Three Fort Thomas council committees met together last week to work on pressing city projects underway.
During the November city council meeting, the Recreation, Public Works, and Public Utilities and Building committees presented reports to the council.
While the committees generally meet separately, meeting together, with all three committees engaged in related and tangential projects, proved very productive, said council member Adam Blau.
“Everybody was very engaged…a lot of good things came out of it,” he said.
Recreation: Tennis courts and a kayak ramp
Jeff Bezold, chair of the Recreation Committee, reported his committee made some decisions that may cost more upfront but will ensure better results and savings for the city in the long run.
The committee rejected a planned two-inch “resurfacing only” of the tennis courts in Tower Park. Instead, they plan to go with a longer-lasting and more durable fix involving milling down the courts and adding a new surface. The process is more costly but should save the city money down the road, Bezold said.
“The financials work out better doing it all upfront,” said Bezold. “The total cost is $450,000 but that does include a paved path around the tennis courts, and we’ll restripe the lower two courts for pickleball. So we’ll continue with the double use down there.”
The project will include adding steps and a railing and repaving the area to make it more accessible.
Bezold said the committee also discussed the playground equipment project in Highland Hills Park.
“The committee was in favor of the concept of two separate playgrounds, an older and a younger playground,” Bezold said. “We’re still trying to figure out which one’s going to go where — close to the bathrooms or close to the shelter. And we’ll do a little more investigating.”
Once the Highland Hills work is complete, the committee will turn its attention to Riggs Memorial Park, Bezold said. They are also exploring adding a kayak ramp at Route 8 north of Tower Hill Road. The city owns a small piece of property there, and the committee would like to clear it out and create a small park and kayak ramp.
Public Utilities: LED street lights costs
The city’s public utilities and buildings committee has been exploring a Duke Energy proposal to change city street lights to LEDs. The move would save the city energy costs in the long run, but the upfront costs can be high.
“When a street light goes out, if it can be repaired, they do it. If not, they replace it with the new LED lights,” said Eric Strange, chair of the committee. Right now, I think we’ve got 10 of those lights in the city so far.”
There are 816 street lights and 84 lamp posts that would be part of the program if the city decides to participate.
There would be an upfront cost of $636,000 — $441,000 for the street lights and $195,000 for lamp posts. While they are still finalizing numbers, Strange said they estimate this would save the city $7,000 a month.
Strange said if the costs could be lowered or the savings verified, the committee could recommend moving ahead on the program. Yet, for now, the city is reaching out to get more information.
Public Works: Midway Streetscape
Blau, chair of the public works committee, said the focus is on the Midway Business District, especially on the streetscape project.
“This project will continue the streetscape from Garrison to Grandview,” Blau said. “It’s not a very long area, but it does complete what we have already done in the Midway area, bringing everything together.”
The Midway streetscape project includes burying all overhead utility lines underground, widening sidewalks, adding bump outs and improving crosswalks. The estimated cost of the plan is $3.8 million, and it could be ready to be bid out in January 2025, Blau said. He added that the committee has asked city staff to look at options that might help lessen the cost. They plan an onsite tour and discussion with staff soon.
“This is a great project,” said Blau. “I think burying the power lines is one of the things I constantly hear about, how good they look on the north side of town. The Midway district, on its own, has created its own entity. In my mind, they really have built themselves up with not as much help as some of the other parts of town. This will just add a really nice vibe from The Post all the way up to Grassroots and Vine.”
Fort Thomas City Council has six committees, each with four council members. In addition to public works, recreation and public utilities and buildings, committees include law, labor and license, finance and public safety. Committee members and information is available on the Fort Thomas website council page.
