City of Lakeside Park
Minutes of Meeting on 4/13/26
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Markgraf called to order the regular meeting of Lakeside Park City Council at 7:00 P.M. on Monday, April 13, 2026, in the Lakeside Park City Building located at 9 Buttermilk Pike. Those in attendance were Mayor Markgraf, City Clerk Teresa Bruck and City Attorney Greg Voss. The council members present included Tom Bernheimer, Dennis Landwehr, George Best, and Dave Wolfer. Absent from the meeting were Council members Mary Ann Thaman and Brian Waite.
AGENDA:
With no changes or corrections to the Agenda, Mr. Wolfer made the motion to adopt the Agenda of April 13, 2026, as presented, and Mr. Landwehr seconded the motion. Voice vote was taken. 4 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
MINUTES:
With no corrections or changes, Mr. Bernheimer made a motion to adopt the minutes of March 9, 2026, and Mr. Best seconded the motion. Voice vote was taken. 4 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
CITIZENS ADDRESSING COUNCIL
Attorney Paul Darpel present with his clients, Mr. & Mrs. Rizzo of 207 Applewood Drive. He advised he had been in front of council before, but this time brought a video of children playing in the yard behind Mr. Rizzo’s property. He also provided additional letters from the church and neighbors in favor of the privacy fence abutting institutional use.
He stated this text amendment change was for safety concerns as well as privacy concerns only, and he had no issues with the church. Mr. Best asked for clarification that only the back fence would be privacy and Mr. Darpel advised that was correct. Pam Taylor from 207 Applewood Drive expressed that she lives next to Mr. Rizzo and is in favor of the fence.
MAYORS REPORT:
The mayor advised the American flags were put up on the poles last week along Dixie Highway and additional flags were added along Buttermilk and Turkeyfoot. Normally we do not put them up this early, but public works needed to rent a bucket truck to repair and replace street signs and to conserve costs, both things were done at once. This coming Wednesday is Tax Day. Many people may not be aware there are postal regulation changes and now the post marks are not added until mail reaches the sorting facility. If you need something post marked, you must go into the teller and have it done there instead of dropping in the mailbox. The mayor advised he and the council members have been contacting our State Representatives as well as the State Senators about some of the legislative changes being proposed. Such as Senate Bill No. 9, which addressed some regulations on housing. The House made substantial changes to Senate Bill No. 9 basically prohibiting any local jurisdiction having the ability to regulate short-term rentals for 30 days or less and our city currently does not allow short-term rentals at all. Air BNB organization are pushing to get this passed. If passed this would ban our rental registry list and make us use theirs that would cost money to use. It also restricts any action against a rental unless you have had more than 3 violations within a calendar year. We feel this should be controlled locally and not by the State. Another local issue is AI produced open records requests, causing us to shut down our city until they are answered. The mayor advised House Bill 567 for Open Records Act change would allow the clerks to obtain a valid ID to validate it truly is a person making the request. We planned to advise the House that we are in favor of this bill. Last month at the mayor’s group was held at the City of Fort Wirght. A couple of the items discussed included the effects and closures relating to the suspension bridge project as well as Walmart deliveries by drone service. Our PDS is looking into air restrictions issues because of the new drone service being offered. The mayor welcomed Ms. Hart, the Recreation Director, who is here tonight to provide the Recreation report, and she has been working hard these last couple of month networking. The mayor hopes our residents participate in these events, as she has been doing a great job.
CITY ATTORNEY REPORT:
Mr. Voss conducted the second reading of Ordinance No. 03-2026, amending the Lakeside Park Zoning ordinance, adopted as Ordinance 01-2024, regarding fencing surrounding swimming pools adjacent to institutional use properties.
Mr. Wolfer made a motion to adopt Ordinance No. 03-2026, and Mr. Best seconded the motion.
Mr. Bernheimer said the accusation of the fence being for children’s protection is misleading as it is always required that you put up a fence around an inground pool for protection. It’s more that Mr. Rizzo did what he pleased and asked for forgiveness later, and that is not how we want to run our city. If we do vote on this amendment, he suggested to remove the section asking for the neighbor’s permission as he does not want his neighbor telling him what they think is appropriate for his property.
Mr. Bernheimer made a motion to amend Ordinance No. 03-2026 to remove from Zoning Table 7.3 (j.) (iii.) The property owner has provided written consent from adjacent property owners for the fence to be less than fifty percent (50%) open, and Mr. Wolfer seconded the motion. No discussion on the amendment only. Voice vote for the amendment was taken. 4 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
There was continued discussion by the Councilmembers, Mr. Rizzo and his attorney Mr. Darpel that addressed concerns that if this text amendment was adopted then this could change for other locations within the city abutting an institutional use and may make the landscaping of our neighbors’ properties unpleasant to look at.
Mr. Wolfer made a motion to adopt Ordinance No. 03-2026, and Mr. Best seconded the motion. Roll Call was taken as follows:
Tom Bernheimer No George Best Yes
Dennis Landwehr No Dave Wolfer Yes
This Ordinance No. 03-2026 did not pass as a result of a tie.
Mr. Voss conducted the 1st reading of Ordinance No. 04-2026 Amending Chapter 52, Article I of the Lakeside Park, Kentucky code of ordinances to add littering, and establishing penalties for the violation thereof.
Mr. Voss conducted the reading of Municipal Order No. 03-2026 approving the appointment of John Neinaber to the Lakeside Park Ethics Committee.
With no discussion, Mr. Bernheimer made a motion to adopt Municipal Order 03-2026, and Mr. Wolfer seconded the motion. Voice vote was taken. 4 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
CITY CLERK/TREASURER
Ms. Bruck advised that she missed reporting last month we now have collected all outstanding property tax bills and there are no 2025 Property Tax bills unpaid. However, she reported there are still 3 sidewalk invoices that have not paid, and those invoices were sent to the city attorney. She received a scholarship for the Master Clerks Academy in the fall. She then advised she had to set up a few utility bills on the electronic payment method because of the postal delivery of the statements have been received on or shortly after the due date of the bills and thus making them past due by the time she issues a check. Lastly, she advised they are now helping to work on the new Fiscal Year budget.
Mr. Landwehr asked for the names of the residents that have outstanding sidewalk payments, and Ms. Bruck advised she will get that information to him.
FIRE/EMS:
Assistant Fire Chief Jansing provided a summary of the fire department report. He advised there was an error on the report and Lakeside Park only had 9 runs in total last month. He stated 6 runs were for emergency medical service, only 1 for public service of a tree down and 2 non-emergencies.
Mr. Wolfer asked if there were any contributing factors to the drop in calls on the report from 2024 to 2026, and Chief Jansing advised it may be due to the fire prevention programs.
PUBLIC WORKS:
Mr. Bernheimer reported on the public works projects that included: the Crestview Hills Dixie Highway project still being a work in progress, Bellemonte Ave Resurfacing and Curb Replacement is in development stages, 5-year street plan is being reviewed for budget approval, the conclusion of the 2025 Joint & Crack Seal Program is delayed due to weather. Additional notes from the Public Works Director, Mr. Greer, included the flag replacement and adding additional flags have been hung, the street signs have been replaced and the honeysuckle on West Lakeside has been cleared. He also said there was a significant increase in snow removal expenses this year. Mr. Bernheimer said there had been requests for leaf pick up but he and the public works committee thought it would be too costly for the city to absorb the steep cost of $100,000 a year. Mr. Greer provided that the dog fountain is open and running at the city park. Last, the radar sign will be moved to Carran Drive by the end of the week.
The mayor added an update that the crack sealing did start today and is expected to take several days.
POLICE AUTHORITY
Mayor Markgraf provided the police report and advised that they met on March 16th. He then provided a summary of the report submitted by LPCHPD that included Ptl. Wilson attended the in-person portion of his Basic Training Academy; Taijon Span accepted his conditional offer of employment, Ptl. Boyers completed Crisis Intervention training through Department of Criminal Justice Training Center, the committee reviewed finances and paid bills. He concluded with saying they are considering purchasing more vehicles.
PDS: No report this month.
FINANCE:
Mr. Wolfer highlighted for the month of March that we had revenue of a little over $102,000; expenses were normal for the month and included our quarterly payment to the police, those expense total of $255,000, leaving us with a deficit for the month. He advised this is common for this time of the year. He reviewed all the reports, and everything looked properly recorded. He also reviewed the credit card statements, and all looked to be appropriate city charges.
The mayor advised there would be an amended budget for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 due to increases in some expenses such as the snow removal, but he would advise council if there will need to be any Special Meeting.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT LEAGUE OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY (MGLNK):
Mr. Landwehr discussed the first meeting, that was March 20th. He said Mr. Best attended this meeting with him. They had round table discussions about several things and were also presented with several of the House Bill details. He said only some House Bills affect our city, but it was interesting to hear about all House Bills. Mr. Best added that he appreciated meeting everyone and had a better understanding of what this group provides to the legislative members.
RECREATION:
The Recreation Director, Tracy Hart provided the Recreation report this month. She said the 2 recent events hosted include a Game Night and a Garden Club with good attendance. She has been reviewing past events and talking to residents about new event ideas. She then provided information about upcoming events that included another Garden Club, Walking Club, Senior Luncheon, Book Swap, Yard Sale, Shred Event, Large Item Pick Up, Senior Bingo, Arts and Crafts with the Kenton County Library. She has been meeting with community partners and other recreation directors. She also attended the State Recreation district meetings. She concluded by asking the members for ideas for the 4th of July.
OLD BUSINESS: No old business.
NEW BUSINESS: No new business.
COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL:
The mayor advised the city office will be closed this Friday to have the carpets cleaned, but we do have a drop box if you need to drop something off to the city or you can still leave a voice message and he will be in and out of the office if someone needs something done.
Mr. Landwehr commented that he thought the newsletter was well done and his neighbors liked having a hard copy to read as they found multiple things in the paper informative.
ADJOURNMENT:
At 8:22PM Mr. Wolfer made the motion to adjourn the meeting, and Mr. Landwehr seconded the motion. Voice vote taken 4 Ayes, 0 Nays; motion carried.
**For an official copy of these minutes, please contact City office.