City of Erlanger
They patrol the streets, care for the sick and needy, pave and repair streets and sidewalks, cut the grass, pick up trash, work with the business community and even issue passports.
Public employees are the backbone of a thriving, safe and welcoming community. The services they provide – from investigating and solving crimes, putting out fires and maintaining parks and so much more – are a major part of what makes Erlanger the great place it is.
“Through the services they provide, our city workers are unsung heroes,” said Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette. “They wake up every day with a goal to serve our residents, our business owners and operators and those who visit our community. They are one of the primary reasons Erlanger is such a wonderful place to live, work and visit. And looking back on the number of services they provide is truly impressive.”
Following is a look back at the services the City of Erlanger provided in 2021:
Public Works
During 2021, several street and sidewalk projects were completed including:
• In order to stabilize a hillside, a pier wall was installed on Erlanger Road at Sycamore Tree Lane.
• The following streets were resurfaced with concrete – Hickory Lane, Lexington Drive, Mesa Drive, Rho Court, Sagebrush Lane, Shadyside Drive, Terrace Drive and Woodward Street.
• Sidewalks were replaced on Carriage Hill Drive from Northway Drive to Delph Drive.
• All told, 2.948 lane miles of street and 2.460 miles of sidewalks were replaced.
Highlights of the city’s Public Works projects included:
Park Improvements
Phase 1 of the Silverlake Park renovation was completed, adding parking, new sidewalks and rebuilding the basketball courts for a cost of $250,000.
Weather Warriors
On 26 occasions, Public Works crews were called to deal with weather-related situations. During 2021, the crews loaded 1,269 tons of salt at a cost $63.32 a ton for a total cost of $80,353 and utilized 1,152-man hours.
Leaf Collection
Public Works crews picked up a total of 73 loads of leaves, which is approximately 1,314 cubic yards utilizing 967-man hours.
Pothole Patching
Public Works crews patched 837 potholes utilizing 259-man hours and using 36 tons of hot mix asphalt and 26 bags of cold patch asphalt.
Park and Right-of-Way Mowing
Public Works Crews utilized 3,906-man-hours keeping all parks and public rights-of-way mowed during 2021.
Park and Rights-of-Way Trash Pick-up
Public Works crews collected 1,245 bags of trash from city parks, bus stops and rights-of-way several times a week during 2021, utilizing 858-man hours and driving nearly 4,000 miles completing this detail.
Storm Sewer Choke Points
Public Works crews checked stormwater choke points 26 times last year utilizing 53-man hours.
Police Department
The Erlanger Police Department responded to 30,422 calls for service during 2021. Following is a breakdown of the calls:
• Public contacts/checks 9,791
• ‘Traffic stops 6,769
• Citations 3,574
• Motorists assist/lockout 1,222
• Collisions 1,186
• Suspicious person/vehicle 888
• Arrests 756
• Domestic violence 500
• Emotional crisis 288
• Dispute calls 88
• Assaults 76
• Missing persons 75
• Burglaries 67
• Shots fired/gun wounds 52
• Fights 42
• Subject with a weapon 41
Programs
Police Community Relations participated in numerous successful events throughout the year, including Annual Cops ‘n Kids, Quarterly Coffee with a Cop, Fill a Cruiser, Summer Kickoff and Summer Send Off events, Miles Elementary Reading Challenge, Farmers to Families Canned Food Event, and various city-sponsored events.
The department established a full-time traffic unit consisting of two officers that work a combined seven days a week and address traffic complaints, interstate collision calls and parking issues. The traffic unit handled a combined 3,890 traffic stops and calls.
The Police Social Worker program had 664 contacts and served 314 families or individuals.
The department’s two police canine units had 151 combined uses in 2021.
Investigations
The detectives’ office investigated 184 cases and was involved in several large and high-profile cases both locally and on a federal level.
Training
The police department invested a minimum of 2,752 hours of training for all sworn officers this year, including 40 hours for each certified sworn officer, four quarterly firearm range qualifications, annual Response to Resistance, Active Shooter Training, and Firearms Training Simulator practical.
Economic development
• $49,479 in small business grants given to leverage $210,773 in building improvements with 10 businesses.
• $56,367 in COVID Business Relief were given to eight qualifying businesses.
• $348,539 in Economic Incentives for the Development of Jobs and Employment (EDGE) to large businesses.
Fire Department
The department responded to 4,133 incidents, logged 5,678 hours of training, and conducted 425 business inspections.
Building/Zoning
The city issued 663 building permits, the most ever issued in a calendar year, and conducted 1,265 inspections, the sixth most in city history.
Code Enforcement
The department opened 876 cases, issued 810 warnings and 215 citations. Of the opened cases, 863 were closed in an average time of 12 days.
The department performed 392 business license checks and inspected 6,500 properties.
Finance Department
Erlanger collected $11,201,392 in 2021, a 20 percent increase that is attributed primarily to funds the city received through The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or ARPA, the federal stimulus package Congress enacted to help cities deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The city also collected $176,800 dollars in additional tax revenue from businesses that had previously not paid Erlanger taxes.
Capital improvements in the city included:
• $1.239 million on infrastructure improvements.
• $329,802 for city park improvements.
• $150,474 to repair sidewalks; another $200,000 was allocated for 2022 sidewalk projects.
• Capital improvements totaled $1.749 million, an increase over 2020’s allocation of $1.642 million.
General Government
• Processed 232 Open Records Requests.
• Completed 600 IT HelpDesk Tickets.
• Processed 411 passport applications.
• Filed 93 code enforcement liens, and released 108 liens.
• Held 23 bid openings.
• Posted 90 legal notices and placed 52 legal ads.
Thank you to all city employees. Nice job.
This is an excellent report that demonstrates how important public employees are to life in any city or state.