By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
The Boone County Fiscal Court went on the road last week for a Town Hall meeting at Lakeside Christian Church in Hebron.
The meeting, which was organized by the Hebron Business Association, included Judge/Executive Gary Moore and county commissioners Cathy Flaig, Charles Kenner and Charlie Walton. Also on hand were representatives from several county departments, including the sheriff’s office, the public library and the planning commission.
More than 60 residents and business owners gathered to hear the elected officials speak on a number of topics. Each of the fiscal court members was given an opportunity to offer an opening statement as those in attendance wrote down questions.
The Fiscal Court members return to Burlington for a regularly-scheduled meeting tonight, but Moore explained that the somewhat unique demographics of Boone County, the fourth largest in the commonwealth, make less formal community forums equally important.
Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore
“The fiscal court, the commissioners and I, serve as the local government,” Moore said. “If you have a barking dog, if you have questions about parks, if you have questions about law enforcement, we’re the local government, so Boone County Fiscal Court operates much like a large city.”
If Boone County was a city, it would be the third-largest in the state, behind only Louisville and Lexington.
Jefferson, Fayette and Kenton counties, those with a greater population than Boone, all have a large city or, in the case of Kenton County, 19 smaller cities that includes a significant portion of the population.
However, more than 80,000 Boone County residents, or almost two-thirds of its people, live in unincorporated areas. The only actual cities in Boone County are Florence, Union and Walton.
Communities such as Hebron, Francisville, Petersburg, Richwood and Burlington, where the county seat is located, have no city government.
Moore said that’s why when areas such as Hebron experience issues related to its significant residential and commercial growth, it’s important for the fiscal court members to engage in this type of community forum.
“We’re here tonight to answer your questions and have a dialogue,” Moore said. “You have a fiscal court right now…that is working well together. We are working in a collaborative way to move this county forward and I want to thank the commissioners for that.”
Many of the issues discussed were related to Hebron’s growing pains, including traffic problems as a result of the ongoing commercial development along the KY 237 corridor and sewer capacity concerns resulting from industrial and residential growth.
County officials are trying to fast-track the development of a Graves Road interchange from Interstate-275 to alleviate congestion on KY 237 (North Bend Road), but even if the project is expedited, it is years away.
Traditionally, a project must progress from the unfunded needs list to become part of the state’s six-year road plan before funds can be allocated.
“You can continue to put lanes onto the ramp here at the Hebron exit, you can continue to put lanes onto (KY) 237 in both directions, but I think the answer is to build another interchange that can do multiple things,” More said. “It can be an auxiliary way in and out for so many of you and it will open up more land for development and job creation in that part of the county.”
The county has agreed to allocate $350,000 toward an interchange justification study, which is a prerequisite to gaining approval for the project. The state will need to contribute a matching amount for the study, which will take about 12 months to complete.
There are some planned improvements to KY 237, scheduled to begin next year, that will provide some short-term relief of congestion, but most agree a Graves Road interchange will offer a more permanent solution.
From left, Boone County Commissioners Charlie Walton and Cathy Flaig with Judge/Executive Gary Moore and moderator Adam Howard, president of the Hebron Business Association, at a town hall meeting in Hebron last week.
Commissioner Charlie Walton said one of the roadblocks to getting Northern Kentucky road projects approved is that there are limited funds available and a lot of competition for them.
“The state highway funds are disproportionately divvied out,” Walton said.
Walton referenced a state highway project currently being promoted by Kentucky Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonburg, for an Eastern Kentucky Mountain Parkway extension that is estimated to cost at least $10 billion. He said that project should be a low priority and the region’s elected state officeholders need to be held accountable if revenue generated in Northern Kentucky is not spent on local projects.
“We in Northern Kentucky need to start looking at our state elected officials (and) who we support for state offices,” Walton said. “(We need to say) hey, what are you going to do to improve the economic engine of Kentucky, and that’s Northern Kentucky?”
The issue of sewer capacity is a problem that has been building for some time. Moore said there is essentially a moratorium on new residential development north of Interstate-275 in Hebron because of the inability to pump additional sewage to the treatment facility.
“It’s not an issue of treatment; there is plenty of treatment capacity at the plant,” Moore said. “(The pump station at Sand Run) is pretty much maxed out, so until something happens with that system there probably won’t be any more permits given.”
Other questions raised included concerns over the relocation of the Boone County Public Library Lents Branch and whether there are enough law enforcement officials to accommodate the increasing population in the county.
Representatives from the Boone County Public Library and the Boone County Sheriff’s office responded to those questions.
Most of the issues raised by the residents have an impact on the county at-large, either directly or indirectly. A question posed by the Cardinal Cove Homeowner’s Association, however, was more of a local problem.
Hebron resident Daniel Knapp expressed concerns that temporary signs placed on local rights-of-way and medians by some business owners are in violation of the county code and impact the aesthetics of the community.
“This is not proper, we don’t want that kind of defacement,” Knapp said. “This is not Colerain Avenue, it’s not Beechmont, it’s not Dixie Highway. This is Hebron, Kentucky and we don’t want it in this community.”
Moore assured residents that the issue would be explored further and after the meeting Knapp said he was encouraged by the response of the fiscal court members.
“Commissioner Kenner came up to me afterward and said they want to address this because he shares our concerns,” Knapp said. “That’s a great example of why we need this type of meeting, since we’re not incorporated. I commend Judge Moore and all of the commissioners, as well as the Hebron Business Association for making this available for us.”
