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Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Elsmere and Erlanger Grant’s Lick residents Kayla Kavanaugh, left, and Grace Florimonte.
Volume 14, Issue 17 © 2010 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Senior center getting back to normal By Jason Brubaker
jbrubaker@nky.com
Fair fun
Residents of Kenton County, and a few from other parts, came to have fun at the annual Kenton County Fair last week. See photos and read about some of the events that took place at the fair grounds. NEWS, A3
Lunch time
The Erlanger/Elsmere School District hosts a daily lunch program that’s been booming all summer long. The program is designed to ensure anyone under 18 years of age receives a healthy meal during the summer. It is funded through a federal grant. Read more about the program. SCHOOLS, A5
In one corner, a big-screen TV is lit up with the familiar icons of Wii Bowling, the noise of the game being drowned out by the chatter of the players. Across from the TV, a series of tables are filled with an assortment of board and card games, while the bustle from the nearby kitchen draws the wandering eyes of some visitors who are clearly ready for lunch. Such is life at the new Elsmere Senior Center, where the renovations are finally complete and life is returning to normal. “There’s definitely been some adjustments as far as the layout and things like that, but overall, it looks great in here,” said director Carol Cope. “We’re very pleased with it.” The center held an open house at the end of June to show off their new digs, which include new flooring, a new roof, a redesigned kitchen upstairs and a small new kitchen downstairs, new paint and a new elevator that replaces the old chair lift. The center also has some new landscaping, a new garden and a new sign out front. The city received a $400, 000 federal grant to do the work, which started this spring with the construction of the elevator shaft. The center remained open during the construction, but many of the activities and programs were shuffled around to accommodate the
By Jason Brubaker
Youths have hit the grid iron preparing for their upcoming season in the Northern Kentucky Youth Football League. The season begins in August, with practices starting at the end of July. Read about the league, what boys learn from playing football and the memories made for coaches and community. LIFE, B1
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work being done. However, with the work now completed, Cope said they’ve been settling back into their routines, with exercise classes, bingo and the usual programs all seeing the regulars come back. At the July 13 city council meeting, the council members
expressed their pleasure with the new center, saying it should attract visitors from all over the area now. “I think it looks terrific and people will really enjoy it,” said council member Mary Lou Neal. “It was a lot of work and a lot of time to get this going, but it looks
JASON BRUBAKER/STAFF
like it was all well worth it.” The Elsmere Senior Center is located 179 Dell Ave., and is open to all seniors, regardless of residency. For more information about the center, or for a schedule of programs, contact the center at 727-2306.
Turkeyfoot Acres fund sparks debate jbrubaker@nky.com
Football season
Pay Donley and Jennetta Glenker get ready for lunch in the new kitchen of the Elsmere Senior Center on July 15.
The spending of approximately $6,900 from the Turkeyfoot Acres Fund by the Elsmere city council last fall for some road work has apparently upset some residents in the neighborhood. The city council voted to spend the money last October to work on the island in a cul-de-sac on Plymouth Lane, saying that residents had requested it because the island was prohibiting larger vehicles, such as buses or snow plows, from turning around. Because the project was requested by residents, the council elected to use money from the Turkeyfoot Acres Fund, which was money left over from sewer maintenance fees paid by the residents of the neighborhood until the sewer was taken over by Sanitation District No. 1. City attorney Paul Markgraf estimated the fund originally con-
tained approximately $68,000. According to current figures, the fund now is worth just under $60,000, with approximately $53,000 in a CD and $6,900 in a checking account. A judge’s order had previously stated the city council could use the Turkeyfoot Acres Fund at their discretion as long as it went toward the geographical area of the neighborhood for improvements or needed repairs. “That project wasn’t part of our street plan last year, and it was a special request by a resident, so that’s why we used some money from that fund,” explained council member Gloria Grubbs. However, Turkeyfoot Acres Homeowner’s Association President Lynn Lawrence said that since residents of Turkeyfoot Acres pay the city’s street tax, using money from their fund instead of the street tax fund was like “double-dipping.” She also said that the
homeowners association was never contacted about the project. “If work is done on another road in the city, it comes out of the street tax,” she said. “But here, we have residents paying that street tax and you went and used money from another fund for it, so it’s like they’re paying twice for the work.” However, Markgraf disagreed, saying that the work done was at the request of a resident, and fell clearly under the jurisdiction under which the council could spend the money. “Under the judge’s order, the council is authorized to spend that fund at their discretion on that area, and they did just that,” he said, adding that the council isn’t required to get the neighborhood board’s approval before completing such a project. Council member Alexis Tanner also pointed out that when roads in the neighborhood are on the
street plan, the council will use the street tax funds to repair them at that point. “This was a small project and since it wasn’t part of our plans, we just used the funds we had available there,” she said. “When it comes time to repave a street or do something major back there, that’s when we’ll be using the funds from the street tax.” To prevent any future disagreements over the spending of the funds, and to help better document special requests from residents like the project on Plymouth Lane, Markgraf suggested that any future requests be submitted in written form for council approval. That way, he said any requests could be better documented in the council meeting minutes and could be easily accessed in the city’s archives. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be August 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Horse ride to benefit St. Jude Hospital By Regan Coomer rcoomer@nky.com
Explore Ryland Heights’ Wilderness Trails at the Annual Benefit Ride Saturday, July 24. Ride proceeds benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, with half of the requested $10 donation for each rider going to the hospital. The event begins at 9 a.m. at the trails, 9411 Locust Pike, and includes horse-trail riding all day, concessions, raffles, live music and a Poker Ride, in which partic-
ipants are dealt a hand of poker during the ride and the best poker hand wins the other half of the donation pot. “Come out and explore and have a good day of fun,” said Mayor Bob Miller, who added the trails run along the “best scenery in this part of the country.” Miller said St. Jude is the perfect beneficiary because “children are the future of our country. We want to cater to our youth and those in need and be able to help them.” Sunrise Ranch owner Deb Noem, of Morning View, helps out
with the benefit ride each year, which she said is important for raising awareness of the wilderness trails. “Places to ride are lessening instead of growing,” she said. “I credit Bob Miller. I have to support someone who’s out there making sure we have a place to ride our horses.” Noem hopes letting more people know about Ryland’s Wilderness Trails will lead to opportunities for expansion. “We have about 9 miles of trails and we want to at least double that going north as well as
south,” she said. Noem encourages riders to bring their favorite horses to the event to enjoy a “beautiful run.” “It’s mostly shaded and runs along the Licking River and there’s a couple spots that let you get down to the river so you can play in the water with your horse,” she said. “That’s as cool as it gets in July.” For more information about the Annual Benefit Ride, e-mail rylandheights@insightbb.com or call (859) 363-7707.