Friday, July 23, 1999
Cities discuss mergers again
They agree to have another meeting
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer Contributor
CRESCENT SPRINGS — After nearly two hours of discussing whether Villa Hills and Crescent Springs should combine their police and public works departments, leaders from both cities decided Thursday to have a second meeting.
“Let's take a look at the possibilities,” Villa Hills Mayor Steve Clark said. “We don't know what's out there at this point.”
Three representatives from the two Kenton County cities will get together again at 7 p.m. Aug. 4 at the Crescent Springs City Building, 739 Buttermilk Pike.
Crescent Springs Mayor Claire Moriconi and City Councilmen Rick Wessels and Tom Vergamini joined Mr. Clark and Villa Hills Councilmen Tim Sogar and Mary Koenig at Thursday's meeting. Mr. Sogar said the cities might want to go beyond combining police and public works.
“If we're looking at merging services, perhaps we should be merging cities,” Mr. Sogar said. “The whole picture is, should two cities be one? Look at the whole pie, not just at a piece.”
Mr. Wessels said combining two departments could be a sort of engagement period to see if a complete merger could work.
“There are so many personal feelings caught up in the two cities,” he said.
Mr. Clark said representatives from the Northern Kentucky Area Development District (NKADD) and the Kentucky League of Cities would be invited to the Aug. 4 meeting. He said those independent agencies are better qualified to judge whether combining services would work because they hold no loyalties to either Crescent Springs or Villa Hills.
Crescent Springs City Council asked Villa Hills in June about uniting their police and public works departments as a way to save money in both cities. They already share fire service — the Crescent Villa Fire Authority — and the two police departments routinely back each other up on runs.
Mr. Wessels said Crescent Springs' budget calls for spending $534,000 on public safety, which includes the police department. The public works budget is about $292,000.
The Villa Hills police budget calls for at least $522,000 — and maybe another $50,000 if the city buys a new police car and installs video cameras in all its cruisers. The public works budget is just under $345,000, but it may rise to $385,000 if a new road-salt building is bought.
Mrs. Moriconi said the cost of merging the police and public works departments would be high at first, and Mr. Clark said it may be three or four years before any savings are seen.
He said the only way jobs would be cut in either city is through attrition.
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