The City of Covington has provided a ‘year in review’ assessment of 2019. The second installment of this two-part series looks at infrastructure, neighborhood investment, events and activities from the past year, and parks and recreation. Part one, which focused on economic development, budget and finance, can be viewed here.
Mayor Meyer
Inside and outside of City Hall, Covington witnessed increasing momentum and tangible progress on major goals, including job creation, neighborhood investment, economic vibrancy, increased trust in financial decisions, and Covington’s reputation as a place where talented people want to be.
“This was the year that we continued to write a new narrative for a city that is moving toward its best days,” Mayor Joe Meyer said. “Looking back on 2019, some of the accomplishments we’re most proud of were completely new decisions, and some built on what the City leaders before us did. Almost everything we’re working on involves partners outside City Hall, and for that we’re grateful.”
But, Meyer said, much work remains.
“We’re not finished,” he said. “We know Covington is still not where it wants to be, and 2020 will see us – for example – further raise the quality of City services and the quality of life of our residents, ‘seal the deal’ on economic development projects under way behind the scenes, and market the city more actively outside our borders.”
INFRASTRUCTURE:
This photo taken by Prus Construction in late October shows the massive transformation that got under way in 2019 on the Covington riverfront, the long-awaited “crown jewel” phase of Riverfront Commons (provided photos).
RIVERFRONT REMAKE: After years of planning and searching for funding at City Hall, Prus Construction in September began site work on the $6.54 million “crown jewel” phase of Riverfront Commons. The overall 2.7-mile project will transform the riverfront in Covington, with Phase II bringing a 1,350-seat amphitheater, two concrete paths totaling 2,800 feet, a cobblestone pier for paddlers and anglers, upgraded overlooks, and a redesigned cul-de-sac at the foot of Greenup Street.
TEXAS TURNAROUND: Covington officials worked with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in 2019 to push forward a plan to reduce accidents on the Brent Spence Bridge by changing where traffic from Fourth Street merges onto northbound Interstates 71/75. The plan, nicknamed “the Texas Turnaround,” would give drivers more time and space to merge and dramatically reduce backups on the troubled bridge.
INVITING STREETSCAPES: A $1.37 million infrastructure project designed to attract private economic investment by improving the “look” and “feel” of downtown got under way in fall 2019. The Sixth Street and Scott Boulevard Restoration Project, with work being done by Adleta Inc. construction, includes rebuilding sidewalks, moving utilities underground, and adding ADA ramps, decorative lamp posts, decorative brick pavement, streetscape trees, and new trash cans. Meanwhile, the City began the process of hiring firms to do design work related to similar streetscape projects on Seventh Street between Madison Avenue and Washington Street and on Madison Avenue between Eighth and 11th streets.
SIDEWALK AMENITIES: Covington’s sidewalks grew more organized and useful in 2019. The City used a federal grant to buy 235 black metal trash receptacles to replace most of the existing (and crumbling) concrete on street corners downtown and in neighborhood business districts. The City also gave permission to advocacy group Ride the Cov to install bike racks in front of popular attractions. By year’s end, 132 racks (funded by the Devou Good Project) had been installed, with 156 additional racks awaiting approval.
New sidewalks are part of the Sixth Street and Scott Boulevard Restoration Project that got under way in 2019.
NEIGHBORHOOD INVESTMENT:
Through its Neighborhood Services and Economic Development departments, Covington made a concerted effort to invest in its neighborhoods in 2019. Among the initiatives:
LOCAL GRANTS: A dozen projects earned funding during the first two rounds of a brand-new $60,000 Neighborhood Grant Program in 2019, including things like a music and soul food festival in Eastside, sidewalk planters in Latonia, a 4th of July parade in Peaselburg, and a water fountain in George Rogers Clark Park.
ANTI-EYESORES: City Hall in 2019 wrote formal guidelines for a new effort to return to productive use an array of vacant lots and abandoned houses it had accumulated in neighborhoods over the last few decades. By year’s end, houses were being built or designed on some of the almost dozen properties or so the City had sold or was selling, with more deals under way.
RIPPLE EFFECT: A new public-private program called The RIPPLE Effect yielded its first “winner”: A neighborhood-submitted plan called the Lewisburg Thorofare Project emerged from a months’ long competitive process to earn $300,000 in infrastructure improvements and a focused application of City services to jump-start a neighborhood business area. By year’s end, the project was being implemented and proposals were being accepted for a second round.
LEAD POISONING: The City won a $1.66 million federal grant that will be used to protect children from lead-based paint in older homes. The City expects to be able to “fix” about 58 homes or apartments over the next three years and is accepting applications, with remediation on the first residences to begin soon.
SLOWER TRAFFIC: In response to concerns about the volume and speed of through traffic in areas tightly packed with houses and parked cars, the City hired consultants to study whether to return traffic flow on sections of Greenup Street and Scott Boulevard to two-way. At year’s end, a decision had not been made.
NO BUTTS: Aiming to reduce sidewalk litter, the City joined with college students, Keep Covington Beautiful, local businesses, and neighborhood advocates to install 23 cigarette “stands” or “urns” in public areas, distribute pocket ashtrays, and start a publicity campaign against cast-off cigarette butts.
MARKET GARDENS: Community groups and budding urban farmers who grow vegetables, herbs, flowers, and other plants in Covington will now be able to sell their harvest on site as well, as the Board of Commissioners voted to allow so-called community gardens to become “market gardens,” with restrictions.
MISCELLANEOUS:
After the City officially cut the ribbon on the redeveloped Peaselburg Park,, youths swarmed the park to play basketball and soccer and climb on playground equipment. The upgrades are part of an ongoing effort to improve the city’s parks.
FUTURE OF PARKS & REC: The Parks & Recreation Division spent much of 2019 defining “fun.” Why? Because it was working with a consultant to write a master plan to guide how best to identify and invest in the facilities, activities, and sports that Covington families most often use. The initiative included a range of public engagement events and efforts. It’s ongoing.
PARKS IMPROVEMENT: The ongoing effort to renovate neighborhood parks, a few at a time, continued in 2019 with the completion (and renaming) of the new Peaselburg Park on Howell Street, the redesign of Barb Cook Park in Latonia, and the beginning of gathering public input on changes to Goebel Park.
RIVER TRAIL: In September, the City ceremonially cut a ribbon to close the books and signify the official completion of Phases II and III of the Licking River Greenway & Trails – a recreational trail system used by walkers, dog owners, bikers and hikers on the easternmost edge of Covington. As of now, the trail – actually “parallel” trails – includes about 0.75 miles of paved trail atop the levee and about 1.5 miles of a gravel “nature trail” that cuts through a narrow stretch of woods along the river’s edge. Including road infrastructure, the LRGT stretches 2.5 miles from its endpoints: Eastern Avenue and Levassor Place north to Randolph Park in Eastside, with a couple of access points in-between.
FACES AND NAMES: The seating of the newly elected City Commissioners last January (joining Mayor Joe Meyer were returnees Michelle Williams and Tim Downing, newcomer Shannon Smith, and out-of-retirement Denny Bowman) was just the beginning of personnel moves. Also in 2019: the hiring of Assistant City Manager Bruce Applegate, Zoning Administrator Dalton Belcher, and grant writer Meganne Robinson (a new position), and the promotion of Brian Valenti to assistant police chief (replacing the retiring Brian Steffen) and Greg Salmons to assistant fire chief (replacing the retiring Chris Kiely).
The City hired a consulting firm to study the feasibility of replacing and upgrading Engine Co. 2.
FIRE STATION: The City hired consulting firm Brandstetter Carroll Inc. to do the long-awaited fire facility study aimed at replacing and upgrading the outdated and undersized Engine Co. 2. Explained Fire Chief Mark Pierce: “Company 2 as it exists today doesn’t come close to meeting our needs, and whatever we recommend to the Commission will be based on hard data put together by the consultant,” The various parts of the study are being staggered so the Board of Commissioners can analyze data on things like fire runs, response times, traffic patterns, the demands of future growth, space and site requirements.
CIVIC CENTER: City Hall hasn’t had a permanent home in over 50 years, and the current rented space – a former JC Penney Department store on Pike Street – is too small and poorly designed for government operations. So a citizen task force working with a consultant hired with donated funds spent 10 months in a “thoughtful, theoretical, abstract conversation of what a City Hall means for this community.” Its report, released in September, said this: If and when the City one day builds a new center, it should be at a visible, accessible, and central site … include space for regular community events and programming instead of being a “single-purpose fortress” dedicated only to government offices … be a true civic commons with a place for community debate and demonstrations … celebrate the City’s architectural diversity and history.
OPEN CONTAINERS: In May the City adopted a regulation that – during certain festivals and special events – would allow visitors to walk between establishments throughout parts of downtown with an open beer, cup of bourbon, or other alcohol. To “trigger” what’s called an Entertainment Destination Center zone, event organizers have to apply for a Special Events Permit. The EDC zone is similar to Fourth Street Live in Louisville and Maysville’s The Landing at Limestone.
The BLINK public art festival lit up downtown Covington and brought massive crowds to the city.
MASSIVE CROWDS: Two huge festivals brought massive crowds and international attention to Covington over two weekends in October 2019. The first event, Kentucky’s Edge, was an inaugural conference and festival focused on bourbon. Guests at the conference included nationally recognized distillers, experts, and authors. The second festival, BLINK, was a public art event straddling the river that used large-scale light projection to turn buildings into massive canvasses. With pedestrians walking throughout downtown to see the projection mappings and lit-up murals, not to mention attend music concerts, its four days by many accounts brought the biggest crowds in the history of the City. Organizers say from 1 million to 1.5 million people attended BLINK in Cincinnati and Covington.
RETURN OF TOUCH A TRUCK: For the second year in a row, families flocked to the parking lot in front of the Latonia Shopping Center for “Touch a Truck” – a free show-and-tell event that lets kids (and older people) climb on, in, and around public safety and service vehicles, as well as ask questions of the employees who operate the equipment on a daily basis. It featured fire trucks, backhoe, police cruisers and a riot-response vehicle, ambulances, river rescue boats, helicopters and the like.
WELCOMING: The City of Covington and City Hall took several steps to show its commitment to inclusivity and diversity in 2019. Once again, City leaders were active participants in the NKY Pride parade that wound through Covington’s streets and in the Pridefest that followed. As a sponsor of the first-ever NKY Pride Community Awards Celebration, Covington got the mic, and a City leader used the opportunity to urge other cities in the region to follow Covington’s lead and adopt a anti-discrimination “fairness ordinance.” By year’s end, several Campbell County cities did. … In November, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group gave Covington high marks for how its laws, policies, and services treat LGBTQ people who live and work here – significantly raising the City’s “score” on group’s Municipal Equality Index. … The City also announced its strong support for a program that will make photo ID cards available to immigrants and others who need them. The decision directed all City agencies to recognize what are called MARCC ID cards as a valid form of identification for the purposes of using government services or interacting with law enforcement or other public safety agencies. The cards will soon be issued by The Esperanza Latino Center of Northern Kentucky.
READ READY COVINGTON: The City’s early childhood literacy effort celebrated its one-year anniversary by announcing some impressive numbers: 3,709 children enrolled in literacy apps, 58,395 books read by those kids, 95,418 skill-based games completed, and 1,800 books passed out. Meanwhile, awareness of Read Ready Covington grew with posters in shopfront windows, several sets of alphabet signs spread out throughout Covington as part of a big scavenger hunt, and a mural.
