KENTON COUNTY FISCAL COURT

M I N U T E S

JULY 26, 2005, 7:00 P.M.

The regular meeting of the Kenton County Fiscal Court was called to order at the Independence Courthouse.  Present at the meeting were Judge Executive Ralph A. Drees; Commissioners Dan Humpert, Barbara Black and Adam Koenig; Deputy Judge Executive Scott Kimmich; Assistant County Attorney Brandon Voelker; County Treasurer Ivan Frye; Human Resources Director Joe Shriver; Police Chief Bill Dorsey; Emergency Management Director Ed Burk; Special Projects Director Ralph Bailey; Commonwealth Attorney Bill Crockett; Court Reporter Cathy Johnston; and Guests.

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance

The invocation was given and pledge of allegiance led by Commissioner Adam Koenig.

Approval of Minutes

Judge Dress asked for approval of the minutes for the last meeting.  Commissioner Koenig moved for approval with a second from Commissioner Humpert.  The minutes were approved with the vote of aye with Commissioner Black abstaining because of absence.

Delegations

Expansion of home incarceration in pretrial cases involving non-violent offenders, Ed Crockett, General Manager of Pretrial Services, Administrative Office of the Courts, reporting.

Judge Drees thanked the circuit and district judges, Steven Jaeger, Douglas Stephens, Greg Bartlett, and Douglas Grothaus, for attending the court meeting to hear the presentation and to offer comments or suggestions on the program.

Mr. Crockett was welcomed to the court and asked to give an overview of pretrial services.  Pretrial services is located in all 120 counties and interviews defendants within 12 hours of arrest and present information to the court for their safe release back into the community.  The people that remain in custody are traditionally charged with more serious offenses, have extensive criminal backgrounds and/or have other extenuating circumstances.  Basic information is presented about their community ties and the likelihood to reappear in court.  Approximately one-third of the arrests  on a statewide basis are not released prior to trial.

There are over 15,000 jail beds in Kentucky and they are all full.  There is a growing problem of defendants being lodged in custody and not being safely released into the community before trial.  Pretrial services has recently undertaken the initiative of monitored conditional release of inmates.  Basically, the judges are offered options between recognizance release and putting a cash bond on people who try to insure community safety based on risk factors, but we are trying to give them something in between these options.  This will depend on the level of the offender, the notification of when to be in court, reporting into the office of pretrial services as much as is done with probation and parole prior to trial, there is some capacity to do curfew monitoring, and other sanctions such as drug testing and home incarceration.

The judges have wide range authority over the behavior of a defendant during their case and one of the problem areas is that no one has been monitoring these conditions for their compliance.  Staff has been trained to do a more significant assessment based on individual characteristics of each defendant, the seriousness of the offense, and the office will recommend a series of conditions to the judges that is believed will mitigate the risk of life and danger to the community during the defendant's case.

This is the entire purpose of this program and the office does not offer drug testing or home incarceration.  In the most serious cases where it is believed someone can be released into the community and the ultimate constraint is home incarceration, this recommendation will be made to the court.  The judges have absolute control over who will be detained or released.  The pretrial services office is giving to the court services that will be supported and that will attempt to make sure the defendants released into the community are law abiding and will make scheduled court appearances. 

Mr. Crockett said he was informed while coming into court that there are 423 defendants currently in the jail, and of that number 194 people are awaiting trial.  Approximately 50 percent of a general arrest population will be pending trial and approximately 50 percent of those people would be eligible for this program.  The non-financial conditions will do more to ensure community safety and minimize risk of flight than would any amount of cash.

In the event that home incarceration is an approved condition of the release of a defendant who is indigent and cannot pay for that service, it is in the best interest of the county for them to pay the fee for individuals that cannot.  The monitoring of the bracelets of home incarcerated individuals is fairly simple in tracking movement and in pinpointing locations.  The monitoring cost is approximately $8 to $9 per day for a bracelet to be attached to an individual and the cost fluctuates from county to county from $15 per day to $60 per day.

It is very important that this issue be approached as a community based criminal justice initiative, so that if the defendant has an event and it ends up in the headlines, it should not be that the judge releases a prisoner and someone gets hurt, but that it is a community based program with support from the state to monitor the defendant that failed.  It is believed this program will have impact if this environment does exist.

Judge Drees thanked Mr. Crockett for his presentation and asked if the judges had questions or comments pertaining to the program.  The judges said they had previously asked questions regarding the pretrial services and had received answers from Mr. Crockett.

One of the judges said he thought that budget wise the county could save a significant amount of money.  Mr. Crockett said that Jefferson County operates its own bracelet program that is under an older technological system and the cost is approximately $4 to $5 per day so they are saving on an average for each person in the program anywhere from $30 to $55 per day.

Judge Bartlett said he thought we had to look at this as a substitute for people who are in jail because they do not have the money or the traditional ability to get out of jail.  The judges will have to make a commitment to the fiscal court that we will not unwisely spend the county's money.

Another judge asked how it was going in Jefferson County and has anything been learned that will help us here.  Mr. Crockett said there were 40 people in the program and only three got the requirement of home incarceration.  The judge also asked if there was sufficient reporting staff in the pretrial office and Mr. Crockett answered yes, and that in his experience it was important to have the people report and stay in touch for their ultimate appearance in court.  He also said that in his experience the people who skip is relatively low so the county is not taking that much of a chance, especially in the lesser levels of crime.

Commissioner Humpert said this sounds like a program the county would definitely want to look into, and if the judges and pretrial services can work it out, he would be in favor of it.

Commissioner Black asked what kinds of conditions would be placed on the defendants besides reporting more frequently and how will the number of staff change in order for the conditions to be monitored.  Mr. Crockett said that if the staff begins to feel overwhelmed, the office would let the court know that they have reached their peak.  The most time intensive elements of the program are the home incarceration and drug testing and pretrial services does not provide these services, but the people doing this service will report any violations to that office.  The dispatch system in the counties where they are on duty 24/7, the office will work with the police force and they will be able to track these violations.

Commissioner Black asked Mr. Crockett if he was confident that the office staff he has now would be sufficient to do the monitoring and if there were any other new conditions that would be added in order to make this program successful.  Mr. Crockett said he really did not see the conditions changing.

Commissioner Koenig said he would like to see this program implemented and would like to see an outline of what stipulations that will be agreed to and how these judgments are made.  Judge Drees said if the office gets overloaded it would notify the courts.  Mr. Crockett said pretrial services has a great relationship with the courts and they would be notified.

Commissioner Humpert said the Northern Kentucky region was GPS capable and he said this could be something where Kenton County could actually become a vendor for the region and could get this program down to a very small charge per day for the GPS services.

Mr. Crockett said their office had talked with the judges, the county attorney, the commonwealth attorney and the corrections board last week, and a Kenton County community services program will soon be implemented that should also be a benefit to relieving overcrowding in the jail by having inmates in this program.

Commissioner Black asked for a 10 minutes recess that was granted by Judge Drees.

The court was called back into regular session with the members talking about the previous presentation.  Mr. Kimmich said that it is costing the county $44.00 per day to run the jail at a cost of $16,000 per year per inmate and this new program would cost $2,900 per inmate.  When this is annualized, the county is looking at $2,900 per inmate at a $657,000 per year savings.  If we are working with only 50 inmates on the program, that is less than either of the estimates they gave of 30 to 50 percent.

General Business

There were not any items presented to the court for review.

Resolutions

There were not any resolutions brought before the court.

Ordinances

ORDINANCE NO 924.26-First reading to amend the zoning map for the following: (1) an approximate .3 acre area located approximately 450 feet East of Dixie Highway and an approximate .2 acre area located approximately 400 feet East of Dixie Highway and (2) an approximate 6.3 acre area located approximately 500 feet East of Dixie Highway at the Kenton/Grant County border, Mike Schwartz reporting:  This is a proposed map amendment to be zoned from an A-1 zone to a neighborhood commercial zone and a proposed map amendment for an area from A-1 to a single family residential zone and an amended stage one development plan.  In 1995 and 1998, there was a proposal for map amendments to rezone an area next to this to a neighborhood commercial zone that was passed by the fiscal court.  There is a development plan for that area on file and this proposal changes that development plan, because they want to increase the area and to provide smaller lot sizes than the A-1 zone.

Commissioner Humpert asked what size lot A-1 permits and Mr. Schwartz answered that it is a one acre lot and the R-1D zone is a minimum 9,000 square foot lot that equates out to 4.8 units per net acre.  Ten units are shown in this area and the area is roughly 6.3 acres.  Commissioner Humpert said that if this part of the request stays agricultural that would give them six units if wanted.  Mr. Schwartz said they may have to lose some of that because of the way the road is coming in.

Mr. Kimmich asked if this was adjacent to the manufactured housing development that currently exists and Mr. Schwartz said yes that it was immediately to the North.  There is a multifamily complex immediately to the South in Grant County.  The Kenton County Area Planning Commission held a public hearing and they are recommending to the fiscal court approval of all three requests subject to three conditions.  The first is that no more than ten lots would be developed in what is being identified as Area D, the area to the right of the crosshatch.  They have shown ten and are asking for ten and the planning commission is concerned that there be no more than ten.  The second condition is that the amended development plan meet the minimum requirements of the Kenton County zone ordinance.  Thirdly, access to the site by way of the new public street would be provided with a right turn deceleration lane and a left turn storage lane.  The right turn deceleration lane would be moving northbound on Dixie and the left turn storage lane would be moving southbound on Dixie.  The reason for this is to maintain the current capacity of that arterial street.

Commissioner Black asked about meeting the requirements of the amended stage one development plan.  On page two of the proposal, it says this was done with exception of the following:  (1) requirement for a minimum of five percent of the vehicular use area be landscaped and (2) prohibiting structures from exceeding 40 feet in height.  It says that insufficient information has been submitted to determine compliance.  How long will it be before this information is found and are they going to comply with these conditions in time?  What happens if the height or the green space is not what it should be?

Mr. Schwartz said that assuming the fiscal court adopts the recommendations of the planning commission with all three of the conditions, they would kick in when the developer submits a developmental plan as part of the process and staff would review this to make sure that the buildings do not exceed the maximum limit.

Commissioner Black said issues raised by the opponent at the public hearing was asking what the developer was going to do with pole buildings near the property line and that the applicant uses the property to burn numerous things and windows cannot be opened because of smoke.  Is this because of burning vegetation or is this something that is ongoing?  Mr. Schwartz said it is unclear as to what was going on with the property and there were some buildings on the property that were demolished for the development.  Apparently, there has been open burning going on in the past that was overstated and there has not been any further discussion about it.

Commissioner Humpert said no buildings are shown on the current map other than the County Line Liquor and asked if there were other buildings.  Mr. Schwartz said aerial photographs are only taken every four years so there may be some buildings on here that did not show up in the aerial photographs.  There is a building on the property at the very southeast portion of the property that will continue as part of this development.  The cut is presently off Dixie Highway that serves that building and would be removed and it would gain access internally from a new public street.

Mr. Kimmich asked how access would be restricted from this open lot.  Mr. Schwartz said that as a part of the proposal they would be required to close the cut and revegetate it so that it would not look like a curb cut anymore.

Judge Drees said that in the plot plan if you go all the way to the right, there is one large lot and there is a line drawn down lots eight, five and six and wanted to know the reason for the line.  Mr. Schwartz said he was not sure what the line is but thought that it was an existing property.  Judge Drees also asked about taking the waterline all the way to the end of the property and asked since there were already homes on the other street, if this was the subdivision's water.  Mr. Schwartz said that subdivision would be able to connect to the water and sewer line and the county was supposed to extend it up to Derby Drive.  The applicant said they would be getting water and sewer service from the Grant County side and bringing it northward.

Commissioner Koenig said that in the supporting information it says that the A-1 zone is inappropriate.  Why is this inappropriate; is everything on the Grant County side similar to it?  Mr. Schwartz answered that Areas B and C are the crosshatch and what it says is that the existing A-1 zone is appropriate because this development allows for a larger, more coordinated development than presently exists.  These are two small areas that would not be affected under the A-1 zone and it makes more sense to attach these to the existing NC zone.  The comprehensive plan identifies land use categories and zoning restrictions and identifies the frontage along Dixie Highway for commercial development or non-residential development.  The back portion is for agricultural and rural uses.  Commissioner Koenig said the supporting information also talks about going to R-1D; is this high density.  Mr. Schwartz said that it is not high density but a mid-suburban density and the R-1D zone allows 4.8 per acre.  There will be more narrow lots with not as long a street.  Commissioner Koenig also said that at the back of the lot it looks as though it is very steep.  Mr. Schwartz said there are regulations and that staff will make sure of any slopes of 20 percent or greater and the building code falls out for a 30 percent slope.  If that is where the building is going to be and if you have building development in the 30 percent slope, you will get into some building code requirements and the planning commission will make certain that all of those are followed.

Judge Drees asked Mr. Schwartz for the planning commission's recommendations.  Mr. Schwartz said they were that the fiscal court approve all three parts.  Part one is that the amended development plan be approved for the left hand side of the handout, that the zone change be approved from A-1 to NC for the two crosshatch areas and that the zone change for the right side of the sheet be approved from A-1 to R-1D subject to the three conditions that have been discussed.

Condition one being that the number of detached family lots be limited to no more than 10 and that water and sanitary sewer service be extended to the North property line of the site that would be adjacent to the subdivision to the North, number two is the development plan and the revisions to the development plan meet all of the requirements of the Kenton County zoning ordinance and number three is that the new intersection be provided with a right turn deceleration lane and a left turn storage lane.

Commissioner Black asked how close in that requirement did they bring in the water and sewer to the edge and how much farther to get to the street.  Mr. Schwartz answered approximately 400 feet.  Commissioner Black asked if the developer could be asked to bring it in further.  Mr. Schwartz said the developer could not do anything that was off his property.

Deputy Judge Kimmich said that because of the timeline involved of the 90-day limit from the date the planning commission took action to vote, and they took action on May 5, the court is not really in a timeline to grant affirmative action of this zone change.  If the court is in agreement with the zone change and to let it take effect on August 5, there should be no action by this legislative body.  If it is the court's intention to deny or modify, we would have to take action on the first reading with modifications to set a public hearing next week and have a special meeting in order to do that.  If the court is willing to allow the recommendation of the planning commission to stand as recommended, action tonight would be to take no action and simply allow it to take effect on August 5 with the planning commission's recommendations.  By taking no action, the planning commission's recommendations and conditions set forth in the zone change stand as approved without affirmative action of the court.

Mr. Schwartz said that if it is the court's intention as a group to concur with the recommendation of the planning commission, do absolutely nothing.  The way the law reads is that it takes a majority of the entire legislative body to override the recommendation of the planning commission within 90 days of the commission's action.  If the 90 days expire and the recommendation becomes final and effective, it is done by operation of law.  On August 5 the recommendation will become effective if no action is taken.

Mr. Kimmich said he would recommend that the fiscal court adopt a resolution confirming the court's concurrence with the findings and recommendations of the planning commission, and it will be in the record acknowledging the report and acknowledging the court's concurrence with it.  A resolution will require only one vote by the court instead of two.

Commissioner Koenig made the motion; seconded by Commissioner Black.  The motion was unanimously approved on roll call vote.

Consent Agenda

CLAIMS LIST-County Treasurer Ivan Frye:  Since there were no questions or comments, warrants will be issued and the bills paid.

Mr. Frye said he had passed out to the court the treasurer's annual settlement and it has been sent to the newspapers to be published as required by law.  This is a settlement of the court's accounts for the prior year.  The first page is a summary that shows the amount at the beginning of the year, receipts from various types and disbursements and the ending balance.

Commissioner Humpert asked if the $1.2 million balance would go to the reserve account.  Mr. Frye said it would go into the general fund.

Mr. Frye said pages two, three and four are details of receipts and the last three pages are detailed expenses.  This is actually the basis for the county audit.

Commissioner Humpert made the motion to accept the report with a second from Commissioner Black.  The motion unanimously passed with the vote of aye.

Administrative Actions

HANDOUT NO. 05-45-Grant easement over right-of-way to allow treated water from 2.50 acres located at 3051 Cruise Creek Road, Morning View, Kentucky, Brandon Voelker reporting:  A house is being built and this is a sewage facility that treats the waste making it clean water and sending it out.  In order to send the water where it needs to go, an easement is needed to run the pipe underneath the right-of-way.

Mr. Kimmich said that because this homeowner is developing his home on a piece of property where the water run off will cross multiple parcels, he has to have easements approved by all land owners along the way.  The only pipe that will cross under is the one that goes under our roadway.  The other property owners have granted easement for this property.

Commissioner Koenig moved for approval; seconded by Commissioner Humpert.  The motion unanimously passed following roll call.

HANDOUT NO. 05-46-Request approval of a bond for the animal shelter employees, Joe Shriver reporting:  Mr. Shriver said this was an increase in the bond to cover the cash flow that is normal in the cash register.  Commissioner Black made the motion to accept; seconded by Commissioner Humpert, and the motion unanimously passed with the aye vote.

HANDOUT NO. 05-47-Authorization for Judge Executive Ralph A. Drees to sign agreement with Alternative Service Concepts, LLC for third party administration services, Joe Shriver reporting:  Kenton County has had this agreement for a number of years that handles the property, casualty, liability and workmens' compensation claims.  Commissioner Humpert made the motion for approval with a second from Commissioner Koenig, and the motion unanimously passed with a vote of aye.

HANDOUT NO. 05-48-Authorization for Judge Executive Ralph A. Drees to sign agreement for reimbursement of cost for relocation work related to the storm warning siren system of the Turkeyfoot Road project, Ed Burk reporting:  The state notified the county and asked that the sign be moved so it is not in the middle of traffic.  The state will pay for the movement but it is the county's property and we will have to move it.  Commissioner Black made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Humpert and the motion was unanimously approved with an aye vote.

Executive Orders

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 05-69-Reappointment of Michael Moffitt and Jeffery Landon to the Ethics Commission Board for the three-year period of October 14, 2005 through October 14, 2008: 

Commissioner Koenig moved for approval with a second from Commissioner Black.  The motion unanimously passed with an aye vote.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 05-70-Accept resignations from the following:  Logan Renner and Steve Kiefer from the golf courses, effective June 24 and July 16, 2005, respectively, and Andy Goetz as parks trustee, effective July 11, 2005:  Commissioner Humpert made the motion; seconded by Commissioner Black and the motion unanimously passed with the vote of aye.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 05-71-Appointment of Fred Phalzgraf as communications technician for the communications center in the police department, effective August 1, 2005:  Commissioner Black made the motion for approval with a second from Commissioner Humpert.  The motion was unanimously approved with the vote of aye.

Citizens Address

There were not any citizens present that wished to address the court.

Administrative Reporting

DEPUTY JUDGE EXECUTIVE-Scott Kimmich:  Asking the court to authorize the Judge Executive to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security for the sum of $450 to pay for a part of the training program that will take place on August 4 as a part of the region-wide program.  Commissioner Humpert made the motion; seconded by Commissioner Black and the motion unanimously passed with the aye vote.

Also, Ronnie Williams from Morningview was killed in Iraq, the first Kenton Countian to lose his life in this conflict.  His funeral is tomorrow and the flags were lowered to half staff on July 20 and will remain there until tomorrow night.

COUNTY TREASURER-Ivan Frye:  Nothing further to report.

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR-Joe Shriver:  Nothing further to report.

COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT-Brandon Voelker, assistant:  Nothing further to report.

Commissioners' Reports

COMMISSIONER BARBARA BLACK-Nothing to report.

COMMISSIONER DAN HUMPERT-Received a phone call from Dale Henson resigning from the Northern Kentucky Area Development District Council on Aging Board because of a time constraint.

Mr. Kimmich said the ADD Board has to approve the nominees and he was not officially approved.  He notified us within days after he got his letter that he would not be able to serve, so there will be a recommended replacement at the next meeting.

COMMISSIONER ADAM KOENIG-Sent his condolences to the Williams family.

Judge-Executive's Report

Asked the court to break to go into executive session pursuant to KRS 61.810, the acquisition or sale of county real estate.  Commissioner Humpert made the motion; seconded by Commissioner Black.  The court went into executive session with the unanimous vote of aye.

Executive Session

Commissioner Black made the motion to come back into regular court; seconded by Commissioner Humpert.  The vote unanimously passed with an aye vote.

A motion was made by Commissioner Koenig to reconvene into open session.  Commissioner Black seconded the motion, and upon a roll call vote, all members voted in the affirmative

A motion was made by Commissioner Black to declare surplus the property located behind the Kenton County police headquarters.  Authorization was given to the office of the Kenton County Judge Executive to take action to effectuate the disposition of said property pursuant to the procurement guidelines of the county.  Commissioner Koenig seconded the motion.

Judge Dress called for a roll call vote on the motion whereupon all members present voted in the affirmative.

Adjournment

Since there was not anymore business to come before the court, Commissioner Koenig made the motion to adjourn.  A second was received from Commissioner Humpert and the court adjourned with the unanimous vote of aye.