Positive and innovative change would not be possible without the entire team of individuals in Kenton County.
The Kenton County Fiscal Court has accomplished so much in such a short time. Here is a list of only some of the outstanding achievements to date.
— Supported the reorganization of the airport board allowing for streamlined airport management
— Created the Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy to coordinate response for the three Northern Kentucky counties (Kenton, Boone and Campbell) to the heroin epidemic.
— Merger of Erlanger dispatch into the Countywide dispatch center reducing failure points and redundancy in emergency communications
— Supported the reorganization of Planning & Development Services again allowing for streamlined management and efficient operations.
— Construction of new County Government campus consolidating Planning & Development services, County Child Support office and Driver’s Licensing from separate locations into one single location along with the traditional County offices. The campus’ convenient location off the highway allows for sufficient public parking and a much easier one-stop shop for citizens to receive basic county services.
— Ensured the development of the old courthouse at 303 Court Street in Covington into 133 high-end residential units.
— Spearheaded construction of new emergency communications digital radio system for the three counties allowing for unprecedented intercommunication both between the three counties, Cincinnati and amongst first responders (police, fire, ALS, EMA).
—Purchased the Pleasure Isle property ($1 million investment) and partnered with Transitions to substantially increase the number of inpatient treatment beds for substances abuse that reduced the need for a waiting list in Kenton County.
— Instituted vehicle replacement program for the county whereby operational costs were reduced through lower gas consumption, lower maintenance costs and lower net capital outlay for vehicles. Further allowing for a reduction of 31 vehicles from the county fleet
— Established full and sustainable funding for county-wide dispatch
— Improved Citizen access via on-line capabilities:
- Launched a new mobile compatible Kenton County Website (368,616 visits in 2020)
- Converted Occupational Licensing system from old COBOL design to modern programming allowing online application and return filing.
- Developed online application for County Employment
- Converted Monthly cleanups to online trash voucher program
— Overhauled the County’s Technological infrastructure through Virtualization of physical servers, instituted Cloud backups, replication of Dispatch’s CAD system and converted to VOIP phone system
— Invested into critical public roadways:
- Secured a $12 million BUILD grant for construction on KY 536
- Partnered with the State and a private developer to complete/install a sorely needed new pedestrian path on US 25 (Dixie Hwy) connecting Covington and Park Hills.
- Reconstruction of Latonia Lakes area roads via full depth reclamation (1st of its kind in District 6)
- Pelly Road Bridge replacement
- Bromley-Crescent Springs Road Realignment and Reconstruction
- Executed local partnering on roadway projects within 2020-2021 with the cities of Villa Hills, Crescent Springs, Edgewood, Independence, Park Hills, Taylor Mill, Fort Mitchell, Crestview Hills, Lakeside Park, Ryland Heights, Elsmere and KYTC.
— Leased out the golf course operations to reduce county operational expense and exposure while also improving the professional management, physical amenities and golfing experience.
— Renovated Independence courthouse for easier access to the county clerk, county sheriff and fiscal court chambers. Provided improved parking and traffic flow through the Independence complex
— Initiated the Expansion of broadband access (full fiber) throughout the county to be completed by August 2023.
— Facilitated merger of Piner and Kenton fire district for more consistent and reliable fire protection service and ALS ambulance to a large portion of southern Kenton County
— Provided coordination and facilitation resources via the County Emergency Management Department in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic:
- Established the first NKY COVID testing site
- Established two regional mass vaccination sites
- Served as a clearinghouse for PPE for first responders in the region
— Supported the County Jailer in establishing world class and model Substance Abuse Programs in the Detention Center
— Converted the county animal shelter into a No-kill Shelter resulting in a reduction of Live Intakes (2013=4,985 to 2020=1,678) and a reduction in Euthanasia (2013=3,486 to 2020=197)
— Instituted CodeRed notification system in the dispatch center operations
— Re-purposing Fox Run golf course (200+ acres of green space in central Kenton County) into a first-class recreational facility
— Secured $13 million Site Development Fund in partnership with the Ky. General Assembly and Northern Kentucky Port Authority
- Purchase historic Montgomery Ward department store on Madison Avenue to preserve and convert into SparkHaus, a Northern Kentucky entrepreneurial hub
- Allocate $2 million to pay for required storm sewer upgrades to support the redevelopment of the former Drawbridge Hotel and Convention Center in Fort Mitchell
- Committed $669k to add new power transmission lines for a facility located at the intersection of Hapeville and Garvey roads (now home to Niagara Bottling Co.) in Elsmere
— Established a $6 million Community Redevelopment Fund to support cities in their effort to revitalize properties within their jurisdictions. Early recipients include Independence and Erlanger.
— Secured $15 million from KYTC to build a parking garage neighboring the Kenton County Government Center, upon which developers will construct The Bavarian, an up to 125-unit, $26 million apartment project.
— Hired the County’s first-ever on-staff veterinarian – a significant step forward in KCAS’s commitment to providing exceptional care for the animals in its charge and enhancing its community services.
— Secured $125 million from the Ky. General Assembly to relocate the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s Northern Kentucky campus and Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law to Covington.
— Implemented and continued to grow Kenton County Police Department’s School Resource Officer program to seven schools.
— Build a permanent Farmers Market Pavilion at the Historic Kenton County Courthouse in Independence.