CRESTVIEW
HILLS
REGULAR
COUNCIL MINUTES
NOVEMBER 13,
2003
CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Meier called the
meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance and silent prayer.
ROLL CALL - Present: Mrs. Terri Jameson; Messrs. David Kramer,
Ralph Laird, Joseph Maloney, Harold Ries and Frank Sommerkamp Jr.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA - The agenda was approved
with the following additions:
D.
Mike Hargis & Jason
Groneck, Hemmer Company will discuss two new buildings in the Office Park. Centre View B & C.
E.
Mayor Meier will recommend
to Council the appointment of a special committee to research and discuss the
issuance of Industrial Revenue Bonds to redevelop the Crestivew Hills Mall.
F.
Request for application to
the KC&MP&ZC to change the sign ordinance in the RP1 zone.
Motion:
Mr. Kramer Second:
Mr. Maloney
Yes
6 No 0
Motion
passed.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - To approve the minutes,
with any additions or corrections, of the Thursday, October 9, 2003, regular
Council meeting.
Correction:
Page 4 - Ordinance 2003-9-10 should be 2003-9-1.
Motion: Mr. Ries Second: Mr. Kramer
Yes
6 No 0
Motion
passed.
CITIZENS & GUESTS - Mayor Meier introduced
Melissa Jort, NKAPC, to discuss the Banklick Water Shed.
Ms.
Jort presented a handout with a
map. Ms. Jort spoke about a joint
project that was awarded in part to the Northern Kentucky Area Planning
Commission (NKAPC) by the National
Urban Community Forestry and Advisory Council.
The handout represents an overview of the project called “Water Shed
Analysis and Issue Characterization for Education and Outreach.” What this basically means is that they are
studying a geographical area in Northern Kentucky called the Banklick Water
Shed. Crestview Hills is located within
that geographical area. Ms. Jort
referred to the map enclosed in the handout information that shows the
boundaries of the Banklick Water Shed.
The
Planning Commission is looking at ways trees and urban forestry can improve the
health of this watershed. Ms. Jort
explained that a watershed is a catch basin, a geographic area that is drained
by a particular creek or river, in this case it is the Banklick Creek. The watershed includes the visible area you
see on the surface of the landscape (all the land in the Banklick Creek Water
Shed), and includes the area under the surface consisting of the rock and
bedrock that absorbs and holds the rainfall beneath the earth to provide
groundwater.
What
the Planning Commission is going to do is create a link between Urban Forestry
and watershed water quality and resource.
Ms. Jort referred to trees as our green infrastructure that provides
benefits to us such as improving water quality, the rivers and streams connect
wildlife habitats, provide good soil for agriculture and provide recreational
opportunities. Urban forestry provides
a filtering process to keep pollutants out of our water. Trees cool the air in summer, reduce
flooding and provide beautification, which increases the value of our
properties.
Ms.
Jort referred to page 2 of the handout, a brief list of information. It
identifies the Banklick watershed as the principal watershed in Kenton County,
which consists of 406 square miles and contains a population of 65,000 people
in 10 cities and unincorporated Kenton County.
The Banklick Creek has been designated by the Commonwealth to be an
impaired waterway. That impairment
deals with water quality as it relates to pollution into the watershed. That is related to untreated sewage, runoff
water and construction going on in this area.
Northern Kentucky has a lot of steep slopes and low permeability soils
and all of this compounded by increasing development causes flooding in low
lying areas. There have been identified
areas of sewers backing up and there are combined and separate overflows that
are discharging into the streams and creeks in this area.
An
organization was put together called the Banklick Watershed Council, a non
profit organization whose main goal is to look at research and education to try
to promote better stormwater practices, pride and public health within the
watershed area and to promote sound watershed management practices.
NKAPC
as one of the partners was awarded funds through a grant from the National
Urban and Community Forestry Grant.
That council, comprised of 15 members, was created by the 1980 Farm
Bill, which provides advice to the Secretary of Agriculture on urban and
community forestry. The council
reviewed NKAPC’S proposal for the
project. It was one of 15 projects that were awarded in the nation. The results of this study will be
distributed throughout the nation. The
Banklick Watershed is a good example because many of the issues that were
addressed in this study are being faced elsewhere in the nation.
The
overall goals are issue characterization and the NKAPC will be trying to
identify what the issues are within the watershed and pinpoint where these
areas of concern are and how the Urban Forestry can play a role in improving
the condition of water quality and quantity.
They are going to have a lot of public involvement and they are going to
have their first meeting in February of next year. At that meeting, they are going to be asking citizens to report
where these areas of concern are because people who live in these areas can
most readily identify these areas of concern.
They will be putting together a manual of information containing
documentation of the project from beginning to its conclusion. This outreach will assist other watershed
projects throughout the nation in their outreach efforts. The project has already started and will go
through to the end of next year. They
will be gathering data and analyzing that data, compiling many educational and
outreach materials, then the manual.
Throughout 2005 they will be promoting the results of the project.
On
page 3 of the overview is a list of the active, involved partners of the
project: Davey Resource Group, Banklick
Watershed Council, Northern Kentucky Urban & Community Forestry Council,
Kenton County Soil & Water Conservation District, Kentucky Waterways
Alliance, Sanitation District #1, Boone County Planning Commission (because a
portion of the Banklick Watershed extends into Boone County), and in
addition: Kenton County Conservancy,
Kenton County Planning Commission, and the Telecommunications Board of Northern
Kentucky will assist with the distribution of publicity.
They
will produce a number of products as part of the publicity efforts: printed materials, cd-rom materials,
web-based materials, a stewardship manual for property owners, web-based educational
templates, public presentations, council brochures, a video and the
manual.
The
purpose of the presentation this evening is to ask for Council’s support of the
project and to recommend that a representative of the City assist with
distributing educational materials to the citizens. Tree Boards and community groups would be helpful in gathering
feedback for the project.
Mayor
Meier asked if it is only the Research Park/Horsebranch Area that is located in
the Banklick Watershed area. Ms. Jort stated
that is the area located in Crestview Hills.
Mayor Meier offered the use of the City’s meeting room for meetings and
the City Newsletter for publicizing dates of meetings.
MAYOR’S
REPORT -
1.
Mayors’
Meeting is Saturday, November 19 at 9:00 A.M. at the Sanitation Department’s
new building on 3L Highway. It would be
a good chance to see the new facility.
2.
MGLNK
Annual Dinner - November 15th - 6:00 P.M. Summit Hills Country
Club. Reservations should be in for
that event.
3.
Tuesday,
Eggs & Issues 7:15 A.M. at Five Seasons - Topic “Northern Kentucky 2003
Industry Update.”
4.
A
week from Friday, November 21st - Government Forum - Mayor Jerry
Abramson of Louisville will be the speaker.
5.
Mayor
Meier obtained a copy of the Phase II Stormwater Permit from the Sanitation
District. He has also requested a GIS
Map. If anyone wants to see the permit
a copy is available.
6.
Mayor
Meier & Mr. Groth are working on the Personnel Policy and looking into
Purchasing Procurement Procedures.
7.
Mayor
Meier & Mr. Groth are meeting with architectural firms to study how best to
proceed with the City building construction.
8.
Letter
was received from the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council, which reported that the
Lakeside Park/Crestview Hills Police Authority is again to receive KLEFPF Funds.
Mr.
Kramer asked if the Mayor and Mr. Groth have looked into the reverse bidding
process. Mr. Kramer e-mailed Mr. Groth
several articles on the subject. Mr.
Groth stated that he sat in on a demonstration at the City of Edgewood. Mayor Meier stated that some Cities have
received positive results from reverse bidding, however, there is some
negativity to the procedure. The City
will probably be looking into the process for all purchasing.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
OLD
BUSINESS
– None to report.
Re-appointment
of Peggy Sensel to the Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky (TBNK)
Motion: Mr.
Laird Second:
Mr. Kramer
Yes
6 No
0
Mayor
Meier explained that the TBNK representatives oversee those who work for the
Telecommunication Board. Ms. Stewart,
City Attorney, explained that the Board negotiates franchise agreements. Mr. Laird stated that at one time the Board
was very vocal and reported in the media.
Mayor Meier stated that there are issues in the near future that will
bring the media attention on the Board.
Re-appointment of Joe Price to Kenton County Municipal Planning & Zoning Commission (KC&MP&ZC) – term of four years – January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2007
Mr.
Price is now the Vice Chairman of the Commission.
Motion: Mr. Sommerkamp Second: Mr. Kramer
Yes
6 No
0
First Reading of Ordinance 2003-11-1 – To change the Mayor and Council stipend to reflect that Council raises shall be tied in with the Consumer Price Index and keep even with inflation, to become effective in January 2005, after the election for Council, and to become effective January 2007, after the election for Mayor
Mayor
Meier stated that raises, according to the Statute, can’t go above $7200 per
year. Mary Ann Stewart, Attorney,
confirmed that the Consumer Price Index is computed by Statute. The State Department for Local Government
must compute it and announce it by the second week in February. It will be last year’s consumer price index
rating. Effective date can be put off
until after that second week in February to encompass the latest rate. Mr. Kramer recommended March 1st. Mayor Meier stated that perhaps July 1 would
be more convenient for budget purposes.
Mr. Groth stated that it could be made retroactive back to January
1. Discussion followed: There was a consensus that March 1 would be
the appropriate time for the Ordinance to take effect. Second Reading will be at the December
meeting.
Mr.
Laird expressed opposition to the increase in salaries because it is uncertain
in the future where the Consumer Price Index (CPI) will take those
salaries. He can’t see the
justification of raising Council salaries.
He does believe that the Mayor should be compensated for inflation but
he does not believe Council raises should because the requirements are not as
great as those of the Mayor, who attends numerous meetings in the interest of
the City.
Mr.
Kramer stated that the first proposed adjustment was larger than he could
support, so last month he encouraged Mr. Sommerkamp to rethink the increase and
make it a cost of living approach because it is really not an increase. Mr. Kramer stated that courts and government
entities all recognize that a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is not an
increase. It keeps you at the same
exact purchasing power you had before last year. The benefit he sees to this approach the CPI level approach is
that it does keep you level and doesn’t let you fall back and have a problem
every four, six or eight years that your pay is the same as it was eight years
ago but worth 15% or 20% less. To
address that issue and take it out of the realm of politics, where it often
seems to end up, he would suggest to Mr. Sommerkamp to go with the CPI approach
instead of the larger increase that was initially proposed. He said like everyone else on Council he is
not on Council for the money but at the same time it made sense to maintain the
same compensation that Council receives every year versus letting it fall back
and become a problem for future councils and a political issue.
Mary
Ann Stewart, City Attorney, stated that this is not unique to Crestview Hills,
a lot of the other Northern Kentucky cities have adopted this type of
ordinance. Kenton County has adopted
it, Covington had adopted it, and several of the cities have adopted it, where
they have tied the increases to the Price Index. Theoretically, the risk is that the Consumer Price Index would
decrease and you’d have a decrease. Mr.
Kramer stated that if that did happen then they would have the same purchasing
power they had the prior year. Mr.
Maloney stated that he thought the COLA was meant for the person who was
working for a wage for their livelihood.
Mr. Maloney pointed out that Council stipend is not a livelihood. In that respect he thinks they are kind of
off kilter. Basically, people who start
out on Councils are donating their time.
That was his feeling when he became a Council member. If he were here for the money, it would take
a lot more money than what they are paid.
He just would not like to see this get to a point where people are
running for this office for the money.
They have to be very careful and control the situation. It was pointed out to him that he never
turned down a raise. He said he felt
justified in taking it if everybody else was, but he also stands on his record
of never having voted for a raise for Council.
Mayor
Meier wishes to take a straw vote to see who would like to go on to second
reading next month.
Yes
4 No 2
Mr.
Ries pointed out that if a Council member does not want the raise he/she can
turn it down. Mayor Meier suggested
that it be donated if that is the case.
Mike Hargis
& Jason Groneck, Hemmer Company will discuss two new buildings in the
Office Park. Centre View B & C.
Mayor Meier stated that Mr. Hargis & Mr. Groneck met with the Economic Development Committee on Tuesday.
Mr. Hargis presented Office Park – Centre View
buildings B & C to be built on one lot.
Hemmer owns 50% of each of these projects and the projects are single
tenant projects. One is a dentist and
the other is a computer company. Lot
16D is the lot on which these buildings will go. It is the lot just across from Alliance Research. When the Oncology building was discussed he
pointed out, they established two flag lots, one of which is the Oncology
Building, and the only remaining flag lot in the office park was lot 16D, so
with the construction of this project there will be no more flag lots.
Mr. Reis expressed concern for the for rent
signs. Mr. Hargis explained that the
Hemmer Buildings are fairly well leased.
The first building is a 4,700 square foot, single
story office building to be used as a dental office. There will be a courtyard and then there is a two-story building
adjacent to that. The basic
construction is brick veneer with stone on the lower levels and under the
window levels. Similar to the
construction techniques they are using at Chapel Place D & E that are under
construction. The two-story building
and the one story building have a combination of flat roof/slope roof areas
also a combination of standing seam metal and other materials as you see on
other buildings in the Office Park.
They are in compliance with all the zoning issues. There were some issues that came up at the
Economic Development Committee meeting.
The following items were discussed:
1. Some of the perimeter
landscaping needs more shrubbery between the trees. They will comply with this request. 2. There was a question
about the existing dumpster area. The
dumpster was constructed in 1993 or 1994 and it is intended to service four
buildings, the Centre View Building that has not been constructed yet, the
Condominium project. Medical Waste was asked about at the meeting. Mr. Hargis explained that medical waste
disposal is mandated by the State, so there will be no medical waste put in the
dumpster areas as it is prohibited by the State. Mayor Meier asked if the buyers are aware the dumpster is there. Mr. Hargis stated that they are aware of
it. 3. Confirmation regarding the use
of the metal panel and what kind of roof systems. There was an issue brought up about confirmation that the paving
design would meet the subdivision regulations.
The Committee decided he did not have to have a certification on that,
however, he did state that it is in all their projects and does in fact meet
the subdivision regulation. 4. Stormwater calculations have been submitted
to the Sanitation District, formerly reviewed by the NKAPC. 5.
They were asked to extend the sidewalk up to the northern property line,
then when the Centre View Building is construct that walkway will be extended
up to the walkway system along Centre View Blvd.
Mr. Kramer reported that Mr. Hargis has accurately
depicted the items that came up at Tuesday’s meeting. The Economic Development & Zoning Committee voted unanimously
to recommend Stage I & Stage II approval of the project subject to those
conditions and recommendations of staff and NKAPC. Mr. Kramer moved for Stage I
and Stage II approval by Council.
Motion: Mr.
Kramer Second: Frank Sommerkamp
Yes 5 No 1
Motion
passed.
Mr.
Sommerkamp pointed out that the curbs on Centre View Blvd. on the corner are
broken down and further down the street there are broken curbs. Mr. Hargis stated that the curbs will be
fixed as the project gets under way.
They had anticipated that there would be curb damage.
Mr.
Kramer asked Mr. Hargis if Hemmer to pass on to the new doctors’ offices in the
Office Park that it is important to notify patients where the offices are
located since many people, especially new patients, often have to ask
directions in Thomas More Park. Mr.
Hargis stated that the Oncology Group will be approaching the city with a
signage package. Mr. Groth stated that
Oncology Group has done that.
Mr.
Hargis expressed concerned about the item on the agenda regarding the Signage
in the Office Park. Mr. Groth explained
that it is a minor matter not a major zone change limiting signs to thirty
square feet.
Mayor
Meier asked Mr. Hargis to make sure that Mr. Jansing, Ft. Mitchell Fire Dept.
gets sets of plans for the new buildings.
Mayor Meier will recommend to Council the appointment
of a special sub-committee to research and discuss the issuance of Industrial
Revenue Bonds to redevelop the Crestivew Hills Mall.
Mr. Anderson, Developer,
asked the Economic Development Committee to consider industrial revenue bonds
to renovate the Mall. Mayor Meier
stated that he is unfamiliar with the process.
His understanding is that there is perhaps a period of time that taxes
would be suspended. He suggests that a
committee be put together to research the possibility. He asks that the committee be made up
of the following people: Frank Sommerkamp, David Kramer, Joe Maloney,
Dan Groth, Walter Blair, Jeff Mando, City Attorney and himself. They will work with Mr. Anderson and bring
their findings back to Council.
Motion to appoint a
sub-committee for the purpose of research and discussion about the issuance of
Industrial Revenue Bonds for the purpose of redevelopment of the Crestview
Hills Mall made by:
Motion: David Kramer Second: Joe Maloney
Yes
6 No 0
Motion
carried.
Mr.
Kramer stated that he believes the amount of investment Mr. Anderson spoke of
was almost $90,000,000 in the Mall.
That is probably about the amount of revenue bonds he would
propose. As far as a term, he thinks it
is customary to go 20 years. His
understanding of the way the funds work is that the City would be the title
owner in name only of the property, but the developer would maintain the rights
to income and profits and part of that arrangement is that the lease income
from the property is pledged to pay the bonds and the developer would receive
any profits over and above that. The key
issue for us is negotiating what amount of payments in lieu of property taxes
they will pay over the 20-year period.
They are not getting any sort of abatement of occupational license or
other business taxes. On this type bond
issue the amount of payments in lieu of property taxes will be the key number
to negotiate with them.
Mayor
Meier stated that he wanted to make sure from the beginning that the schools
are not hurt in this project. He will give Council a monthly report.
Mr.
Sommerkamp stated that in the past, the City has not taken a lead in
approaching developers about building in the City. Mr. Kramer as Chair of the Economic Development Committee has led
Mr. Anderson to believe that this City is definitely interested in developing
the Mall. It has been the fact that Mr.
Kramer has kept in touch with Mr. Anderson that sparked the interest in the
project. Mr. Sommerkamp stated that he
felt Mr. Anderson was definitely interested in the project.
Mr.
Kramer stated that once the zoning was changed in front of the Mall, the
situation definitely needed follow-up.
Request for application to the KC&MP&ZC To change the Sign Ordinance in the RP1 zone.
This is to
apply for a public hearing in December for the Planning Commission to approve,
approve with changes, or disapprove changes to the Sign Ordinance in the RP1
zone. After that recommendation is
received it will take two sessions of Council for First and Second Reading.
Motion
to apply to the KC&MP&ZC to change the Sign Ordinance in the RP1 zone:
Motion: Mr. Laird Second: Mr. Sommerkamp
Yes
6 No
0
Motion
passed.
Public
Works –
Mr. Sommerkamp reported on the following:
Mr. Kramer
asked whether taking out the guardrail and replacing it with a board fence
presented a safety problem. Mr.
Sommerkamp explained that it would not be a safety problem because the reason
for taking out the guardrail was not to replace it with the fence. Since the sidewalk and box-curb has gone in
there is not need for the guardrail.
No
meeting was held. There is a meeting on
November 19th at 9:00 AM to review a KVS Information Systems
Accounting package. Anyone interested
may attend.
Mr.
Kramer reported that the Committee met on October 20 the next meeting will be
next Monday evening, November 17.
Fire
& EMS
Mr.
Jansing reported regarding the question by the County Attorney on the original
request for proposals that was put together by the Fire Chief’s
Association. There we several meetings
regarding the request. Mr. Edmondson
approved it with some minor alterations that had been approved. The due date for the proposals is December 1st
for the ALS Service.
The
first of the year the Department will be taking on an additional fire education
program. It will be new in Northern
Kentucky. Chief Dietz read an article
in the Fire & Engineering, a National Publication written by one of the
inspectors from Loveland/Sims Twp. The
name of the article was EAT and explains the process. They will be contacting all the restaurants in the area to train
the employees about how to organize an orderly evacuation of the restaurant in
the event of an emergency. Applebee’s,
Fridays, Panara and Carrabbas will be the affected.
The
Holidays’ are approaching and everyone is invited to the annual tree lighting
ceremony November 25 at the Ft. Mitchell City Building. Santa Claus will be there between 7:00 &
7:30 P.M.
Mr. Sommerkamp stated that to address the concerns
of the residents, whose homes abut the rear parking lot, Mr. Anderson plans to
level off some of the high spot in back of Dillard’s and building a berm, which
gives privacy. The cut through by the College
Park gate would still be maintained. It
could be better for the residents there.
Mayor Meier stated that this is not a done deal,
subject to this Council at some time in the future.
Mr. Laird stated that with the new landscape
ordinance in place, the vegetation will be required to be maintained. The vegetation cannot be left to die.
Mr. Kramer stated that with the main street down the middle the two
rows of shops will have entrances on both sides so it won’t be like the back of
the building facing Old Crestview and the back of the other row of buildings
facing College Park. There will be
storefronts facing out in both directions as well as in the main street.
Mr. Laird would
like to investigate whether there were enough trees to warrant the pickup this
year. Mr. Groth stated that there were
quite a few trees and the reason you did not see them in the lot was because
the County picked up more often. Mr.
Groth will report to him the exact number picked up last year.
Mayor
Meier will be calling a committee meeting within the next 30 days. He will inform those on the committee of the
exact date.
Mrs. Sensel
asked him to announce that there are some pending changes regarding Insight
Communications.
Mayor
Meier reported – The Newsletter will be going out this month.
Mayor
Meier reported – He and Mr. Groth will be reporting soon on the progress of
their interviewing. Mr. Kramer
suggested that the Police Department and the Police Authority Board be kept
informed. Mayor Meier stated that he
wants to do a meeting with everybody present to ask everyone to assess there
ideas. When the needs are assessed they
will then go to the architect and ask for drawings. Mayor Meier asked Mr. Kramer to let that committee know that
within the next 30 to 60 days he will be having that meeting. He asked Mr. Kramer to ask them to think
about their needs and present them at that meeting.
Mr.
Sommerkamp stated that Chief Herbst was on the feasibility committee along with
two residents and Mr. Laird. If the
purpose was to just expand the offices, then it was not feasible. If the project intends to accommodate the
Police Department, then it is a feasible project.
Mr.
Kramer stated that he had gone to the Lookout Farm Homeowners Association on Tuesday
evening. Ms. Kathleen Corneil has
resigned from the committee. Also, Mary
Ann Donahue is stepping down from the committee. Perhaps Council should adopt a proclamation for Ms. Corneil since
she has been attending Council meetings on behalf of the Homeowners Association
for so long. Mayor Meier suggested that
the tree ceremony would be a good time.
Motion: Mr.
Laird Second: Mr. Maloney
Yes
6 No
0
_______________________________
Paul Meier, Mayor
Attest: ____________________________
C.R. Wirthlin, City Clerk/TTreasurer
Transcribed
by: _____________________
Judy
Rae Cox, Admn. Asst.