By Ryan Clark
NKyTribune reporter
Demographics are changing, Mayor Joseph U. Meyer said.
Many people are now working in Covington, but living elsewhere. Yet that does not mean these people do not know — or want to help — the city.
Now they may be able to do just that.
Commissioners heard a proposal at their regularly scheduled caucus meeting this week that could change requirements to serve on city boards, which would broaden eligibility, something some officials say is very much needed.
The ordinance request arose from the city’s experience in dealing with recruiting people to different boards and commissions. Some people would serve, then move away.
The second element, Mayor Meyer said, is civic engagement. By broadening the pool to include other people who are familiar with city operations, officials said they will have a better opportunity to take advantage of their expertise and benefit the people of Covington.
“I can certainly get behind this sort of recommendation, especially in light of some of the difficulties that we’ve had,” said Commissioner Tim Downing. “However, I would say that I would feel more comfortable with this change if we had some sort of prioritization.”
Specifically, he wanted preference to be given to Covington natives, or legacies of them.
“Simply, the interest is that we’re continuing to prioritize our native residents,” he said. “I think that if you live here, you should have an opportunity to be added to a board … do you see any issue if we amend the language to simply say that we are going to prioritize residents?”
No one did. But other questions remained, including how to remove someone from a board, and how that decision would be made. David Davidson, the city solicitor, explained that the Commission formally removes citizens from boards, and noted how the body has actually done it a couple of times over the past year.
The proposal was placed on the regular agenda at next week’s legislative meeting. Over the next week, city staff will work on the verbiage to the amendment, and it will be further discussed next Tuesday.
16 Public Works Vehicles
Commissioners heard a proposal requesting a Master Equity Lease Agreement with Enterprise Fleet to purchase 16 vehicles for the Public Works Department for $372,000.
“This agreement will allow us to keep our fleet up-to-date safer and requiring less maintenance,” said Keith Bales, Public Works Director. “Officially we would be initially replacing 10 to 15-year-old vehicles. These are vehicles with hard miles, rust-related issues.”
Bales described how Murray, Ky., has utilized the program for the last seven years.
Commissioner Ron Washington wanted to know more specifics about the finances, including if the city would be saving in the long run.
The proposal was placed on next week’s regular agenda.
New Hires and Promotions
Commissioners heard the proposed new hires and promotions for:
Elizabeth Wetzel, Director of Special Projects and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Administration Department
Joel Baker, Budget Director, Finance Department
Jackson Sora, Police Officer
Kyle Fryman, Fire Department
Derrick Stolz, Fire Department
Ethan Nuckols, Fire Department
Jacob Toole, Fire Department
Brian Wear, Fire Department
Carlos Madierez, Section 8 Inspector
The proposals were placed on next week’s consent agenda.
Retirements, Resignations and Termination
Commissioners heard the proposed retirements, resignations and terminations for:
Termination – Veronica Tapia, Part-Time Receptionist
Resignation – David Lillich, Police Office VI Specialist
Resignation – Lois Kugali, Clerk Typist, Police Department
Retirement – Adam Mardis, Firefighter IV, Fire Department
Retirement – Christopher Stallings, Engineer, Fire Department
The proposals were placed on next week’s consent agenda.
Board Appointments
Commissioners heard the proposed board appointments of:
Lori Salzarulo, Northern Kentucky Convention Center Board
Jameela Salaah, TBNK
The proposals were placed on next week’s consent agenda.
End of meeting
“Before we go into Commission discussion, I want to inform everybody on the way the rest of this evening is going to go,” Mayor Meyer stated. “We will ask for a commissioner approval to go into executive session and assuming that’s approved, after we go through our discussion and comments — if there are any — we will adjourn the caucus meeting, then we will reconvene immediately as the city of Covington Development Properties Corporation and take action on a resolution that’s been given to everyone. And after that decision is made, we will adjourn the Development Properties Corporation and then we will reconvene as the Covington Municipal Properties Corporation, take action, and then we will adjourn. We will go into executive session, and upon conclusion of the executive session there will be no further action on the floor tonight.”
“This resolution conveys the property of the corporation to the Parking Authority, specifically our interest in 20 to 30 W. 8th St., 15 to 21 E. 5th St., and 25 E. 5th St.,” Meyer said. “So, this is the wrap up of the transfer of assets from the city and now its subsidiaries to the Parking Authority.”
The resolution was approved 4-1, with Commissioner Nolan Nicaise dissenting.
The Municipal Properties Corporation then voted on a resolution to convey property to the Motor Vehicle Parking Authority, specifically 15 to 21 E. 7th St., 629 Scott St. and 633 to 641 Scott St.
The resolution was also approved 4-1, with Commissioner Nolan Nicaise dissenting.
The Commission then went into Executive Session. The Mayor said no further action would be taken.
Next Meeting
The next regularly scheduled Covington Commission meeting will be a legislative meeting held at 6 p.m., Aug. 8, at the City Building at 20 W. Pike St. in Covington. The meetings can be followed live on Fioptics channel 815, Spectrum channel 203, the Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky (TBNK) website, the TBNK Facebook page @TBNKonline, and the TBNK Roku channels.