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Latonia Lakes residents came together to change their home for the better

Posted at 4:30 AM, May 23, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-23 07:28:23-04

RYLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- Three years ago, residents said, a person wouldn't have been able to travel down some of Latonia Lakes' roads without four-wheel drive and a high tolerance for bumpy rides.

It was, said Oak Ridge Baptist Church minister Byron Lile, "a very desperate situation."

Emergency vehicles struggled to reach some of the former city's aging residents promptly. Other households had to do without plowed roads or trash pickup because their streets were too hard for public vehicles to navigate.

Lile knew he had to help make a change, so he and other Latonia Lakes residents got together to request the help of Kenton County officials and departments. 

Since then, they've had to adjust to the sight of bulldozers around town, but the potholes about which they used to stress are nearly gone. Lile praised the sincere cooperation of organizations like the sanitation department and Duke Energy in renovating the place he calls home.

"They have done a tremendous job of coming in and working together with the community," he said.

Toni Akers has lived in Latonia Lakes for 14 years -- long enough to remember when the area was a city. She said she was inspired by the impact she and other locals were able to have on the world around them.

"I want people to know that if they don't like where they live or how they're living, even just a few people can change it," she said. "We have such a great neighborhood here that once this is finished, it's going to bring everyone even closer together."