet of Southgate street two way, a move aimed at helping traffic move more easily in the area.
Mayor Tom Guidugli read a proclamation for fair housing, declaring the month of April to be Fair Housing month in the city.
The Mammoth Music festival will soon be appearing for the third year in front of the Southgate House, on Saratoga and York as well as Monmouth streets. The festival will again feature 5 stages, two of them indoor, and 35 bands, most of them local. One of the founders, Jim Guthrie, one of the founders and organizers,said that the first festival garnered an attendance of 3,000 people, while the second year’s attendance jumped to 8,000.
CAMPBELL COUNTY
Campbell County Commissioners passed a resolution authorized Judge Executive Steve Pendery to execute documents related to the National Opioid Settlement litigation.
Another resolution allocated senior citizen payroll tax funds for 2027, and another resolution allocated mental health and intellectual disabilities payroll funds for 2027.
Commissioners authorized the judge executive to execute a contract with Farris Girardeau Funeral Home to provide burial and cremation services.
Commissioners approved Claire Healy to be on the Board of Adjustment appeals.
Another resolution asks the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to reimburse the county for the transportation of non-public school students at a cost of $423,745.61.
A resolution authorized Rumpke to contract with the city for clean up events, and also to provide recycling for designated sites in the county.