B OONE COUNTY RECORDER
CELEBRATING
Your Community Recorder newspaper serving all of Boone County
120 YEARS See page 3A for details!
$1.00
THURSDAY, JULY 20, 2017
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Transportation key to managing growth in Boone County Melissa Reinert mreinert@enquirer.com
Boone County is growing. Fast. In fact, according to officials with the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), it is the fastest growing area, not just in Northern Kentucky, but the entire Tristate. As working and residential populations expand, so come growing pains, most often in the form of traffic and infrastructure issues. Boone County, however, is staying a head of the game, according to OKI's Robyn Bancroft, project manager for the county's transportation plan. "We need to look ahead," she said. "We don't want to suffer from growth, we want growth to add to the community. We want Boone County to be a great place to live and work. This county is vital to our region. We have to plan for the future." OKI has partnered with the county to study area infrastructure, connect with residents and develop a strategic transportation plan for the entire county. The plan will include roads, sidewalks, mass transit, and bike paths. "We are just getting started," Bancroft said. "We're going to rev up our outreach efforts in August. Right now, we've been collecting data and working on interactive maps of the public to view on our website, booneky.oki.org. They'll be able to make comments as well. Those should be posted by the end of this month." In late August OKI will host an open house to gather more input from residents, workers, and visitors.
THE ENQUIRER/MELISSA REINERT
Boone County, Kentucky, YMCA and St. Elizabeth officials participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new Healthy Living Center on July 13, 2017.
YMCA expansion to serve as 'beacon of health' Melissa Reinert mreinert@enquirer.com
BURLINGTON - Standing outside the new St. Elizabeth Healthy Living Center, Vera Hall says thoughtfully, "This is where we can grow." Hall, senior vice president and chief nurse executive at St. Elizabeth, was one of the visionaries behind the new center, which is an expansion of the R.C. Durr YMCA in Burlington. A Boone County resident, Hall also serves on the YMCA's advisory board. That's where she first learned about the YMCA's capital campaign for an expansion. "I saw an opportunity to partner with another community organization to further
our mission at St. Elizabeth which is to make Northern Kentucky one of the healthiest communities in America." Her colleagues agreed and the healthcare organization contributed $1 million to the $2.7 million facility. The Y staff and advisory board members contributed a total of $85,000. Several other organizations and many individuals contributed to the project, as well. Construction began in November 2016. The center, the first of its kind in the region, officially opened at a ribbon cutting ceremony on July 13. The center offers an additional 3,000 square feet for fitness at the Y. The fitness center includes $250,000 in stateof-the-art strength and cardio
equipment. There's also a performance training room, expanded group exercise and youth development space, a consultation room for St. Elizabeth and the St. Elizabeth Physical Therapy Center. The center is accessible to Y members, about 12,000, however, there will be opportunities to invite the community to participate in programs. One program being planned is quarterly preventive health care educational sessions which will involve St. Elizabeth professionals sharing their expertise. "I'm looking forward to having a center like this in my community," Hall said. "I use the Y myself. I also want to see See YMCA, Page 2A
Later this fall, OKI will put together all the data and input collected and share the information on the website. "We're also planning to do a Facebook Live town hall meeting with Judge-executive (Gary) Moore," she said. "It will be recorded so it can be viewed at later times, as well. He'll make a presentation and field questions. "We'll share project improvement ideas to get feedback and to make a priority list," Bancroft said. "Our goal is to wrap up the plan by the end of the year." In the meantime, Bancroft said there is a survey available on the website, as well as an opportunity to share one's email address to receive notification as the site is updated. Moore said it's important to hear the voices of those who travel in the county regularly. "Our citizens experience our highways, our TANK system, our sidewalks or our bike paths on a regular basis," he said. "I want to know what they think are problem areas and potential improvements that will improve our community." Moore hopes to identify needed projects that are affordable and that can be accomplished in a 10-year-or-less time frame. The last Boone County Transportation Plan was completed in 2006. "A lot has changed since then and many of the projects in that plan have been completed or are underway," Moore said. "I feel that this visionary planning process is paramount if our community is going to be all that it can be. We must manage the growth that is occurring well and work to make sure that it improves our quality of life."
Job options heat up at Summer Spectacular Job Fair The Kentucky Career Center will host the 2017 Summer Spectacular Job Fair from 1-4 p.m. Wednesday, July 26, at the Boone County Public Library’s main branch, 1786 Burlington Pike, Burlington. There is no cost to attend but canned food donations will be accepted for the Brighton Center Food Pantry. More than 50 Kentucky employers will attend the event, including Aerotek,
Baptist Life Communities, Mubea, Cengage Learning, St. Elizabeth Physicians, Pomeroy IT Solutions, Transamerica, Allied Universal Protection Services, RWI Logistics, Just Energy, Schwan’s Food Co., Western States Envelope & Label, Gateway Community & Technical College and Western & Southern Life. Employers are from a variety of industries, including advanced manufacturing, health care, hospitality, manage-
ment and operations, sales and customer services, security, transportation and logistics. Staffing services will be represented, along with a variety of partners and community services. If you have questions, visit www.nkcareercenter.org or call the Kentucky Career Center in Covington, 859-292-6666, or Florence, 859-371-0808.
For the Postmaster
Contact us
WHO DEY GONNA CATCH THAT APP?
News ...................283-0404 Retail advertising ..513-768-8404 Classified advertising 513-421-6300 Delivery .................781-4421
Get the latest Bengals news. Download our app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.
See page A2 for additional information
THE ENQUIRER
Jordyn Wehrman, assists a Northern Kentucky resident in the Kentucky Career Center.
The Boone County Recorder 3647 O’Hara Rd. Erlanger, KY 41018
Published weekly every Thursday. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, KY 41042 ISSN 201108 ● USPS 060-780 Postmaster: Send address change to The Boone County Recorder, 3647 O’Hara Rd., Erlanger, KY 41018 Annual subscription: Weekly Recorder In-County $18.02; All other in-state $23.32; Out-of-state $27.56; Kentucky sales tax included
Vol. 141 No. 39 © 2017 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
is the Place for When You’re Planning on Canning SALE
9
$ Like us on Facebook to receive special offers CE-0000660616
99
Ball®Wide Mouth Pt. Jar, Bx/12 62298
SALE
10
$
99
Ball® Wide Mouth Qt. Jar, Bx/12 62299
3545 North Bend Road, Hebron • 859.586-0222
More Ball™ Jars and Lids On Sale Through 7/31