Believe it or not, we are rapidly approaching the end of another calendar year. While shopping lists occupy our focus and parties and get-togethers fill these last weeks of 2015, I’d like to take some time to reflect.
It’s with a sense of gratitude that I want to highlight some major activities and accomplishments of the Fiscal Court over the past year.
We are fortunate to live in a place as great as Campbell County, and it only seems appropriate to offer my take on how we’ve helped improve life here over the last 12 months.
Our Senior and Wellness Center at 3504 Alexandria Pike in Highland Heights remains Northern Kentucky’s largest and most active senior center with over 1,370 members.
During 2015, the Animal Shelter received more than $26,000 in grants and donations for shelter improvements, as well as animal food and supplies. Pet adoptions are up this year with over 269 dogs and 303 cats placed in permanent homes.
In 2015, our Road Department has installed 2,000 feet of culvert, patched 82 roads with 4,000 tons of asphalt, installed 430 yards of concrete, repaired 11 bridges, crack-sealed 12 roads, contracted to resurface 16 miles of roadway, and rebuilt one bridge (contracted), as well as one road (Henry Court).
In August, our Planning & Zoning director, Cindy Minter, was named the Mitigation Manager of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Mitigation Managers. We are proud that, through her work as the county floodplain coordinator, five of the nine Kentucky cities that entered FEMA’s Community Rating System this year are from Campbell County.
We are also proud of Bill Turner, director of our office of emergency management, for winning the 2015 Catalyst Award from the Kentucky Emergency Management Association this fall. Bestowed by his peers, this award recognizes Bill’s efforts to provide more and better training opportunities to agencies throughout the state.
Our Parks and Recreation Department stayed busy programming our public spaces. In addition to continuing events such as Movies in the Park and the Sun Valley Music Festival, we introduced Jolly Thursdays. This program, a partnership with the Campbell County Public Library and the Extension Service, brought seven weeks of free, family-friendly activities to the Stapleton Pavilion at A.J. Jolly Park. An average of 176 people attended each week.
The County’s Planning, Zoning, and Building Inspection Department covers building permitting for unincorporated Campbell County and the cities of Alexandria (since October 1), California, Cold Spring, Crestview, Dayton, Melbourne, Mentor, Silver Grove, Southgate, and Woodlawn; it also covers some permitting for Bellevue, Fort Thomas, Highland Heights, and Wilder. This year to date (early December), they’ve issued 1,047 permits, representing a 26% increase over 2014’s total.
In June, Campbell County earned a spot alongside less than 2,000 communities nationwide with our certified “StormReady County” designation.
The A.J. Jolly Park Community Development Council worked hard to propose a new master plan for the largest county park in Kentucky. The Fiscal Court gave its stamp of approval to this plan in March and is actively working on ways to implement the Council’s vision.
Our Campbell County Police Department has had a productive 2015, achieving re-accreditation, equipping all officers with body cameras, and working toward outfitting the force with Narcan.
Finally, Campbell County joined the Boone and Kenton County Fiscal Courts to create the Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. This office, which we are housing in our County Administration Building in Newport, is charged with advising the three counties on the best evidence-based treatment and prevention strategies to address the heroin epidemic.
In closing, we have much to be proud of and thankful for in Campbell County. This list doesn’t even attempt to cover all the exceptional things that our 15 cities and thousands of businesses have done to make life here great. I am grateful to all those residents and businesses who have helped make 2015 a year of growth and progress and who promise to move us forward even more in the year to come.
Steve Pendery is Judge-Executive of Campbell County. He reported on 2015 in his regular newsletter to Campbell County citizens.