Alexandria pressing auto shop owner in court

Written by Chris Mayhew with The Alexandria Recorder • Apr. 8, 2013:

Alexandria pressing auto shop owner in court

Written by Chris Mayhew • Apr. 8, 2013

ALEXANDRIA — Disagreement about the pace of repairs at an Alexandria auto repair shop damaged by fire April 6, 2012, has the city and shop owner in a legal fight.

Charles “Bud” Gilbert, owner of Advanced Auto Services, was in Campbell County District Court in Newport Friday, April 5, for an arraignment hearing on charges of violating two city ordinances.

Gilbert is charged with a violating the city’s nuisances ordinance and the blighted or deteriorated property ordinance.

The citation report, issued by Alexandria Police Dec. 3, 2012, alleged inoperable motor vehicles were parked in front of the business. The report stated several vehicles had flat tires and motors missing, and one truck hadn’t been moved in two weeks without being worked on. The report went on to state that there were “spare automotive parts lying around structure of building including old tires, transmissions, drive shafts, body parts of vehicles, etc.”

The same report alleged no attempt to clean up or repair the property had been made as of Dec. 3 since the building burned on April 6.

Gilbert told District Court Judge Karen A. Thomas he thought the reasons for the court case had been resolved.

“I don’t understand how it’s not worked out,” Gilbert said.

Thomas said the case had not been resolved, and it will be continued for a pretrial conference at 2 p.m. April 16.

“We’ll go from there,” she said.

The city will be consulted for an update prior to April 16, Thomas said.

Alexandria Mayor Bill Rachford said he’s not happy with the pace of progress of repairs at the shop, and that there has been no mediation yet.

“He’s making progress, probably as slowly as possible,” Rachford said. “He doesn’t seem to do anything on a cooperative basis.”

Rachford said the city will follow any process set out by the court and pursue legal options to force Gilbert to make all repairs required by city code.

“If he doesn’t comply after the mediation session on the 16th, I will pull his occupational license and shut him down,” Rachford said.

Rachford said he has no desire to shut the business down and put Gilbert’s employees out of work, but will do so if it is the only way to get the repairs done. Threats of action by the city are the only thing that seem to get work going at the shop – which is still not in compliance, Rachford said.

Gilbert was also not present at a March 8 court hearing in the case, Rachford said.

Gilbert said he strongly disagrees with the city’s view that repairs are taking too long.

“Everything they've wanted me to do, I’ve done with the exception of getting the garage doors on,” he said.

A new roof has been installed, and the parking lot in front has been striped with yellow paint, Gilbert said. Other businesses don’t have parking lot spaces striped, but that the city has required it of him, Gilbert said.

Gilbert said he has explained to the city the garage doors ordered in February were supposed to be already installed. The garage door installer has now agreed to have them installed by April 30, he said.

Gilbert said he has not worked on a car in the front parking lot since the day the city wrote him a ticket in the lot for doing so. The city ordinances do allow for flat tires to be changed in the front lot, he said.

Gilbert said the city knew repairs were not being made at the auto shop for the first six months after the fire because he thought he had the property sold. The property sale fell through, and by then it was winter, he said.

“You can’t put a roof on when it is snowing and raining,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert said the burned portion of the building will be ready to be reopened for business by May 5, and the city has not been fair.

City officials act like Alexandria is Beverly Hills and Main Street is Beverly Hills Drive, he said.

“There’s a building that’s boarded up on Beverly Hills Drive that’s been that way for years,” Gilbert said.

Bishop Brossart expansion under way

Article written by Brenna R. Kelly • Apr. 7, 2013 for The Alexandria Recorder -

Bishop Brossart expansion under way

Written by Brenna R. Kelly • Apr. 7, 2013

ALEXANDRIA — The large hole in the ground that will greet Bishop Brossart High School students when they return from spring break today is more than a hole – it’s proof that a long-awaited expansion of the Catholic high school is a reality.

The $7.5 million expansion will include a chapel, a 425-seat auditorium, library, fine arts studio, music room and other upgrades.

“It basically fills in a lot of the things we’ve been missing,” said Richard Stewart, principal of the 359-student school.

The school, one of two Catholic high schools in Campbell County, has been planning to expand since the mid-1990s, he said. But plans were delayed by a moratorium on building in the county and among other things.

“There were just a lot of things along the way that got in the way of the school being able to move forward,” he said.

When Stewart became principal four years ago, he was tasked with making the expansion happen.

The school already had $3 million in place, it then began appealing to alumni and other supporters.

The school now has just under $8 million in cash and pledges, said Roger Keller, a fund-raising committee co-chairman and 1965 graduate.

“The community has really responded to the needs of Bishop Brossart High School,” he said. “And I’m talking about the normal working person.”

Keller credits Stewart with energizing the Brossart community.

“He has really electrified the community and school to inspire us and say ‘hey, come on,’” he said. “It’s been a great journey here. ”

Crews began excavating the site of the addition about two weeks ago. Today the school will hold a ceremonial ground breaking with Bishop Roger Foys and Alexandria Mayor Bill Rachford scheduled to attend.

The project will take 12 to 14 months to complete. It is expected to be open by the 2014-15 school year.

For the first time the school will have a chapel where the classes will attend a weekly mass.

But because the chapel will only seat about 125 people, students will still have to walk to St. Mary’s Church – 10 minutes away – for monthly all-school masses, Stewart said.

The new auditorium will be able to hold all-school assemblies and school plays which are now held in the gym, he said.

There will also be new restroom facilities, new faculty rooms, a college counseling center and new administrative offices.

The school’s offices are now in a space that was designed for two classrooms.

Once the offices move, the school will be able to turn the area back into classroom space, he said.

While enrollment has held steady at around 350 students for several years, the expansion will position the school for growth, Stewart said.

The school serves the parishes of St. John, St. Joseph (Camp Springs), St. Joseph (Cold Spring), Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Philip and St. Mary.

Many expected a population boom in southern Campbell County starting in 2007 when a 11-year development moratorium was lifted after a new sewer plant opened.

But the boom went bust.

“Unfortunately, as soon as the moratorium was lifted was pretty much when the economy tanked,” Stewart said.

As the economy picks back up, the population growth that had been predicted in the southern end of the county may become reality.

“One of things, we’re really looking forward to is being in a position where we can take advantage of that,” Stewart said. “We have all the new facilities in place, and we can jump into that with both feet.”

Future plans include a sports complex off-campus on Gilbert Ridge Road.

The school used about $70,000 from the expansion project to grade two football and soccer practice fields at the site.

The bright future of the school is something Keller, whose grandson will start at Brossart next year, is happy to see.

“It’s always the stigma out there that Bishop Brossart is a country school,” he said.

“It really isn’t. It’s a lot more than that, people don‘t really understand what it is. The unique thing about Brossart is it’s not too big, people really get to be friends and you keep them.”

Source: http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20130408/NEWS0103/304080028/

Alexandria park ballfield ready for play

 Article published by Chris Mayew in The Alexandria Recorder

Alexandria park ballfield ready for play

Disc golf course in the works

Written by Chris Mayhew • Apr. 5, 2013

  

ALEXANDRIA — For Alexandria, Bishop Brossart High School has helped the city create a softball and baseball field more equipped for dreams with a home run fence and dugouts.

The quality of the work by Bishop Brossart at the field, including rebuilding the dugout and backstop, has been excellent, said Mayor Bill Rachford.

Permanent fencing has been installed down the foul lines, and a removable home run fence has been installed in the outfield, Rachford said.

Beyond the physical improvements to the field, the partnership has brought success, he said.

“Last year, we had virtually no use of that field, and this year the schedule is full,” Rachford said.

Ron Heiert, development director for Bishop Brossart, said the city and school have had a good working relationship and the school’s coaches are excited about the new field. The field will be the home for Bishop Brossart’s softball teams.

Alexandria’s Park and Recreation Board applauded the improvements at the April 3 meeting.

Park update

The park board also set a list of budget priorities for the park for the new fiscal year starting July 1, and talked about ongoing work to create a nine-hole disc golf course at the park.

Disc golf uses a plastic disc and metal baskets and uses rules similar to golf.

Board member Pam Proctor said a volunteer has completed three disc golf fairways and is still working on creating the others.

The board members agreed to set an ideal deadline of July 1 to have the course completed in time for an August disc golf tournament to be organized by disc golfers in association with the city.

The board also discussed and agreed to send the mayor an ideal budget comprising $18,500 worth of spending on park infrastructure and events.

The park board’s current budget is $10,000, but the 2011-12’ budget was $20,000.

Board chairperson Jeremy Toy said the $1,500 cost to host two movie nights in the park is one area that could be cut if needed, since it was not in the previous year’s budget.

“If you don’t ask, you won’t get it,” said board member Steve Hamberg.

Source:  http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20130405/NEWS0103/304050089/

Mega Development on the Way

 Article in the Alexandria Recorder by Chris Mayhew:

 Arcadia plans updated as development grows

Road access with Tollgate Road can wait under agreement

Written by Chris Mayhew • Apr. 5, 2013

ALEXANDRIA — Council is preparing to review and potentially approve a new development plan with the expected annexation of 46 additional acres for the Arcadia 1,018-unit housing development April 18.

The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended on April 2 for council to approve Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning for the 46 additional acres and acceptance of the new development plan. PUD is the same zoning as the other 327-acres where Arcadia is being built. Arcadia is a joint development of the Drees Co. and Fischer Homes on land between U.S. 27 and Tollgate Road. A mixture of single-family homes, patio homes, condominiums and town homes are planned in Arcadia and is scheduled to take about 10 years to complete. Arcadia was first announced in 2005 with 916 housing units.

The Planning and Zoning Commission also imposed stipulations the developers agreed to, most notably when a secondary access road from the subdivision to Tollgate Road has to be built. The main access to the subdivision will be from U.S. 27 at Pat Fanning Way.

The three ordinances council will vote upon April 18 cover zoning, annexation for the 46-acres and approval of an updated development plan for the entire property.

The development plan recommended by the commission will dictate the developers do not need to build an access road to Tollgate Road until either 805 housing units are completed or 79 percent of the development is complete. The road also has to be built once construction begins on the additional 46-acre parcel that is near Tollgate Road.

Mike Schottelkotte, a representative of the Drees Co., said the joint venture Tollgate Land Development LLC, between Drees and Fischer Homes owns the 51-acres of land where an access road to Tollgate Road can be built.

There have been conversations with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet about where to join a new access road with Tollgate Road, Schottelkotte said.

There is still the possibility to purchase another piece of property that will allow the access road to intersect directly across from Breckenridge Drive, which is the preference, he said.

Mayor Bill Rachford said the preliminary plat for the 76-home Whistler’s Point subdivision Fischer Homes plans off Persimmon Grove Pike, was approved at the April 2 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

The Arcadia and Whistler’s Point news shows the developers’ optimism in the economy, Rachford said. The two developments “getting going” are also big news for the city, he said.

The 1,018 housing units in Arcadia alone, will grow the city dramatically, Rachford said.

“That’s at least a quarter or a third of the city as it exists now,” he said.

Source: http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20130405/NEWS0103/304050149/

“Christmas in Alexandria” – Complete Report?

We couldn’t wait to see last Thursday’s (Thursday, February 7, 2013) Council’s meeting on local access cable.

This is when the mayor promised a complete report on “Christmas in Alexandria”.

It comes as no surprise that the complete report was well, less than complete.

It was more of a mutual admiration society, recognize and heap accolades on the organizers and volunteers, let’s have a big group hug and sing Kumbaya.

Noticeably missing were any reports on the financials of the event.

There is a whole lot more required for a full report; such as how much money was raised and where did it go.

If you may recall this started out as an event that would be held at Village Green Shopping Center to benefit local businesses and with all profits going to charity.

It morphed into a change of venue and a somewhat a change in purpose.

We fail to see where it benefited a few if any city businesses.

It seems that the vast majority of vendors were from outside the city or outside the county for that matter.

We believe that the citizens of Alexandria are entitled to a full financial report and disclosure on this event.

After all, approximately $4500.00 of taxpayer’s money was earmarked for this event by the city’s elected officials.

After the austerity budget and a 4% increase in the property tax rate for the current budget cycle we feel an elected official’s pet project should not receive a dime of feel-good taxpayer’s money.

We hope that city council will not approve a new budget that includes an expenditure for something like this.

By now you have some elected officials that claim they didn’t know this was in the budget that they approved. It is one of their duties to know what is in the budget.

To be kind, the non-profit corporation that threw “Christmas in Alexandria, has received initial seed money and should have made enough to finance their next event. If not the city should not finance a looser project again regardless of what some elected officials want.

Some on council are already talking about how the city can increase revenues for the next budget cycle.

Watch out business owners:

We think you are going to be hearing more about a gross receipts tax that you were told has been forgotten about; and the property owner should not rule out the possibility of another 4% increase in the property tax rate.

A tip for property owners:

By the way the city may increase property tax rates up to 4% per year with no input or approval from you.

And to be fair, your newest council member did not take office until after all of this took place.