By Ryan Clark
NKyTribune reporter
COVINGTON – Two more years. At least, that’s the hope. Mayor Joseph U. Meyer said it best:
“I think I can speak for all the members of the Commission, that this October of ‘25 deadline is a hard and fast deadline for us to be in a new City Hall.”
With the current lease on 20 West Pike running out this month, Commissioners agreed to extend it, and keep City Hall there for another two years — with a possible third, if needed. Of course, none want to have to extend it any further.
“We recognize that there is the possibility of an extension just in case, but out of respect for the people who work in this building — getting them into a new building as soon as possible — I think it’s the least that we should do for them,” Meyer said as the Commission gathered Tuesday night for their regularly scheduled legislative meeting. “So, I hope that we can move forward rapidly with plans for the new City Hall. I hope, for example, that we can maybe have an unveiling of the City Hall design by the end of October, so that we can be in a position to proceed with some sort of construction activities after the first of the year.”
As the lease grew close to expiring, it became imperative for the Commission to act quickly.
The price will increase from $21,250 to $27,917 per month, but it is still very competitive for the current financial climate, City Manager Ken Smith said.
This is the city’s second go-around in the building. The first was 1985-1990, when they moved to the Coppin’s building, now the site of Hotel Covington.
The second stay began in late 2013, when they signed a five-year lease from Oct. 2013 to Sept. 2018. That was renewed for four years, until Sept. 2022, when Commissioners exercised a one-year option. That brings us to Sept. 30, 2023 — and a decision had to be made.
Last week, Commissioner Shannon Smith raised concern about how late the city waited to renegotiate. She asked for a plan to be put in place for the next time. After a week, the Commissioner said her questions have been addressed.
“I just wanted to quickly thank our city manager for bringing some clarity to a few questions that I had,” she said Tuesday night. “I just want to make sure that we have a move-forward plan for City Hall and I think that was the gist of my commentary last week.”
Commissioner Ron Washington echoed the Mayor’s comments.
“Workspace is very important, so I think it’s also important that we get into a new City Hall as soon as possible,” he said.
He also asked the city manager to provide a report on how the city will pay for the new building.
The new City Hall location will be located at 620 and 622 Scott Blvd., and, as the Mayor inferred, officials hope to be able to move into the new site in 2025.
Economic Development
Also Tuesday, Commissioners approved economic development proposals for:
A Lease Agreement with Pike Star LLC, 112 West Pike Street, for $63,166.
“Since 2013, the City has leased the commercial space at 112 W. Pike in order to support Innovation Alley and its emerging entrepreneurs who have called this block home,” a memorandum from the Economic Development Department to Mayor Meyer reads. “Our primary support has been through holding the lease and then subleasing at a reduced rate to UpTech for the first seven years and then to the NKU Collaborative starting in August 2020. We are asking for a year extension on the lease with the Collaborative as we work together to determine how best to activate this space moving forward, which may include additional coworking space for entrepreneurs.”
The space is now home to a variety of entities, including:
• BizAccess Hub holds office hours all day on Thursdays
• KeyHorse meets with clients there roughly once a month (depending on demand).
• NKU Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is there weekly and they teach a course there in summers.
• Chase Center for Small Businesses and Non-profits teaches a course and holds meetings with clients on a weekly basis year in fall and spring and monthly in the summer.
• ECDI/Women’s Business Center is there twice a week for office hours and on weekends for group and client meetings.
• Square1 is there twice a week in the summer and daily during fall and spring.
• SoCap Acclerate holds occasional meetings there.
• NKU Center for Economic Analysis and Development holds occasional meetings
• The Collaborative Director is there daily 8:30-4:15
• Blue North has an office space and meets with clients.
• African American Chamber of Commerce holds office hours there monthly.
• NKCAC has weekly office hours for small business support.
• NKU Initiative for Health Innovation holds periodic classes and meetings.
A Sublease Agreement with NKUF Properties 10 LLC, 112 West Pike Street, for $31,200.
The authorization $2,110,653 in matching TIF Funds, needed to complete the 7th Street and Madison Avenue Streetscape Projects
“In 2019, $1,0280,000 in TIF funds were recommended by the CEDA Board for upgrading the streetscapes on 7th between Washington and Madison as well as on Madison between 8th and 11th Streets,” city documents read. “Public Works recently bid out the work which resulted in a deficit of $1,082,653 from the original bid, due to the increase in construction costs, a state-required inspector to be on site at all times and a 10 percent contingency. On Sept. 7, 2023, the CEDA Board approved the increase and recommends that Commission also approve the new bid amount of $2,110,653 in TIF dollars.”
Resignations, Retirements and Promotions
Commissioners approved these resignations, retirements and promotions:
Promotion – Andrew Endicott, Sergeant, Police Department (Celebratory)
Resignation – Penny Koons, Tax Auditor, Finance Department
Retirement – Officer Mathew Hugenberg, Police Officer, Police Department
Retirement – Sergeant Derek Uhl, Police Officer, Police Department
CON presentation
Tuesday night, Commissioners also heard a CON, or Certificate of Need, presentation from residents as well as State Rep. Marianne Proctor (R-Union), who this year created a CON Task Force to review facilities in areas like Northern Kentucky, where a Certificate of Need may be necessary to acquire more healthcare for a region.
Residents described situations where it was obvious that St. Elizabeth could have used more personnel, or more rooms, to help its patients. Proctor said this was a great example of why the CON should be repealed, so it would be easier for the area to bring in more hospital options to compete with St. Elizabeth.
Others, including lawyer Mark Guilfoyle, who represents St. Elizabeth, argued that the CON doesn’t need to be repealed; he said it needed to be reformed.
Mayor Meyer seemed to indicate that no matter the issue, more healthcare specialists need to be closer to the people of the city of Covington — and however that can happen, it should.
One idea that was brought up was having some kind of new healthcare facility as part of the IRS site — if it would not be challenged by St. Elizabeth and a CON. Mayor Meyer even asked Guilfoyle if the city could get a letter from St. E stating that they would not contest that kind of possibility. While Guilfoyle said he could take that request back to his clients, he also indicated that maybe even St. Elizabeth would like to look at adding something in the IRS space.
Proctor’s Task Force is supposed to submit any findings or recommendations to the Legislative Research Commission by Dec. 1.
Commissioner absent
Commissioner Steve Hayden was absent.
Next Meeting
The next regularly scheduled Covington Commission meeting will be a caucus meeting held at 6 p.m., Oct. 3, 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.