BY GREGORY A. HALL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- As Kenton Fiscal Court and Corporex Cos. bickered over proposals to settle a lawsuit stemming from a bidding controversy, a Northern Kentucky development group stepped in with a plan of its own.
Southbank Partners, a group of government officials and business people pushing riverfront development, proposed a settlement that would aid two of its projects.
Kenton Judge-executive Rodney "Biz" Cain confirmed Friday that he had been approached by Southbank, but rejected the offer. "We didn't need any more negotiators in here," he said.
The Southbank offer would have had Corporex pay $425,000 to the county, of which $225,000 would go toward a Southbank-backed park at Court Street and Park Place.
The park would border the county's office building, which Southbank has exclusive rights to market until Dec. 31, 1999.
Southbank's proposal also sought an agreement that would keep Corporex from building a high-rise tower on the block to the north. That could block Cincinnati skyline views from the county building, which may be renovated for luxury condominiums if county offices move.
Attempts to reach Southbank Executive Director Wally Pagan were unsuccessful.
Corporex attorney Joseph Trauth said he was unaware of the Southbank offer. He also said there's been no progress in the settlement talks between the county and Corporex.
"It's my understanding that all those discussions have been tabled," he said.
Mr. Cain said he rejected the offer because it would have sidetracked the negotiations with Corporex. He said the Southbank offer is the only proposal he's heard from a group not involved in the case. However, he said he didn't find the offer strange. Mr. Cain said it was an extension of Southbank's agreement with the fiscal court on the county building.
"I could see where they were coming from," Mr. Cain said. "I think this appears to be an honest effort to increase the value of this building as a residential area."
The county has no immediate plans to move. Plans for administrative offices in the new courthouse being built nearby collapsed in part because of debt owed on the existing county building.
The county is suing Corporex and its chairman, Bill Butler, to recoup an $850,000 settlement paid to the two losing bidders -- Wessels Construction and Development Corp. and Carroll Properties -- over the 1996 courthouse and parking garage construction contracts. The county accuses Mr. Butler of manipulating the process to win the $36 million projects.
Corporex and Mr. Butler deny any wrongdoing and place blame on the county for failing to follow its own rules.
A grand jury requested by the Kentucky attorney general's office is to meet Wednesday to examine whether laws were broken in the bidding process.
Subpoenas to county officials have said former Judge-executive Clyde Middleton is the subject of the investigation. Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson said Southbank talked with members of the fiscal court individually and the subject was not brought before the court during a meeting.
Southbank's most visible project to date has been the shuttle that operates in downtown Cincinnati, Covington and Newport. The group also backs the Millennium Monument and other riverfront development efforts.
