Council approves construction, purchases

The Park Hills City Council began its meeting on Tuesday with a public hearing for a special use permit before moving on to additional city business.

The hearing was related to a request for a special use permit from Dwayne Warncke, doing business as D & M Storage, to construct an additional rental storage building at 403 N. Front Street, where a storage facility already exists.

Community Development Director Robert Sullivan introduced the request, saying that the planning and zoning commission had reviewed the request and recommended its approval to the city council.

Warncke, who was present, said that he intended to gravel the parking lot around the facility, but could potentially blacktop the surface in the future.

As explained by City Attorney Ed Pultz, in voting to issue the special use permit the city council had to vote upon whether the construction would negatively affect the community. On each issue the council voted unanimously that the proposed construction would have no adverse effect on the community and approved the issuance of a special use permit.

In regular business, the council voted to approve several ordinances authorizing purchases and code amendments.

The council voted to authorize Mayor Daniel Naucke to enter into an agreement with Auto Plaza Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram for the purchase of a 2018 Dodge Ram 1500 Tradesman regular cab, 4-wheel-drive, long-bed work truck for the water department in the amount of $23,971.

The council also approved an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Lead Belt Materials for the paving of the municipal parking lot on West Main Street between All Occasions Banquet Hall and the new City View Loft apartments.

City Administrator Mark McFarland said there were some slight discrepancies between the bids received because the bidders had each approximated the square footage and calculated the bids based on their estimates.

“One of the reasons we wanted to do this is because the Old YMCA has had so much done to it and it looks so nice,” McFarland said. “People are going to start using it again. The parking lot is in pretty bad shape and we think it would just make the downtown area look that much better.”

The last two ordinances approved by the council had to do with traffic through Elvins Park, which McFarland said has been a topic of requests from residents.

“We’ve had a lot of requests over the years in Elvins Park because people come from one direction or the other direction and pass,” he said. “We’re trying to make it a one-way.”

McFarland said the proposed ordinance would make the alley entering the park near the train tracks the entrance into the park, with the East Fite and North Garrett Streets continuing the loop back toward East Elvins Boulevard.

The second related ordinance adjusts the speed limit through the park on the alley, East Fite and Garrett Street to 10 miles per hour.

In other business, the council approved the appointment of Derek Hulsey to the Park Hills Industrial Development Authority Board.

Members of the Park Hills City Council consider ordinances during their meeting on Tuesday night. From left are Mayor Daniel Naucke, City Attorney Ed Pultz, and Councilmen Adam Bowers and Larry Lachance.

Jacob Scott is a reporter with the Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3616 or at jscott@dailyjournalonline.com.