City of Lakeside Park
Minutes of Meeting on 6/8/26
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Markgraf called to order the regular meeting of Lakeside Park City Council at 7:00 P.M. on Monday, June 8, 2026, in the Lakeside Park City Building located at 9 Buttermilk Pike. Those in attendance were Mayor Markgraf, City Clerk Teresa Bruck and Attorney Matt Woods. The council members present included Tom Bernheimer, Dennis Landwehr, George Best, Mary Ann Thaman, Brian Waite and Dave Wolfer.
AGENDA
With no additions or corrections, Ms. Thaman made the motion to adopt the Agenda of June 8, 2026, as presented, and Mr. Bernheimer seconded the motion. Voice vote was taken. 6 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
MINUTES
With no corrections or changes, Mr. Wolfer made a motion to adopt the minutes of May 11, 2026, and Mr. Landwehr seconded the motion. Voice vote was taken. 6 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
CITIZENS ADDRESSING COUNCIL
No citizens were present.
AUDIT PRESENTATION
Karen Goodin of Rankin & Rankin presented the results of the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year Audit.
A motion was made by Dave Wolfer to accept the findings of the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year Audit, and Brian Waite seconded the motion. Voice vote was taken. 6 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
MAYORS REPORT
The mayor reported on the following: the trip hazards on Dixie Highway have been resolved; there has been an inquiry to donate $500 to the Blessed Sacrament Boosters for their Corn Roast event; the city has been receiving funds from the Opioid Abatement Settlement, and with an Interlocal Agreement those funds will now go to Kenton County Navigator Program; the Transportation and OKI will be having a Public Hearing this Thursday between 5-7PM at Liberty Hall to review their transportation project plans; 12th street exit in Covington as well as some parking to the Government Center is closed due to bridge renovation project, so please check before going to Covington on what service is offered there versus one of their other locations; our city hosted the mayors group last month and this month will be hosted by Erlanger; there has been an inquire about the use of golf carts in our city and he wanted to know if the council would like to address this inquiry.
Ms. Thaman mentioned a concern about electric bikes and scooters.
The mayor advised the mayors group and PDS are looking into addressing this concern and what can be regulated. He advised parents to talk to their kids about safe riding and drivers be alert for those riders.
Mr. Wolfer expressed he was in favor of the funding to Blessed Sacrament Corn Roast.
CITY ATTORNEY REPORT
Mr. Wood conducted the 2nd reading of Ordinance No. 05-2026 Adoption of the Annual Budget for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027, by estimating revenue and resources and appropriating funds for the operation of the City Government for the City of Lakeside Park, Kentucky.
Mr. Waite made the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 05-2026, and Mr. Wolfer seconded the motion. Mr. Wolfer commented that as he was part of the finance committee, he feels the budget is conservative and reasonable. With no further discussion, roll call was taken as follows:
George Best Yes Tom Bernheimer Yes
Mary Ann Thaman Yes Dennis Landwehr Yes
Brian Waite Yes Dave Wolfer Yes
Ordinance No. 05-2026 passes 6 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
Mr. Wood conducted the 1st reading of Ordinance No. 06-2026 to Amend Ordinance No. 5-2012 with corrections and additions to Chapter 40, Section 40.251 titled streets designed with fire lanes.
Mr. Wood then conducted the 1st reading of Ordinance No. 07-2026 to Enact and Adopt a 2026 Supplement to the Code of Ordinances of the City of Lakeside Park, Kentucky through American Legal Publishing Corporation.
Last, Mr. Wood conducted the reading of Resolution No. 03-2026 approval of an Interlocal Agreement with the City of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Lifesaving Services.
The mayor advised due to the city’s long-standing relationship and the proximity of the fire department to our city, an Interlocal Agreement was established instead of bids for service.
Mr. Best inquired about the payments for EMS services. Chief Slusser advised if your insurance is not captured at the time of the incident, there is information on the bill to provide it later. But they only do soft billing and if a bill is submitted to a resident and they don’t pay it then after 3 months it is not submitted to any credit bureau or anything it’s just a write off.
Mr. Bernheimer made a motion to adopt Resolution No. 03-2026, and Ms. Thaman seconded the motion.
Mr. Waite thanked the mayor for his participation in meeting with Fort Mitchell to discuss this contract variable.
Mr. Bernheimer commented that this is an important service to the city even though the cost went up.
Roll Call was taken as follows:
Tom Bernheimer Yes Mary Ann Thaman Yes
Dennis Landwehr Yes Brian Waite Yes
George Best Yes Dave Wolfer Yes
Resolution No. 03-2026 passes 6 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
CITY CLERK/TREASURER
Ms. Bruck reported that the Northern Kentucky Municipal Clerks group is meeting with vendors regarding their programs for Property Tax Services as Pontem Company is withdrawing from that Real Property market. She advised that Ms. Kemper is working on the ADA compliance documents on our city website. She recommended that we consider upgrading our ADA compliance accessiBe program to include the litigation support package. Last, she said she had recommended to the finance committee to invest funds from the checking account to CDARS and ICS money market to allow some of the funds to draw interest for future costly projects.
FIRE/EMS
Chief Slusser provided a summary of the fire department report. He advised out of 159 calls last month, only 29 of those were in Lakeside Park; they had 3 public education events; they installed 4 child car seats; and their crew participated in advanced EMS training at St. Elizabeth Training Center with a scenario of a collapsed trench and excavation training. Last, they will start hydrant flow testing and will start within the next two weeks. He advised us to look on social media for the locations they will be servicing.
Mr. Bernheimer asked if a resident needs an ambulance, does it come from Fort Mitchell Fire Department. Chief Slusser advised it would come from Fort Mitchell unless they need support from a surrounding fire department and they have a mutual aid agreement for this reason. Mr. Bernheimer also inquired what hospital would they typically transport to? The Chief advised typically it’s St. Elizabeth unless it is a traumatic incident and those may go to University Hospital or Cincinnati Children’s if a pediatric patient. The person can request a particular hospital, but it would be up to the charge EMT’s assessment of the situation and severity of the injuries. He also advised they may take the person to St. Elizabeth for further assessment, and then the patient may end up at another hospital.
The mayor asked Chief Slusser to provide information about the internship program. Chief Slusser said they received a Federal Grant through FEMA in 2020 that allowed them to start a recruitment/retention program. They geared this program towards high school Juniors and Seniors for an internship program. The program would provide the graduates with a carrier path in the Fire and EMS service. If they wish to continue in this field, then they can enter our carrier development program and further their training.
PUBLIC WORKS
Ms. Thaman said not much to update. The Dixie Highway project is moving along; 2025 crack seal is completed, but Riegler agreed to hold the current price and complete some of the 2026 crack seal streets, weather permitting; the next 5-year plan will focus on a 2 year project for Bellemonte, the third year will be crack sealing, the fourth year Applewood Drive and the 5th year will finish up with another crack seal. She mentioned it was discovered that Della Way needed a no parking fire lane; she mentioned the grinding for trip hazards was completed on Dixie Highway and the bench project was revisited, but the price went up and Mr. Greer is working on other options for that bench project. She advised the radar sign was moved to Applewood; mulching was done on Applewood, and the water district did some work at Farmington and Della Way.
Mr. Bernheimer clarified that the Dixie Highway is moving along but is not being delayed by Lakeside Park.
POLICE AUTHORITY
Mr. Waite advised the Police Authority Board did meet on May 18th and conducted standard business. He said some of the highlights included: Chief Degenhardt attended the Police Executive Command Course (PECC) and Sgt Tignor completed the Academy of Police Supervision both through the Department of Criminal Justice Training; then he advised recruit Taijon Span started employment on May 11th and this recruit shows a success story. The department has a strong relationship with Thomas More College under the leadership of Cpt. Paolucci. Thomas More now offers the course as an accredited class and Officer Span is a product of this course work.
Ms. Thaman commented that she is happy to see both the fire and police internship programs and what a great solution.
PDS
Mr. Waite said the PDS Board met May 21st, and the main focus was to adopt the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Budget. He was happy to announce there was a nearly 5% decrease in the budget this year.
FINANCE
Mr. Waite reviewed the bank statements as well as the credit card statements, everything matched perfectly. He also mentioned that we did make additional investments.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT LEAGUE OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY (MGLNK)
Mr. Landwehr said their most recent meeting last month included round table discussions on managing workload and employment retention, the City of Florence’s public work academy, public involvement; other cities plan to celebrate the 250th year of our country. They had two guest speakers from Kentucky Nonprofit Network and NKU, who focused their presentations on several issues that included economic development, impact in workforce of AI, students’ primary education, problem solving and demographic issues. The NKU representative said we could use them as a regional partner and could help with many municipal issues.
Ms. Thaman said she was impressed with how the University could help with different projects students can do. She also said was impressed that Florence Public Works has an internship program.
RECREATION
Ms. Thaman reported that May 30th we had our City-Wide Yard Sale with 30 participants; it was followed up with a shred It event at the city building and we filled 3 large bends; and concluded that week with large item pick up. We hosted a game night, but it was not well attended. She thanked Nathan Cooper from Heartland Bank and his two volunteers with the game night event. The next event will be the Senior Bingo on June 23rd with a time changed to 2PM. Last, we have our first Light Up Lakeside meeting scheduled for next Wednesday.
OLD BUSINESS
No old business.
NEW BUSINESS
Ms. Thaman requested consideration to investigate allowing detached garages for storage. The mayor advised they would be happy to sit down and see what they can do.
COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL
Ms. Thaman wanted to let everyone know that with the bridge construction there are other resources for transportation to Covington.
Mr. Wolfer requested something be added to our newsletter or our marque about parents talking to their children about e-bikes and safety concerns.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The mayor advised the council under KRS 61.810 (1) (F) an Executive session was needed to discuss a personnel matter. Ms. Thaman made the motion to authorize an Executive session, and Mr. Wolfer seconded the motion. Voice vote was taken. 6 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried. At 8:12 p.m. the council, mayor and Attorney Woods entered Executive session.
ADJOURNMENT
At 8:34 p.m. Mr. Waite made the motion to adjourn the meeting, and Mr. Wolfer seconded the motion. Voice vote taken 6 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
Adopted by council vote 6 AYES/ 0 NAYS on July 13, 2026