Monday, January 17, 2000
Boone may gain board seat
Push for 2nd vote in sanitation group
BY KRISTINA GOETZ
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FRANKFORT — It wouldn't move the proposed sewage treatment plant from Belleview Bottoms, but the work of one Kentucky legislator may add representation for Boone County on the board of Sanitation District No. 1.
Many Boone residents complained about lack of parity on the board, which covers Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties, after Belleview Bot toms was chosen for a new wastewater treatment plant.
Adding a Boone member wouldn't change the site, but it may help residents feel better about decisions — like design or construction of the new plant — made by the sanitation board.
Rep. Charlie Walton, R-Florence, has authored a bill to change the board. The most populous county, Kenton, would retain four votes. If the bill passes, each remaining county would have two votes. This would add a vote for Boone.
“If we're going to have regionalism and each county is going to work together, we need to do this,” Mr. Walton said. “It's equal on all the other regional boards.”
Mr. Walton said he was not questioning the vote of Boone's representative, Jim Daugherty, in the decision to put the new facility in Belleview Bottoms.
“The more representation you get, the more input you get from residents and they feel a lot more comfortable with the decisions made,” Mr. Walton said.
He would not speculate whether an additional Boone representative might have changed the vote — although that's what some residents have argued.
Boone and Campbell judge-executives as well as the chairman of the sanitation board support the bill.
Boone Judge-executive Gary Moore said he had hoped for equal votes for all three counties but said “this is a step in the right direction.”
“Boone Countians on the board will go an extra step ensuring it has as little impact on the county and the community of people as they can,” Mr. Moore said. “Very few votes, if ever, have been along county lines. It's usually a difference of philosophy. I don't see where Boone County having another vote would threaten the other counties.”
Campbell Judge-executive Steve Pendery was supportive for another reason.
With Boone's booming growth, it will pass Campbell County in population soon. When the shift occurs, Campbell County will have the least population of the three and would have one vote under the existing system.
The legislation would protect Campbell's two votes.
“Unseating somebody over this doesn't seem the right way to handle it,” Mr. Pendery said. “All the way around I think it (legislation) is fair and fine.”
Kentucky State Data Center at the University of Louisville estimates Boone population will be 85,072 on July 1 and 88,580 in Campbell County.
According to center projections, Boone will surpass Campbell in 2002: 91,469 to 89,292.
Richard Kennedy, sanitation board chairman, also favors the change. “I don't have a problem with it at all,” he said. “To add a member, I think that's good, but to take one away is a problem. This is solving that problem.”
Kenton Judge-executive Richard Murgatroyd favored the bill because it allows Campbell County to keep its votes and makes Boone County feel better. However, he still needs to look at the impact of allowing counties that join the same number of votes.
“You get a board too big and it ceases to function well,” he said.
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