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COUNTY RECORDER
E-mail: kynews@communitypress.com T h u r s d a y, F e b r u a r y 2 5 , 2 0 1 0
Holly Angel of MTV’s ‘Taking the Stage.’
Volume 134 Number 23 © 2010 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Battaglia honored to call dad’s race
Mike Battaglia was inspired by his father John to become a horse racing announcer. This Saturday, Feb. 27, will be extra special for him as Turfway Park hosts the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes. Mike will be up in the booth undoubtedly thinking of his father. – LIFE, PAGE B1
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We know there are many inspiring stories in our community. We want to hear about them, and want your help. If you know of a local person, business or organization that’s making a positive difference in our community, please drop us a line at goodnews@enquirer.com with your name and your daytime contact information.
Where do you do March Madness?
March Madness is less than a month away and the Wildcats are in second place. We’d like to know: Where are the good places to watch the NCAA tournament in Boone County? What’s your favorite sports bar or hangout to share in the madness? Send us an e-mail at ndaly@nky.com with the subject line “March Madness.” Include your name, neighborhood and phone number and tell us your favorite place to watch the big games. Questions? Call 578-1059.
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Find out what’s going on as news happens in Boone County. You can read updates several times a day on the Boone Blog, http://news.nky.com/booneblog. Get regular updates about Boone County news on Twitter as well: • twitter.com/McKibbenNews • twitter.com/Nancy_Daly • twitter.com/crkysports For the Postmaster
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Park to be searched for artifacts
By Paul McKibben pmckibben@nky.com
A small park in downtown Burlington will be the site of an archaeological survey. The Boone County Fiscal Court on Feb. 16 approved hiring the University of Kentucky’s Program for Archaeological Research for the project. UK was one of three bidders on the project. The county’s public works department recommended the Fiscal Court award the bid to UK. At 0.86 acres, Pete’s Park is the smallest park the county owns. The park, which has benches and swings, is located on Nicholson Avenue and Nicholas Street. Margaret Stephens, who once
PAUL MCKIBBEN/STAFF
Pete’s Park is located at Nicholas Street and Nicholson Avenue in Burlington. owned the Boone County Recorder, donated the land to the county. But Stephens stipulated the park be called Pete’s Park after her late husband, Alvin “Pete” Stephens.
Matt Becher, staff to the Boone County Historic Preservation Board, said he suspects when the UK group does the dig, they will find something but what it is, he doesn’t know. He said he doesn’t have any record of any buildings being at the park’s site. “Like I said, somebody could’ve had a kitchen garden there and people tended to dump stuff in gardens so there could be all sorts of junk ... in one spot,” he said. The project will cost the county $3,956. A road project about two miles away from the park is why the county is doing the survey. County Engineer Greg Sketch said when the county was doing the turn lane project on Conrad
Lane at North Bend Road (Ky. 237), the county failed to have an archaeological survey of that intersection. Sketch said because the majority of the funding comes through a federal program, the county later found out after it had started construction, that it needed to have a survey. He said the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet agreed that instead of doing an archaeological survey at Conrad Lane, the county could do another one in another part of the county. He said they choose Pete’s Park. “So what we actually do is get a survey that would probably be a benefit to the county, not a survey of an intersection that’s been dug up a number of times throughout the years,” he said.
Salt supplies still in good shape
By Paul McKibben, Justin B. Duke and Regan Coomer
pmckibben@nky.com, jbduke@nky.com and rcoomer@nky.com
Local governments in Boone County say they have enough salt to treat icy roads for the rest of the winter even though the area has been hammered with record snowfall this month. Boone County Engineer Greg Sketch said the county has used about 5,000 to 5,500 tons of salt, costing about $325,000. He said the county has plenty of it. “We keep getting it in so we keep refilling our new dome,” he said. “And that’s really helped a lot because that gives us a lot to start with so that ... we won’t ever run low.” With three major storms this month, February 2010 is now the snowiest February on record for Cincinnati. The area had 23.1 inches of snow through Feb. 15, according to the National Weather Service. The previous record was 21.4 inches in February 1914. Despite facing a rapid succession of snow storms, Florence is doing OK, said Public Services Director Bob Townsend. “We actually didn’t use much salt during the (Feb. 15) storm,” Townsend said. Throwing down salt while it’s still snowing means the salt will
PATRICIA A. SCHEYER/CONTRIBUTOR
Butch Burns, loader operator for Boone County Public Works, loads up one of the 30 dump trucks, this one operated by Shane Sproles with enough salt to treat several streets. It takes drivers four to six hours to treat each inch of snow, and they have to travel 1,500 to 2,000 miles to cover the 425 miles of road that they treat. eventually just get plowed away, he said. Once snow storms subside and plowing has started, then the city will begin salting, Townsend said. “A big storm like this, we’ll use just about as much salt as a small
storm,” he said. Like Florence, Walton didn’t use much of its salt supply, Mayor Phil Trzop said. “We’re ready to go for the next storm,” he said. The city of Union pays Spill-
man Lawncare in Dry Ridge to treat its wintry roads. In Union, 400 tons of salt have been used this winter with 100 tons on order. City Commissioner Bob
SALT SUPPLIES | Continued A2
Boone expects balanced budget By Paul McKibben pmckibben@nky.com
Boone County government should end the current fiscal year on June 30 with a balanced budget, despite the Great Recession and some revenue being down. “We are spending less and we couldn’t be doing it without all of our departments and the sacrifices they’re making,” Judge-Executive Gary Moore said. The county expects to survive about a $1.2 million revenue shortfall with several money-saving moves. County Administrator Jeff Earlywine told the Boone County Fiscal Court on Feb. 16 with the costcutting measures in the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, the county is forecasting it will have
to contribute $250,000 less to it at the end of the fiscal year. Sheriff Michael Helmig has indicated he expects to be under budget in 2010. Other measures the county is taking to save money that Earlywine discussed: • The county won’t have to spend $190,000 for a new heating, air conditioning and ventilation system for the Boone County Administration Building because of the agreement with Energy Systems Group and federal stimulus funds. • The county has reduced its workforce. The county began the fiscal year on July 1 with 195 positions in the budget. It now has 189 employees. That’s down from 213 workers in fiscal year 2007. • The county won’t be upgrad-
ing a computer software system. That will save $140,000. “So when you package those reductions together just with the day-to-day line item management of our budget, we’re confident tonight as we sit here that we can make up that $1.179 million revenue shortfall with simply spending less out of our budget that you all have appropriated,” Earlywine said. Earlywine also said the county will have a balanced budget. He said the county won’t have to dip into any reserve funds nor will it reduce or eliminate any program or service. Revenue is down in several areas, as explained in a memo from Earlywine and County Treasurer Lisa Buerkley. Those are: • Real and tangible property
tax income will be down by about $357,000. That’s because the Fiscal Court adopted the same tax rates in 2009 as it did in 2008. Lower real property valuation is a factor, too. • Automobile tax revenue will be about $87,000 less because of tax rates and lower valuation. • Payroll tax income will be down by about $900,000. • Building permits will be about $136,000 less. • Interest income will be down by more than $60,000. • Deed transfer tax will be off by about $20,000. However, officials expect miscellaneous revenue to be about $280,000 more than projections and franchise tax revenue will be $86,000 more than what was predicted.