COVINGTON — Strategies for ridding the city of blighted buildings and increasing home ownership will be a Covington City Commission priority this year.

        “I think we all agree,” said Commissioner Jerry Bamberger.

        Elected officials in Northern Kentucky's largest city say housing issues will be at the top of their list at their annual retreat next weekend.

        The retreat runs Friday through Sunday morning at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Lexington.

        While department heads will offer goals and objectives, as they have in the past, this year, the city commission will take a more active role in setting policy, Mayor Butch Callery said.

        “For the first three hours, we're going to discuss issues and goals important to the commission,” Mr. Callery said. He added the city commission also will discuss ways it can better convey its priorities to department directors.

        Topics will include:

        • A more aggressive at tempt to enforce the city's housing code and systematically rid Covington of rundown and abandoned buildings. Along with that, Mr. Callery said city staff are identifying possible sites for in-fill housing, or housing built on vacant lots. The mayor said the Northern Kentucky Home Builders Association has expressed interest and local builders will tour possible sites at the end of the month.

        Commissioner Alex Edmondson, who made housing a priority in his campaign, said that he will propose the city make aggressive use of a state law enabling Covington to take back abandoned buildings for what they're currently worth.

        • Establishing a policy encouraging department heads to actively solicit grants for projects and public improvements, as Denny Bowman, the parks and recreation director, has done.

        Mr. Edmondson said he would like to see the city use a professional grant writer to help secure grants, with some of that money set aside for projects in neighborhoods.

        Commissioner Craig Bohman said he is especially interested in locating grant money or city funding for more housing inspections and rehabilitation, as well as housing construction.

        And Mr. Bamberger said he is getting information on a non-profit program in California that cleaned up blighted housing.

        “I think you need to do it block by block,” Mr. Bamberger said. “You can't do the whole city all at once.”

        • Possible revision of the city zoning code to allow owners of buildings that formerly housed grocery stores or other small businesses to be converted to res idential use without having to go to the Covington Board of Adjustment.

        • Lobbying state legislators for $12 million for the Riverfront West commercial and residential project. The city needs the money for infrastructure improvements and to acquire riverfront land it doesn't already control. While the Kentucky General Assembly's next two-year budget won't be approved until April 2002, Mr. Callery said that Covington needs to start lobbying for its fair share now.

        “I think in the past, Northern Kentucky (governments) have sold themselves short,” Mr. Callery said. “We need to be asking for more state money.”

        Mr. Bamberger also would like to discuss the possible establishment of a zone for sexually oriented businesses to limit possible locations.

        And he and other commissioners said they want to talk about ways the city offices can be more accessible to the public.

        “When somebody comes to us to get a license, do they have to be bounced all over the place?” Mr. Bamberger asked. “We also need to ask if we're being efficient with our resources.”

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