The city council meeting for Nov. 18, 2013 was on the
shorter side, lasting less than a half an hour. The brevity of the meeting did
not reduce the number of important topics discussed.

Mary Beth Sensel spoke at the meeting during the
visitors segment of the proceedings. Ms. Sensel inquired about the policy that
the city has in place for road kill. 

Don Martin advised her that if the
dead animal is found in a public right-of-way then it is the city’s
responsibility. If the animal is found on private property then it is the
responsibility of the landowner. The reason that Ms. Sensel brought up road kill is
that she feels that dead animals on main roadways, Memorial Pkwy. in
particular, are not being addressed in a timely manner. Sensel acknowledged
that in the past she was informed that the police do call in road kill
sightings, but feels that on such a populated road as Memorial Pkwy. dead
animals should not still be present after 9 am.

Mr. Martin said, “We (the city) do try to pick up dead
animals the same day that they’re reported. I will have a conversation with the
police and those responsible for handling the road kill and see if we can
remedy the problem.”

Roger Peterman added, “Please continue to report the
road kill problems so that the issues are addressed as soon as possible.”

Mayor Mary Brown echoed that sentiment and said, “We rely on
the city residents to be made aware of problems like this in city.” And she
thanked Mary Beth Sensel for her report and interest in keeping Fort Thomas
clean of animal remains.

Fire Department Report

October was Fire Prevention Month, so the fire department
was visiting local schools educating students on the importance of fire
prevention and fire safety. They also had students visit the firehouse
throughout the month seeing all the behind the scenes nuances of the FTFD.

Police Department
Report

The report started by complimenting the fire department for
their work throughout Fire Prevention Month. The young people of the town are
fortunate to have such a dedicated and knowledgeable group of firefighters
teaching them fire safety.

The police department is excited to announce that they have
a new graduate of the Police Academy. Nick Hoffman recently graduated the
academy and is now in training to become the newest addition of the FTPD.

The recent assault cases in Fort Thomas were addressed.
There were several juveniles that were identified and charged in the assaults.
Tom Lampe touched on the local assault issue saying, “I just want to compliment
the FTPD on the swiftness in which this investigation was handled. The city
received a lot of inquiries regarding the attacks and our police handled the
investigation promptly and professionally. Very well done!”

The issue of burglaries in the city was also brought up in
the report. Reports show that burglaries are down. There were four individuals
that were identified in Bellevue, and since those four people were taken off
the streets the burglary numbers have gone down. According to the Fort Thomas Police Department, the correlation is too
convenient, and it is suspected that those four people were responsible for a
lot of the local crime.

The last thing that was of note in the meeting was that
Newman Ave. was recently striped. The influx of traffic from the Newport Pavilion prompted the addition of lane stripes on the street, which garnered
Mayor Brown’s approval.