I think your question has two parts.
1.) You want to create Plated mounting holes.
You will need to do it as you already guessed. Create a footprint with one pad.
There are two ways to connect it with ground.
option 1: make a one pin symbol and connect it in eeschem with gnd.
option 2: edit the pin options of the footprint in pcb_new and connect it there.
Work flow of option 2:
https://contextualelectronics.com/learning/via-stitching-in-kicad/
2.) Auto placement of parts (holes)
I don’t know of any automatic placement capabilities build in within kicad.
You could write a python script
You could use dxf import and place your mounting holes as close as possible.
for that you could look at this post: