KENTON COUNTY FISCAL COURT

M I N U T E S

March 14, 2006, 9:00 A.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 Barbara Black and Adam Koenig; Deputy Judge Executive Scott Kimmich; Assistant County Attorney Brandon Voelker; Assistant County Attorney Stacey Hege; County Treasurer Ivan Frye; Human Resources Director Joe Shriver; Emergency Management Director Ed Burk; Police Chief Bill Dorsey; County Engineer Charles Meyer; Special Projects Manager Ralph Bailey; Fleet Management Director Roger Wells; Court Reporter Cathy Johnston; and Guests.

Commissioner Dan Humpert was absent because of a death in the family.

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 February 28, 2006.  Commissioner Black made the motion for approval with an amendment previously given to the clerk; seconded by Commissioner Koenig.  The motion was unanimously approved with the vote of aye.

Delegations

There were not any delegations brought before the court.

General Business

Kenton County Police Department update, Chief William Dorsey reporting:  Chief Dorsey said he wished to bring the court up to date on the CAD, RMS system and the police department.  An attempt was made to put all the communities to start a combine records management system and update the computer aided dispatch.  The CAD system portion of the project is complete expect for a few minor adjustments that are now being worked on.  The second part of the project is the records management system that would create a records system that every city in the county could use excluding Covington and Erlanger who have their own dispatch center.  All of the other cities for which the county dispatches would have a central records repository.  If there is a burglary that is being checked and information is sought on identical burglaries anywhere else in the area, records can be checked from the cities to see if this is happening.

The problem is that we have 12 different agencies in which to pull data from and this is being worked out.  Radio upgrades included new equipment for 911 which keeps getting bigger and better.  The FCC ordered Phase II compliance which is that cell phones be identified to dispatch centers as to their location.  The county had to pay $25,000.00 to the telephone company to flip the switch to turn on this service which has been in operation for approximately six weeks and this service works extremely well.

Commissioner Koenig asked about the new tasers and Chief Dorsey said they had been received and all of the officers had been trained and the equipment has been deployed but not yet used.

Judge Drees thanked Chief Dorsey for his report to the court.

Kenton County spring cleanup, Roger Wells reporting:  Judge Drees also asked Mr. Wells to report on the new program of picking up appliances and tires.  Mr. Wells said the spring cleanup that the court sponsors will be held March 31-April 2, 2006, from 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.  There will be four locations at Department of Public Works, 420 Independent Station Road; DRT Construction, 1991 Walton-Nicholson Pike; Piner Fire Department, Bracht-Piner Road; and Ryland City Building, 10145 Decoursey Pike.  Appliances and tires will only be taken at the public works location and general trash and other items will be taken at the other three locations.

The two new programs that were started in January are the monthly cleanup that is going on the first Saturday of every month from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. which has been very successful.  The county went from .7 tons and three customers in January to 107 customers in February and 92 in March.  Over 300 tires were taken the first of March so this program has been very successful.  The other program is the "We Care" appliance pickup program.  We have been averaging between 30 and 45 customers per month in picking up appliances, so this is also a very worthwhile program as well.

The Department of Fleet Management is planning an auction on surplus vehicles on May 20 at the Kenton County Fairgrounds.  There will be 30 – 35 vehicles for public auction.

Judge Drees thanked Mr. Wells for his report and the programs that keep tires and trash away from creeks and other public places that would have to be picked up by the county at another time.

Resolutions

Resolution No. 06-06

A resolution to support the beginnings of a multi-phase East/West highway system to connect Kenton, Boone and Campbell Counties to be constructed North of the ongoing improvements of Route 536, Commissioner Koenig reporting:  Commissioner Koenig said he was sent this resolution by the city of Taylor Mill and asked that the court consider approving it.  The legislature and the Governor have been asked to look at this project for future expansion into making it an East/West corridor that links Kentucky 16 and 17.  Kentucky #536 also needs to be improved and completed.  Commissioner Koenig made the motion for approval of the resolution; seconded by Commissioner Black.  The motion was unanimously approved upon a roll call vote.

Ordinances

Ordinance No. 924.28

Second reading amending the zoning map of Kenton County for an approximate 93 acre parcel located on the Northwest side and Southeast side of Marshall Road between Petty Road and Pruett Road, Scott Kimmich reporting:  Mr. Kimmich said that because of the absence of Commissioner Humpert a motion is being asked of the court to table this ordinance until the next meeting.  A second advertisement of the ordinance will be issued.

Commissioner Black made the motion with a second from Commissioner Koenig.  The motion was unanimously approved with the vote of aye.

Consent Agenda

Claims List-County Treasurer Ivan Frye:  There were no questions asked on the claims list, so the Judge said warrants will be issued and the bills paid.

Administrative Actions

Handout No. 06-15

Permission to surplus an electric stapler in the detention center:  Commissioner Black made the motion; seconded by Commissioner Koenig and the motion was unanimously approved with the aye vote.

Handout No. 06-16

Authorization for the engagement of professional services on behalf of the Rosedale Manor Board for an HVAC contractor for the purposes of developing a plan and overseeing the replacement of the existing HVAC system, Linda Knollman, Administrator of Rosedale Manor, reporting:  Rosedale Manor currently serves a population of 240 residents, 60 of these being personal care.  The sum of $35.00 per day is received from the state for the care of these residents, as well as 180 nursing facility residents.  Ms. Knollman said she had been the administrator for about one and one-half years and right before she started, an engineering firm was hired to do a study on the HVAC system that took several months.  The building is 15 years old and the chiller is undersized.  A meeting was hosted last year between the House and Senate Health and Welfare Committee, and because they complained of the heat the entire time they were there, they were told they needed to increase Rosedale Manor's funding.  This is an issue for the 240 residents who live there because they are not able to control their room temperature because it has to be either on or off.  The general areas are also an issue and in the medication room the medicines are actually melting because there is no regulation of the heat.  We are asking for assistance to implement the new chiller system and the heating and air conditioning units in the individual residents' rooms and the general areas.

Judge Drees said he had asked Ms. Knollman to try to tie some of the expenses down and to set an amount for a lump sum instead of having an open-end sum for the calls that would have to be made.  Judge Drees asked if $86,000.00 wasn't the lump sum for this service and Ms. Knollman answered yes, that this was for them to manage the project and there is a $500.00 maximum for incidentals such as mileage, postage, copying, telephone calls, etc.  Judge Drees asked if they would also have a chance to bid on the installation of the new equipment and changes in the handling system, etc.  Ms. Knollman answered yes, but she did not know if they have a division that does the actual installation of the heating and air conditioning services but they will do all of the engineering. 

Mr. Kimmich said that $86,000.00 was the engineering amount and the individual expenses are capped at $500.00 so the maximum will be $86,500.00.  The total project cost was estimated at $900,000.00.

Commissioner Black asked if the cost of $900,000.00 was for the system and if the amount of $86,500.00 included design work and specifications, and after the specs are done and the bid goes out and a company is selected, is there anything else that amount covers.  Mr. Kimmich said this company would continue to monitor this project through completion.  Commissioner Black asked at what time does this company stop the monitoring and if Rosedale Manor will depend on the company that installs the system.  Judge Drees said they do the inspection during the installation process too.  Commissioner Black said she could not understand why the chiller and the system that was put in does not now correctly operate.  Mr. Kimmich said they had lived with the original design for a long time and the HVAC system has outlived its usefulness.  It is a lot easier to install a bigger system during construction than it is to retro fit an existing building.  They will also have to work around the patients that live there which will also run up the cost of construction.

Commissioner Koenig asked if the work could be outlined and where all of the money is coming from.  Mr. Kimmich said the reason it is coming before the fiscal court is that the county collected until 2002 a nursing tax which was primarily for Rosedale Manor.  There is a reserve in that account for any capital improvements because Rosedale is still the property of Kenton Housing which is an arm of the Kenton County Fiscal Court, and it is felt that we have a responsibility for anything that happens at that building as far as maintenance and upkeep.  The county asked them to go out and seek proposals from engineering firms and they came back with a recommendation and the court would award the contract based on the recommendation of the Rosedale Manor Board.  When they select the actual contractor, that will also come back to the fiscal court and the checks will be cut to the contractor from the Rosedale Manor reserve rather than being paid through the Rosedale checking account.  The asset will be appreciating at that point based on the capital improvements made.  Commissioner Koenig asked how much was in the reserve and Mr. Frye answered that there is over $2,000,000.00.

Commissioner Black made the motion to engage the professional services followed by a second from Commissioner Koenig.  The motion unanimously passed upon a roll call vote.

Executive Orders

Executive Order No. 06-13

An order of the court providing for the reappointment of Jackie Sawyers and Bill Walsh to the Aviation Noise Abatement Committee for a two-year term to expire on March 21, 2008:  Commissioner Koenig made the motion for passage; seconded by Commissioner Black and the motion unanimously passed with an aye vote.

Executive Order No. 06-14

An order of the court providing for the reappointment of Joyce Wehner and Robert Dickman to the Kenton County Police Merit Board for a term to expire on March 21, 2010:  Commissioner Black made the motion for approval followed by a second from Commissioner Koenig.  The motion unanimously passed with the aye vote.

Citizens Address

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

Administrative Reporting

DEPUTY JUDGE EXECUTIVE-Scott Kimmich:  Nothing to report.

COUNTY TREASURER-Ivan Frye:  Mr. Frye said that in answer to Commissioner Koenig's question, the amount is $2,900,000.00.

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR-Joe Shriver:  Nothing to report.

COUNTY ATTORNEY'S REPORT-Stacey Hege:  The Kenton County Planning and Zoning Commission has acted to recommend the proposed text amendments regarding sexually oriented businesses.  These are now before the individual cities and the county attorney will be drafting these for the next meeting for the first reading.

A resolution was given to the court changing the amounts charged for commercial copies for persons doing open record requests.  The open records act allows for the difference in the amounts charged for commercial purposes versus noncommercial purposes.  The only change that was made in the resolution was for the charges for commercial purposes.

Mr. Kimmich asked if it shows that in the resolution the media would be exempt and the answer was yes.

Judge Drees asked for a motion and Commissioner Koenig moved for approval; seconded by Commissioner Black.  The motion was unanimously approved upon roll call.

Commissioners' Reports

COMMISSIONER BARBARA BLACK-Said the court's sympathy and prayers go out to the Humpert family.

COMMISSIONER DAN HUMPERT-Absent.

COMMISSIONER ADAM KOENIG-Nothing further to report.

Judge-Executive's Report

Nothing further to report.

Executive Session

An executive session was called pursuant to KRS 61.810 for the potential acquisition of real property.  Commissioner Black made the motion to go into the session; seconded by Commissioner Koenig.  The motion was unanimously carried with the aye vote.

Commissioner Koenig made the motion for the court to return to regular session followed by a second from Commissioner Black.  The motion was unanimously passed with the vote of aye.

Adjournment

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