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May 2008
Police cruisers getting new video cameras
Middletown police cruisers will be receiving new digital video cameras and equipment to replace the current analog VHS equipment.
Police Chief Greg Schwarber told Middletown City Council the equipment was needed because the current video equipment was outdated and cannot be repaired anymore.
Schwarber also pointed out the quality differences between the old and new systems. In addition, he said the new video equipment would be connected to the mobile data terminal in each of 25 cruisers in the police fleet.
Council unanimously approved the request for the $127,080 purchase from OEM Micro Camera through the state’s cooperative purchasing program. Schwarber said the system was “the least expensive.”
He said the funds for the purchase were already budgeted through the city’s technical replacement fund.
In another police matter, council confirmed the promotion of Officer John Newlin to the rank of sergeant.
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An answer to a reader’s question, Part 1
A few weeks back, a reader e-mail some questions to me about the city’s street budget and the LED traffic light conversion.
City officials forwarded me the answers to those questions. I am posting the questions regarding the city’s street budget to this blog today and will post the other answers in the next few days.
This information is public record and anyone can contact the city offices to obtain this information for their review.
Question 1: What’s the city’s annual budget for street repair/improvements and how much of that is marked for repaving?
Answer: The City’s capital budget (not including enterprise funds such as water and sewer) receives approximately $1 million each year from a dedicated 1 mill of property tax. Of the revenues collected, more than 80 percent is typically allocated to roadwork each year. The remaining funds are allocated to parks and buildings improvements, which are also supported by this fund.
The 2008 capital budget is $1.8 million, including $450,000 in state funding and $550,000 in carryover funding from 2007. The street portion of this year’s budget makes up 83 percent of the total allocation.
The 2008 street maintenance budget is $1.78 million. This funding supports the personnel, equipment and materials required to maintain the 600-plus lane miles of streets, including utility patches, pothole repair, street sweeping, guardrail repair, large trash and dead animal pickup, all signage and road closures, snow and ice control, street markings, and shoulder (berm) repairs.
Question 2: When was the last time a street in Middletown was repaved without ‘other’ improvement reasons?
Answer: Typically, inspections are performed on the water and sewer mains, drainage system, and concrete associated with a street to be resurfaced so that all necessary repairs can be made at that time. This process extends the life of the roadway and, hopefully, eliminates future utility patches on a new street. Therefore, paving projects almost always include other improvements to the associated infrastructure.
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City Hangar getting another look
During Middletown City Council’s work session Tuesday, city officials advised council members that they received some calls from some people who are interested in redeveloping the City Hangar at Hook Field after the last public discussion on the topic.
David Duritsch, the city’s engineering and environmental services director, suggested putting out a Request For Proposals to rehabilitate or demolish the 70-year-old structure. “It gives us a chance to see what’s out there,” Duritsch said.
He said once the RFPs are sent back to the city, the Airport Commission will have the opportunity to review them and make a recommendation back to council.
A previous proposal to renovate the City Hangar was recently rejected by council because it did not make any economic sense to proceed. Council then approved demolishing the structure.
City Manager Judy Gillleland said if there was no viable rehabilitation proposal, then demolition remains an option.
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Some odds and ends from Middletown City Hall
Last week’s announcement for a new retail shopping center being planned in Liberty Twp. could mean some cash coming Middletown’s way.
The city is the tax administrator for the Liberty Twp. Joint Economic Development District and receives about 7 percent of tax collections generated from the JEDD.
According to one city official, a rough calculation of the potential revenues for Middletown is between $75,000 to $100,000 a year.
In another regional matter, council is planning for joint meetings with the Middletown Board of Education and Miami University Middletown on Aug. 5.
In addition, a joint meeting is also being planned between council and the Warren County Commission to discuss the Interstate 75 corridor, the Towne Mall and the Renaissance District.
A combined Conversation with Council for the 1st and 2nd Wards is being planned for 6 p.m. June 10 at the Woodside Cemetery Community Room. All residents are invited to attend the meeting to discuss various issues affecting the city.
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Getting attention and interest
LAS VEGAS — On the final day that the Middletown delegation worked the floor at the RECon convention in Las Vegas, officials and others were working to reinforce the message given the day before with handouts of marketing information.
Several of the contacts said they were very impressed with the number of people who traveled to the convention to share the message that there was plenty of opportunity for business who might be interested in coming to Middletown.
At one of the presentations Tuesday, May 20, with representatives from Bravo - Brio restaurants, who are interested in making a site visit in June based on the information that was presented by the delegates.
In addition, representatives from Cambria Suites hotels also expressed interested in having additional discussions with city officials, said Bill Murphy, economic development director.
The show of interest by the city with the size of its delegation made others take notice, including representatives from CBL & Associates, who owns Towne Mall, as well as Paran Management Co. who manages the Middletown Shopping Center.
Alan Lebovitz, CBL’s vice president of asset management, said he was impressed with the amount of interest the city had in the mall and the proposed renovation project to transform it into a lifestyle shopping center.
Lebovitz said there is no timetable in beginning the project and said his company was working on recruiting possible retailers at the RECon convention.
City Manager Judy Gilleland said the city was able to spend some good deal of time talking with CBL about the proposed projects.
She said the city talked about priorities about redeveloping the mall and made it clear that it was a priority project for the city of Middletown. Gilleland said they asked where it fell on CBL’s priority list.
“We were able to discuss possible tenants and future plans for the mall based on contacts made at the convention,” Gilleland said. “They indicated that they would be developing a proposal within the next 30 days. We will be following up with them promptly.”
“The bottom line is that they clearly saw the mall redevelopment was a priority for the city,” Gilleland said.
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Working the crowd
LAS VEGAS — With 50,000 attendees and some 2 million square feet of exhibition space being utilized at the Las Vegas Convention Center, it can be easy to get lost at the annual ReCon convention.
However, the Middletown delegation continues to visit various retailers to network with them. Their hope is when the economy starts to move up again, those retailers now on the sidelines will remember the city’s efforts to start a relationship as well as other incentives that may become available.
Middletown isn’t the only Ohio municipality/governmental entity with a presence at the ReCon convention. In fact, there are more than a dozen Ohio local governments are in Las Vegas. Those include Trotwood, Clayton, Montgomery County, Warren County (who is also working with Middletown), Brunswick, Xenia and Cincinnati.
Among the retailers the Middletown delegation will be visiting with include YUM Brands which owns Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken; Bravo restaurant; Restoration Hardware.
Some of the Middletown delegation will be leaving Las Vegas later today with the rest leaving early Wednesday.
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More from Recon
LAS VEGAS — If you can imagine three huge convention centers chock full of booths from all facets of the retail real estate and retail industry and toss in 50,000 attendees from around the world, that would a very quick snapshot of what the annual ReCon convention is like.
In the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, it looked there were nearly every known retailer, restaurant and hotel chain on the planet were represented. In addition, there were a number of developers and financing companies on hand to talk with prospective clients.
One developer, Horne Properties Inc. was promoting the future development of The Commons on Towne, a commercial retail development planned just south of the Wal-Mart on South Towne Boulevard. Horne had a large photo of area it would like to develop at one of the front corners of its large booth promoting the Middletown site.
Although the region is coping with a tough economy and money is tight, you still have to wonder why retail development is struggling at this key interchange on Interstate 75 between Cincinnati and Dayton.
What do you think?
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Greetings from Vegas
LAS VEGAS — Middletown’s delegation who are attending the annual ReCon 2008 convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers will have a busy day today, May 19.
The delegation, which includes City Manager Judy Gilleland, Economic Development Director Bill Murphy, Mayor Lawrence P. Mulligan, Ken Cohen, president of Middletown Moving Forward, Kimm Coyner, Warren County’s economic development director, and Candace Klein, a consultant with Property Advisors of Cincinnati, will be visiting with various companies to promote Middletown as a place to do business and to help bolster the city’s business and retail sectors in a very tough economy.
In addition, Murphy is slated to meet with representatives from Paran Management who owns the Middletown Shopping Center.
The delegation will also be attending various seminars on issues affecting the retail industry.
Read more about their efforts today on this blog and in Tuesday’s Journal.
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Following through
Earlier this year, state Sen. Gary Cates said he would be introducing legislation to prohibit people who have been convicted or have pleaded guilty to a felony from holding public office following Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers pleading guilty to two felonies before resigning the office.
Cates did follow through on what he said and introduced such a bill. That piece of legislation has been assigned to the state Senate’s Judiciary and Criminal Justice Committee.
Prior to her resignation, Rogers was permitted to remain in office until she was actually sentenced by the court. This legislation, if approved by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by the governor, would close that loophole.
Rogers has yet to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
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Lots of email for council on rezoning issue
Members of Middletown City Council have had a lot of reading to do over the past few days.
The Chamber of Commerce sent an urgent notice to members Friday to contact council members and give their support for the rezoning of 157 acres of land off of Ohio 4 (Hamilton-Middletown Road). The land is being targeted for a $340 million state of the art, heat recovery cokemaking and electric generation plant.
Council is expected to hold a public hearing and vote on an emergency ordinance to confirm a March decision by the Middletown Planning Commission today at its 6:30 p.m. business meeting. The meeting will be held in the Council Chamber on the lower level of the Middletown City Building, One Donham Plaza.
Council Clerk Betsy Parr said the city council office has received more than 300 emails and more than a dozen phone calls from proponents and opponents of the issue.
City officials have two overflow seating areas with television monitors for spectators to observe the meeting once the Council Chamber reaches its room capacity. The city’s fire marshal will be there to enforce the room capacity.
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Latest from home ownership front
The Middletown Planning Department is continuing to work with LifeSpan and the Middletown Homeownership Partnership with its home ownership courses that help qualified people obtain down payment assistance.
Nelson Self, a senior planner, said nearly 150 people have participated in the program and so far in 2008, the effort has doubled the number of participants over 2007.
Another set of courses will be scheduled for the last two Thursdays in May, Self said. He said during the summer months, the focus will be on post-purchase counseling efforts.
In addition, as part of June being National Homeownership Month, the Middletown Board of Realtors and the Middletown Homeownership Partnership will be hosting a Homeownership Expo from 4 to 8 p.m. June 5 at the Manchester Inn.
It’s an opportunity for Realtors and homebuyers to meet lenders, title companies and others that can help potential homebuyers with their first home with down payment and closing cost assistance.
For more information about the expo, call (513) 423-3445.
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Overflow crowd will be seated in lobby
In her weekly memo to Middletown City Council, City Manager Judy Gilleland said the city hall staff is preparing for a large crowd for council’s Tuesday, May 6 meeting.
A large crowd is anticipated due to an agenda item seeking council confirmation of a rezoning decision made by the Middletown Planning Commission in March.
The proposed rezoning of 157 acres has raised the ire of Monroe residents who live adjacent to the property as it is being targeted for the construction of a $340 million cokemaking and electric generation plant. Residents say they are not opposed to the building of the plant but they do object to the proposed location off of Ohio 4 near their homes. They would prefer the plant be located inside the property of AK Steel Corp.
Gilleland said the city fire marshal will be on hand to ensure the capacity of the council chamber is not exceeded. Overflow seating will be provided in the lobby where people can observe the proceedings on a television monitor. She also added that officers will be present to ensure a safe environment for all.
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City reviewing tax incentives
One item that won’t be on Middletown City Council’s agenda on Tuesday, May 6, is a discussion about a possible enterprise zone tax abatement for the proposed SunCoke Energy cokemaking and electric generation plant project.
Council was originally slated to discuss a proposed agreement that would abate 75 percent of the project’s personal property taxes for 10 years.
In its enterprise zone application to the state, Charles Ellis, senior vice president of business development for SunCoke, said because there were “significant other options available to construct the project in Kentucky, it is critical that the company receive state and local incentives to allow the project to proceed in Ohio.”
Ellis also said the incentives “will help ensure that the project goes forward in Ohio, and will allow the project to meet its economic hurdle of return on the investment.”
Bill Murphy, Middletown’s economic development director, said companies routinely request information on incentives available from cities.
Murphy said the city needs to review its position about other possible incentives as SunCoke could become a major water user.
In addition, the electric generation portion of the plant will remain subject to the tangible personal property tax. Murphy said the city needs to do additional reviews of this issue to make sure any incentives offered makes sense for the community.
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Opponents to rezoning for coke plant mobilizing
A group of Monroe residents whose properties are adjacent to the 157 acres that the city of Middletown is seeking to rezone from low-density residential to industrial use are stepping up their awareness efforts.
The residents have established a Web site, called stayinsidethefence.com as a way to voice their objections to the rezoning decision that was approved by the Middletown Planning Commission and is expected to be confirmed Tuesday, May 6 by Middletown City Council by an emergency ordinance.
Tuesday’s council meeting is expected to be packed with opponents from Monroe but also by the city’s business and labor community that are supporting the rezoning as it will pave the way for a $340M state of the art heat recovery cokemaking and electric generation plant that SunCoke Energy wants to build and operate. Neighboring AK Steel Corp. has already signed a 20-year agreement with Knoxville-based SunCoke Energy to be the exclusive customer for the projected 550,000 tons of coke and 50 megawatts of electricity the plant is expected to produce each year.
While the city’s business and labor community is rallying support for the rezoning, the Monroe residents are pullling no punches by putting a human face on the issue.
On their Web site, www.stayinsidethefence.com, they did a short video of how the rezoning decision might impact Garden Manor Retirement Village, which is inside the city of Middletown corporate limits as well as the residents they serve and their 400-plus employees.
The residents also have a prayer vigil scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight, May 5, at the Truth Tabernacle on Ohio 4.
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Habitat for Humanity forced to start foreclosure actions
It’s been widely reported that the nation and the local area has been affected by the housing and credit crunch which has also led to a record number of foreclosure actions by lending institutions.
And problem is also being experienced by Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit Christian organization which helps low income families purchase homes they help to build.
A recent story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported the organization there recently started four foreclosure actions for the first time in their 20-year history. In addition, there are other Habitat organizations that have been forced to foreclose on these homes.
Nationally, Habitat for Humanity foreclosure rate is less than 2 percent, according to the Plain Dealer.
Gene Snow, president of the Middletown organization, said 47 homes have been built over the past 20 years in Middletown, Franklin and Carlisle, but they have not had to begin foreclosure actions.
He said one of the Habitat homeowners went bankrupt, while two others sold their homes. Snow said the local Habitat organization purchased one of the homes that was being sold.
Snow said that didn’t mean that other families are not in trouble because many of them are on a shoestring budget.
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