KENTON COUNTY FISCAL COURT

M I N U T E S

JUNE 27, 2006, 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; County Attorney Garry Edmondson; County Treasurer Ivan Frye; Human Resources Director Joe Shriver; Public Safety Director Bill Dorsey; Public Works Director Joe Murphy; Jailer Terry Carl; Fleet Management and Solid Waste Management Director Roger Wells; Assistant County Attorney Stacey Hege; 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 Drees asked the court for approval of the minutes dated May 23, 2006.  Commissioner Humpert made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Koenig.  The motion was unanimously approved with the vote of aye with Commissioner Black abstaining because she was not present at the meeting.

Delegations

Monthly cleanup, Roger Wells reporting:  Mr. Wells talked about the relatively new program, We Care About the Environment program.  The first Saturday of each month the dumpsters at the Department of Public Works are open to the public and this allows them to bring heavy items in and there are crews and equipment on hand to assist them with the loading.  The second part of the program is the appliance pickup where any resident of Kenton County can call public works at 392-1920 and within three days someone will respond to pick up the appliances and up to four tires per resident.  The only asked of the residents is that the appliance be brought to the curb for pickup.  We have been in the system for six months and the first month we had one bin with .7 tons of trash and last month we had nine bins and 35.66 tons.  The program is growing by leaps and bounds and the success of the program is because of the dedicated men and women at public works and fleet management.

Judge Drees said it sounds as though this program really works.  Judge Drees asked if places such as Wal-Mart picked up the old appliances.  Mr. Wells said that most of the large stores now charge a fee for this service.  Judge Drees said this means more and more work will be put on the government again.

Commissioner Humpert said he was surprised at the amount of motor oil that has been collected.  Mr. Wells said this is sold to a recycler for 30 cents per gallon.

General Business

No general business items were brought to the court's attention.

Resolutions

Resolution No. 06-15

Approval and adoption of the compensation rates in the attached schedule authorizing the county treasurer to pay the established rates to employees on scheduled paydays, Ivan Frye, reporting:  It is the time of year when employee salaries and increases are published as prescribed.  Judge Drees asked for questions and there being none, Commissioner Black made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Koenig.  The motion unanimously passed with the vote of aye.

Resolution No. 06-16

Acknowledgement and approval for the request of Kenton County Judge Executive Ralph A. Drees to forward to John Reis, Kentucky Commissioner of Corrections, a plan providing a timeline for the construction of a county correction facility, Scott Kimmich reporting:  The commissioners have a copy of the timeline and have had time to review it.  Upon approval of the resolution the state will be put on notice of the process and timeline the county plans to follow moving toward groundbreaking for a new facility sometime in March or April of 2008 if everything happens on schedule.

Judge Drees said the real important timeline is finding a piece of land that this facility can be built on and that is not far off.  In the meantime, we have to find the money with which to build the facility.  The biggest problem is that two of the commissioners we now have that are approving this resolution will not be here later.

Commissioner Black said we had been down this road before and with the Commissioner of Corrections asking for a timeline, she wanted the citizens to understand that when there is a goal to be worked toward, there are two important elements that can be out of the court's control.  The facility is not only built but the county has to pay to run the facility forever and those types of decisions to a certain extent have been taken out of the county's hands up to this point by not having a mechanism in place to be able to pay for a facility.  It is incumbent upon the county to find a way to pay for the facility that is desperately needed.  When citizens realize the need for this facility because of letting criminals go too soon, maybe they will support what the county is trying to do.

Judge Drees said the county will have to figure out a way to raise some money to help pay for this facility.  Judge Drees asked for a motion for acceptance of the resolution and the motion was made by Commissioner Humpert; seconded by Commissioner Koenig.  The motion was unanimously approved upon roll call vote.

Resolution 06-07B

Adjustments between appropriation accounts recommended by the county treasurer as shown on the attached schedule, Ivan Frye reporting:  This adjustment is to cover changes that have occurred in the last month for items that are essential and necessary and adjustments had to be made to accounts.

Judge Drees asked about the $127,000 for building and construction under the emergency management budget line.  Mr. Frye answered this amount is for the erection of the fire training tower and the money had to be put in even though it is not being spent now because a purchase order had to be issued and there had to be enough money in the account to cover it.  Actually, $12,000 has been paid and the balance will be paid out of next year's budget which is already in there.

Commissioner Koenig made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Black and the motion unanimously passed upon a roll call vote.

Ordinances

There were not any ordinances brought before the court.

Consent Agenda

Claims List-County Treasurer Ivan Frye:  Judge Drees asked if there were any questions regarding the claims list.  Since no one asked any questions, Judge Drees said that warrants would be issued and the bills paid.

Administrative Actions

Handout No. 06-33

Requesting approval for a hearing by the Northern Kentucky Planning Commission/Kenton County and Municipal Planning Commission on a proposal to allow for the designation of a child day care center as either a principally permitted or conditional use, Scott Kimmich reporting:  This is a request of a property owner on Walton Nicholson Pike requesting to be able to operate a child daycare center in a facility adjacent to a minimall type area.  There are situations in the county where daycare centers do operate in conjunction with those type of facilities; however, because of the current zoning on the property it is not a permitted or conditional use.

Commissioner Humpert said the current zoning is rural commercial and regular commercial has daycare as part of it but somehow this got left out.  Mr. Kimmich said that when rural commercial was created for unincorporated Kenton County this is one of the items that was left out.  The court is asking that Mr. Kimmich be authorized to sign the request to the planning commission to review and make a recommendation back to the court.

Judge Drees asked for a motion and Commissioner Black made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Humpert and the motion unanimously passed with the aye vote.

Handout No. 06-34

Requesting authorization to proceed with a payment of $5,000 to the Northern Kentucky Encyclopedia Project from funds identified in the budget as salary for the Kenton County Judge Executive, Scott Kimmich reporting:  This is a request that has come from Forward Quest who are working in conjunction with the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives.  The Kenton County Library has also put up $5,000 and the general assembly has put up $150,000 for the publication of this document and they are asking the counties and major cities to participate.  The city of Florence has put in $5,000 in response to help match the state appropriation that was made.  Judge Drees asked that this be brought to the fiscal court for its consideration.

Commissioner Humpert made the motion to approve with a second from Commissioner Black.  Judge Drees said this was a request that was made a long time ago and that it is a good project.  The motion unanimously passed with the aye vote.

Handout No. 06-35

Authorization to lower speed limits on Coleman Road and Hickory Grove Road, Scott Kimmich reporting:  Mr. Kimmich said it had been brought to his attention that an ordinance has to be passed to adjust the speed limit on a county road.  The fiscal court is being asked to pass by summary and title on first reading an ordinance of the Kenton County Fiscal Court to adjust the speed limit on these roads as recommended by the Kenton County police and setting the July meeting as the date for the public hearing and second reading of the ordinance.

The speed limit is not currently posted and a non-posted county road is 35 miles per hour based on the evaluation that has been done by the county police.  The reports that have been submitted and they are recommending that the speed limit on those roads be reduced to 25 miles per hour.

Commissioner Humpert said he had seen areas where non-posted speed limits are 15 or 20 miles per hour and asked how the county ended up 35?  Mr. Edmondson said the cities had done this by ordinance.  Commissioner Humpert asked if the county's non-posted speed limit could be lowered and that he did not think the county should have 35 miles per hour for the non-posted speed limit.  Mr. Edmondson said this is not necessarily a good idea for our roads because the public would not abide by it, this would have to be posted and would cost the county a lot of money.

Mr. Kimmich said that if the court could approve first reading of the ordinance he would ask the police chief and public works director to review the current roads that are not posted and give a preliminary report at the next meeting.  Great detail will not be gone into, but a preliminary review of what current roads exist at 35 MPH that are not posted will be reviewed.  These roads will be posted at 25 MPH upon second reading.

Commissioner Humpert said the other thing that could be done was to lower the non-posted speed limit to 25 MPH if we have a lot of roads that are like these two.  Mr. Murphy said that all of the county roads are 35 MPH unless otherwise posted and almost all of them are posted at 35 MPH.  These are narrow dead end roads and most of the traffic on them is residents that live on the roads other than mail or other service vehicles.  Someone put up a homemade sign and this is how the Hickory Road situation has come about.  Also, on Coleman Road the residents were complaining about the speeders and because of these complaints the police study was done.

Commissioner Humpert asked Mr. Murphy if there were a lot of roads like Coleman Road that should be 20 or 25 MPH.  Mr. Murphy said there may be some out in the rural area and that almost every road is posted and a check could be done on this.

Judge Drees asked for a motion to approve the ordinance by summary and title.  Commissioner Humpert made the motion; seconded by Commissiner Koenig and the motion was unanimously approved with the aye vote.

Handout No. 06-36

Surplus of office equipment in the county clerk's office:  Commissioner Koenig made the motion to approve followed by a second from Commissioner Black and the motion unanimously passed with the vote of aye.

Handout No. 06-37

Purchasing department is requesting permission to renew the contracts/agreements for concrete to Moraine Materials, paving to Eaton Asphalt, sand to Bray Trucking, stone to Hilltop Stone, and Ford vehicle replacement parts to Airport Ford, Ivan Frye reporting:  These are five items that are currently under contract which permits an extension on mutual consent.  The vendors have written with Moraine Materials indicating they wish to continue at the same price.  Eaton Asphalt is willing to extend their contract with a five percent increase in the hauling and placing of the asphalt and $4.00 per ton.  While this sounds like a lot of money, the price of gasoline has gone up and it is believed that this is a fair price.  Bray Trucking is offering renewal at the same rate with no increase.  Hilltop Stone has added a five percent increase in the hauling fee and Airport Ford is extending the same terms whereby they give the county a 10 percent discount on all parts ordered from them.

Commissioner Black made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Humpert and the motion unanimously passed with the vote of aye.

Handout No. 06-38

Public works is requesting the bid for salt be awarded to North American Salt Company as the lowest and best bid, Ivan Frye reporting:  This is one item where bids were taken because the vendor was not willing to extend the contract and two bids were received and this is the lowest bid.  This bid is for $45.71 per ton delivered to public works or $42.71 for pickup.  This item is not for the county but another agency that we bid for to pick it up.  In the county's case, it is usually cheaper to have it delivered than picked up because when the county goes to pick it up, there is usually a storm going on and they are very busy and we have the capability to order in advance with the salt barns.

Judge Drees asked how this compared with the previous year and Mr. Frye said it was a little over $6.00 per ton.  Commissioner Koenig made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Humpert.  Commissioner Black asked if this was the contract on which the cities can participate and Mr. Frye said there are two, Erlanger and Independence.  The other cities order their own and either have it delivered or pick it up.  The motion unanimously passed with the aye vote.

Handout No. 06-39

Permission to renew a proposed amendment for the maintenance and repair agreement between the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Department of Highways, and Kenton County, Scott Kimmich reporting:  This is an authorization for extension sent by the state and the county is asking for continuation of the contract with the Commonwealth for the maintenance of certain roads that are part of the rural secondary system at the state level.  It makes sense for the county to maintain them based on their limited resources as far as manpower and equipment.  This has been a good relationship for both parties at this point.

Commissioner Humpert made the motion for approval followed by a second from Commissioner Black and the motion unanimously passed with the aye vote.

Executive Orders

Executive Order No. 06-46

Reappointment of Dave Sogar to the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky Board for a four-year term, expiring June 30, 2010:  Commissioner Black made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Koenig and the motion unanimously passed with the vote of aye.

Executive Order No. 06-47

Approval of resignation of Thomas R. Duncan as a park trustee, effective May 23, 2006:  Commissioner Koenig moved for approval followed with a second from Commissioner Black and the motion unanimously passed with the aye vote.

Executive Order No. 06-48

Employment of Kevin Kreft as seasonal maintenance at the golf courses, effective June 4, 2006:  Commissioner Humpert made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Koenig and the motion unanimously passed upon the vote of aye.

Executive Order No. 06-49

Resignation of James Kipp as an employee from the Department of Public Works, effective June 22, 2006:  Commissioner Black made the motion for approval followed by a second from Commissioner Koenig.  The motion unanimously passed with the aye vote.

Executive Order No. 06-50

Appointment of Jack A. Perkins as a park trustee employee for Kenton County Parks and Recreation, effective July 1, 2006:  Commissioner Koenig moved for approval; seconded by Commissioner Humpert and the motion unanimously passed with the vote of aye.

Citizens Address

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

Administrative Reporting

JUDGE EXECUTIVE RALPH A. DREES-Announced that H. Lawson Walker, James Huff and Richard Crist had been approved to serve as members of the Kenton County Airport Board.

DEPUTY JUDGE EXECUTIVE-Scott Kimmich:  Commissioner Koenig and I have been working with the bylaws and amendments of the conservancy reconstructed and back in place.  The only thing that is needed is for the fiscal court to approve are the bylaws.  The amendments were to provide for the reappointment of board members by the Judge Executive with approval of the fiscal court.  They also provide that in the event property is deeded to the conservancy. it is done so in such a manner as to provide for a review by the planning commission and the conservancy, and approved by the fiscal court as it relates to public easements where there may be a necessity to have a public road go through a piece of property that the conservancy owns.  Obviously the planning agency, the conservancy and the fiscal court have to work together to ensure that it is done in the least obtrusive possible manner.  It would provide for roads and other infrastructure that may be necessary for them to shut off a quadrant or whole sections of the county as property is deeded to the conservancy.  This would be done in such a way as to ensure the respect for the intent of conserving the property without hindering the potential for infrastructures throughout the county.  Mr. Kimmich apologized and said he did not have the draft form of the information ready because of a computer glitch.  These are the items that have been requested for change.

Commissioner Koenig said this is the main issue that was dealt with along with other smaller issues such as the bylaws that says if anybody leaves in the middle of their term the conservancy would appoint the replacement.

Commissioner Black asked how many board members there were and what groups they represented.  Commissioner Koenig said that if he correctly remembered the bylaws, the conservancy was allowed to have between five and fifteen members.  The only members now are ex-officio and this is because we have been trying to work on the bylaw changes and no appointments will be made until these are finished.  We are currently more or less nonfunctioning and there are properties we are waiting to get approved by the board once it is properly reconstituted.  Basically, the ex-officio members are the Judge, Scott Gunning, Dennis Gordon or his designee and me.  We need to get things rolling again and as far as other groups, it is hard to find people who are interested and want to take the time to work on conserving green space.

Mr. Kimmich said that additionally the conservancy has tried to appoint members who are with the soil conservation district, the cooperative extension service, and representatives from the banking industry to assist those people that may want to give land in trust to help them get through the process of setting up trusts and transferring property.  The county attorney has served as counsel to the conservancy and the numbers have jumped back and forth.  This will give us the ability to restructure and move it forward.  There is now some property some people want to donate.

Commissioner Black said she was sure there were other groups that had been involved in conservancy types of activities in the county and the county court can find them and give them a shot at participating.  The other thing we want to be certain about is the people who want to donate their property understand before they do that the type of amendments that is being done for bylaws to provide for easements could affect the property they are donating.  I would hate to think I had given the conservancy some property and in five years there needs to be some type of easement because a development is getting a sewer or water line and a family gets upset because the green space is going to have an easement going through it.

Mr. Kimmich said one of the primary reasons for the amendment is to ensure that there is full disclosure on the front end of how it is to be handled before a person issues a deed.  There are no deeds that have been accepted on behalf of the conservancy at this point that would be in conflict with this amendment.  Commissioner Black asked if it was going to be specified in the amendment those things that could be considered to be in the interest of the county?  Mr. Kimmich said it specifically says for public utilities, roadways and passways, so basically it would be gas, water, sewer and roads.

Commissioner Koenig said that it was also put in layers of going through to make sure the conservancy is aware of anything that might happen with going through the planning commission and final approval of the fiscal court.

Mr. Kimmich said there would be no surprises with disclosure on the front end of the intent of the conservancy to protect the land and at the same time provide a mechanism, if necessary, to encroach upon the property in the least intrusive possible manner.

Judge Drees said there is a tax break on the land that is given and asked how the conservancy is involved in this.  Commissioner Koenig said he did not think the conservancy was involved at all but was involved in receiving.  Mr. Edmondson said this was between the donor and the IRS.

Commissioner Koenig made the motion for approval; seconded by Commissioner Humpert and the motion unanimously passed with a roll call vote.

Mr. Kimmich said that the second thing was at the mayor's meeting last year there was a discussion about having more recreation activities provided by the county or in conjunction with cities that would move around the county.  Acting on this recommendation, Scott Gunning and Steve Trauger have notified the COSI group out of Ohio who are putting on three programs this year at Pioneer Park.  The first was on June 15 and there were 88 participants.  It is science-based learning for the kids and it went very well and there are two more planned.

COUNTY TREASURER-Ivan Frye:  Nothing further.

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR-Joe Shriver:  Nothing.  Judge Drees suggested that Mr. Shriver may want to briefly go over the insurance program.  Mr. Shriver said there were 13 employee meetings over the course of two weeks in June.  There were weekly e-mails going out and things went pretty smooth.  There was about a two-to-one ratio of the new plan versus the old plan elections, so 100 signed up for the traditional plan and about 200 signed up for the new standard plan.  There were 15 or so that actually waived the plan because they had proof of other insurance.  There will be more movement in November when we have the full year election for the 2007 year.

Commissioner Humpert asked for the deadline to submit the form and Mr. Shriver answered that it was June 16.  Over 90 percent of the forms were received but those in the military had to be given some slack.  The week of July 24 is being looked at for the wellness program for doing the blood draws for the risk assessments.  This will actually be done the first two weeks of December.  Enrollment will be done in November and the wellness program will be done in December.  This works out great because this is a dead week for them and it is a good time for us going into the new year.

Judge Drees said they did a great job on a tough issue and that he was proud of the people who worked on the program and put it together.  

COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT-Garry Edmondson:  Nothing new to report.

Commissioners' Reports

COMMISSIONER BARBARA BLACK-Said she wanted to again thank the citizens for participating in the recycling effort to raise funds for the animal adoption center.  You can bring any type of papers except phone books down to the recycling bins and we have the highest amount of recycling of any other center in the Greater Cincinnati area.  In September, the animal shelter will have the first gala fund raising event and you will hear more about this event in the near future.  I continue to encourage people to take your papers and drop them off at the animal shelter.  If you want to volunteer in any other way, call the county offices or get the number for the animal shelter from the phone book and give them a call.

COMMISSIONER DAN HUMPERT-Nothing to report.

COMMISSIONER ADAM KOENIG-Said he wanted to thank everyone for their help with the conservancy.  We look forward to making appointments at the next meeting.

Judge-Executive's Report

Nothing further to report.

Executive Session

There was no executive session called.

Adjournment

There being no further business to come before the court, Commissioner Humpert made the motion to adjourn; seconded by Commissioner Black.  The court was adjourned with the unanimous vote of aye.