Thursday, February 04, 1999
River cities consortium plan could get rolling within weeks
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — A plan to form a consortium of seven contiguous Northern Kentucky cities that share the banks of the Ohio River could take its first official step in the next three weeks.
At a meeting in the Newport City Commission chambers Wednesdaynight, elected officials of the river cities listened to details of the plan presented by Southbank Partners executive director Wally Pagan and Brighton Center ex ecutive director Bob Brewster.
The consortium would enable the seven cities to obtain Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) grant money from the state on an annual basis as an entitlement zone, eliminating the necessity of applying individually.
“This has never been done in Kentucky, although it has been successful in other parts of the country,” Mr. Brewster said. “Many consortiums have been formed and receive millions in grants.”
The seven cities being asked to join forces are Dayton, Bellevue, Fort Thomas, Newport, Covington, Ludlow and Bromley.
The entitlement designation would be especially appealing to towns such as Fort Thomas and Ludlow, where city officials said they rarely if ever receive grants despite numerous applications over the years.
Covington, which already
receives entitlement funds by virtue of its population (over 40,000), would administer the consortium. Each city would decide how it would use its share of the pot.
“Covington is really the key to this,” Mr. Brewster said. “Without Covington, we don't have the contiguity to bring in Ludlow and Bromley.”
Howard Hodge, Covington economic development director, said he was concerned because his investigation failed to show any regulations permitting CDBG grants through an entitlement consortium.
“If this is to work, we need to get busy and determine exactly what we must do and if we can actually get CDBG grants this way,” he told the gathering.
Mr. Pagan said the staff of Southbank Partners, a partnership of Cov ington, Newport and Bellevue officials and business leaders, had investigated the possibilities and determined that many city consortiums received CDBG grants on an annual basis.
Tom Steidel, Covington assistant city manager, asked whether becoming part of the consortium would change Covington's annual entitlement share. Covington now receives $2.7 million in CDBG funds and $500,000 in HOME grants each year.
“It is our understanding that there would be no change in the amount Covington received,” Mr. Brewster said. “If it did change, we would not go forward with the consortium plan.”
Jeff Earlywine, Fort Thomas city administrator, asked why, when the consortium plan appeared to be positive and foolproof, no other area in Kentucky had sought entitlement des ignation.
“There are not sufficient population bases in contiguous communities in other parts of the state to make it happen,” Mr. Brewster said. “And I think the timing is right now for the river cities because there is much more interest in working together.”
Mr. Pagan, who said there was no definite figure for how much money the consortium might share each year, told the city leaders that each city must make a decision and, if the plan meets their approval, pass a resolution in favor of the consortium by Feb. 22.
“We must have a letter of intent to the state by March 1,” he said. “The state must ultimately approve the plan. The letter of intent must be accompanied by resolutions from each city.”
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