MINUTES OF A REGULAR
MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF
COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF FORT THOMAS, CAMPBELL
COUNTY, KENTUCKY, ON MONDAY,
JULY 11, 2005.
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Council, City of Fort
Thomas, was called to order at 8:00 PM on Monday, July 11, 2005, in
the City
Building’s Council
Chambers. Mayor Mary H. Brown asked the Clerk for a Roll Call and the
following Councilmembers were present: Barbara
Runge, Jim Doepker, Karen
Lied, Roger Peterman, Tom Lampe. Eric Haas was
absent. Also attending were: City Clerk
Dottie Ivie, City Administrative Officer Jeff Earlywine, City Treasurer Fred Ewald, City Attorney Jann Seidenfaden, Police Chief Steve Schmidt, and Capt. Dale
Cruse, attending for the Fire Chief.
Mayor Brown said she would like to express, on behalf of the Council and the
community, much appreciation for the hard work of everyone participating in the
4th of July event. She said that everything from the early
morning race, for which she provided the traditional
“start” at 8:00 AM, throughout a full day of music, food, and activities
in the Park and ending with the fireworks, provided much enjoyment for all who
attended. She said that thanks are in order to the city workers, to the
members of the Campbell County YMCA for the parade, and to the members of
the Fort Thomas Business Association, for their planning and oversight of the
day. One result of the day was the awarding of trophies and cash prizes to
several groups participating in the Parade. Winners were announced
immediately after the Parade, but since there were few of the participants
actually at the amphitheater for the announcements, it was determined that
trophies and prizes could be officially awarded at tonight’s Council meeting.
She then called forward the individual winners and presented trophies and
prizes, as follows: 1st Place – Theme - “Celebrating Campbell County
History”:
St.
Catherine’s – Trophy and $100
2nd Place:
Bank of Kentucky – Trophy and $75
3rd
Place: Children’s Art Academy – Trophy and $50
4th Place:
Desmond Insurance
5th Place:
1031 Productions
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1st Place – Most Entertaining
Syrian Shriners – Trophy
2nd Place: Highland United Methodist Church
3rd Place Le
Dance Studio
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1st Place – Most Unique or
Original
1031
Productions – Trophy
2nd Place: Patriot Corps –
Gen. Patton
3rd Place: St. Catherine’s
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Next, Mayor Brown asked for anyone who had anything to bring before Council and
Bruce Rath, 218 N. Ft. Thomas Ave., addressed Council
regarding his complaint about the assessment he received for CBD Phase II
Streetscape improvements. He stated that, according to Ordinance
O-14-2005, it was affirmed that his property was assessed for a 50 feet wide lot
when it should be 45 feet. He reviewed the history of his purchase of this
property in the 1960s and the construction of sidewalks throughout the
years. Mr. Earlywine will ask city personnel to
recheck the footage in City records.
Since family members were present for an appointment, she said that the Agenda
will be altered to bring Executive Order EO-4-2005, Appointing David Buerger as the City’s new Director of Recreation.
After the appointment was read, Mr. Buerger introduced
his wife, Amy, and daughter Maggie, to the audience and they were officially
welcomed to the City family. Mr. Buerger started
his first work day today, July 11th, at the Recreation Office in
Tower
Park.
The
Police Department Monthly Report was presented for what Chief Steve Schmidt
stated would be “his final report.” (Schmidt is retiring on July
31st.) He did promise to return to Council meetings when he
could. After presenting statistics for the month, he reported that
Lt. Ken Fecher is now at the FBI Academy for the next 10 weeks. It was
moved (Doepker) and seconded (Runge) to receive and file the report; and upon voice vote,
all voted Aye; motion carried. Chief Schmidt was invited to return as
often as he can. Capt. Dale Cruze then presented
the Fire Department Monthly Report on behalf of Fire Chief Mark Bailey (who is
on vacation) and it was approved upon motion (Lampe),
second (Peterman) and unanimous Aye voice vote.
Mr. Earlywine, City Administrative Officer, reported to Council,
summarizing a report sent earlier to the Committee of the Whole regarding a
proposed zone change for a tract at the southwest corner of Newman Avenue and
Hunteman
Lane, from R-1B to R-5. It is to be noted in
the Minutes that Councilmember Jim Doepker recuses himself from any discussion or vote on this
matter. Members of the Committee of the Whole have had the period since
the last Regular Council meeting to review and decide on this issue. It
was moved (Lampe) and seconded (Peterman) to approve this zoning map change in
order that a development project might be submitted. Voting Aye were: Runge, Lied, Peterman,
Lampe; the motion carried.
Mr. Earlywine called on City Attorney Jann Seidenfaden for her comments
regarding the issue of landscaping trees that should have been provided by the
developer for residents of Porters
Lane. This matter was brought to the previous
Council meeting by several of the property owners there. She said that she
has discussed this with Jim Poston and he has agreed to purchase the appropriate
number of trees and have them delivered to the site, to be set out in the Fall. She said that his letter was send to Doug Gilb, who represented the property owners at the Council
meeting; however she hasn’t heard back from him as yet. There are some
issued with release of escrow that will need to be worked out. Mr. Earlywine clarified that Poston has agreed to provide and
deliver, but not to plant nor guarantee them. After some discussion, Mayor Brown
suggested that in order to keep tabs on this action, it might be referred to the
Law-Labor-License Committee. So moved (Runge),
seconded (Lied); upon voice vote, there were five Ayes; motion carried.
Bids
received in response to the City’s request for waste collection/disposal were
reviewed by Mr. Earlywine. Three bids were
received, including one from the City’s current contractor Rumpke, from CSI, and
from Bavarian. The staff has reviewed all of the bids carefully, finding
an error in tabulation in one bid, which didn’t affect the final bid
total. Careful attention was given to what changes would occur in the
total annual amount that each property owner would have to pay annually; finding
the lowest and best bid to be that of Rumpke’s. He also reported a
language modification to the work agreement that has been discussed and agreed
upon by both partied that might be in effect if there are government-mandated
changes in taxes, fees or fuel costs. Mr. Earlywine stated that, “we believe Rumpke does an effective
job of waste collection and disposal service for the 5,798 residential units and
approximately 150-160 other units within the community.” The unit
cost between the three bids varied from $9.09 to $14.06 per unit per month.
The
City would sign an initial contract, plus two 2-year options that would provide
for 3% increases. According to the bid, “one time per week unlimited solid
waste collection will continue to be provided for all residential units on days
and over routed as currently practiced within the City. Large items will
be collected…at no additional charge. Please be advised that only
appliances with CFCs removed and documented as such will be collected. One
time per week curbside recycling collection will be continued, with residents
utilizing the City-owned recycling bins.” The new contract would run from
September 1, 2005, ending August 31, 2007. It was moved (Peterman),
seconded (Lampe) and given a unanimous aye voice vote to approve the low bidder
and proceed with the signing of the contract. Then, Rumpke Representative Greg
Pitzer, who was in the audience, thanked Council for
their vote to accept the contract and he said that Rumpke will do everything in
their power to work effectively with the City for good customer service.
Complaints can be brought to his attention, he said.
Mr.
Earlywine then reviewed several recent grant awards
that the City has received due to some diligent effort and work on the part of
different city departments. First, a grant in the amount of $6,000 was
received a grant for curbing along Memorial Parkway and a grant in the amount of
$6,073 from the Kentucky Justice Cabinet, which will be used to replace outdated
radios in the Police Department. All of these grants require the Mayor
and/or other City officials to sign a M.O.A. (Memorandum of Agreement) which
needs Council action to facilitate. So moved that these agreements for the
acceptance of the grant monies be approved (Peterman), seconded (Lampe) and upon
unanimous Aye voice vote, motion carried.
The
Finance Committee presented their report on vouchers, after review and signing
of the presented checks for the period and recommended that Council approve
these for payment. It was moved to concur in their recommendation (Doepker), seconded (Lied) and upon Roll Call vote, all voted
Aye; motion carried.
Ordinance
O-22-2005, Amending the OZO Map (Hunteman/Newman) from R-1B to R-5, was given 1st
Reading and will
be laid over for a vote at the next Regular Council meeting. An Executive
Order, EO-3-2005, Reappointing City Attorney Jann
Seidenfaden was approved upon motion (Runge), second (Doepker) and unanimous Aye voice vote. The Executive
Order, EO-4-2005, Appointing David J. Buerger as
Director of Recreation was presented earlier and requires no Council action, as
an executive order of the Mayor.
There
being no further business to come before Council, the meeting was
adjourned:
APPROVED:
______________________________
Mary H. Brown, Mayor
ATTEST:
________________________________
Dorothy A. Ivie, City Clerk