KENTON COUNTY FISCAL COURT MINUTES Independence Courthouse 5272 Madison Pike Independence, KY 41051

Transcription

1 Call to Order KENTON COUNTY FISCAL COURT MINUTES Independence Courthouse 5272 Madison Pike Independence, KY March 13, :00 P.M. Judge/Executive Knochelmann called to order the March 13, 2018 meeting of the Kenton County Fiscal Court. Judge/Executive Knochehnann led the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. Present: Staff: Judge/Executive, Kris Knochelmann Commissioner Beth Sewell, District 1 Commissioner Jon Draud, District 2 Commissioner Joe Nienaber, District 3 County Attorney Stacy Tapke Joe Shriver, County Administrator Scott Gunning, Assistant County Administrator Sue Kaiser, Fiscal Court Clerk Roy Cox, County Treasurer Approval of Minutes A. Approval of Minutes from the meeting of February 20, Commissioner Sewell made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Nienaber. Citizens Address No citizens came before the Fiscal Court. General Business A. Claim's Lists-Dated March 9, There were no questions on the Claim's List. B. Presentation of a Proclamation on the Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame Sheriff Korzenborn stated that in 2016, he was inducted into the Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame. They have been recruiting cities and counties to support the Hall of Fame.

2 Dan Huston from the Veterans Hall of Fame thanked the Fiscal Court for supporting the veterans and the Hall of Fame. The Proclamation they presented to the county is through the director and founder, H.B. Deatherage. He presented a road sign proclamating Kenton County, KY as a Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame County. The sign must be placed in a public location for everyone in the county to see. Judge Knochelmann presented a Proclamation from the county to the Veterans Hall of Fame. C. Recognition of the promotion of Aaron Schihl from Officer to Sergeant for the Kenton County Police Department. Judge Knochelmann swore Aaron Schihl in as a Sergeant for the Police Department, and Chief Jones presented him with his Sergeant pin. D. 221 Update from Planning and Development Services (PDS). Chris Schneider from PDS stated that in 2014, the Kenton County Planning Commission adopted a new comprehensive plan (Direction 2030). The recommendations within this Direction 2030 plan prompted the staff in early 2016 to begin discussion with the Adminostrators' Group about updating the existing code. The Administrators' Group and the PDS Management Board thought it would be best to hire a consultant. The consultant was selected in late 2016, and since then the consultant has been working with a task force. Mr. Schneider then stated that the project is divided into three phases. Phase one has just been completed, which is the audit that was done by the consultant and was fully funded by PDS. Phase two will begin soon, and this will be the creation of the master blue print code. This will help each community pull from and customize the zoning ordinance. It is expected to be completed by the end of This is funded by PDS as well. Mr. Schneider then stated that Phase three will involve the implementation phases of the project. They will meet with each jurisdiction and Fiscal Court to decide what portions to move forward with in the future. PDS has not requested or received any funds for this project, and this project is being pursued by PDS as one of the services to Kenton County taxpayers. Nothing will change without approval from the Fiscal Court. Participation doesn't commit anyone to approving anything. Mr. Schneider then stated that the report came with numerous recommendations to modify the existing regulations. Some include organizational changes to help reduce redundancy, cross referencing within a document and streamlining the process. The report also 'recommends that it should be user friendly, and the language in the ordinance should be simplified. Another recommendation is to remove sections from the zoning ordinance that are covered in other ordinances or documents. Over the years a lot of changes have been made to the zoning ordinance, but they want to ensure consistent punctuation and spelling throughout the entire document. They also recommend the use of graphics and tables. Finally, they recommend simplifying and illustrating signage regulations within the zoning ordinance. Mr. Schneider then stated that phase two is the creation of the blueprint code. The staff will work with jurisdictions on this code. They would like Kenton County to be a part of phase two. Phase three will incorporate the options that are right for the community, proceed to adopt the new zoning ordinance and make needed changes to the zoning map.

3 Judge Knochelmann stated that this is great work, and at first he was skeptical about how good this would be but now he is very impressed. He asked Mr. Schneider to touch on the topic of the easy search option. Mr. Schneider stated that the program will be able to cross reference information. Commissioner Nienaber stated that he saw that only 12 cities are participating. He asked who is not participating? Mr. Schneider answered that he believes it is Crestview Hills, Covington and some of the smaller cities like Kentonvale. He explained that at the Administrator's Group meetings, everyone was invited to participate. Commissioner Nienaber asked what it means to not participate? Mr. Schneider answered that if they want to jump in at the end, it will be fine. No one will be excluded. There was a strong push by the staff to include everyone. Commissioner Sewell asked if he will go to every city to share these ideas? Mr. Schneider answered that they are only sharing with the participating cities right now. Commissioner Draud asked what the reasons were for not participating? Mr. Schneider answered that he does not know. Commissioner Sewell stated that Covington's reason is that they need a lot more work than this process could achieve. Mr. Schneider stated that he believes some people are happy with what they have right now. Some cities didn't see any reason for any update or change, even though there is no cost to the city and nothing has to be adopted. Judge Knochelmann stated that this is the key, as there is no cost and no risk. There will be a template on some of these things. As a city, all of this updating can be done and a template will be a part of their model. This will make things more uniform and easy to use. Mr. Schneider stated that any changes have to be approved by the Fiscal Court. Commissioner Nienaber stated that his assumption is that some cities have paid for small area studies that essentially had them redo their zoning recently. They are probably waiting to see the product. Mr. Schneider asked if everyone was willing to move towards Phase Two? Judge Knochelmann stated that no formal action needs to be taken, and he is very excited about this project.

4 E. Presentation by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet regarding Rural Secondary Roads. Andy Yeager from District 6 presented the recommended Rural Secondary Road plan for the Fiscal Year. This year, Kenton County was allotted $520,000 for the program, and out of that $168,000 was set aside for routine maintenance. This equates to about $3,700 per mile. Kenton County is allotted 20% for Flex Funds, and this comes out to about $104,000. They subtracted out the county administrative expenses, and what is left is a little over $244,000. Since there is some money left over in the maintenance budget, there is now around $367,000 to focus on KY 177. All of the rain has caused some bad slides, so there are two slide projects set up. One is north of St. Mary's Rd, and one is south of St. Mary's Rd, along with the resurfacing project to resurface from the county line all the way to KY 14. There is a slide repair project left from last year, and they felt it would be good to resurface the road once it is all completed. Mr. Yeager then stated that if the county elects not to use the Flex Funds, they recommend fixing a slide on KY 177 just north. The other projects considered are resurfacing KY 2046, and that is the section from KY 17 down to Rich Rd. There is not enough funding for that this year, so it will be carried over to next year. Judge Knochelmann stated that he believes that Nick Hendrix has worked with Mr. Yeager on this, and gives his blessing. F. Request approval in accordance with KRS (10) for the Kenton County Cooperative Extension Board to borrow approximately $1.4 million to finance a new annex building in Erlanger. Treasurer Roy Cox stated that this was presented at our last meeting, but the Co-op has gotten the bids in and need to borrow $1.4 million now. There is no liability on the county, as this is all for the Co-op. Commissioner Draud asked if the money has to flow through Mr. Cox's office? Mr. Cox answered that it will flow through his office, but doesn't flow through the Kenton County Fiscal Court. His office is the treasurer for the Co-op. The Durr Foundation provided the $500,000 for the land, and this money is to put the building on the land. Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Knochelmann called for a voice vote, and the motion passed unanimously 3-0 with Commissioner Nienaber present but not voting. Discussion regarding the new Administration Building 1. Request approval for the Contractor's Application for Payment #6 County Administrator Joe Shriver stated that our owner's rep from WSP and the County Engineer have reviewed this, and they recommend payment. Commissioner Draud asked if January, 2019 is still the completion date for the building?

5 Mr. Shriver answered that we are working on this now. Some days have been lost due to some changes, such as building a full basement. We are getting a reconciliation from Turner, and will be making some changes to the guaranteed maximum price, as well as the schedule. Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Knochelmann called for a voice vote, and the motion passed unanimously 4-0. Resolutions A. Resolution No D (Action Requested) A Resolution for the Kenton County Fiscal Court concerning Fiscal Year Budget Adjustments. Treasurer Roy Cox stated that the budget adjustments are for the following: $2,500 for the underground storage tank (this project was approved at the last meeting, this is just moving the money to pay for the project), $29,000 for the communication IT line (this is just a budget adjustment between lines for the voice over IP), $11,000 to purchase a van for the jail to replace a van that was totaled last year, $10,000 for Fleet for gasoline until the end of the year, $5,040 for the Jail body cameras, $2,000 in travel for the prisoners and $15,800 for the purchase of laptops for the Erlanger Dispatch. Commissioner Nienaber made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. B. Resolution No (Action Requested) A Resolution recognizing the 2018 Pioneer Award Honorees. John Stanton stated that he just needs the Fiscal Court to accept the recommendations of the Ethics Commission regarding the five Pioneers to be recognized, as well as the Young Pioneer. Commissioner Draud asked who is being awarded the Young Pioneer Award? Mr. Stanton answered that it is Parker Willman. There were 17 nominations, and the Ethics Commission reviewed them all and came back with a series of recommendations. We asked for four honorees, and they were set on five nominees. They were very impressed with Parker's nomination, so they recommended a Young Pioneer Award. They also made a few structural recommendations for the future. Commissioner Draud stated that he never saw anything in Mr. Stanton's s about a young pioneer. Mr. Stanton stated that it was in the memo that he sent out to the Commissioners. Judge Knochelmann stated that Parker started about 6-7 years ago bringing donations for the Animal Shelter. He is a very impressive young man. Commissioner Draud said he knew four of the people, but he didn't know the woman. He asked if he could get a resume for her. Mr. Stanton stated that she impressed the committee enough to be a nominee.

6 Commissioner Sewell asked if there will be a Young Pioneer Award given every year? Mr. Stanton answered that this would be up to the Fiscal Court. Commissioner Draud stated that maybe they should have asked the court's permission to find out if they wanted a Young Pioneer to be awarded. He has no objection to it, but he feels that the Fiscal Court should have been asked. The committee shouldn't have the authority to enlarge the scope of the award. Mr. Stanton stated that the winners will have their photograph displayed in the administration building, along with their accomplishments. He thanked Sara Sgantas for her work on the online nomination process, and Sue Kaiser for organizing the nominations for the Ethics Commission. Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Knochelmann called for a voice vote, and the motion passed unanimously 4-0. Ordinances A. Ordinance No Second Reading (Action Requested) An Ordinance amending Article XIV of the official Zoning Ordinance of Unincorporated Kenton County relating to the regulation of signs within Unincorporated Kenton County. County Attorney Stacy Tapke stated that this was a response from PDS after the case in Arizona. Commissioner Sewell made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Nienaber. Consent Agenda A. Exhibit No Request approval to surplus various items for the Kenton County Police Department. B. Exhibit No Request approval to surplus various items for the Kenton County Information Technology Department. C. Exhibit No Request approval to extend the Road Material Sign bid with Newman Signs, Inc. and Lightle Enterprises of Ohio, LLC., for the Kenton County Public Works Department. D. Exhibit No Request approval to award the Landscape/Lawn Service bid to Double J Environmental for the Kenton County Fiscal Parks and facilities. All items on the Consent Agenda were voted on together.

7 Commissioner Sewell made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Nienaber. Executive Orders A. Executive Order No An Executive Order relating to the Declaration of Emergency on February 23 rd for flooding in Kenton County. No action needed. B. Executive Order No An Executive Order relating to the Fiscal Court approving the resignation of Paul Gilbert as a Trustee for the Kenton County Parks and Recreation Department, with the effective date of January 3, Commissioner Sewell made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Nienaber. C. Executive Order No An Executive Order relating to the Fiscal Court approving the appointment of Wanda Bedard as an Animal Control Officer for the Kenton County Animal Shelter, with the effective date of March 14, Commissioner Nienaber made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. D. Executive Order No An Executive Order relating to the Fiscal Court approving the appointment of Trent Hill as an Animal Control Officer for the Kenton County Animal Shelter, with the effective date of March 14, Commissioner Sewell made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Nienaber. E. Executive Order No An Executive Order relating to the Fiscal Court approving the appointment of Zachary Koch as an Animal Control Officer for the Kenton County Animal Shelter, with the effective date of March 14, Commissioner Nienaber made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell.

8 F. Executive Order No An Executive Order relating to the Fiscal Court approving the promotion of Aaron Schihl from Officer to Sergeant for the Kenton County Police Department, with the effective date of March 14, Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Knochelmann called for a voice vote, and the motion passed unanimously 4-0. G. Executive Order No An Executive Order relating to the Fiscal Court approving the resignation of Jessica Candia as a Receptionist/Administrative Assistant for the Administration Department, with the effective date of March 29, 2018 Commissioner Sewell made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Nienaber. Administrative Reporting Police Department Chief Jones stated that the QRT team reported that they have had no contacts within the last few weeks. They don't necessarily attribute this entirely to their success. Sadly, the trend is showing that heroin is now being replaced by methamphetamines. They will have to attack a completely different issue. Chief Jones then stated that Detective Steve Benner was featured on the news, and was recently involved in the arrest of an individual that was 40 years old who drove over two hours to meet up with what he thought was a 15 year old girl. This came to light through Detective Benner' s work as the Internet Crimes Against Children Specialist. He sets up a profile up online, and people try to contact him thinking that he is a young girl. The individual was arrested for using the internet to procure a minor, and also had a concealed weapon. Detective Benner is truly a hero. Animal Shelter Beckey Reiter thanked Judge Knochelmann and the Commissioners for approving the three positions tonight, and this brings the shelter to a full staff. She then reported that the Animal Shelter is currently housing nine animals for the fire victims in Covington. They are working with the Covington Housing Authority to be sure to meet the needs of the families. They will plan to house them until the end of the month. She also thanked the Administration for an easy transition, and she feels that the Animal Shelter has done a great job throughout the last two years. They have significantly changed and advanced their services. External Affairs John Stanton stated that the evaluation of Tri-Ed is continuing, and all the feedback continues to be very positive. The consultants that Tri-Ed hired regarding site readiness were in town for two days last week. They will be in town in two more weeks, and then we should have a report by April. This will provide a foundation as a region for some policy discussion. Discussions

9 are also continuing with Cintrifuse regarding the tech and knowledge based piece. We may look to make some adjustments going into the next year. Mr. Stanton then stated that the Bourbon Tourism Initiative had a soft launch in February. The actual stamps for the passports came in this past week, and the passports for the B-Line are supposed to arrive tomorrow. They will be having a hard launch in April. Mr. Stanton then stated that they had a nice visit from Vivek Sarin, who is the Co-Head of Kentucky's Economic Development Department, as well as Brian Mefford, who is the Director of Entrepreneurship and Jason Rainey, who is the Deputy Director of Entrepreneurship. There are about a dozen people in a working group to work on entrepreneurship with the college and middle/high school level. Mr. Stanton then stated that Pat Wingo has left Kenton County to work for the City of Florence. We learned a lot from the process, and we will go back and do some review work with the people we were working with to come up with things to work on in the future. Mr. Stanton then stated that we are keeping an eye out for the grant for agricultural development. We did get an indication from the University of Kentucky that they still expect the grant for agricultural economic development to be available this year. Mr. Stanton then stated that he received the maps from PDS for a meeting next week regarding the new administration building. Jim Claypool is ready to have some discussion, and Nick Hendrix and Jay Becker will be joining in on the discussion. This group will be studying how the building and the entrance will be viewed. Every year, 66 million cars traverse 71/75 going north and south. This is the way most of America views Kenton County, so the group will bring different ideas together to come up with a concept to help Kenton County put its best foot forward to those 66 million cars. The committee consists of himself, Commissioner Draud, Nick Hendrix, Jay Becker and Jim Claypool. PDS and Louis Hill have prepared several maps that show issues. Commissioner Draud commended John Stanton for his leadership on this project. They plan to come back with some recommendations to the Fiscal Court. He feels it is a big deal, as the name that goes on that building will have a tremendous impact on Northern Kentucky. Mr. Stanton then stated that the Legislative Session is still underway. Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 66 directly affect the county, because it is the phase in bill for the pension system, as well as a whole host of other legislation. Commissioner Draud asked if the Bill that Kim Moser introduced that reduces the drug offenses to misdemeanors is still active? County Attorney Stacy Tapke answered that she went down to the hearing, and she doesn't believe that this will have any progression this session. It may be brought back up in the future. Commissioner Draud stated that John Tilley, the director of that division, indicated that they would have to be letting people out of prison in 2019 if they didn't do something.

10 Judge Knochelmann stated that he is having a meeting with Representative Moser on Monday, but it looks like the bill will not move forward. We are trying to get into alignment with Secretary Tilley, but the good news is that we have time to work on it now. Commissioner Draud asked if there was time to find out what the financial impact would be on Kenton County? Judge Knochelmann answered that in one model it looked like about $600,000 a year, and possibly upwards of one million dollars a year. Ms. Tapke stated that she is watching this Bill like a hawk. Commissioner Draud stated that he didn't realize how big the impact would be, but that is very significant. John Stanton stated that he was in Frankfort for a couple of days last week, and the anxiety and tension is at a level he has never seen before. Commissioner Draud stated that to the House's credit, they did propose to raise some revenue through a cigarette tax. Emergency Communications Tommy Thompson stated that on March 8 th there was an ice event in the morning. There were minimal staff members in Dispatch that day, and there were 250 phone calls, 153 calls for service and 76 motorist assists. They did a phenomenal job. Mr. Thompson then stated that the technical portions of consolidation of Erlanger are ahead of the curve. The cut over will be on June 27 th. Right now, they are starting to work through personnel issues, and they are meeting with all of the staff. Lastly, Mr. Thompson stated that this last week they had Vendor presentations from Kenwood E.F. Johnson, Harris, Motorola and BK Technologies. They pooled their agencies, and are getting the data back to do a best and final offer. Treasury Treasurer Roy Cox asked that the records reflect that the February, 2018 financial reports have been submitted. County Attorney's Report County Attorney Stacy Tapke had nothing to report. Commissioners' Reports Commissioner Ton Draud Commissioner Draud asked if there is anything that can be reported regarding the progress of the Cold Shelter?

11 Judge Knochelmann stated that more information will be available within the next couple of weeks. Commissioner Beth Sewell Commissioner Sewell stated that Time Magazine ran an article highlighting the addiction program at our Detention Center. She gave Kudos to Terry Carl and Jason Merrick for their hard work. Commissioner Toe Nienaber Commissioner Nienaber had nothing to report. Judge/Executive's Report Judge Knochelmann stated that the work being done with Tri-Ed is huge, and the reason that we are not going to immediately look for a replacement for Pat Wingo. We want to make sure how everything works in with the mission of Tri-Ed. A major report will be given to the Executive Committee and the Task Force tomorrow. Hopefully, by the next meeting there will be more to share. Judge Knochelmann then stated that an article was in the Business Courier regarding the Amazon HQ2 proposal. There was a lot of great feedback, and Tri-Ed was able to get direct feedback from Amazon. One of the biggest takeaways was the need for an increase in the number of graduates in the tech sector who graduate in Northern Kentucky and stay here. There is a lot of work being planned to work with the new president of NKU, Thomas More and Gateway to make sure that the region has the kind of graduates that companies need. Commissioner Sewell asked if that was the issue, because she saw a report that said comparatively the other cities that were chosen had less folks in the technology field than Kenton County? Judge Knochelmann answered that the difference is that they wanted it to be directly from this region. In terms of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, we need to do a better job than we are doing. Judge Knochelmann then stated that Transitions will be coming to the next Fiscal Court meeting to update everyone on the new facility. The project is called the 180 Project, and the formal groundbreaking was held earlier this evening. EGC is going to be doing the construction. Once again, he wanted to say thank you to the Fiscal Court for their commitment in helping to get this project moving. Judge Knochelmann asked for a motion to change the April 10 th meeting location to Covington. Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Nienaber. Commissioner Draud asked that Judge Knochelmann share some information about an award that he recently received.

12 Judge Knochelmann stated that he was acknowledged by the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce for his regional efforts. Executive Session A. Pursuant to KRS (1) (C) proposed or pending litigation regarding the case of the Kenton County Fiscal Court vs Dan Moening to discuss litigation strategy. Commissioner Nienaber made the motion for approval of Executive Session; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Knochelmann called for a voice vote, and the motion passed unanimously 4-0. Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval to return from the Executive Session; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Knochelmann called for a voice vote, and the motion passed unanimously 4-0. Adjournment Having completed all business before the Court, Commissioner Draud offered a motion to adjourn which was seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Commissioner Sewell requested a voice vote whereupon all members present voted in the affirmative with a 4-0 vote. Text for all proposed and recently passed ordinances may be acquired by accessing the Fiscal Court web page at or by contacting the administrative offices at CLERK CERTIFICATION I, Sue J. Kaiser, having been appointed to the office of Fiscal Court Clerk, do hereby certify that this is a true and accurate record of the actions taken by the Kenton County Fiscal Court at the meeting of March 13, ~ h, fl '( 0, Su;~~iser Fiscal Court Clerk ', ~ ) I