New Fort Mitchell Mayor Greg Pohlgeers was on hand at the Fort Mitchell city building Saturday morning to greet the Kenton County Mayors who attended the January meeting of the Kenton County Mayors’ meeting and was surprised at the amount of people who attended in the face of the giant snowstorm approaching.
Once a month, mayors from the cities in Kenton County attend a morning meeting in one of the cities who belong to the group. They are joined occasionally by various council members, county officials, and community business leaders from Planning and Zoning, SD-1, NKADD, Duke Energy, Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky, as well as TANK, and any state legislators who can make it.
This month PDS Executive Director Josh Wice initiated conversation about names that have to be submitted to Judge Executive Kris Knochelmann so that he can pick one to be the county’s representative to the Emergency Communications Board. Jude Hehman, who just left his position as Mayor of Fort Mitchell to become the Kenton County Sheriff, had been the representative, but due to the changes in office, Wice asked for three volunteers that Judge Knochelmann can choose from to be the mayoral representative.
Mayor Paul Markgraf, from Lakeside Park volunteered, as did Heather Jansen from Villa Hills, and Jessica Fette from Erlanger, so the judge can decide on one out of the three.
Director of Kenton County Emergency Management Steve Hensley gave a heads up to the various cities and counties that there will be a change in the leadership of the county sheriff SWAT team. There had been an agreement in the bylaws that when Kenton County Sheriff Charles Korzenborn stepped down, power would change to the county sheriff with the most tenure, and that will be Sheriff Mike Jansen from Campbell County, who was sworn in this week. Hensley said the ordinance will make its way into each jurisdiction soon for approval and signature.
Covington Mayor Ron Washington informed the mayor group about his major project that Covington entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Port Authority, Kenton County, and the Catalytic Fund to save the 8-acre former Duro Bag site at Madison and Martin Luther King in Covington for future development.
Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette also had a milestone for the Eons Preserve that was initiated in October of 2024. Erlanger’s small business task force held a meeting at the site where the dog park will appear soon to show off the large, hand painted retainer wall that holds back the earth from the freshly planted earth where the dogs will eventually appear also. She announced that a private manager has been hired and portions of the trail have been funded. There will also be a bike pump track, up the hill from the dog park, which apparently is a feature like Christmas morning for bicycle aficionados.
Independence Mayor Christopher Reinersman voiced his regret that he is not going to run again for mayor, and he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Kenton County PVA position to be voted on in November. He invited people to come visit First Watch and Spear Ridge Cafe, which is now open in the city. He said this is probably his swan song at this mayors group. He also mentioned that a factor in his decision to not run for mayor is the fact that the mayor’s job is classified as part=time, but the job in fact takes up much more time than a full-time job, and he said he wanted something that would pay him for his experience and expertise for the hours that he puts in during any given day.
Crescent Springs Council member Jeannine Bell Smith attended for her city and said currently they need a certain amount for their Fire Authority which they share with Villa Hills. In 2024 council changed the rate residents pay for an annual property-based subscriber fee from $1.15 to $1.72 per $1000 of assessed property value.
John Cole, mayor of Ryland Heights told people his city is still looking for money for a new boat ramp on the river.
Edgewood Mayor John Link said with all the new restaurants on Dixie Highway it is beginning to look like restaurant row. A lot of new eateries are located in Erlanger, but some in Edgewood. He invited people to come and get some last minute items at Kroger, since the snow is coming.
Taylor Mill Mayor Daniel Bell applied for grants for repaving trails and for pickleball courts in his city, and they have also asked the state for roundabouts in Taylor Mill due to the fact that there is more traffic than ever coming from Independence to Taylor Mill to access I-275. Bell said 30,600 cars per day use that route, making it the third busiest traffic route in Kenton County. He mentioned that he will be running again for mayor.
Three legislators were present at the meeting, Stephanie Dietz, Kim Moser, and Kim Banta. Banta said she is working on a bill that deals with cancer, and she said she would like to make sure she can do more than just add types of cancer to what kind of cancer insurance companies will cover. She also said she is working on a bill so that someone cannot charge a person for AI therapy. AI therapy mimicks people, and there is room for fraudulent claims. Ohio has already passed a similar bill, and Banta said she wants Kentucky to pass it — and not as the last state to do it.
Kim Moser talked about being on the MOAB (Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board), which was new last year, and this year, since the federal wants the states to take on more responsibilities, she said there will be millions of dollars in cuts, so they are expecting to take on more programs. She said she has passed three bills on the house floor, and she has had two meetings which is great for her, as most of her colleagues haven’t had any meetings yet.
Stephanie Dietz said it was great to be back in session. She is on a judiciary committee. She said she has not gotten her bills out yet, it is so early. She said if anyone is thinking of coming for a visit, they should call her, because it is getting confusing down there with parking.
House Bill 75 was discussed which is where people who are 65 and older can have their property re-evaluated to be lowered, but it is too early to say where that one is going.
Taylor Mill’s Mayor Bell said he has talked to the KLC about Senate Bill 112, which proposes new, uniform regulations for short term rentals. Cities want to have more control over the short term rentals, and he said the Kentucky League of Cities will ask for more control.
Kenton County Emergency Director Steve Hensley said he has been giving out updates on the upcoming storm that has this area in the center bullseye, but he wants to give the latest updates. He said he has seven able-bodied men ready to go out with all their equipment, plus at least three senior centers or other buildings ready to act as emergency centers for shelter or heat.
“We should be positioned really well to support your agencies if needed,” Hensley stated. “Then next week since it is going to be colder than usual, all of our city partners have offered their city buildings as emergency centers.”
He also said he talked to Bob Yeager from Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and he expressed some concern about the amount of salt product they have. The main thing he wants crews to be careful of is putting down the salt just before a plow comes along and scrapes it all off. He said the word is to be careful.