FORT WRIGHT — Major changes in the operation and oversight of Northern Kentucky's sewer district will be proposed and possibly implemented during a meeting this morning between district officials and the region's top elected county officials.

        The changes proposed at Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky were prompted in part by an Enquirer article published Sunday that showed how employees of engineering firms awarded $10 million to $12 million in sewer district contracts have contributed $23,000 to the re-election campaign of Kenton County Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd. Mr. Murgatroyd appoints half the district's board members.

        The article also reported that engineering contracts are awarded to the same five firms the district has used for 30 years without competitive bidding.

        Today's meeting was not called to address anything reported in the story, said Jeff Eger, the sanitation district's general manager.

        Rather, it is the scheduled annual review of the district's budget by the judge-executives of Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, which must approve the district's budget, Mr. Eger said.

        But three sewer district sources said changes would be discussed and possibly acted on during the meeting. The sources did not give specifics, but each said the changes would deal with oversight of the district and questions over the awarding and bidding of contracts raised in the Enquirer story.

        Mr. Eger would not comment on any other items that might be addressed at the meeting. Nor would Judge-executives Gary Moore of Boone County, Steve Pendery of Campbell County and Mr. Murgatroyd. All three are Republicans.

        “Our ability to get things done will be better at the meeting than if we play this out in advance in the media,” Mr. Moore said Tuesday.

        Meanwhile, Democrat Patrick Hughes, Mr. Murgatroyd's opponent in the November election, issued a seven-point plan he said would “clean up” problems with the Sanitation District.

        It was Mr. Hughes and the Kenton County Democratic Party that first began raising issues about the awarding of contracts and the connection between the firms winning the contracts and contributions to the Murgatroyd campaign.

        Mr. Hughes, who released his plan Tuesday morning, said it “calls for accountability and integrity in the bidding process.”

        In a brief interview Tuesday, Mr. Murgatroyd said the sewer district operates “efficiently and professionally and by the rules.”

        “And the only reason a lot of this is coming from (the Democrats) is election-year politics,” he said.

        Mr. Hughes' plan calls for:

        More review and study of rate increases. “The board of the Sanitation District No. 1 voted in March 2000 to double our sewer bills,” Mr. Hughes said. “That vote was taken the very same day that the Sanitation District received a consultant's report on the rate increase.”

        Mr. Hughes said rate increases should be subject to two public readings, the same process used by local governments to adopt ordinances and other actions. He also said there was no independent review of the rate increase, meaning Mr. Murgatroyd and other judge-executives “rubber-stamped” the rate increase.

        Kenton County Deputy Judge-executive Scott Kimmich said public hearings on the rate increase were held, including one in Wilder. He also questioned whether Mr. Hughes believes the rate increase was not necessary.

        “There hasn't been a sewer rate increase since 1979,” Mr. Kimmich said. “I'm sure the rates at the Deters law firm have increased since 1979.”

        Mr. Hughes is a lawyer with Deters, Benzinger and LaVelle, a Crestview Hills law firm.

        Mr. Kimmich also said that without the rate increase, which will be used to pay for new and expanded sewage lines and treatment plants, economic development would be stalled in Northern Kentucky.

        In an interview, Mr. Hughes said he was not necessarily against the rate increase but questioned “the process, or lack of process, in the implementation of a 104 percent rate increase to our sewer bills.”

        Creating and adopting bylaws governing the operation of the district.

        “We've been unable to uncover any bylaws or other document governing the manner the Sanitation District board conducts its business,” Mr. Hughes said. “There is a glaring void in (the Sanitation District's) operations.”

        Mr. Kimmich said last week that Mr. Murgatroyd also called for the drafting of bylaws in a letter he sent to Sanitation District officials.

        “As usual, Mr. Hughes is a day late and a dollar short,” Mr. Kimmich said. “We're already working on this.”

        Mr. Hughes said he has been questioning the operation of the Sanitation District since “day one of this campaign.”

        “The only reason they are reacting now is because of the questions and concerns I've already raised,” he said.

        Establishing written procedures for the bidding and awarding of contracts.

        Having board members no longer solicit “contributions from out-of-region engineers who receive no-bid work from the Sanitation District,” Mr. Hughes said. “My opponent's actions have created an awful appearance of pay-to-play involving Sanitation District contracts.”

        “That comment impugns the integrity of those business people who made contributions by implying they were trying to buy influence,” Mr. Kimmich said. “That sends a sorry message to business people in this community.”

        Mr. Kimmich also said that one of Mr. Hughes' political advisers, former Democratic state Sen. Joe Meyer, received a $17,000 no bid contract from the city of Covington to lobby the General Assembly during the 2002 legislative session.

        “That was taxpayer money, and it was for professional services,” Mr. Kimmich said. “Does Patrick Hughes feel the same way about that as he does the Sanitation District?”

        Mr. Meyer, who also is a lawyer, said the lobbying contract he received from Covington was capped at $20,000. Lobbying contracts are rarely if ever put out for bid.

        “If the Sanitation District capped contracts at $20,000, we wouldn't be having this discussion” in the judge-executive race, Mr. Meyer said. “The Sanitation District was dealing in contracts worth millions of dollars.”

        Mr. Hughes said Mr. Kimmich's comments do not address the issues about the sewer district.

        “They are not responding at all,” Mr. Hughes said. “They are dodging the issue. If I'm elected, I will proactively improve the operations of all agencies of county government,” he said, “as opposed to my opponent, who only reacts when something becomes a controversy.”

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