MINUTES KENTON COUNTY FISCAL COURT 303 COURT STREET COVINGTON, KY Tuesday, February 25, 2014 7:00 P.M. Call to Order Judge Steve Arlinghaus called to order the February 25, 2014 meeting of the Kenton County Fiscal Court and called upon Commissioner Knochelmann for the invocation and to lead in the pledge of allegiance. Judge Arlinghaus asked for a moment of silence for Spc. Christopher Landis. Present: Staff: Judge/Executive Steve Arlinghaus Commissioner Beth Sewell, District 1 Commissioner Jon Draud, District 2 Commissioner Kris Knochelmann, District 3 County Attorney Garry Edmondson Mark Kreimborg, Deputy Judge/Executive Roy Cox, County Treasurer Chief Brian Capps, County Police Department Steve Hensley, Emergency Management Director Melanie M. Morris, Fiscal Court Clerk Approval of Minutes Minutes January 25, 2014 Judge Arlinghaus presented the minutes of the January 25, 2014 meeting for approval by the Court. Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Arlinghaus called for a vote and the motion unanimously passed 4-0. Citizens Address None came before the court at this time. General Business Claims List February 14, 2014
County Treasurer Roy Cox presented the claims list for February 14, 2014 and asked if the court had any questions. None came before the court. Claims List February 20, 2014 County Treasurer Roy Cox presented the claims list for February 20, 2014 and asked if the court had any questions. None came before the court. 2014-15 RS Program Andy Yeager, KDOT Rob Hans and Andy Yeager gave presentation to the Kenton County Fiscal Court regarding the 2014-15 RS Program recommended projects. Andy Yeager stated the following; Kenton County Allotment for Fiscal Year 2014-2015 $614,808 Recommended State RS Projects are Green Road/KY 20142, Hempling Road/KY3072, Moffett-Kenton Station/KY 2042 Recommended Flex Fund Projects are Visalia Road/KY 536 Other Projects considered are Rich Road-Piner House/KY 14, Rich Road/KY 14, DeCoursey Pike/KY 177 Kenton County Director of Public Works Chris Warneford completely agrees with the recommendation from KDOT. Resolution Resolution No. 14-01-C Judge Arlinghaus presented Resolution 14-01-C A Resolution for the Kenton County Fiscal Court concerning Fiscal Year 2013-2014 Budget Adjustments. Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Arlinghaus called for a vote and the motion unanimously passed 4-0. Resolution No. 14-01-D Judge Arlinghaus presented Resolution 14-01-D A Resolution for the Kenton County Fiscal Court concerning Fiscal Year 2013-2014 Budget Adjustments. Treasurer Cox asked to add $366,000 to the current Claims List.
Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Arlinghaus called for a vote and the motion unanimously passed 4-0. Resolution No. 14-03 Judge Arlinghaus presented Resolution 14-03 A Resolution authorizing an application to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for reimbursement of expenditures for the transportation of non public school students. Commissioner Knochelmann made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Arlinghaus called for a vote and the motion unanimously passed 4-0. Ordinances Second Reading Ordinance 924.52 Judge Arlinghaus presented for second reading Ordinance No. 924.52 - An Ordinance amending the official zoning map of unincorporated Kenton County by changing a 1.6 acre area located on the east side of Joseph E. Schmiade Road approximately 400 feet north of where it intersects with Walton-Nicholson Pike from zone R-1B (single-family residential) to zone RC (rural commercial). Commissioner Knochelmann made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. The motion unanimously passed with a roll call vote of Commissioner Draud, yes, Commissioner Sewell, yes, Commissioner Knochelmann, yes; and Judge Arlinghaus, yes. Consent Agenda Surplus Items Kenton County Police Department Exhibit No. 14-08 Authorize County Judge/Executive Steve Arlinghaus to surplus various items in the Kenton County Police Department. Surplus Items Information Technology Department Exhibit No. 14-09 Authorize County Judge/Executive Steve Arlinghaus to surplus various items in the Kenton County Clerk s Office for the Information Technology Department. Air Cards (bid) Verizon Wireless for Kenton County Communications Center Exhibit No. 14-10 Authorize County Judge/Executive Steve Arlinghaus to award a bid for wireless Air Cards to Verizon Wireless for the Kenton County Communications Center.
Lincoln Ridge Landscape/Lawn Services (bid) Kenton County Parks and Recreation Department Exhibit No. 14-11 Authorize County Judge/Executive Steve Arlinghaus to award a bid for Lincoln Ridge Landscape/Lawn Services to C & N Care for the Kenton County Parks and Recreation Department. Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Knochelmann. Judge Arlinghaus called for a vote and the motion unanimously passed 4-0. Executive Orders Updike (Resignation) Kenton County Golf Course Judge Arlinghaus presented Executive Order 14-20 An Executive Order relating to the Kenton County Fiscal Court approving the resignation of Rodney Updike as a full-time Assistant Superintendant within the Kenton County Golf Course, effective February 28, 2014. Commissioner Knochelmann made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Arlinghaus called for a vote and the motion unanimously passed 4-0. Bridges (Part-Time Tax Clerk) Kenton County Treasurer s Department Judge Arlinghaus presented Executive Order 14-23 An Executive Order relating to the Kenton County Fiscal Court approving the appointment of Wendy Bridges as a part-time Tax Clerk within the Kenton County Treasurer s Department, effective February 25, 2014. Commissioner Sewell made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Knochelmann. Judge Arlinghaus called for a vote and the motion unanimously passed 4-0. Rohe (Police Officer) Kenton County Police Department Judge Arlinghaus presented Executive Order 14-24 An Executive Order relating to the Kenton County Fiscal Court approving the appointment of Trevor Rohe as a Police Officer within the Kenton County Police Department, effective March 1, 2014. Commissioner Draud made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Knochelmann. Judge Arlinghaus called for a vote and the motion unanimously passed 4-0. Robinson Kenton County Airport Board Voting Member Judge Arlinghaus presented Executive Order 14-25 An Executive Order relating to the Kenton County Fiscal Court approving the appointment of William Bill T. Robinson III to the Kenton County Airport Board Voting Member to fulfill an unexpired term ending on June 3, 2017, effective February 21, 2014.
No Action Required. Collins Kenton County Airport Board Voting Member Judge Arlinghaus presented Executive Order 14-26 An Executive Order relating to the Kenton County Fiscal Court approving the appointment of Kathy Collins to the Kenton County Airport Board Voting Member to fulfill an unexpired term ending on June 19, 2014, effective February 21, 2014. No Action Required. Summe Kenton County Airport Board Voting Member Judge Arlinghaus presented Executive Order 14-27 An Executive Order relating to the Kenton County Fiscal Court approving the appointment of Chad Summe to the Kenton County Airport Board Voting Member to fulfill an unexpired term ending on June 3, 2016, effective February 21, 2014. No Action Required. Administrative Reporting Emergency Communications Director Ed Butler Director Butler addressed the court and gave presentation for five (5) year plan and infrastructure for the Kenton County Emergency Communications Center. Judge/Executive and Commissioners asked for a more specific spreadsheet for a five year plan. Kenton County Treasurer Roy Cox Treasurer Roy Cox stated he would like the minutes to reflect that the January 2014 Finance Reports have been submitted to the fiscal court. County Attorney s Report County Attorney Garry Edmondson presented to the court a quitclaim deed for Doe Run Lake and asked the court to authorize the Judge/Executive to sign the deed. Commissioner Knochelmann made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. The motion unanimously passed with a roll call vote of Commissioner Draud, yes, Commissioner Sewell, yes, Commissioner Knochelmann, yes; and Judge Arlinghaus, yes. Commissioner s Report Commissioner Kris Knochelmann
Commissioner Knochelmann addressed the court stating yes Judge, I have few things and first of all I apologize for my voice suffering about a week s worth of cold, so I apologize for that. I do have a number of items I would like to bring before the court tonight. First of all, let s see here, one of the things that we are all aware of course the ongoing controversy that s been going on with regard the policies of the board members activities of the airport. I m glad to see that the board chair and vice chair have finally taking action by stepping down and as well as reported the policy changes were regarding the travel was reported in the newspaper the last couple of weeks. However, I do believe these changes don t seem to carry much weight and can be changed back by any future airport board. Not to mention the policy changes that were reported last week and we talked about the airport back in December, still exempt the Judge/Executive in allow far too much travel in my opinion, by the board members. Also, there were many unresolved issues that will likely be addressed in the upcoming audit report and the investigation by the State Auditor. These include, of course, the cost of nearly $100,000 legal fees expended by the board to defend staff member being sued by the resigned board chair. But before I get into those other notes, one of the items I wanted to cover this evening is in general, I guess you could encapsulate under support of the airport CEO Candace McGraw. So what I ve done, and I ve actually got three things. Commissioner Draud stated Kris, I thought we agreed we re not going do all this political stuff at these Fiscal Court meetings. That s a political issue in your campaign Commissioner Knochelmann stated Commissioner, I m actually in my report and I m going to cover things I like to cover. Commissioner Draud stated I mean that s kind of a. it s a mute point; we don t have any authority over that airport board. Commissioner Knochelmann stated well, we ll cover that in a moment, we ll get there Jon. There is a resolution that I m going to ask us to vote on this evening. This actually is very simply, there are a couple of whereas and I m going to cut to the chase on them, I m sorry Cut to chase on the first one that is effectively a vote of support on the performance of Candace McGraw, the CEO of CVG, and sending a vote of confidence in her leadership. And with that, without taking a lot of time on everything else, but on this one, I would like to make a motion we consider this. Commissioner Draud stated I m not going to vote on anything like. because it s not our role to do that. Commissioner Knochelmann stated well I can jump to another item Jon, if you would let me finish. Commissioner Draud stated you can do whatever you want to as far as joining her or saying whatever you want too, but that is not a proper motion for this board to consider. Commissioner Knochelmann stated well, I think that we can endorse and speak well of Candace..
Commissioner Draud stated you can speak publically all you want too individually. You can write that in your campaign, you can do whatever you want too. I don t think this Fiscal Court should be a part of this campaign. Commissioner Knochelmann stated well, I will just tell you Commissioner that there are some actions, which I will point to you in a moment that the Fiscal Court can have within the action of the airport board. The recent HB 1 that was filed last year and past to oversee both special districts and alike, give the Fiscal Court a lot more leniency and a lot more latitude in what we actually change, which is going to roll right into a second resolution that I m going to bring up. Commissioner Draud stated let me ask Garry our attorney here, is it proper for us to endorse different individuals personnel on the airport board? County Attorney Edmondson stated that s a policy decision for you, it s not a legal issue. You certainly can if you want, and you can condemn them too. So yes, you could do that if you choose too. Commissioner Draud stated but it has no effect. Commissioner Knochelmann stated other than support which is huge. Commissioner Draud stated oh Commissioner Knochelmann stated and I think that it helps the community know that direction of that.. Commissioner Draud stated I don t know anything about her. How are you going to endorse her when. What do you know about her. Do you know anything about her performance? I can t vote on her performance, I don t know anything about her. I ve only met her a couple of times. Commissioner Knochelmann stated well its unfortunate then, because obviously there is.. Commissioner Draud stated do you know a lot about her performance? Commissioner Knochelmann stated obviously, just let me respond.. If you would like for me to answer your question, Jon. Commissioner Draud stated yeah. Commissioner Knochelmann stated great. Personally, as the whereas I ve put in the resolution you ve discarded, list the fact that even with the actions of the economy and the reduction in flights, she has received, everything has been reported very, very effectively in the news that she has received multiple positive reviews and has been very, obviously, very clear that she has done an excellent job since she has taken over the airport, as well as kind remarks from her staff.
The next resolution I m going to bring up actually is little bit meatier, so we can get into debate with that one. I would like to make that motion that we accept this resolution and ask for a second by someone. Commissioner Sewell stated I don t know that it hurts anything for us to go forward and support of an individual that s done a good job. I personally think she has, I don t have any beef with her performance. I don t know that, Jon probably has a point; we probably don t have as a governing body. I sort of argued that point when I said that the Judge probably shouldn t be writing articles and sharing his opinion on certain things in a public document that was paid for by taxpayers, but I feel that this person has had a bad rap over the last several months and probably could stand some support from those of us who appreciate what she has done, and certainly as another female executive in this community, I just appreciate that she stood her ground and done just a bang-up job against some really tough situations, so if you need a second, I ll second it. Commissioner Knochelmann stated just to allow it to go to vote, sure. Commissioner Draud stated Garry, is an abstention vote a no? County Attorney stated abstention vote votes with the majority. If you don t want to participate, you have put on the record that you are not participating, if that is what you re trying say. Judge Arlinghaus stated we have a motion and a second on the floor, and Kris your ah ah like you stated about her performance and you reference as reported in the news, and I think for us to adopt resolutions based on reports that are in the news is kind of a far reach to try and justify the job performance that someone has done. Commissioner Knochelmann stated that s not all, we can make a lot of whereas if you like. Judge Arlinghaus stated no one, I don t know any of the members of the Commission that sat in on any of the board meetings and have been part of any of those discussions that would have the proper position to actually make such a judgment call to adopt a resolution as such. I think it s a. it very much appears to be politically grandstanding and it s unfortunate that you have chosen to go this route. Commissioner Knochelmann stated it s definitely not grandstanding Judge, in making sure that we send a message that actually can be very calming to multiple issues that are out there, which of course, I will address in a second. Judge Arlinghaus stated there is a new board chairman. There s a new board chair and vice chairman.. Commissioner Knochelmann stated Judge, I m talking Judge Arlinghaus stated and they will have the opportunity to sit down with the CEO and they will discuss this and they ll discuss other issues..
Commissioner Knochelmann stated I think we need to support.. Judge Arlinghaus stated we need to show our support for the new leadership at the airport board and give them an opportunity to do their job. Commissioner Sewell stated have they been officially appointed as chair and vice chair at this point. I was under the impression that there was a process that they went through. Judge Arlinghaus stated there is a process, yes ma am. The process is upon voting for chairman and vice chairman process would be that the nominating committee would be formed and that nominating committee would could back and make a recommendation to the full board as far as chair and vice chair goes. In this case particular, the chairman resigned and if he steps down then it would fall in the hands of the vice chairman. The vice chairman has also stepped down so that left a complete vacancy, so what I did was I appointed William T. Robinson to fill the shoes and succeed if you will Jim Huff, and I appointed Kathy Collins to succeed Larry Savage as the vice chairman. That is my understanding after talking with the attorney for the airport that they will at their next meeting, they will have a discussion about how to proceed forward with that and they may decide to take immediate action to form a committee immediately at the next board meeting and come back with a recommendation for the long term. So in other words I guess what I m saying is they re more or less sitting there in the interim, if you will. Typically the votes for the board chairman and vice chairman, I believe is in the month of May. What we are is, we re just a couple months out from the normal timeframe. Commissioner Draud stated I would think that would. would be the board s decision. Judge Arlinghaus stated absolutely, absolutely we don t interfere with that, so I think it s inappropriate and I just think that we need to let the board do their job. Bill Robinson is the new chairman and I think that we need to give him a chance and if we are going to show support to anyone we should show support.. Commissioner Draud stated maybe he is or maybe he s not.. Judge Arlinghaus stated right. Commissioner Draud stated I think he would be a good choice. Judge Arlinghaus stated and if the board decides that they don t want him to serve as chair and Kathy Collins as vice chair, then that s up to the board that decision to make that call that they don t want it to happen that way. So I m going to leave it up to the board to decide. Commissioner Knochelmann stated we have a motion and a second Commissioner Draud stated it s not up to us to judge the performance of a CEO, is ludicrous, that s crazy. Commissioner Knochelmann stated well, we have a motion and second of the motion.
Judge Arlinghaus stated there s a motion on second on the floor, we need to go for a roll call the. Commissioner Draud stated I ll vote no, and this is not reflection on Candace because I don t know her, I mean I just met her briefly and I know nothing about her performance at all. So I m going to vote no. Judge Arlinghaus stated I too will vote no and it s not because I don t have an issue with as far as Candace one way or another, but I do believe it s the decision for the airport board to make and that s what the policy reads. The by-laws we follow are the policies as they were drafted and it s the board decision to make that determination. Resolution No. 14-04 Judge Arlinghaus presented Resolution 14-04 A Resolution relating to the Kenton County Fiscal Court and its support of Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport CEO Candace McGraw. Commissioner Knochelmann made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. The motion failed with a 2-2 roll call vote of Commissioner Draud, no, Commissioner Sewell, yes, Commissioner Knochelmann, yes; and Judge Arlinghaus, no. Commissioner Knochelmann stated I have two other items that I would like to touch on, and one is actually regressing to number of months back. I had actually asked us to consider doing an RFP for funding 50 some odd beds for treatment beds for addiction to heroin. We obviously got some good recent news that came out for some state money that may or may not be coming up to us and may or may not be funding some beds, but I would like to see us put together a RFP, have staff do that. This is another copy of the same thing that I gave out a couple months ago. Which simply that, I m not going to read again whereas, but effectively it was asking you the Judge/Executive to request a RFP to local agencies for the purpose of providing up to 50 additional treatment beds and we obviously don t necessarily we would do it or not. We don t know where we would spend the money or any other methods by which it would be statewide or Medicare, Medicaid would come into play and I would like to see us take action on that and I would like to make the motion that we reach out and get that RFP accomplished. Judge Arlinghaus stated you have a motion and a second and I would say this much Commissioner Knochelmann stated I just made a motion Judge Arlinghaus stated is there a second. Commissioner Sewell stated I was just checking it to see if it was the same one that hasn t changed from the one you sent to us earlier, right Kris Commissioner Knochelmann stated no, I just changed the date on the bottom of it.
Commissioner Sewell stated okay, and we would use the funding from the sale of Rosedale could be used to provide the facility. I could second it. Judge Arlinghaus stated questions? We have a motion and a second. Commissioner Draud stated Kris, if you recall with our previous discussion and I think you agreed with this also that it should be a regional approach and we are being a little premature to take action now until the final situation has gone through the whole process with the region as well as the state legislation. I think we are all committed to trying to help with the heroin problem in creating more beds, but the action isn t necessary right now. It s not It s a matter of time limits and you agreed at that time that it was a regional approach even when you were discussion even when you made a motion to give them a million dollars to them. Commissioner Knochelmann stated in a perfect world, I didn t make a motion to give them a million dollars; I made motion to do this. Commissioner Draud stated I thought you did. Commissioner Knochelmann stated no, I made motion to do this I actually didn t make a motion to allocate a million dollars. I just wanted to have you all look at it. I do believe Commissioner Draud stated I thought you wanted to allocate a million dollars to them. Commissioner Knochelmann stated in the description of it Commissioner, I told you that the effective cost of 50 beds the treatment cost of what it is today is roughly a million dollars. Commissioner Draud stated turned out that number wasn t accurate according from the guy from Transitions. Commissioner Knochelmann stated no, it was very accurate. Mac McArthur actually I ve talked since then a number of times, but the point is that is when we have a solution on the table one day and if it s regional, that s great, but in the meantime I don t think we need to wait around in an actually proposal whether it be from Transitions or anyone anybody else. It may be from our own Jail and there are obliviously a lot of other options that may come along the way, but we at least have some options that say hey, this is doable, this is somebody who is willing to do this and it may be a short-term solution while a long-term solution is funded organized, etc. And actually, I think there s a lot of I think behind the scene efforts being put forth on a lot of areas, but I want to see us take some action and not just talk about it. Commissioner Sewell stated and this doesn t commit us to spending any money at this point. Commissioner Knochelmann stated no, no it s just getting. Commissioner Sewell stated its simply getting the ball rolling so that we can look like Kenton County is leading on this effort, which I think we ve talked enough about and tried to push the responsibility off on every level of government, our neighbors granted, it is a regional issue.
We need to look at it from all perspectives, but we have an opportunity here to do something good and I think it s silly to just keep pushing it down the path. Judge Arlinghaus stated well, I think it s admirable that we re looking at ways to assist in helping trying to provide additional beds to the issue of heroin and so forth, but I don t know if you recall we did have a meeting, we met with the ADD s District with all of the County Judges and or their representatives approximately a month ago or so, and along with Attorney General Conway. The ADD s District is working on this issue in the form of management and an attempt corral the whole issue and work for a way to come up with a plan to move forward with this. I think that s being done in a eight county region area as opposed us operating individually, and I do believe that we ve talked about this being a regional problem that we recognize exactly what it is a regional problem, however, we do need to solve the problem regionally. I do believe to work with our partners at the ADD s District and the other counties and try to determine what exactly the ideas that we need to do. I think we need to stick to that plan and not jump out away from the ADD s District and do something independently without their involvement nor their support. The various agencies that are involved with this that work with the individuals, whether it s PAR or the other agencies, they re also work in conjunction with and providing data and information to the ADD s District, Lisa Cooper has some staff folks working on this issue. I think we need to show our support to the ADD s District and let them bring some proposal back to, not only the Kenton County Fiscal Court, but to all the counties in the region. To your point, I think it would be premature to go out to wing something on our own for whatever the reason being motivated today. Commissioner Knochelmann stated the beauty of it is it isn t that, that s not the case. We re not doing anything that would hurt what the ADD s District is focusing on. I think you ve got some suburban counties from that conversation, who obviously were pretty clear, that some of them even said they don t have money to do it, they re not going to find the money to give to do it, they are not going to find the money, and they may not even have a problem yet. Ultimately, I think what we have to do is get a plan, something that s in place and Lord knows often times we can get a lot of things done together working together in Northern Kentucky, but sometimes it takes a lot of time. The problem is this problems been getting so bad, we all know it, a couple years of issues of it and when you I were down at the Grateful Life I was a little stunned. We ve got the jail full, you ve got Grateful Life down the road has a lot of residents from all over the state of Kentucky and the percentage of them who were from Kenton County was very small. So ultimately, if no one else wants to be a part of the plan and really come to the table with action as opposed to just talking about it, we may be the only ones who have beds for our residence. It would be unfortunate, if that were the case, but Lord knows if we have to do, we need to do it. So I would like to see us get an RFP. Commissioner Draud stated we agreed several months ago Kris that the Arlinghaus/Knochelmann county Judge race would not be operating during this Fiscal Court meeting. You know. You ve lived up to that for the last few months and Steve has too, we need to continue to do that and not create political issues, you know. Commissioner Knochelmann stated well, Jon I ll clarify when I brought this up last time, which is not a political issue because my feeling is regardless of what happens in the next year or so, we ve got this problem and I ll be darn if I m going to go home after serving on this court,
and say I should have done something and I didn t have the guts to step forward, and I don t care what people might call it. Its action, it s serving the public and getting information instead of talking about it. I ve never agreed, by the way anything you re just saying I agreed too, my point is we ve got work to do and let s get it done. Commissioner Draud stated I think its foggy thinking on your part. Commissioner Knochelmann stated it s fair enough.. Judge Arlinghaus stated okay, there s a motion and a second let s do a roll call please. Commissioner Draud stated I want to comment on my vote. I m going to vote no, because I will vote at the right time to fund as many beds as we possibly we can afford and it s certainly a regional approach and that s a logical way to do it. So I will vote no. Commissioner Sewell stated I m going to go ahead and support this, as I said earlier, I don t dismiss the fact that this is potentially regional, but again Kenton County has funds that we could use to support this. We have opportunities to locate beds and places that people are willing to let us use. We have the opportunity surrounding our jail, which I know other counties have started to think about and are doing and why wouldn t we jump at the chance and be a leader and role model and an example of moving forward on this when we can. Again, it s not committing money at this moment it s just simply getting the ball rolling so don t think that hurts a bit, and I vote yes, again. Judge Arlinghaus stated unfortunately, I have to vote no as well. We have our Jailer Terry Carl is working on this issue as well trying to identify other jails throughout the region, possibly further away. Commissioner Draud stated wasn t that the objective Kris to get Arlinghaus to vote no. Wasn t that the objective, Kris? Commissioner Knochelmann stated Jon; I m not going to answer that question, that s offensive. Commissioner Draud stated that s what I meant by political activity. Commissioner Knochelmann stated no, I was praying the opposite. Commissioner Sewell stated I wish we would. Judge Arlinghaus stated the bottom line is that we do need to approach this as a regional issue. I think we need to stay focused on that as being the issue. If at some point and time that we determine that a regional approach is not going to work then I would fully support Kenton County going out on their out on our own individually and moving forward with some plan no matter what that plan be that we all could agree upon. So the break now as it stands, I think we need to at least give this opportunity a chance to happen, so I also vote no. Resolution No. 14-05
Judge Arlinghaus presented Resolution 14-05 A Resolution relating to the Kenton County Fiscal Court authorizing and directing Steve Arlinghaus, County Judge/Executive to issue a request for proposal from agencies capable of providing up to 50 treatment beds for opiate addicts. Commissioner Knochelmann made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. The motion failed with a 2-2 roll call vote of Commissioner Draud, no, Commissioner Sewell, yes, Commissioner Knochelmann, yes; and Judge Arlinghaus, no. Commissioner Knochelmann stated okay Judge, I have one other item and I will point this out that in reference to Commissioner Draud s comments that whatever happens with this, I m going to go back to the airport for a moment, to clarify Jon and to your point, this HB has given the Fiscal Court some additional ability to step in and set some policy at special districts, I even thought this resolution I m going to give you in a second, is regarding the airport. I think it will require us to do some effort for all of the special districts that we either appoint board members as well as voting on potential rate increases, and etc. That this one for this evening, I m going to focus on the airport, but I have no problem the next meetings, in fact the next meeting, pushing hard on pushing some of the same policy changes that I m going to be recommending in a moment. One of the biggest ones, and there are six items, and it s basically six point change of policy for the airport and I will give you a copy of this one as well, as a resolution. Ultimately, this is with regard to the airport board and the fact the appropriate educational opportunities do exist for board members may benefit and help oversee their board activities. Also, the fact the reasonable meal reimbursement should be expected out of town attendance and meetings by board members, as well as the fact the Kenton County Judge/Executive is not a sitting member on the Kenton County Airport Board. I have the resolution that we ask that Steve Arlinghaus, County Judge/Executive, is hereby authorized and directed to require that the Kenton County Airport Board to make the following changes to its policies effective at their next meeting. There are six: 1. The Airport Board members shall follow the Kenton County Fiscal Court travel policy meal reimbursement schedule and allow up to 150% of the standard reimbursement levels set. I have copied in what our county policy there, which is in total if someone is out of town and has breakfast, lunch, and dinner and it s not provided by the training it would be about $43 I believe. 2. Reasonable meals may be provided before, during, or after board meetings and training functions as decided by the Chairman of the Board; 3. No alcohol shall be provided by the Kenton County Airport Board for any meetings or functions; 4. Kenton County Airport Board member travel shall be limited to the following: a. Up to 4 members are permitted to attend any ACI conference in the continental U.S.; b. Up to 2 ACI conferences per year may be attended by members of the board; c. One board member is permitted to attend any international conference each year; d. Priority for attendance at U.S. conferences shall be given to Committee Chairpersons.
5. The Kenton County Judge/Executive shall be removed from the policies allowing him/her to travel as a board member; 6. No first-class travel is permitted by an Airport Board member unless the difference in standard business class travel is paid by that individual; Commissioner Draud states so you still say you re not using this meeting for political purposes. Commissioner Knochelmann stated Jon, I think that the.. Commissioner Draud stated that s a big joke Kris. Commissioner Knochelmann stated I don t think it s a joke. Commissioner Draud stated yeah, it is. Commissioner Knochelmann stated I think the challenge of what s happen in the community on these issues we ve talked about stuff and we don t like, but very few people are willing to step up to the plate and put their vote out to say enough is enough and we need to fix this stuff. Commissioner Draud stated what is this HB you are referring too. Are you aware of that Garry? County Attorney Edmondson stated yeah, we have been lecturing on it all around the county for several months. It s the special purpose government entity legislation that gotten through because of the Auditors efforts. The intent of it is, and in fact does, give the fiscal court substantial more lead way and authority over regulations of the special districts and they re all talking about it as well. An example is that, if the airport at this point and time the law is, if the airport wants to charge another nickel on those little carts that you get your luggage and you know and take out to your car, they have to come here and have a public hearing. That s how silly it is. It is very broad and that applies to all the special districts. The Fire District if they want to charge some new fee or do something like that they ve got to come here. So it is very broad and there is. Commissioner Sewell stated for every fine they raise. County Attorney Edmondson stated there is a. it specifically directs the fiscal courts have the authority to put more regulatory authority over the special districts. Commissioner Draud stated has that bill been passed? County Attorney Edmondson stated oh yeah, it s been a law since July. Commissioner Draud stated at the last session of legislation. County Attorney Edmondson stated yes, last session.
Commissioner Knochelmann stated well, that fit in for example for we have to vote on, the whole fiscal court on SD1 rates, for example. County Attorney Edmondson stated right. Commissioner Draud stated that was part of Damon s bill? County Attorney Edmondson stated yes. Commissioner Sewell stated yes. Judge Arlinghaus stated I think it would be appropriate if we are going to start reviewing policies and procedures at the airport and or other agencies that fall under jurisdiction of HB 1, whether it be special. fire districts, or library districts, or the airport or whatever, I think it would make some sense that perhaps have us a roundtable discussion with the four of us at some near future that would be convenient for all of us to talk about how we handle these kind of issues. Because once we open Pandora s Box and start going after one of these districts what are we going to do about the other ones. Are we going to leave them with a free pass, are we going to talk about how they re handling their issues. You may remember early this year Commissioner Knochelmann stated we may need to step in and take some actions Judge Arlinghaus stated excuse me.. early this year or the end of last year we had the issues with the Elsmere Fire District for example that we had to deal with some contentious moments were challenging in how we move forward, but we re walking into an area that none of us have been before. Clearly we have an interest, all of us do, and I would think be more appropriate we then sit down and have some discussion about all of these districts and then see what we come up with and then if we decide that there s some policies that we need to work on changes then let s work on some changes. I would also, before we do something arbitrarily on our own, I would also encourage us to engage the boards; whether it be Fire District Board, or the Airport Board or any other agency that if we are going to impact how their policies are being affected, the impact, then I think we have discussions with them as well. For us to operate independently without no concern, or asking them anything, I think is not very good idea. Commissioner Knochelmann stated actually to that point, I understand your point, I disagree, but I think I ve reached out in the past week, few weeks, especially former airport board members in this situation and everyone of these changes they fully support and thought it was a great idea. I m going to ask for this, I do make the motion that we accept this evening. Commissioner Sewell stated I just want to say, I think that this was driven by taxpayers and the very fact that we re sort of dancing around it is sort of stunning to me and this Bill was past because there was concern these districts didn t have representation and elected officials on them were making decisions on and Commissioner Knochelmann stated unelected.
Commissioner Sewell stated unelected, yes and we re going to be faced with passing their. looking at their budgets and determining, I understand even fee increases on library fines and all kinds of.. County Attorney Edmondson stated no, no that s not the way it works, the Sanitation District yes, because it s statutes specifically says so, but the library and all the other things they only have to come here and do a public presentation, you don t get to vote on it, but they do have to come and have a public presentation. Commissioner Sewell stated okay, okay, good clarification. Commissioner Draud stated so are you going to second it then? Commissioner Sewell stated well, I m.. I mean I like the idea of having further discussion on it, but I don t have any problem with what s in here. I ve often wondered why, and this isn t accusation to you Judge because I know we ve had other Judges that have traveled, but I often wonder why the county doesn t pay for your travel when you travel with all these other boards like any other rest of us would, so that one stands out the most to me. Why wouldn t just run all those travel costs through Fiscal Court so that it can be more transparent, so I particularly like that part of it and I don t have any problem with the details on some of this. I guess I would need to understand is this much of this has not, I know they ve made changes at the airport board on some of these issues, but you re saying that none of these were addressed. Commissioner Knochelmann stated well the items that obviously covered in the meeting were alcohol and supposedly limitation of some travel, but it s still eleven members, it still the count is way too high and as I said the involvement of the Judge Executive in that travel as well as the international. Here s the other point, some of that travel needs to be nipped in the bud because it s the case if were someone wants to go to that travel and come back and or have an expert come in and speak on it have them bring a speaker in it would be a lot of cheaper than eleven Judge Arlinghaus stated they do that now. Is there a second on this, we have a motion? Commissioner Sewell stated yeah, I m going to go ahead and second, why not. Judge Arlinghaus stated there s a motion and a second, roll call please. Commissioner Draud stated I ll explain my vote again; this is not our issue I mean it s up to the airport board to decide their travel policy, so I ll vote no. Commissioner Knochelmann stated and that is the end of my report Judge, thank you. Commissioner Draud stated mission accomplished. Commissioner Knochelmann stated not really, I would have loved for all of them to have passed Jon
Resolution No. 14-06 Judge Arlinghaus presented Resolution 14-06 A Resolution relating to the Kenton County Fiscal Court directing the Kenton County Airport Board, owner of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to take the following steps regarding travel, education and entertainment. Commissioner Knochelmann made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. The motion failed with a 2-2 roll call vote of Commissioner Draud, no, Commissioner Sewell, yes, Commissioner Knochelmann, yes; and Judge Arlinghaus, no. Commissioner Beth Sewell Commissioner Sewell stated just mention some positive things, once again just an update on our survey south of Kenton County residences. We ended up getting 1,100 responses about 35% response rate from the folks from south Kenton, so clearly those folks want to be heard. We ve submitted. All the data has been put by an intern at Area Planning and sent to Professor Gorkavich at UK and it will take about six weeks to do the complete analysis so we should be having a full report from her come the first of May. I hope we can allow some time on Fiscal Court agenda to hear the outcome. The hard part will be to determine what we do with it. This has actually been the easy part, but I look forward to seeing the trends that come out. The best way to governor is to listen to the people. So I really appreciate all those who responded to it, and hopefully, we ll do something good with it. Thank you. Commissioner Jon Draud Commissioner Draud stated I made this suggestion one other time, and I ll think I ll make it again. I think the cable company ought to create some time each month for you and Kris Knochelmann to debate this county Judge race instead of doing it during the Fiscal Court meeting, I think that would be appropriate. Perhaps you can take that back to leadership of the cable company and see if they will give us some more time that would be a nice thing for each of you each month to debate all these issues. Commissioner Knochelmann stated I hope all the issues are debated plenty, often and regular. Commissioner Draud stated that s all I have. Judge Arlinghaus stated thank you. I look forward to debates too, but I do agree it would be nice to try and keep them out of the Fiscal Court Chambers, it would be appropriate. We are working on the taxpayer s time right here and we need to stay focused on our issues. Judge/Executive s Report Judge Arlinghaus presented for acknowledgement of declaration of snow emergency Level One (Executive Order 14-16) and snow emergency Level Two (Executive Order 14-17).
Judge Arlinghaus presented for acknowledgement of rescinding snow emergency Level Two (Executive Order 14-18) and rescinding snow emergency Level One (Executive Order 14-19). Judge Arlinghaus presented for acknowledgement of snow emergency Level One (Executive Order 14-21) and rescinding snow emergency Level One (Executive Order 14-22). Judge Arlinghaus presented to the court ratification of Emergency Waiver of Liability and Agreement to Hold Harmless. Commissioner Knochelmann made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Sewell. The motion unanimously passed with a roll call vote of Commissioner Draud, yes, Commissioner Sewell, yes, Commissioner Knochelmann, yes; and Judge Arlinghaus, yes. Judge Arlinghaus stated the next meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at the Independence Courthouse. Adjournment Having completed all business before the Court, Commissioner Draud offered a motion to adjourn which was seconded by Commissioner Sewell. Judge Arlinghaus requested a voice vote whereupon all members present voted in the affirmative with a 4-0 vote. CLERK CERTIFICATION I, Melanie M. Morris, 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 February 25, 2014. Melanie M. Morris Fiscal Court Clerk