CATCH A STAR
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Burlington Kroger door greeter Jim Lawson.
RECORDER
Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Florence E-mail: kynews@communitypress.com T h u r s d a y, F e b r u a r y 2 4 , 2 0 1 1
Volume 16 Number 23 © 2011 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
W e b s i t e : N K Y. c o m
B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
50¢
Senior center bid cut
Move knocks $350,000 off bid prices Cobaugh
Collection time
In the next few days your Community Recorder carrier will be stopping by to collect $2.50 for delivery of this month’s Florence Recorder. Your carrier retains half of this amount along with any tip you give to reward good service. This month we’re featuring Cayce Cobaugh, who attends Villa Madonna and is on the A/B honor roll. Cayce likes basketball, Cub Scouts, skateboarding and video games. For information about our carrier program, call Victoria Martin, 442-3463 or vmartin@ communitypress.com
Can you guess the Mystery Photo?
This week’s “Mystery Photo” is shown here. Can you identify the location and community? The fifth person to correctly identify this location will be mentioned in next week’s Recorder. E-mail your answer, along with your name and community, to ndaly@nky.com. Please put “Mystery Photo” in the subject line. You may also call 578-1059.
Online community
Find your community’s website by visiting NKY.com/local and select your community under “Kentucky Communities.” You’ll find local news, sports, photos and events, tailored to where you live. You can even submit your own articles and photos using Share, our online submission tool.
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By Justin B. Duke
JAMES WEBER/STAFF
jbduke@nky.com
A new Florence Senior Center plan will go out to bid with the hopes of lower bid prices. In November, the original plans for the center came in $1 million over budget. Plans called for the 8,700square-feet facility to sit on U.S. 42 where the old Florence city building was. The original budget for the project was $1.8 million with $500,000 coming from a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Florence funding the remaining $1.3 million. When the bids came in over budget, City Council decided to remove amenities from the plan and re-bid the project to get it closer to budget. Council decided Feb. 15 to move forward with a plan from Public Services Director Bob Townsend that would eliminate a green roof, triple-pane windows and some audio/visual equipment along with changing wood accents from cherry to a cheaper pine. The cuts should bring knock about $350,000 off the bid prices. The new plan will keep the geothermal heating and cooling system because it will allow the city to keep the $105,000 energy savings grant they’ve been awarded and reduce the payoff in energy savings to around 16 years, Townsend said. “We thought that would be well worth keeping the geothermal,” he said. The cuts won’t reduce the planned functionality or the size of the senior center, Townsend said. “We’ve removed things you would’ve never noticed,” he said. Townsend didn’t have the cuts added to the drawings for the center until council approved, so it will be about a month before the project can go back out to bid. The savings are an estimate and the bid prices can be altered by changes in material prices, prevailing wage and the bidding climate that could have changed since the center last went out to bid, said Mayor Diane Whalen. Because the estimated savings didn’t cover the $1 million the project went over budget, council will have to vote on a budget amendment before the project can be funded, Whalen said.
Ruschell wins state title
Campbell County’s Sean Fausz (top) and Ryle’s T.J. Ruschell wrestle in the Kentucky state championship match at 110 pounds Feb. 19 at Frankfort Convention Center. Ruschell won the match for his first state title. Story, Page A8.
Land behind Walmart could see hotel, other changes By Justin B. Duke jbduke@nky.com
A hotel owner is looking to put some vacant land to use. The Boone County Planning Commission heard a zoning map amendment request from ECE Inc. on behalf of Rolling Hills Crossing LLC. Rolling Hills Crossing owns an 8.95-acre plot of vacant land on Vandercar Way, behind the Florence Walmart. They also own the Homewood Suites next to the plot of land along with two other hotels in Boone County. They’ve requested their vacant lot’s zoning be changed from Office One/Planned Development to Office Two/Planned Development. The new zoning would allow another hotel and some other uses. “They wanted a little more flexibility,” said Kevin Costello, planning commission executive director. Anthony Flannery, who lives on Edgehill Road behind the Homewood Suites, is concerned
adding additional development will increase the water runoff problem from the first hotel. Storm water runoff has doubled the width of the creek between Edgehill Road and the hotel and eliminated trees that served as a buffer between the two, Flannery said. The planning commission voted to approve the change 11-2 with conditions that Rolling Hills
Crossing will assess and correct storm water problems from the existing hotel, no fuel sales will happen on the property and other conditions. Rolling Hills Crossing agreed to the conditions. Before the zoning change becomes final, Florence City Council will have to vote on it. Florence is expected to discuss the change sometime in March.
POW monument coming in May By Justin B. Duke jbduke@nky.com
The final piece of a heroes’ monument is coming this May. H.B. Deatherage visited the Florence Rotary Club Feb. 14 to share his excitement about the coming POW/MIA monument that will be added to the Veterans Memorial of Boone County. The monument will be made from African granite currently being shipped to the U.S. It will be engraved by Rolf Monument Co. with an image of the POW/MIA flag, a symbol of missing servicemen that was created by the National League of Families and recognized by Congress in 1990.
The monument will cost around $5,500. Deatherage plans for the monument to be unveiled on Memorial Day. The monument will be lit at night, Deatherage said. “It’s going to be very visible,” he said. While visiting the Rotary Club, Deatherage detailed the long history the club has with the veterans memorial. “Rotary has some deep roots with this memorial,” Deatherage said. He showed documents signed by Florence Rotary Club Hall of Fame members that allowed the veterans memorial group to start a
bank account when the whole thing was still a dream. “Florence Rotary, you did this,” Deatherage said. As the memorial enters a new stage, Rotary is ready to help, President Greg Palmer said. Money for the monument is being raised through donations. Brick pavers will be sold for $65 each and monetary donations may be mailed to Boone County Veterans Memorial Inc., Attn. H.B., 8100 Ewing Blvd., Florence KY 41042. Donations may also be made at Bank of Kentucky. The Veterans Memorial of Boone County is located on the campus of the Florence Government Center.