Wednesday, October 06, 1999
Petitioners opposed to new Kenton jail
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDEPENDENCE — Kenton Fiscal Court accepted petitions from 1,857 county residents Tuesday who want to stop construction of a new jail on a 55-acre site in the Northern Kentucky Industrial Park off New Buffington Road near Elsmere.
Some residents have threatened to take legal action to stop the county from building its new jail on the site chosen last month.
Fiscal court members had cited the environmental cleanup costs of the other potential jail site, known as the 3L site, a former auto parts junkyard in Covington, as the main reason for ruling it out as a potential jail site.
However, opponents of the Elsmere site argued in their petition that the cleanup costs of the 3L site are nominal, when compared to the costs of locating the jail in a less centrally located, less accessible, more heavily-populated site.
In other jail-related matters, fiscal court:
• Authorized development of a plan to finance the new county jail costing up to $30 million. It's expected the county will issue permanent bond financing, and may seek repayment of any county funds advanced for the project.
• Approved the establishment of an 18-member Kenton County Jail Commission headed by retired Kenton District Judge William Schmaedecke. By Jan. 1, the group will decide how large the jail should be. It will recommend a final design by June 1, 2000, in time for a Sept. 15 groundbreaking. The committee also will draft an operations manual for the new jail by Dec. 15, 2001.
• Agreed to proceed with the design and bidding of the renovation of the fifth floor of the Kenton County Administration building to house about 100 minimum-security prisoners. The project would be a short-term solution to the jail's crowding problems, Kenton Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd said.
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