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Your Community Recorder newspaper serving all of Campbell County
COUNTY RECORDER
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Volume 32, Number 3 © 2010 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Marsie’s Menagerie
Campbell County resident Marsie Hall Newbold offers up a new column highlighting local owners and their pets. Along with telling their stories, Newbold looks to local experts for pet tips and guidance. “If it is furry, feathery or finny, I’ll be writing about it,” Newbold said. LIFE, B5
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County steps back from energy plan By Chris Mayhew cmayhew@nky.com
Campbell County Fiscal Court is considering how best to spend more than $275,000 in federal stimulus money for energy efficiency. The Fiscal Court has scrapped a proposal submitted by Massachusetts-based Ameresco Inc. in November to spend an additional $1.3 million on top of the stimulus money to create long-term energy cost savings. The county has been working for six months with Ameresco, said Campbell County Administrator Robert Horine. “At this time based on input from the Fiscal Court members we are not proceeding with the energy plan,” Horine said. Horine said the county will invite Ameresco to submit a revised proposal only for the stimulus funds for lighting fixture upgrades. Ameresco has already done work including audits of the county’s energy usage in its buildings, Horine said.
More than 10 audience members, including representatives of the Campbell County Tea Party, debated with Fiscal Court members over issues including whether the county should even accept the federal stimulus money and asked that local contractors have a shot at making any future proposals. The county had asked for and advertised for bids for the larger proposal cut at Wednesday’s meeting, but only for companies that can guarantee energy savings under state law. Only about three companies have experience with that in Kentucky, and only one of the three, Ameresco, submitted a proposal, Horine said. There’s been no decision yet on how to use the $275,520 in stimulus money for energy efficiency, he said. And when it comes to the stimulus money, the county didn’t ask for it or have to apply for it, Horine said. But rather, the federal government selected the county to receive the funds and if Campbell County doesn’t use the money it
Stimulus money will go to a project that can be backed up with scientific data that can be plotted to prove the money savings. will go to another local government. “Most people are angry about the spending practices of the federal government,” said Judgeexecutive Steve Pendery. But, this stimulus money will go to a project that can be backed up with scientific data that can be plotted to prove the money savings, he said. “The money spent will actually save more money in energy savings for the local taxpayers,” Pendery said. Commissioner Mark Hayden said it’s important to note the Fis-
cal Court members did not agree in supporting the original Ameresco proposal, and no decision has yet been made about how to spend the stimulus money. The county’s energy bill for the previous month was more than $56,465, said Commissioner Dave Otto. “That’s a lot of money for energy, and if we can save money and tax dollars on energy-efficient lighting I’m all for it,” Otto said. Nathan Shank, president of Shank Electrical Contracting, said he attended the meeting to find out if local contractors can have a crack at the stimulus money and create local jobs instead of the work going to companies that are out of state. “All my guys live and work in the area,” Shank said. Shank said he picked up a list of requirements from the county that companies have to meet to be able to bid on the energy efficiency projects. “It seems like now is the time to get in and submit it before its too late,” he said.
Book looks at supper club before the fire By Amanda Joering Alley ajoering@nky.com
Teeter tots
The pitter-patter of little feet fills the Fort Thomas Armory as dozens of children run through the gymnasium during the Recreation Department’s Teeter Tots program. For more than 30 years, the department has been offering the children’s exercise program, which has offered a lot more through the years. LIFE, B1
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A warm atmosphere
Martha Walton, left, an employee of the Spare-Time Grill for 24 years, takes plate full of breakfast off the griddle as Lou Sendelbach, of Camp Springs, sips a coffee as the heat from inside fogs up the windows against the cold Feb. 12. The Alexandria eatery opened in 1958 and serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week.
Snow piles bring bus plan changes By Chris Mayhew cmayhew@nky.com
Campbell County Schools has implemented a limited bus service plan for almost 70 roads to keep students in school when snow piles make it difficult for buses to turn around on side streets. The plan affects about 350 families and moves bus stops to main roads instead of side streets when the school district declares limited bus service through media outlets during or after heavy snowfalls. The district already used the plan Thursday, Feb. 18 while snow was still piled high from the recent winter storms. The limited bus service will only be used when it is safe to drive, said Juli Hale, director of community relations for the district. “In no way are we going to go
to school if it’s unsafe,” Hale said. The issue is that the end of streets and cul-de-sacs where buses turn around is often where snow gets piled up and makes it unsafe for buses to turn around, she said. “The county road services do a great job, but the snow has to go someplace,” Hale said. Under normal conditions the district doesn’t require students to walk more than one-fifth of a mile. There shouldn’t be any extremely long distances created by the limited bus service plan, she said. “We did try to keep them in reason, mostly it’s coming up to the top of your road,” Hale said. Declaring the limited bus service will be on a case-by-case basis, she said. “It’s something that will likely be used after school has been off
for a while,” Hale said. John Ripberger, a resident of Royal Oak Drive in Alexandria, one of the streets impacted by the limited bus service plan, lives close to where the street meets Licking Pike. Ripberger said his children, although grown and out of school since the early 1990s, had to walk to the end of the street to catch the bus. But, there are families at the end of the street, about a mile in length, with children the plan could be more of an inconvenience for, he said. “It wasn’t a big deal for us because we’re close to the end of the street,” Ripberger said. About 4,700 students are transported on district buses each school day, a number that includes some parochial students, according to a news release from the district.
Two local authors are trying to make sure the Beverly Hills Supper Club is remembered for more than just the tragic fire that occurred there. In a new pictorial book, “The Beverly Hills Country Club,” Allen Singer and Earl Clark feature hundreds of pictures of the performers and crowds at the club from 1951 until 1962. “Whenever people think about Beverly Hills they only think about the fire, but there was such a great legacy there before the fire,” Singer said. “It really was a premiere showcase in that time.” While researching his first book about the Cincinnati subway, Singer met Clark, who worked as a saxophonist in the house band at the club in the 1950s and had hundreds of photos he took from his time there. Singer said he felt people needed to see Clark’s pictures, which tell many stories. Clark said since there hadn’t really been much coverage of that time period in books, he was all for the idea of co-authoring the book. “I just wanted to show the pleasure the club brought to people in this area and share the pictures, which are great historical documents from the period,” Clark said. “I welcomed the opportunity to document my experience.” A video about the book can be found at www.youtube.com by searching for the Beverly Hills Country Club. The book is available at local bookstores, online retailers and through Arcadia Publishing at 888-313-2665. Book signings are being held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Walgreens, in Newport and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, at the Barnes & Noble, in Florence.