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
RESOLUTION R5-2006
“COMMENDING JANE MESSER FOR HER
DEDICATION
Mr. Vanover made a motion to adopt
and Mr. Wilson seconded.
Mrs. Mitrione stated Jane joined the
Health Department in 1979. She has been
a bright spot in the Health Department for many years. She has visited many of
Mr. Vanover said I had the pleasure
of serving with Jane on the Board of Health, but the biggest pleasure is the
feedback from the residents. Jane visits
three of my neighbors. Mrs. Dissinger calls from time to time and can’t speak more
highly about Jane. I enjoyed my time
with you. Thank you.
Mr. Osborn said it has been an honor to work with
you the last twenty-six years. I can
attest that the job is stressful. You
were our third health nurse in about five years. We were very happy that you found a home
here. Everything in the resolution and
said by Cammie is absolutely true.
You’ve been a real valued member of our community. The service you have given our residents is
unequaled. You will be taking a wealth
of knowledge about our people in this City who have and do need help. You will take with you that caring attitude
that makes you feel so comfortable to those folks you’ve had to approach to
sometimes give them advice on wellness, help them with medication. It’s going to be very difficult to find
someone who will be able to cover your same talents. As a co-worker I will miss you a great deal,
especially when we have birthday singings or the annual Christmas party.
Ms. Pollitt said it’s been a
pleasure serving with you on the Board of Health. I can only echo what the others have
said. I know some of our home-bound
residents really did look forward to your visits. You were a bright spot in their day.
Mr.
Knox stated my aunt was enfeebled and living with us for a long
time. She’s now passed away. When Jane came to our house it was one of the
bright spots of her day. I not only
heard nice things from my aunt, but also my wife who would like to be here this
evening but was unable. Thank you for
what you did for my Aunt Catherine and what you’ve done for the City.
Mayor Webster said we will miss
you. As I said at the Board of Health,
things have certainly changed in the last twenty-six years. I’m sure it’s not the same health department
that you started with. I too received a
visit from Nurse Jane in 1982 and it was a real pleasure to get a visit from
someone like Jane when you are laid up.
We have heard over the years how much our
seniors look forward to that and what you bring to them, not just in the way of
medical advice but as a friend and somebody to talk to. Because of Jane’s outstanding performance we
listed that as one of the most important criteria on getting her
replacement. We have someone selected
for the job who is someone that Jane recommended.
Mr. Danbury said what stands out
about you is that you are such a great people person. The few times I’ve had to ask you a question
you always had the answer and you were always helpful. With
our maturing community it has been great to have you around. Good luck on your retirement.
Mrs. McNear offered best wishes and
best of luck.
Ms. Messer said I’m glad I
came. Thank you all very much for your
kind words. It’s really nice to hear
especially in front of my daughter and two granddaughters. I’ve enjoyed my work here and I love the
residents of
Resolution R5-2006 passed with seven
affirmative votes.
COMMITTEE
AND OFFICIAL REPORTS
Civil
Service Commission - Mr. Strange reported we had 300+
applicants for the firefighter position and nearly three hundred sat for the
test. An applicant addressed the
commission about the way we process and the way we test. We heard him and processed his request. We continue to work on our Civil Service rules. Mr. Parham informed the Commission that the
applicants for the positions of Adult Senior Programmer, Assistant Recreation
Director and Director of Nursing are currently under background
investigations. We posted the position
of Assistant
Rules and Laws - no report
Public Relations - no report
Public Health, Safety & Welfare - no report
Public Utilities - no report
Capital Improvements – Mr. Danbury
said the grade separation is still on hold.
ODOT has requested a progress status from the contractor. The current completion date is
Mr. Danbury continued the SR
4/Crescentville Road construction is on schedule. The SR 747 pavement replacement project will
be bid in June and should be completed in November. Ordinance 19-2006 is the
Mr. Squires asked why the CSX grade
separation project is on hold.
Mr. Shvegzda replied the contractor
is bankrupt. They are working with a
bonding company to take over the project.
Finance Committee - no report
Planning Commission – Mr. Galster
said David Okum was nominated again to the Hamilton
County Regional Planning Commission. The
Heritage Hill Elementary preliminary plan was approved. There are some outstanding issues such as landscaping
and fencing.
Mr. Galster said there was a PUD
amendment request to put a Garden Ridge store at
Crossings at the Park asked for a 3’
x 30’ banner for 182 days and that was approved. The last item was approval of a development
plan for 84 Lumber. They want to build a
showroom in the entryway and would have offices and storage also.
There was discussion about the
proposed independent housing project, particularly relating to traffic. Mr. Galster said the plan is very preliminary
and no direction was given by the board.
Mayor Webster said property my wife
and I own next to CVS is part of this development plan. Had I known this discussion was going to drag on i
would have excused myself so I decline to answer any questions.
Board of zoning appeals - no report
Board of Health – Ms. Pollitt said I
was out of town at the time of the meeting but the speakers’ series has been
set for this year. The March 30 topic
will be Arthritis 101. The June 22
speaker will talk about nutrition.
Mayor Webster said those will be
detailed in the
Veteran’s Memorial Committee – Mayor
Webster said we have contacted Cinergy and are trying to get a grant from their
community affairs
grant program. I think a number of you
have been interviewed by a representative of Cinergy and I think they will
announce whether we’ve been granted any kind of award at the March 30th luncheon. We are hoping it will be a multi-year
proposition. I talked with a
representative from the
O-k-I - Mr. Knox said if you
remember, last month the proposal for Western Row was returned to the ICC (Intermodal Coordinating Committee). They modified it but were non-specific as to
where the road would go and where it would go across the river. It got to the budget committee just before
last week’s meeting and the committee unanimously rejected the $56 million that
had been recommended for that. Mr.
Young, OKI representative for
Mayor’s Report – Mayor Webster stated
I presented proclamations to a couple of young men here in
Ms. Pollitt said my son is an eagle
scout from Troop 164. I’m not sure if
the same leaders are there are not but they should certainly be recognized. I’d like to see Mr. Joe Scott recognized in
some manner. Mr. Rudy goes back a long
way also.
Mayor Webster said Mr. Scott is
retiring at the end of this year. It
would be interesting to see how many eagle scouts he has ushered through the
ranks over the years. Maybe we can have
a proclamation honoring Mr. Scott for his years of service and also recognize
these young men.
Clerk of Council/Finance Director – Mr.
Knox reported there will be a special election raised by petition on the local
option on Sunday sale of liquors in precinct E in
Mr. Vanover asked who petitioned for
the election?
Mayor Webster replied it would be
the businesses in
Administrator’s report – Mr. Osborn
asked for legislation at the next meeting.
We had applied for some community development block grant funding for
improvements to the community center to help accommodate the growth in senior
programming. The city applied for
$150,000. We received $100,000. We budgeted $160,000. Our best estimate at this time is
$150,000. We are including an alternate
1 for installing cabinets, counters, sinks in club rooms A and C to be
equivalent to what we have in room B.
The cost for that addition would be $15,000. We will only address that option if it falls
within our budget. Secondly, the design
fee for this work is $30,000. CDS
provided us with the proposal and I would recommend that we adopt an ordinance
at the next meeting authorizing an agreement with CDS for this work. I talked to Mr. Dan Domas,
Director of the Hamilton County Development Office today and he assured me that
our project will be funded. It was
previously approved by the County Commissioners, went on to HUD and we should
see the money some time this spring.
Mr. Osborn continued I have a
plethora of bulletins from the Hamilton County EMA, all of them concerning
severe weather warnings. The first is a
reminder that the sirens will sound for five minutes in a steady tone when
either a tornado warning or severe storm warning during a tornado watch is
announced by the National Weather Service.
Outdoor warning sirens are not used to give an “all clear.” This information is given over the TV and
radio. Repeated soundings of the sirens
indicate that additional warnings are being issued.
Mrs. McNear asked, I wonder if we
could put a sticker in our next newsletter.
I can never remember if it’s a tornado watch, tornado warning, etc.
Mr. Osborn responded if the siren
goes off, you should go to the basement.
Mayor Webster stated we won’t have
another newsletter go out until July or August.
Mr. Vanover said every home should
have a hard wired phone with a cord that goes into a jack. If the power goes out, the cordless phone
won’t work.
Law Director’s Report - No
Report
Engineer’s Report - No Report
COMMUNICATIONS - none
COMMUNICATIONS
FROM THE AUDIENCE none
ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
Public
Hearing
ORDINANCE NO. 17-2006 “AMENDING ZONING CODE SECTIONS
153.052, 153.067, 153.082, 153.097, 153. 112,
153.127, 153.142, 153.072, 153.269, 153.492, 153.502, 153.504, 153.608, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE
Mr. Vanover made a motion to read by
title only. Mr. Danbury seconded. The motion passed with seven affirmative
votes.
Mr. Osborn said there was a memo
from Bill McErlane in your packets when we first brought this in outlining the
changes. In 153.02 to 153.142, it
rewords the text about accessory structures and uses in residential districts
such that they only apply to residential uses.
Another is to allow Planning Commission to issue a conditional use
permit for not only parking areas on residential properties but also on access
drives. 153.504 clarifies
parking requirements for public and surface areas at restaurants. Section 163.608 replaces incorrect zoning
district letter designations. It’s
really a housekeeping exercise.
Mr. Vanover made a motion to adopt
and Mr. Galster seconded.
Ordinance 17-2006 passed with seven
affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE NO. 18-2006 “GRANTING ADDITIONAL BENEFITS TO
POLICE SUPERVISORS
Ms. Pollitt made
a motion to adopt and Mr. Vanover seconded.
Mr. Parham said
during the last bargaining session with the patrol officers, these two items,
field training officer pay and on-call for detectives, were something we
bargained. When we bring on new
officers, a lot of times they have not had experience as patrol officers. When they complete their certification, they
are assigned to a field training officer.
The patrol officers felt this is
a very key part of the organization and they were hoping to receive some
additional compensation during that time.
If there is a call, they are responsible to answer that call, and then we
have a fresh rookie with them and they have to keep an eye on that individual
as well. As to the detectives, we
require that one detective remain on call for approximately one week. They are limited in activities that they
engage in because they may get that call if an issue arises. Just as we have patrol officers carrying out
those duties, we have supervisors who serve as field training officers as well
as the detectives who are on call from time to time so we try to keep them
consistent with the benefits we provide for the patrol officers.
Ordinance 18-2006
passed with seven affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE
NO.
19-2006 “ACCEPTING
A
Mr. Vanover made a
motion to adopt and Mr. Danbury seconded.
Ms. Pollitt said I
appreciate the letter with references attached.
We have not done work with them before and it makes me feel more
comfortable to see the references.
Mr. Osborn said this bid
also included an alternate item that we are choosing not to be part of the
contract. We believe that the cost of
the project is exceeding our budgeted number already. We budgeted $52,000 for this project. The other work we believe can be done by our
personnel over time. This work is
necessary to support the additional drainage from current development on
Springfield Pike as well as future development.
The project should happen very quickly.
Ordinance 19-2006 passed
with seven affirmative votes.
OLD BUSINESS
Mr. Danbury said I’d like to remind people if they harbor
pit bulls we have an ordinance against it.
I was notified today that some people have stated they have three of
them. You can’t have three dogs. I contacted the City and we are going to try
to take care of it. Don’t feel afraid to
turn in your neighbor. These are
dangerous animals. You can have them
under certain stipulations. They have to
be muzzled, be on full restraint, and if held outside, have to be in cages
where they can’t dig out. You also have
to have a $150,000 bond per animal.
Mr. Danbury continued I had a request for the residents of
Mr. Galster said just an additional comment on the concept
plan that is before Planning Commission.
They did mention that if they moved forward, there would be a meeting
with the residents in the area to get their input before they even came back
before Planning Commission again.
Mr. Knox stated no dogs are allowed in City parks in
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Vanover said we have a liquor
license transfer from Karlo’s to Pappas
Restaurant. There were no objections.
Ms. Pollitt said the “Senior Scoop”
is an excellent publication. The people
at the Community Center have done an excellent job.
Mayor Webster said Jackie and Sha
MEETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Opening Day - April 29
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE - none
UPDATE ON LEGISLATION STILL IN DEVELOPMENT
Funding for Community Center work - April
5
RECAP OF LEGISLATIVE ITEMS REQUESTED
CDS agreement - April 5
Resolutions for 3 Eagle Scouts - April
5
Resolution for Joe Scott - April 5
Council adjourned at
Respectfully
submitted,
Edward F. Knox
Clerk
of Council/Finance Director
Minutes
Approved:
Kathy
McNear, President of Council
__________________________,
2006