President of Council Marjorie Harlow called Council to order on May 6, 2009, at 7:00 p.m.

    The governmental body and those in attendance recited the pledge of allegiance.

    Mrs. McNear took roll call. Present were Council members Danbury, Diehl, Galster, Squires, Vanover, Wilson and Harlow.

    The minutes of the Public Hearing Approving the West Chester Township JEDD-I Joint Economic Development District Contract was approved with seven affirmative votes.

The Council minutes of April 15, 2009 were approved with seven affirmative votes.

Communications                     -     none

Communications from the Audience             -     none

    H1N1 Flu Update/Emergency Preparedness Planning - Cammie Mitrione, Health Commissioner

    Mrs. Mitrione said the media coverage has been extensive. The H1N1 flu virus has not been seen by humans before. It contains genetic material from swine, avians and humans. We are following our pandemic influenza plan that we have had in place for a couple of years. It follows the WHO phases and more than anything, it is a communications plan and we are communicating with those partners that we need to be communicating with.

    Mrs. Mitrione stated the Health Department has received grant dollars from the federal government in two forms. We have upgraded our communications and have done a lot of training. Public health, with the Cities Readiness Initiative grant is planning and preparing to prophylax in the event of a large scale pandemic incident. We have located a point of dispensing site. We have an MOU with that location. We have developed an entire plan. We have a mass dispensing plan. Our next big event is volunteer recruitment.

    Mr. Danbury asked what kind of symptoms would someone exhibit with the H1N1 flu?

    Mrs. Mitrione replied general flu symptoms, a high fever. There has been vomiting associated with this flu as well as difficulty breathing and confusion.

    Mayor Webster said talking about this in the Board of Health is not a real popular topic but it makes you feel good when you see we have a possible pandemic on our hands, to know all these exercises they have gone through, the training, the dollars spent to make sure we’re properly communicating.

    Mr. Diehl asked what kind of prediction is there for the fall?

    Mrs. Mitrione said right now it is mild but they are saying we should keep an eye on it because it could change.

    Mr. Galster said I was just reading that a surrounding community had passed an ordinance to allocate funds in case emergency supplies need to be purchased in reference to this. Is this something we need to consider?

    Mr. Osborn responded we have an EOP that does provide for that type of emergency legislation but we’re not at a stage where that is critical. I think Cammie has prepared us to the greatest extent that can be done prior to actually having to execute. I think we would have enough time to get you all together for a meeting for that type of appropriation.

    Mrs. Mitrione said the medicines I talked about in the Strategic Stockpile are federal assets and I don’t think you would pay for those. We do have some of our own supplies for first responders.

    Mrs. Harlow said I know for volunteers that you need people who can do clerical work as well as people who have a medical background.

Presentation     - Police Department - Chief Mike Laage

Chief Laage said Police Week is May 10 to May 16, 2009. Law Enforcement Day is May 15 every year.

Mayor Webster read a proclamation declaring May 10 to May 16, 2009 as Police Week. The proclamation was presented to Officers Dave Buschman and Greg French.

Chief Laage said Greg French began working for Springdale September 8, 1975. A long time Springdale resident he and Margie raised three fine kids here. He is the son of a former mayor. He is a graduate of Princeton High School and the University of Cincinnati. He was assigned as a patrol officer and in 1986 he was assigned as the department’s lone crime prevention officer. In 1989 Greg moved back to the patrol forces and remained there until January 2000, when he was assigned to the investigative services unit. He was there for eight years. Greg went back to patrol in 2008. He has been the recipient of a number of our Police Appreciation coins and letters of appreciation.
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Chief Laage said Dave Buschmann is our Community Service Officer. He started July 31, 1978. He is approaching a 31 year career. He also had service with Cincinnati PD where he was laid off during a budget crunch. When he was laid off he served as a counselor at the Community Correctional Institute. Dave was a long time resident of the City where he and Pat raised three fine boys. Dave attended St. Xavier High School and then Xavier University where he earned his BS degree in Sociology. Within our department he was assigned to patrol services and shortly thereafter he became the first canine officer. In 2003 Dave was assigned as one of the crime prevention officers. Dave was specializing with our seniors. When Al Maupin retired Dave became the full-time crime prevention officer. He has become a certified crime prevention specialist. He continues to keep his certification up every year. Dave is very active in the block watch program. Dave attends the monthly Springdale Senior meeting. He has provided a number of public safety spots on WMKV radio. Dave is our PIO (public information officer). In 2002 Dave received the county-wide Police Appreciation Award for contribution of law enforcement regarding his efforts within the crime prevention field. In 2002 at the Hamilton County Police banquet Dave was one of three Springdale officers honored regarding the apprehension of “America’s Number 1 Most Criminal”. Officer Buschmann was the first to respond to a possible wanted person call. Other awards came to the City from the U. S. Marshals and FBI. Dave has also been a recipient of several department awards; in 1999, the dependability award, and in 2002, the Don Staman award as the Police Officer of the Year.

Chief Laage said Mike Ott has four years with us. He graduated from Sycamore High School and the University of Cincinnati in criminal justice. Mike Ott led by example and his work influenced all the other officers on third shift. Last year Mike arrested 95 drunk drivers. He was submitted for a MADD Southwest Ohio Top Cop Award. Mike has numerous responsibilities as a police officer. He is not assigned to traffic. He was assigned to normal patrol and he has a beat responsibility.

Mayor Webster presented Officer Ott with a Top Cop plaque.

Chief Laage introduced Chuck Grimer and Mike Snowden from Crime Stoppers. Mike is our current Homeland Security Director and our Director of Emergency Management.

Chief Laage said the Police Department donated $1,000 to Crime Stoppers this year. It’s taken out of the Law Enforcement Fund. I don’t think you could have better teamwork than Crime Stoppers does with law enforcement, the media and our citizens.

Mike Snowden said this whole pandemic event has been interesting in that we’ve all been working together well the last several years within our region. Crime Stoppers is a true grass roots organization. It’s all volunteers except for Chuck. We raise our money from citizens. We paid $2,500 the first year in 1980 and $160,000 last year. Half of the homicides in Cincinnati last year were solved because of Crime Stopper tips.

Mayor Webster said thanks to you, Chief, and your staff. We will be forever grateful for what you all do for this City.

Mr. Osborn said looking back over your careers, it’s been an honor and a privilege to have worked with you all.

Mrs. Harlow said I’d like to commend Michael Ott for your award and I consider it a privilege to be a friend to Dave Buschmann and Greg French and your families.

Veteran’s Memorial Dedication

Greg Karle, Community Center Director, stated the Veteran’s Memorial dedication will be in eighteen days. The ceremony will be at 2:00 p.m. on May 24. We can accommodate 200 people without spilling out into the street. We will have the Police Department honor guard. The national anthem will be sung by Vanessa Larkin, senior at Princeton High School. Marshall Duke of Springdale Nazarene Church will give the invocation. Opening comments and welcoming will be by Mayor Webster. Our first guest speaker will be Sandy Rause, mother of James Markwell. He grew up in Springdale and lost his life in the 1989 invasion of Panama. The keynote speaker will be the Commander of the 88th Airbase Wing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. His remarks will be followed by the benediction from Pastor Norman Pasley, Calvary Church. There will be a twenty-one gun salute and then Taps. ICRC will film the event and hopefully replay it the following day. Commemorative medallions will be given to the attendees.

Mr. Squires asked are they still taking applications for pavers?

Mayor Webster replied you can always buy pavers. We will add them once a year and the cost will increase to $25 to cover costs. It will probably be next spring when the next batch goes in.

Mr. Danbury asked have you taken into consideration people using wheelchairs and walkers?

Mr. Karle responded we have looked at that and will probably have to deal with those on a case by case basis.

Mayor Webster said there are ramps at the corners and I think there will be enough volunteers to help those folks across the street if necessary.

Mr. Danbury said a lot of people put a lot of work into this. Two of the people who donated a lot of time to this are Mr. Wilson and Mr. Galster. The emblem we are using was designed by Mr. Galster. They spent a lot of time trying to raise awareness of this.

Mr. Galster said I am glad we turned the program set-up to the Community Center staff in order to do it the right way. I’m sure it will be top-notch and first class.

Mr. Osborn said we are not planning on a rain date. We will continue with the event as long as there is not life threatening weather as we have out of town speakers and it would be hard to reschedule.

Northern Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau - Ed Knox

Ed Knox said the operation of the Northern Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau will be merged into the Greater Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau after December 31, 2009. The staff of the NCCVB will be laid off on November 1 of this year. City Council voted 8-1 against the formula that they had originally agreed to several years prior. They said the northern area was receiving more than fifty percent of the excess funds and that wasn’t fair to Cincinnati. The County Commissioners voted for a resolution that in essence, did away with the NCCVB. Mr. Keating, attorney for Sharonville is looking into the legality of keeping the board. We believe we can and they will keep the website linked to the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau, but the NCCVB is going away except for a board and possibly not even that. I had intended to resign at the expiration of my term in March 2010 but this fixes that.

Mayor Webster asked what percent of the revenue generated is generated outside the City of Cincinnati?

Mr. Knox replied it is over fifty percent.

Mayor Webster said those people have done a remarkable job and have generated more money in the suburbs than they have downtown. I compliment Mr. Knox on his hard work and for battling to try to maintain the bureau. He was the last soldier standing.

Ordinances and Resolutions

ORDINANCE NO. 8-2009 “APPROVING THE WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP JEDD-I JOINT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT CONTRACT”

    Mr. Vanover began reading Ordinance 8-2009.

Mr. Danbury made a motion to read by title only and Mr. Squires seconded. The motion passed with seven affirmative votes.

Mr. Vanover read Ordinance 8-2009 by title only.

Mr. Squires made a motion to adopt and Mr. Danbury seconded.

There was discussion about whether Mr. Vanover was reading the correct version of the ordinance. Council took a short recess to view the document and it was determined that it was correct.

Ordinance 8-2009 passed with seven affirmative votes.

    OLD BUSINESS

    Mr. Danbury thanked Wood & Lamping, CDS, Blue Agave, Jim Dandy’s, and La Plaza Tapatia and Officer Marsha Bemmes for their support for the Springdale Day at the Reds.

    Mr. Diehl said I want to thank Mr. Danbury for his hard work. My wife and I sat in the section with the kids from Heritage Hill and they were well behaved.

    Mr. Osborn stated I’d like to thank Mr. Danbury for his efforts and also for giving me the opportunity to get on the field. That was a once in a lifetime experience.

    Mr. Osborn continued I want to pass around some pictures of the soldier statue. The sailor is still in progress and delivery is scheduled for May 15 or the following Monday or Tuesday. The soldier is an incredible product and I know he wants the sailor to match the quality of the soldier.

    Mr. Osborn said I contacted ICRC who filmed different stages of the process regarding the making of the statutes. Since then they have done interviews with the artist, Gary Carson as well as Mr. Klein. They have done filming at the site and they are going to turn it into a half hour documentary on DVD that we can pass on to future generations.

    NEW BUSINESS

    Mr. Osborn said I’d like to request legislation for an ordinance authorizing an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for an LPA agreement for the Northland Boulevard project. This is a State funded project but they have honored our request to allow us to manage this project as the local public agency but in order to do that we have to have an agreement with them and we need legislation authorizing execution of that agreement.
   
    MEETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Board of Health                          -     May 14
    Board of Zoning Appeals                     -     May 19

    Mayor Webster said the deadline has passed for applicants to replace Mr. Osborn. We had about seventy applicants and the personnel recruitment company is working on the short list. We should be presented with that next Thursday.

COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE        -      none

UPDATE ON LEGISLATION STILL IN DEVELOPMENT    -    none

RECAP OF LEGISLATIVE ITEMS REQUESTED

LPA agreement with ODOT for Northland Boulevard    -    May 20
Princeton boys’ basketball resolution                 -     May 20

Council adjourned at 9:12 p.m.

                        Respectfully submitted,




                        Kathy McNear
                        Clerk of Council/Finance Director

Minutes Approved:

Marjorie Harlow, President of Council



__________________________, 2009