A road that has been the focus of litigation involving two cities and the county is closer to being improved once an agreement is signed.
The Covington City Commission on Tuesday will consider an agreement with the City of Taylor Mill for the maintenance of Wolf Road.
The road runs east to west between Taylor Mill Road and Decoursey Pike in a part of Kenton County where Covington’s southern area abuts various parts of Taylor Mill.
Residents on Wolf Road have long worried about it not being able to survive the damage caused by the natural slips in the hillside and constant traffic that makes the two-lane road built into the hillside almost always in need of maintenance.
The top third of the road is owned by the City of Taylor Mill, but that part of the road is not as steep and therefore not as prone to problems.
The bottom two-thirds of the road are beset with problems and in an area split between Covington and Taylor Mill.
“The road is probably a half-mile long, but because the road is steeper after the first part the pavement is badly broken in places all on the downhill side,” said Taylor Mill City Administrator Brian Haney. “At this point, we are closer to an agreement to fix this road than ever before.”
“It has been a long-term battle,” said Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann. “This has been going on for six to eight years.” Knochlemann and Kenton County became involved in helping to negotiate an agreement on the road.
The opportunity for cooperation is sweetened by $600,000 approved by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) to fund repairs.
The funds to repair Wolf Road emerged after its maintenance jurisdiction became a subject of debate and litigation between Kenton County, Taylor Mill and Covington.
The potential agreement comes after Covington city administrators, public works managers, and legal counsel met to address maintenance jurisdiction over problems such as pothole repair, mowing, and snow removal.
Covington Communications Director Dan Hassert told LINK nky the city and county have worked together throughout the years to find the best solution for the project.
“This has been in the works for a long time,” Hassert said. “The Judge (Knochelmann) understood what was at stake. Both cities and the county worked together on an agreement that we think works best for everyone. The road needed a lot of work, and money for the infrastructure work. The nature of the road, the long-term future of the road, was put into question because of a jurisdictional decision made years ago.”
The item was discussed during the Oct. 3 Covington city commission caucus meeting. The state has agreed to provide the funds to repair Wolf Road if it has no further obligation of maintenance.
“Wolf Road Project” refers to the reconstruction and repaving project of Wolf Road by KYTC between Hollyhock Road and Decoursey Pike. This includes pavement construction, slope stabilization, drainage improvements, and sight distance improvements. The road consists of two 12-foot-wide lanes from the intersection of Wolf Road and Taylor Mill Road.
Kenton County will be in charge of repairing the road on the state’s behalf. The $600,000 is budgeted by KYTC to Kenton County for the project.
Neither Covington nor Taylor Mill will have any maintenance or financial responsibility for the project. Upon its completion, Kenton County will no longer be responsible for the maintenance of Wolf Road. Covington and Taylor Mill will share responsibility for road maintenance going forward.
Major repairs are not addressed within the legislation and are left to each separate party to reach an agreement when the needed repairs arise.
According to Covington City Solicitor David Davidson, an example of the future collaboration between the cities on projects such as snow removal would be for Covington Public Works to provide the salt for the road, while Taylor Mill Public Works would be in charge of plowing the road. Wolf Road will be designated as a high-priority category for snow and ice removal by both cities.
Covington and Taylor Mill will agree to establish and adhere to a schedule for grass mowing. For litter removal, the cities will coordinate through inmate work details from the Kenton County Detention Center.
Taylor Mill and Covington will equally share the cost of any signage.
The cities will agree to operate in good faith, and any dispute between the two parties will be resolved by mutual agreement. If the dispute cannot be resolved in that way, then both cities will select a mediator and share the cost equally. If all else fails, then the parties can resort to litigation to solve the dispute.
The commission agreed to place the item on the regular agenda for next week’s Commission legislative meeting, which would allow the commission to add amendments to the agreement if any changes arise.
“I will tell you this is one that’s had some moving parts,” Davidson told the commission. “This agreement before you may have some modification between now and next week. It was something that the parties had agreed to at one point, and that’s why it’s on the agenda.”
The issue has previously been removed from other recent commission meetings’ agendas.
A previous proposal to repair the road with both cities and the county contributing $200,000 each went nowhere.
With the influence of Taylor Mill Mayor Daniel Bell and Kenton County Judge Executive Kris Knochelmann, State Senator Chris McDaniel went to work trying to acquire state funds to repair Wolf Road. He succeeded, and Judge Knochelmann suggested the county take the money and fix the road but stipulated that the two cities had to agree to care for the road from the repair forward, taking ownership of the road.
“Covington is now saying they will take ownership,” said Haney, Taylor Mill’s city administrator. “We will be doing snow removal and fixing potholes, and they will be in charge of brush removal and they will provide salt for the road in winter.”
“I think we had a couple of last-minute changes to the agreement, so I am not sure Taylor Mill voted on the final version either,” Covington City Manager Ken Smith said. “We have had a friendly joint operation for years to take care of the road, so this just makes it official.”
Smith made it clear that he is not predicting that the commissioners will vote to pass the agreement, but said that he does try not to put anything on the agenda that he thinks the commissioners will vote against.
Smith learned that the city had annexed 2,400 acres in the area in 1976, and he said that that was the transaction where the land up to Wolf Road was annexed by the city.
He didn’t know why the city annexed up to the road, instead of to the middle of the road, which has been the source of conflict in recent years: who owns the actual road?
Michael Monks contributed to this report.
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After years of dispute, county and two cities close to agreement on one troubled road - LINK nky
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