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Covington to renew City Hall lease, look for options; ‘In another five years we will be out of this building’


By Ryan Clark
NKyTribune reporter

With the City Hall building’s lease up for renewal this October, City Manager David Johnston made his hopes very clear.

“My philosophy is, this should not be City Hall much longer,” Johnston told the Mayor and Commissioners at their regularly scheduled caucus meeting Tuesday night. 

With three floods in the City Hall’s basement already this year, as well as a large and ever-increasing staff, Johnston says the building is not capable of providing what the city needs over the long haul.

That means, over the next few years, the city should study what a new City Hall could do for Covington, he said.

“What role does a City Hall play in a community?” Johnston asked the Mayor and Commissioners Tuesday night. “My personal goal? In another five years we will be out of this building.”

In the meantime, officials have decided to renew the lease for the current site at 20 West Pike St.

For the past six months, Johnston has been working with their landlord on the property, and he said the city had three choices:

*A three-year lease with a two-year option

*A four-year lease with a one-year option

*A five-year extension

Johnston said that given the amount of time it would take to investigate other possibilities (like building a new City Hall, for one) he would recommend the four-year lease, with an option for another year, if needed. The annual lease amount would be $255,000, which would be a 2 percent increase, or $417 per month.

There would also be a tenant improvement allowance of $15,000, with some other upgrades. For instance, the building is receiving a new roof this year, Johnston said, paid for by the landlord.

An order to renew the lease is scheduled to appear on the consent agenda at next Tuesday’s legislative meeting.

City Police to Upgrade Firearms Range

Commissioners heard a proposal to accept a bid from Gun Range Builder for $124,928 to upgrade the firearms range at Police Headquarters. 

This was the sole bid for the project, and will be paid for from $85,579.10 out of Infrastructure and $39,248.90 out of the Forfeiture Fund, as both amounts were budgeted and approved in the last budget process. 

Officials said Tuesday the current Firearms Range Target Retrieval System has been inoperable for many years and repairs have not been made because its manufacturer is no longer in business. 

“Currently during firearms qualifications, officers have to walk beyond the shooting stalls and down the firing line to complete qualifications at different distances,” city documents read. “The purchase of the new system from Gun Range Builder will include demolition of the current retrieval system and shooting stalls and the manufacture and installation of new rifle rates shooting stalls, tables, and a wireless/programmable/turning Target Retrieval System.”

The order is scheduled to appear on the consent agenda at next Tuesday’s legislative meeting.

Also Tuesday:

Commissioners heard the proposal of an order and a resolution for a Reciprocal Affiliation Agreement with St. Elizabeth Healthcare. It is an effort to continue to improve the teamwork between Pre-hospital and In-hospital care providers, as well as provide an understanding of the unique challenges faced by each provider type and improve the continuum of care for patients,.

This reciprocal affiliation will allow St Elizabeth Healthcare Emergency Department nurses to “ride-along on Covington Fire Department ambulances as observers and gain a better understanding of the circumstances and environments from which emergency patients originate,” the city proposal says. “This will also allow Covington Fire Department staff to shadow Emergency Department Nurses, and Nurse Practitioners to observe the progression of patient care through the emergency department and gain a better understanding of patient diagnosis and outcomes.”

Commissioner Bill Wells asked if this was “all in all, a better outcome for citizens?”

“Absolutely,” Covington Fire Chief Mark Pierce responded. The order is also scheduled to appear on the consent agenda Tuesday.

Commissioners heard a proposal to execute a five-year sublease for UpTech LLC, a business accelerator in Covington, at 112 Pike St. (the current lease also runs out in October). “As part of our sublease, we will collaborate with UpTech to use these entrepreneurs’ innovative and data-driven ideas to help our city departments overcome challenges, enhance customer service, or improve operations,” city documents read. “We have coined this the ‘Up Tech Partner Program.’” The sublease will cost $37,000 per year, and the order is also scheduled to appear on the consent agenda Tuesday. 

The next regularly scheduled Covington Commission meeting will be a legislative meeting held at 6 p.m., Sept. 11, at the Covington City Hall at 20 West Pike St.

Contact the Northern Kentucky Tribune at news@nkytrib.com


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