Wednesday, August 18, 1999
Kenton seeking help in buyout of property
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer Contributor
INDEPENDENCE — The Kenton County Fiscal Court plans to ask six cities and Boone County to help buy out homeowners along flood-prone Banklick and Fowler creeks.
The resolution the county passed Tuesday concerns an area bordered by Ky. 17, Ky. 16 and Richardson Road in Kenton County and U.S. 25 in Boone County. It calls for Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd to talk to the Kenton County cities of Independence, Edgewood, Covington, Fort Wright, Erlanger and Elsmere and the Boone County Fiscal Court.
“The buyout program is the only viable alternative,” Kenton County Commissioner Barb Black said. “But this fiscal court cannot afford a buyout on its own.”
Al Carson, chairman of Neighbors Fighting for Flood Control, said it would take him about a month to put together a list of property owners who could be eligible for the buyout and how many would sell.
Mr. Carson has said up to 100 may be affected, and resident Christene Meadows knows of 30-40 who would move.
“Not all those people are getting flooded,” Ms. Meadows said. “But they're afraid of getting flooded because the water keeps getting higher.”
A meeting to discuss the residents' options is 7 p.m. Thursday at Eggleston United Methodist Church, 1961 Bullock Pen Road in Erlanger.
Said Boone County Commissioner Robert Hay: “I'm not sure what responsibility we have in the matter. I'm certain some of our watershed is in Kenton County.”
The creeks are part of the Banklick Watershed, a 58.2-square mile portion of Boone and Kenton counties.
Kenton County had consid ered two other options: take nearly four years to build up to 29 small dams at a cost of about $8.7 million; or wait nearly 10 years and spend between $30 million and $40 million for two large dams. Fort Wright engineer Jim Berling, whom the county hired to study the situation, said neither option would stop flooding completely.
“You'd still have to shovel your basement out and throw your stuff away,” Ms. Meadows said.
A group of Banklick Creek property owners, who live mostly along Ky. 17, sued Kenton and Boone counties and 12 cities over the flooding. The residents claim the counties and cities allowed development without providing for proper retention and distribution.
A Kenton County judge dismissed the suit earlier this year, but the residents have appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
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