By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
EDGEWOOD
Edgewood city council passed the second reading of an ordinance which sets out rules for ebikes and escooters, along with penalties for non-compliance.
Mayor John Link gave a shout out to the police for all the good work the SRO officers do in the schools. He also wanted to welcome Dan Lenahan, who is a crossing guard for the school.
A resident, Adam Perkins, came to complain about two residents on Fair Oaks whose properties are not being kept up. He owns two lots on the street and he wanted to know what can be done about the neighbors because his property values are being affected.
Another resident, Mike Thelen, had an incident earlier in the year where two drivers displayed road rage and he was almost hit by one vehicle. He looked into the Flock camera nearby and was unhappy with how it was handled by the city and the police department. Mayor Link told him they are not using the cameras now, so it is not an issue.
Trick of treating in Edgewood is October 31 from 6-8 p.m.
FLORENCE
The city of Florence honored Public Services Director Eric Hall Tuesday night with a proclamation which noted all his achievements in the years he has worked for the city, appreciating the fact that he started at the city immediately after high school, and he worked his way up through the ranks. October 30 will be his last day at the job, and that day will belong to Hall. Hall joked and said the first thing he will do is give everyone the day off, since it is his day.
But he thanked everyone, and he considered his greatest achievement hiring and promoting the excellent people in his department. Adam Duncan, current Operations Manager, will take over when Hall leaves.
Even though the meeting was a special meeting, no legislation could be passed because there were not enough council members present and there was not a quorum.
Corporal Jacob Whitfield received a special citation, the Distinguished Service award for saving the life of a man who wanted to commit suicide. The man had positioned himself on the I-75 overpass in Florence with a rope around his neck on August 9, and Whitford talked to the man for two hours, finally convincing him to walk off the bridge. Other Florence police members from the second and third shifts were involved as well as the Fire Department and the Boone County Sheriff’s department.
The award is given to an officer who demonstrates exceptional service in the line of duty, and Corporal Whitford showed that service.
Mayor Julie Aubuchon led a discussion on a parcel of property at the end of Yealey Drive, .7127 acres, for council to consider for annexation. She said the owner wants to build a house on the property, and would like for the house to be in Florence.
Another parcel of property was up for consideration for annexation, a 33.5 acre site on Bowman Way, Old Union Road and Longbranch Road, adjacent to the city limits.
A zoning map amendment was up for discussion for a 14.64 acre site on Houston Road across from Marydale, and next to Lowes.
Another zoning map amendment came up for discussion for 32.96 acres of Old Union Road. It received a recommendation for denial from the Boone County Planning commission.
Since Council could not make any decisions, the company who would like the zoning map amendment produced a few people who talked about the project for a very lengthy amount of time, hoping to persuade the city to overturn the denial.
BOONE COUNTY
Commissioner Chet Hand stepped in to preside over the Tuesday night meeting at the Fiscal Court in the absence of Judge Executive Gary Moore, who was representing the county at a national event.
Steve Lilly, zoning planner for the Boone County Planning Commission, gave a presentation on a project that garnered a 13 to 0 denial of the project, but Lilly went on to describe it as a project to put a new Kroger store on 20 acres. To do that, organizers need a zoning map amendment from Employment Planned Development, EPD, to Commercial Services, CS-3. The location is along the northeast side of Paddock Drive, between Richwood Road and Stirrup Lane, approximately 1,100 feet northwest of Richwood Road, and along the northwest side of Frogtown Connector Road. A new sign district was also included.
Following the presentation, people were given a chance to speak, and the people from the companies involved stood up to speak, trying to make their case for the zoning map amendment. They said that the plan is in agreement with the Comprehensive Plan. Several people stood up to speak against the plan, citing too many grocery stores in a six mile area, and rejecting the plan of no traffic congestion. They also brought up that traffic will come down from Triple Crown to cut through. But when it came to a vote, Commissioners voted to uphold the denial of the Planning Commission.
A resolution passed which approved an agreement with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for the Ryle Road stabilization project using rural grant pool funding.
Another resolution passed awarding the bid for road stabilization work in several locations to Geostabilization International LLC. The low bid was $2,210,675, a price that was below estimate.
A resolution passed that granted a one year renewal of a snow and ice removal for this winter to Ryan Landcare LLC. That new price is $799,900, and the amount budgeted for was $800,000.
Commissioners passed a resolution approving a purchase agreement with Dinsmore Homestead Foundation Inc for property located at 5656 Burlington Pike. Middle Creek Park has an odd problem in that the county owns the parking lot and the park but not the area in between the parking lot and the park. The county has leased the area from Dinsmore foundation to provide an easement. A conversation was initiated a few years ago to sell the area to the county, and Dinsmore has agreed to sell the 41.888 acres to the county for over $200,000.
A resolution passed which approved a three-year contract for vmcloud foundation licensing with Converge Technology Solutions for the Public Safety Communications Center.
Resident Brian Mauer protested that Route 18 is being considered to be renamed, and he said the road should be renamed for someone who has history in the actual county, instead of letting someone outside the county and state to rename it.
Another resident said she didn’t like the Chet Hand page on the Internet because it restricted some people from seeing it.
A resident stated she didn’t like that some commissioners, particularly one, has a burner account that tries to persuade people to vote for him. County Administrator Matthew Webster said they cannot hold commissioners to the Admin Code.
Another resident complained about the Flock Cameras and was told that the county does not have any contracts with Flock cameras.
ELSMERE
The city of Elsmere honored Joe Pannunzio for his many years of service to the city. Mayor Marty Lenhof read a proclamation praising him for all his volunteer work since he moved to the city with his wife and three children. He was the city’s representative to the Board of Adjustments, as well as the city’s representative for the Kenton County Planning Commission for many years.
The second reading of an ordinance was held which authorizes bonds for the Public Works building in the amount of $8 million.
A request was made to add coin operated laundromats and attendant operated laundromats to the zoning code for the city. The city will add it to the KCPC agenda for November, and then the issue will come back to the city for two readings of an ordinance.
Mayor Lenhof talked to council about the fact that they have not had a city administrator for 25 months, and he wanted to clear the air about whether he was just not hiring a CAO.
Lenhof praised his four supervisors, City Clerk Katie Hehman, Police Chief Rusell Wood, Public Works Director Chris Zerhusen, and Administration Jessica Lucius,saying they pretty much run the day to day operations, which is the job of a CAO. Lenhof admitted he has been a much more present mayor, attending all the meetings and doing evaluations and things that the CAO would do. He told everyone that he checks with the supervisors all the time, and if they told him to hire a CAO he would do it but they haven’t so he hasn’t. In the meantime, he said the city has saved $400,000 by not having a CAO.
Long time council member Gloria Grubbs praised the mayor for being so community minded and caring so much about the city. She also thanked the staff for doing such a good job.