President of Council Kathy McNear
called Council to order on
The governmental body and those in
attendance recited the pledge of allegiance.
Mr. Knox gave the invocation.
Mr. Knox took roll call. Present were Council members
The minutes of
The minutes of
RESOLUTION R14-2006 “COMMENDING RICHARD LOHBECK FOR HIS DEDICATION AND 25
YEARS OF SERVICE AS THE BUILDING INSPECTOR AND INSPECTION SUPERVISOR FOR THE
SPRINGDALE BUILDING DEPARTMENT”
Mr. Vanover made a
motion to adopt and Mr. Wilson seconded.
Bill McErlane, Building
Official, said I have had the privilege of serving with Mr. Lohbeck for twenty
years and tonight we honor him for his twenty-five years of service as he
approaches retirement. With all respect
to our men in blue, they don’t have exclusive rights to the slogan “to protect
and serve.” Building code enforcement
plays a major role in keeping our city safe and healthy. It assures that we have shelter from the
storms, heat when it’s cold outside, cooling when it’s hot outside, light when
we flip a switch, water when we turn on the faucet and when we flush the toilet
it goes where it is supposed to go. We
have adequate ventilation to keep us healthy and light to be able to
function. We have firewalls and
sprinkler systems that protect life and property and make things easier for the
Fire Department. During Dick Lohbeck’s
twenty-five years of service to the City, he has taken a major role in
protecting those who live, work and play in the City of
Mr. Danbury said I just
want to thank you personally for all the service you have given the City. Talking to you prior to the meeting brought
up a very good point. You think about
the development we have undergone in the last twenty-five years, and you have
been a big part of it. I really commend
you for all your years of service.
Mayor Webster said as
Bill is listing all those things are that supposed to happen, we take all those
for granted. You are the guy who sees
those happen from the first hole in the ground or first request for permit, and
I can honestly say over the years, you hear about some of these disasters in
other parts of the country, and thankfully we have not had a real disaster
here, but I’ve always felt very comfortable in the fact that if something would
happen here, that we, the City, have been protected because of your due
diligence and the fact that you are not going to turn your head on any
violation or anything that is not copasetic.
I think your work says it all. We
have had a great boom in our building over the twenty-five years you have been
here and any complaint I’ve gotten has been on the side that you have been too
strict with them. Believe me, very few
people get my sympathy when I get that kind of phone call. Thank you and enjoy your many years of
retirement.
Mr. Squires stated Dick,
we are going to miss you on the Board of Zoning Appeals. I certainly have enjoyed and benefited from
the adequacy of the professionalism you have offered relative to the staff
reports that BZA considers vital to the decisions that must be made by the
board. They have been marvelously
done. You’ve been there for consultation
when we needed it. You’ve been a big
help to us. We’re going to miss you.
Mr. Osborn said not only
has Dick been involved and responsible in all this development, the City’s code
has been a living organism. Immediately
after the
Mr. Vanover said because
I am in the construction business I hear a lot of mumblings about building
departments, but I have yet to hear
Mr. Galster said
twenty-five years with the City of
Ms. Pollitt expressed
her thanks.
Mr. Lohbeck said thank
you for all your comments. I’ve enjoyed
working here. I really have. I’ll miss everybody I’ve worked with.
Resolution R14-2006
passed with seven affirmative votes.
RESOLUTION R13-2006 “COMMENDING OFFICER ALVIN L.
MAUPIN FOR HIS DEDICATION AND SERVICE TO THE SPRINGDALE POLICE DEPARTMENT”
Mr. Vanover made a motion to adopt and Mr. Wilson seconded.
Mr. Danbury said you look at the things Al has done that
make our community better, the foods for fines program, the identification
program. I’ve shared that with other
communities and they think it’s wonderful.
You’ve been a very good friend and a very good servant to the people. I know you and Dave are going to continue the
neighborhood watch program and I really appreciate having you on board.
Mr. Osborn said Al is part of a group of us that were
employed in 1974. We had an oldies lunch
the other day to see Al off. I don’t
allow myself to get close to employees but that group that came in in 1974, we
all survived the same experiences. We
know a lot about each other because we worked very closely with one another
back then. You will be a loss to the
City but fortunately, we are not totally losing his experience. I believe he will be coming back as an
auxiliary in a couple of months. Our
police department today is a very young department and it is a positive thing
to have some of these senior officers on hand just to talk to them.
Mr. Vanover said it has been a privilege. I get compliments and accolades about the men
and women in blue and you make that easy.
Mr. Squires said the City is a better place because of
people like you. We all hear compliments
about people such as yourself.
Thirty-two years as a police officer is commendable.
Ms. Pollitt said I want to comment on the food for fines
program. Just before Christmas one year
our church found out about a family that was really down on their luck. I contacted the Police Department and they
came charging in bringing food. That
afternoon we took it to the family. I
thank you for that. I know that with the
District 3 crime watch Officer Buschman is the one who stands up and talks to
us every month, but I also know you are behind the scenes with the idea for the
window stickers and you were very much a part of the cookout we had for our
district. You will be missed.
Mr. Galster stated we are not just losing a law enforcement
officer. Anyone who knows Al knows it’s
the positive, caring, always smiling interaction he has with the community that
is what will be missed. The programs you
started are wonderful and will last a long time but it’s the smiling face we
will miss.
Mayor Webster said the last whereas in the resolution sums
up the fact that you have worked your entire career dedicated to the four core
values of the Police Department: integrity, professionalism, cooperation and
commitment. I think you have lived and
breathed that and set an example for the people coming on behind you. We hear all these things you have been a part
of and you’ve helped cultivate and bring to fruition in the Police
Department. If you try to look for a
common denominator there I think it is serving the community. I can’t think of a better officer for the
young officers to emulate than private citizen
Mrs. McNear said I refer to you as the can man. I like that program because of the generosity
all the way around. It helps people who
have to pay for a ticket. It lets them
give back to the community and it’s such a popular program that even people who
don’t get tickets bring in food. It
helps a lot of people. Best of luck to
you.
Chief Laage said we came on within twenty-seven days of each
other. We have developed a very good
friendship over the years. Bill summed
it up when he was talking about Dick and said he worked with everybody who
lived, worked and played in the City. It
doesn’t matter to us either. We serve
the same as Dick did. One of the things
I thought was extremely important was the ability of Al to work as a team with other
City departments. We all at the Police
Department wish Al a happy retirement.
Resolution R13-2006 passed with seven affirmative votes.
PRESENTATION BY COUNTY COMMISSIONER PHIL HEIMLICH
Commissioner Heimlich said I think we would all agree that
after all the hours our police officers put in, the least we can do for them is
provide adequate facilities when they are in a position of having to arrest
someone. This county has not had
adequate jail space for a number of years.
Last fall we hired probably the best consulting firm in the country on
jails. They analyzed our whole justice
system and concluded that even though we have a very impressive array of
alternative programs, that we do not have enough jail space. They strongly recommended that we build an
1800 bed jail that costs about $225 million, take down three of the facilities
that are over seventy years old, and insure that through the year 2020 we will
have enough spaces. We will add a net
800 beds as well as replace 1000 spaces that are old and run down, and only
capable of holding minimum security prisoners.
The trend we are seeing in this county, particularly in
Mr.
Mr. Heimlich replied there was a proposal by some members of
Cincinnati City Council to put a slot parlor in Over the Rhine that they said
would pay for the jail. They were not
able to get even a thousand signatures.
In two or three years if they are successful in getting a casino that
brings in more revenue that’s fine. As
soon as the jail is paid off the sales tax goes away. We are projecting zero growth in this sales
tax. That’s extremely conservative. When they projected the stadium tax, they
projected three percent growth every year which was too optimistic. That’s what got that project in trouble.
Mr. Danbury said something needs to be done to make the
whole community safer but I also think a lot of people are taxed out. Since we built the convention center, it has
affected the outer perimeter here for the hotel tax. Sharonville,
Mr. Heimlich stated for every dollar the sales tax goes up,
there’s a dollar for dollar reduction in property tax. Two of those property tax levies are going
off the ballot anyway so I’m not saying we’re doing it because of that.
Ms. Pollitt said I have a daughter who works in corrections
so I hear the challenges that the corrections officers face. My concern is on one page it says the
Campaign for a
Mr. Heimlich said maybe it wasn’t worded as well as it
should be. One page shows the $32.5
million we’ll bring in sales tax is off-set by property tax reductions of the
same amount. We have been struggling for
years with early releases. Thousands of
prisoners have been released short of their sentences. We have temporarily put a stop to that. We began leasing 200 cells in
Mr. Wilson said I am looking at the statement of payback
over twenty years. Are we building a
facility that will be obsolete in twenty years or less? Will we have to build another jail at another
increase?
Mr. Heimlich replied the consultant projected we need 3000
cells to take us through 2020. The
consultant said we may need another 500 or so cells after 2020 over the next
ten years after that. When you go more
than ten years, it’s a little hard to predict crime trends. We are building the
core to allow expansion if we need to.
Mr. Wilson stated we are building bigger and bigger jails
but are we looking at what’s causing the problem? It would be better to find out why these
people are going to jail.
Mr. Heimlich replied I’m not smart enough to figure out what
we can do to change people’s upbringings, families and environments. The expert who looked at our facility said
our county has some of the most extensive array of alternative programs of
almost any county in the country. The
kinds of crimes being committed are getting more and more serious, and as a
county commissioner I have a responsibility to deal with the here and now.
Mr. Knox said on page two it says it cuts property taxes
$32.5 million. The federal well is
drying up; the state is cutting the local government funds. Will this property tax cut have an effect on
the municipalities?
Mr. Heimlich answered no, it would have no effect. We are cutting the hospital levy. We have eliminated the Drake tax.
Mr. Osborn said some of us were here when Bud Andery came
out to give us the presentation on the funding for the justice center. The thought by the consultant at the time was
that with the baby boom generation, as demographics changed, crime was going to
fall off. Two things they failed to take
into account were they missed the dramatic impact of drugs on society. That was not anywhere the issue back then
that it is today. The second thing they
missed was a very serious change in the Bureau of Adult Detention. They changed the standards over time. I would image that the consultant was looking
at potential changes like that that might affect the requirements in the
future. While I think it would be great
to have a panacea that could cure all the social ills, we are arresting people every
day and having to let them go on their own recognizance because we can’t lock
them up anymore. We’re actually holding
prisoners here for two other jurisdictions and I’m about to introduce a
proposal to hold misdemeanor type arrests from a third jurisdiction. It’s when you have to send them to the
county, it was getting to the point that it was almost impossible to get them
in jail. We are at a crisis and we have
to have more capacity. If we could
learn from the mistakes of the past I think that would be a good thing.
Mr. Heimlich said this proposal is supported by virtually
every law enforcement authority in the county.
Our coroner, Odell Owens, speaks to young people about the kinds of
issues you talked about, Mr. Wilson, nonetheless, says we have to get this
done. We have to make sure that our
projections are as accurate as possible and that they take into account state
law changes, etc.
Mayor Webster said I’d like to thank you for trying to
control the spending and I know an issue close to your heart is the loss of
population in the county and loss of businesses. I would hate to see us do anything that would
be portrayed as a shell game where we’re increasing here and cutting here. Of the total sales tax that
Mr. Heimlich said it’s not based on where you buy the
vehicle, but where you title it. I’m
known as the hard-nosed fiscal conservative but I also feel I have to be honest
with people. I can’t honestly say we’re
going to come up with $200 million without doing this.
Mr. Vanover said I heard Joe Deters tonight on a news
broadcast saying 4500 prisoners a day are being released the day they are
charged because we don’t have the space.
I think Dr. Owens was very poignant in his plea this week that we have
got to get involved. I agree we need to
look at all the issues.
Mr. Wilson said I agree we need the facility but we need to
look at alternatives about what we can do to prevent the increase.
Mr. Osborn stated I had the opportunity to serve on a
working committee that reviewed Human Services Department in
COMMITTEE AND OFFICIAL REPORTS
Civil Service Commission – Tony Potts
reported that they received a request to begin the recruitment process on two
open positions. The first is Senior
Administrative Assistant in City Administration. The commission approved the beginning of that
process and that position will be posted starting this weekend. The other position is for maintenance
worker. The commission agreed to waive
testing on that because of the special skills required.
Rules and Laws - no report
Public Relations - no report
Public Health, Safety & Welfare - no report
Public Utilities - no report
Capital Improvements – Mr. Danbury stated that John R.
Jergens is completing the grade separation project. They plan to switch the main track traffic on
the bridge in mid August. The completion
date is set for the end of October. The
Mr. Knox asked was there any rework on the underpass that
needed to be done by Jergenson?
Mr. Shvegzda replied there wasn’t anything substantial.
Mayor Webster said at the Community Center not only are we
expanding the three club rooms, but we’re also building a new meeting room for
the senior citizens. That’s what
precipitated this whole project. The
total contract cost is $175,700 and we were awarded $100,000 in Community Block
Grant.
Mr. Osborn stated the City budgeted $60,000. The contracts total $175,000 but one of those
elements is an awning system that we are probably going to non-perform in this
contract and deal with it separately on our own. That is around $15,000.
Mr. Danbury said I’ve heard some people at the Spirit of
Springdale celebration say we are catering to the seniors. They are our citizens too. It’s not like they are taking over. This is just an area designated for
them. During the fall and winter no one
is at the Community Center.
Finance Committee - no report
Planning Commission – Mr. Galster said a sign for Jared
Jewelers, 11711 Princeton Pike was approved 6-1. There was a request for approval of exterior
lighting for Doctors Onady and Miller at 311 and
Board of Zoning Appeals – Mr. Squires reported they had a
request for a 30’x60’x16’ garage at 288 West Kemper. Only six members were present and that failed
with a 3-3 vote. A request to store an
RV and boat at 524 Cloverdale was denied.
A request to convert a garage to living space at 687 Crescentville was tabled. Jake
Sweeney BMW had put a wall sign up less than three feet from the east wall of
the building. The cost to move and
replace was significant and they were given a variance for that. The property at
Board of Health - no report
Veteran’s Memorial Committee – Mr. Wilson said they
collected $587 at the Spirit of Springdale.
All State Insurance donated $500 for the third year in a row. They will do this every year that Mr. Wilson
is on the board.
Mr. Galster said the planter is the brainchild of
Mayor Webster said the senior citizens put together a
cookbook with profits to go to the Veteran’s Memorial. The printing bill was $1,625. The Veteran’s Memorial Committee paid for the
printing. They have already sold 143 cookbooks
with 107 left. They plan to be at all
the bicentennial events and sales are going well. We are going to have 250 more books
printed. You can buy books here or at
the Community Center for $10 each.
O-K-I - no report
Mayor’s Report – Mayor Webster said the majority of my
activities have been devoted to bicentennial events. There is a big board with events posted on it
here, at the Community Center and Tri-County Mall. We are going to advertise on
Time-Warner. The history book is at the
printer.
Mr. Danbury said I am not employed by Time-Warner. My company will be but I am not getting any
compensation. I have presented something
that I know has worked in the past and the Mayor and Administrator made the
decision. We met this morning with the
gentleman who is going to be producing a series of commercials. It will be a commercial that can be updated covering
the different events. We have a
commitment for over five weeks. We will
be having over 600 commercials on various channels. I presented to the Mayor and Administration
that we can have the best thing out there but if no one knows about it, it’s
not going to go off. We are trying to
get the business sector involved in this promotion. We are trying to get key sponsors who would
have their logo on the commercials as a prominent sponsor. We will have signage at the various
events. It’s good public relations, good
advertising.
Mr. Osborn stated the level of saturation we’re doing with
these commercials statistically is that everybody in our target area will have
seen them an average of three times.
We hope to raise money for the advertising with sponsorships and break
even on the commercials.
Clerk of Council/Finance Director - no report
Administrator’s Report – Mr. Osborn said we have been
approached by Greenhills to consider housing their misdemeanor prisoners. Chief Laage is recommending that we enter
into a contract with them. It will be on the same basis as Sharonville and
Mr. Osborn said the second item is the urban paving project
of SR 4 from the south edge of the Glensprings intersection north to a point
800 feet south of the Crescentville intersection. This project will repave that portion of the
area between Glensprings and the terminus not being covered under one of the
State projects. The ODOT share would be
$131,104 and the City share would be $103,006.
We’ve talked the State into taking responsibility for the existing
southbound lane that we are going to double up under the I-275 project and we
will be well under the budget number for this project. We request an ordinance at the next Council
meeting for the agreement with ODOT.
Mr. Osborn continued one of the things we are doing for the
bicentennial is creating a bicentennial time capsule. We have a space here in the building. We will
put a lot of memorabilia from the bicentennial in the box. And, I want to thank the Tri-County Press for the
excellent coverage they have given us running up to the bicentennial.
Mr. Osborn requested Council add an ordinance for the DARE
ordinance this evening.
Mr. Knox said in order for the Council to take any action on
the
Law Director’s Report - no report
Engineer’s Report - no report
COMMUNICATIONS - no report
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE
Mr. Chris Kinard,
Council recessed at
ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
ORDINANCE NO. 50-2006 “AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK OF
COUNCIL/FINANCE DIRECTOR TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH CDS ASSOCIATES, INC., TO
PROCEED WITH ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR ODOT STAGE 1 AND STAGE 2 PLAN
PREPARATIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS ON STATE ROUTE 4 BETWEEN GLENSPRINGS DRIVE
AND I-275 EASTBOUND OFF-RAMP AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Vanover made a motion to approve and Ms. Pollitt
seconded.
Ordinance 50-2006 passed with seven affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE NO. 51-2006 “ACCEPTING A BID AND
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK OF COUNCIL/FINANCE DIRECTOR TO ENTER INTO A
CONTRACT WITH LANGENHEIM & THOMSON FOR THE GENERAL CONSTRUCTION ON THE
SPRINGDALE COMMUNITY CENTER RENOVATION PROJECT AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Galster made a motion to adopt and Mr. Vanover seconded.
Ordinance 51-2006 passed with seven affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE NO. 52-2006 “ACCEPTING A
BID AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK OF COUNCIL/FINANCE DIRECTOR TO ENTER
INTO A CONTRACT WITH PERKINS/CARMACK CONSTRUCTION, LLC, FOR HVAC WORK ON THE
SPRINGDALE COMMUNITY VENTER RENOVATION PROJECT AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Vanover made a motion to adopt and Mr. Galster seconded.
Ordinance 52-2006 passed with seven affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE NO. 53-2006 “ACCEPTING A BID AND
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK OF COUNCIL/FINANCE DIRECTOR TO ENTER INTO A
CONTRACT WITH PROGRESSIVE PLUMBING CO. FOR PLUMBING AND FIRE PROTECTION FOR THE
SPRINGDALE COMMUNITY CENTER RENOVATION PROJECT AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Vanover made a motion to adopt and Mr. Galster seconded.
Ordinance 53-2006 passed with seven affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE NO. 54-2006 “ACCEPTING A BID AND
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK OF COUNCIL/FINANCE DIRECTOR TO ENTER INTO A
CONTRACT WITH G. C. CONTRACTING CORP. FOR ELECTRICAL WORK ON THE SPRINGDALE
COMMUNITY CENTER RENOVATION PROJECT AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Galster made a motion to adopt and Mr. Vanover seconded.
Ordinance 54-2006 passed with seven affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE NO. 55-2006 “AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK OF COUNCIL/FINANCE
DIRECTOR TO FILE A DRUG ABUSE RESISTANCE EDUCATION (DARE) GRANTS PROGRAM
APPLICATION AND TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL, JIM
PETRO, TO CONTINUE A DARE PROGRAM AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Danbury made a motion to read by title only and Mr.
Galster seconded. The motion passed with
seven affirmative votes.
Mr. Vanover made a motion to adopt and Mr. Galster seconded.
Ordinance 55-2006 passed with seven affirmative votes.
OLD BUSINESS
Ms. Pollitt said I have applied for
a name change with the Board of Elections.
My new name will be
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Parham said it’s the time of the
year to ask for your approval to join the Miami Valley Risk Management Group
Rating Program. I request legislation
at your next meeting.
Mr. Knox stated we have an
application from Tri-County BWR LLC for an upgraded liquor license. There were no objections.
Mayor Webster asked where do we
stand with our garbage collection contract?
I saw in the paper that
Mr. Parham replied I feel certain we
did a five-year contract this time. I
think we even had an option for a sixth year at the same rate. I can check when it went into effect.
Mr. Vanover asked if there is a
larger recycling bin available?
Mr. Parham responded I don’t know of
a larger one but I know we have delivered multiple bins.
Mr. Vanover said they physically
take the bins. Mr. Parham said we should
be notified of that.
Mrs. McNear stated I have been
driving the Mayor crazy with recycling articles because of all the recycling I
want to do. There was recycling this
past weekend for computers, faxes, cell phones, etc. for
MEETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS - none
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE - none
UPDATE ON LEGISLATION STILL IN DEVELOPMENT - none
RECAP OF LEGISLATIVE ITEMS REQUESTED
Agreement with Greenhills to house prisoners - August 2
Agreement with ODOT for paving SR4 - August
2
MVRMA - August 2
MEPT special assessment petition - August 2
Resolution for boys’ baseball team August
Council adjourned at
Respectfully
submitted,
Edward F. Knox
Clerk
of Council/Finance Director
Minutes
Approved:
Kathy
McNear, President of Council
__________________________,
2006