The city of Fort Thomas said goodbye to longtime City Administrator Ron Dill and welcomed his replacement, Matt Kremer.
It was a bittersweet moment when Dill, who had been with the city for more than 36 years, choked back a few tears, gave his last report to council and took the opportunity to thank his colleagues on council, city staff and the community for a career he said never felt like work.
Dill came to Fort Thomas while still in college at Northern Kentucky University. He answered a posting for a co-op job and worked under former city administrator Jeff Earlywine, which he said gave him an invaluable opportunity to learn. When he graduated college, he left the city briefly but soon came back when a job as director of Building Services opened up.
“Since that time, I’ve had great opportunities to grow here, doing different things on behalf of the community, which made it challenging and interesting,” he said.
Dill thanked Mayor Eric Haas for giving him the opportunity to serve as the administrator seven years ago.
“You know you’re living your best life when you get up and you don’t feel like you’re going to work,” Dill said. “That’s really the way I’ve felt. When I made a decision to move on, Eric, council, and really the whole community, have been supportive of that process. And that has been a godsend for me. Because, you can tell, it would have been hard for me to just walk away, and I didn’t have to do it that way. I’m thankful for that.”
Hass told Dill at the meeting that it was the highlight of his career to work with Dill in the city.
“We are so blessed in Fort Thomas, such a great city,” Haas said. “Because we have people who care and that’s what it’s all about. We don’t always agree, but we care.”
He announced the city will name the softball field in Tower Park for Dill to honor him for all his work for the city. Dill has accepted a position as general manager at Woodson Bend Resort near Lake Cumberland.
Welcoming the new administrator
Haas introduced and welcomed the new City Administrator Matt Kremer who has already started in his new position. The former city administrator for Erlanger, Kremer lives in Fort Thomas. He said his wife and three children are excited about the new position.
Kremer thanked Dill, who he said gave him advice when he was considering the administrator position in Erlanger.
“Ron kinda started me in this career,” Kremer said. “I met him as a resident here, handling some other issues when I built my house. When I was a police sergeant, I decided to put my name in for city administrator in my city [Erlanger]. I reached out to Ron, and he talked to me for about two hours, gave me some tips. Ever since then, he’s been a great mentor to me and a great colleague to work with these past five years, and I know that won’t end. We’re just really excited to be here and get started.”
Haas and council welcomed Kremer and then passed the ordinance to make it official, setting the new administrator’s terms of employment.
Dill’s last city report
In Dill’s last report to council, he highlighted the ongoing work on the city building. Last month, council and the community learned of an issue with the electrical work that will set the reopening back until late summer or early fall.
The rest of the work in the building has proceeded on schedule, Dill said. Inside work continues with ceiling tiles, paint color selection, bathroom and first-floor tiling. Outdoor work includes power washing, which should be completed over the coming month.
Council also voted to authorize Haas to work with the Fort Thomas Independent School District to discuss a plan for the schools to use space in the city building for school board meetings. The district is ending its lease arrangement with 20 Grand Avenue, and school officials approached the city to ask if they could hold meetings in the newly renovated city building.
Haas said the idea would be for the schools to partner with the city and possibly help to offset some of the daily maintenance costs in exchange for use of the space. All this has not been worked out, but he asked council to approve him to discuss the matter further with school officials.
Dill also gave an update of the Buildings and Utilities Committee. The committee continues its research into electric fueling stations within the city. Final numbers are coming soon from Duke Energy on LED lighting throughout the city. The project will involve upfront investment, but, Dill said, a return on this investment in energy cost savings will come over time. Once the committee has the final numbers, a recommendation will come to council.