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VILLAGE OF MARIEMONT
STATE OF THE VILLAGE ADDRESS FOR 2007
INTRODUCTION
To quote our Village Historian, Millard Rogers, “last year was the best ever”. I wholeheartedly agree the Village saw great progress during 2007 and there is no doubt this exciting path forward will continue in 2008. I am pleased and proud to report…
PROJECTS AND HONORS
Thanks to Millard Rogers we now have obtained National Historic Landmark status and we are now among the Best of the Best. Again we thank Millard Rogers for the vital role he played in helping the Village to receive this important designation.
The historic Resthaven Barn Construction Project to turn the building into the Woman’s Art Club of Cincinnati headquarters was started last year. This 116 year-old organization hopes to have the art gallery, Cultural Center, classroom area, and administration office finished this spring. The saving of this historic building was very important, and the club will be a great addition to our Village. The first art show will be the first week of May! All are welcome!
The road work on Wooster Pike was finally completed.
In the past year, the Bell Tower restrooms and the Clarence Erickson shelter were planned and hopefully will be completed this year. I thank Committee Chair, Melissa Schmit, Building Commissioner, Dennis Malone, the Emery Memorial and our Pre-School Parents for putting together a plan that works for all concerned on this important project for our kids. We have been talking about this problem for about 20 years and it is finally going to be resolved.
Thanks to School Superintendent, Paul Imhoff, our School Board, Councilmen Bill Ebelhar and Rex Bevis, we have a much safer West Street program to drop off and pick up our children at the Elementary School. Clearly this shows what can happen when we all work together.
With the pool season around the corner, it is good to know the new shade shelter at the pool was finished last year and it is bigger and better! We thank our Pool Commission for working with Council to make our citizens much safer this summer.
One of the largest building projects ever, the Jordan Park Condo Development on North Miami Road, was started last year and should be completed this fall. So far 12 of the 26 units have been sold! Not only will this development of Tudor revival architecture add beauty to the east wing of our square, it will also bring us much needed tax dollars for the Village and our schools.
I would certainly be remiss if I failed to commend the five gentlemen who volunteered to be involved in the Mayor’s Program to find apartments and move the displaced senior citizens when their apartments were torn down. To celebrate this exciting condo project and forget about the senior citizens who lived in the old apartments and who could not help themselves would have been wrong. Thanks to Rich Ewald, Dennis Wolter, Pastor Denis Beausejours, Jeff Sturtz and Steve Varner the displaced senior citizens have new homes in the Village. From the bottom of my heart I thank these gentlemen for their time and their sore backs.
I also want to thank Planning Commission Chairman Charlie Thomas for his valuable expertise that made this project run so smoothly.
Another great volunteer project that was started last year was the Dale Park clean-up, thanks to Louise Schomburg. For years the park was a mess! Louise and her team took the bull by the horns and took out dead trees, honeysuckle, brush and litter. Now the park is beautiful. Motorists on Wooster Pike can see our very important Historic District, including the townhouses and our distinctive church with its rock wall. Red bud trees and ground cover were planted on the hill side last fall. This spring, the site should be something to see when the trees are in bloom. Thank you, Louise, and your crew.
Also, a big thank you goes to the Garden Club who donated ten Beech trees that were planted in the Beech Grove. I ask everyone to support this great club and buy your spring flowers at their plant sale on May 10th.
I think we can all see that much was accomplished last year and a lot of it was due to two things that are so important to our Village…Team Work and citizen volunteers.
Council, Administration and Personnel
Dennis Wolter was sworn in as the new Councilman for District 1
Kim Sullivan was elected by Council to be our Vice-Mayor for 2008. Kim will be in charge when I take vacation this year. I just hope her hair does not turn gray like my hair has recently.
Clerk Stan Bahler will be retiring on April 1 of this year after 22 years of service to our Village. We plan to have a farewell party in the very near future at the Parish Center. All are welcome.
Paul Tontillo will fill Stan’s large shoes. Welcome Paul!
And after 6+ years on the Planning Commission, Jack Hodell retired and was replaced by architect Bob Steinkamp.
I welcome all of our new employees who have completed their six month probationary period.
1. Paul Rennie - Police Department
2. Greg Lang - Fire Department
3. Ben James - Maintenance Department
4. Debbie Combs - Tax Department
Citizen Committees and Awards
On May 28th, at our Memorial Day Parade, a well deserved honor was announced. The Outstanding Citizen of the Year was awarded to Jane McDonald. Thank you Jane for all you do for our Village.
A Proclamation was given to Mariemont citizen and hero, Frank Fazzio, who is a firefighter with the Madeira-Indian Hill Fire Department and the Little Miami Fire District. Frank responded to a house fire on Cunningham Road and while bravely fighting that fire he did receive burns over 30% of his body. He has been an exemplary citizen of our Village and we are very proud to have him as a member of our community.
We thank Bob Crosset, Carolyn Tuttle, Jane McDonald, Peggy Keyes and Mike and Janet Howe-Smith for their tireless effort and valuable knowledge they gave to the Parks Board. For 2008, we welcome new members, Mike Benson, Nancy Stelzer, Paul Dougherty, Bev Kranitzky, Doug Short and Louise Schomburg. This important committee is one of the main reasons our many flower beds are in such good shape during the spring and summer months.
And we welcome the new Swim Pool Commission: Anne Trester, Jim Miller, Jerry Stephens, Tara Scarborough and Shannon Gilmore.
And for the 16th year, the Village was named Tree City USA.
FINANCE
Again for the 7th straight year, I am very pleased to report that our General Fund Balance ended at over one million dollars! The balance was close to 1.7 million dollars. As one can see, our Village financially remains very strong. But being an old business administration major, I am constantly reviewing our five year planning budget, and in the year 2011, we will be at a break even point. The basic reason for this future problem is the simple fact that our incoming revenue remains about the same, but our expenses such as salary raises, health care benefits, physical and liability insurance, workers’ compensation, utilities, fuel, general maintenance, vehicles and equipment, keep going up at a very fast pace. For 13 years, the Village has not put on a new money levy. Please let it be known that Council and I will do all we can to cut waste and find new ways to bring income into our Village (A good example is the Jordan Park Condo project on North Miami Road) and hopefully we will be able to push the need for dollars as far back as possible into the future. But with the way costs are raising, it will not be easy. At the end of this month, I will be retiring from 35 years in the insurance claims industry. After April 2nd, I plan to do an in-depth study of all our finances to cut unneeded expenses and waste. I will also continue to promote team work and volunteerism throughout the Village. If anyone wants to help with any of our projects, please feel free to call the Mayor’s Office.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2008
The Public Works Committee of Council has reported that the following streets and curb cuts will be in the bid packet for this year:
Street From To
Thorndike Road Lane K Nolen Circle
Thorndike Road Nolen Circle West Street
Center Street E. Center Street Mt. Vernon Ave.
Center Street Mt. Vernon Ave. Miami Bluff Dr.
East Center Street Crystal Springs Rd. Center Street
Murray Ave (Added) Miami Road 65 ft. West
Thorndike Road East Street Nolen Circle
Thorndike Road Nolen Circle Lane L
Thorndike Road Lane L Lane K
West Center Street Center Street Miami Road
West Street Madisonville Road Lane J
West Street Lane J Thorndike Road
Concrete Curb Lytle Woods Miami Road Haines Avenue
Concrete Curb Lytle Woods Haines Avenue North Terminus
Curb Ramps Handicap Miami Road and East Center Street
Curb Ramps Handicap Wooster Pike and Oak Street
Curb Ramp Handicap Mt. Vernon and Center Street
Curb Ramp Handicap E. Center Street and Crystal Springs Road
Curb Ramp Handicap Wooster Pike and East Street
Curb Ramp Handicap Wooster Pike and Indianview Avenue
Sunken Sidewalk Indianview Avenue Petoskey Avenue
Sunken Sidewalk Petoskey Avenue Pocahontas Ave
Curb Repair Wooster Pike Petoskey Ave Pocahontas Ave
Access Road at Murray Ave Right of Way
This year Council will be looking into merging with the Little Miami Fire District for the following reasons:
1. As I have stated, the cost of running the Village is going up at a fast pace and we now have a $900,000+ budget to have an independent fire department in our one square mile Village. Plus the fire department that averages only 1 dispatch a da,y according to the Hamilton County Department of Communications records.
2. In the past 4-5 years our wonderful Council has been outstanding in finding ways to bring much needed dollars into the Village. But we now must figure out ways to cut costs. If we don’t, we will end up competing with our schools for levy dollars and that is something I do not want to see happen, because I feel our schools are one of the main reasons why our Village was rated one of the most livable towns last year in Ohio Magazine. The next time you see the Village logo, notice that it has the Latin words ‘juvibus dicatum’ which means “dedicated to our youth”.
3. On the north edge of our Village, we have the Little Miami Fire District, which is 4 blocks away from our smaller fire department. This outstanding and well-equipped, staffed and trained fire department has agreed to let our Village join their district.
4. In today’s world it makes no sense to have 2 fire departments within 4 blocks of each other.
5. Plus now more than ever we must be responsible stewarts of our environment and only take what we need. To be purchasing gas and diesel fuel for vehicles and trucks we do not need, simply does not make sense in the world we live in today. Especially when just last Monday oil went to a record high of $103 dollars a barrel, which means gas is getting close to $4.00 a gallon and diesel $5.00 a gallon.
6. Reports for our fire department show that in the next 8 years we will need to replace about 1 million dollars worth of equipment including the ladder truck.
7. Therefore, merging the 2 departments would eliminate the costly duplication of major capital equipment. Cost saving and efficiencies gained by eliminating the duplication cannot be ignored today.
8. Another point that has to be addressed! If we have a catastrophe or emergency situation here in our Village we, will be much better off if we are a part of the fire district. It makes sense to form our alliance with our neighboring departments so that we can work, train and plan a custom strategy to help each other in case of an emergency. Right now, Police Chief Hines is working with Hamilton County and our neighbors to update our emergency plans.
9. The fire industry is in a state of constant change with new technology coming out to the market faster than we can keep up. I feel with the larger fire district we will be able to afford more of this life saving equipment.
10. For about the last 3 years we have been trying to find a creative way to finance and build a new Village Administration office building and about half of the building would house the fire department because our building (built in 1960) is not big enough. I am sorry to report it just is not going to happen. We were told there will not be any federal appropriation funds for a project like ours due to the war. Architects Jack Hodell and Dennis Malone have stated that if we tore down our Village office and built a new one that would give us all the room we need, it would cost us close to 5 million dollars which is a scenario we could never afford. But if we moved the fire department out of our obsolete and cramped Village office building and joined the fire district it would open up much needed work space so that we could, at our pace, remodel the old building for all of our needs. Right away we could move the Tax Department into the Village office building because we are renting an office at the Executive Building for about $12,000 a year. Plus we could remodel the garage areas and turn it into a much larger Council Chamber for overflow crowds, and it would be accessible for citizens with disabilities. For these reasons it appears the time has come where we need to take a long and hard look at sharing fire services to save our tax payers money especially in the long run like our neighbors to the north (Indian Hill-Madeira and Silverton-Deer Park). Another plus is that over the last 2 years we have put $200,000 aside to pay for the architectural plans for a new building that we now know is a project we will never be able to afford. The $200,000 now could go towards the cost of remodeling the municipal building and could pay for the Council Chambers and Tax Office, which would be a great start.
At this point I do not have any financial information on the cost and savings. The Finance Committee of Council and our Clerk, Stan Bahler, are putting the numbers together and hopefully we will have a Finance Committee meeting in a few weeks to discuss this subject.
Last years fireworks at the Bell Tower was such a big hit, Council has okayed another fireworks display this year on July 4th at 9:45 p.m. This year’s event should be bigger and better. A big thank you goes to the volunteers who made last year’s display possible - Exhibitor Ned Gorski, James Ferguson, Brad Lockhart, John Getgy, Rob Uchtman and Dr. Wendell.
With quite a few homes up for sale in the Village, I am working with citizens Jim Tinkham and Monika Osborne to have a Mariemont Parade of Homes Day to display these homes on April 20, 2008. If you know of any one looking for a home here in the Village of Mariemont, please let them know to save this date.
With the Boathouse back in good shape, thanks to Mariemont Preservation Foundation, the Louise Schomburg crew will be cleaning up both hillsides along side the structure as they did at Dale Park last year. This allows motorists to view this important relic of our past and make the area much safer for our kids.
Last month Council and the Planning Commission okayed a building agreement with Developer Charles Shafer to start the 26 unit condo project for empty nesters at the old Steam Plant site. Hopefully this project will get started this summer and will be a new much needed income stream for the Village and our schools.
And the Fountain Project is now ready to go out for bids. The plan is to raise the fountain about 16 inches to make it more visible and put a stem in the lower water pipes so we can blow all the excess water out. This would be done before the winter shut down so the pipe will not freeze and break. Also, a field stone 1 ½ foot wall will be built around the fountain so we can sit around the fountain and enjoy it. If the bids are in line, then the Fountain should be done by Memorial Day.
This year I plan to work with our award winning architect, Jack Hodell, to plan and build an office building on his property behind the library along side Wooster Pike. I will give more information in the Mayor’s Bulletin as plans go forward.
This year, I plan to take a long and hard look at Ann Buntin Becker Park to find a way to bring the kids back to this play area. At this point I am looking at a small skate board area and the same type of play equipment that is at the Tot Lot.
Finally, I want to share an e-mail received from Charles McCalley, Birmingham, Alabama “I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed running through the Village of Mariemont during the Flying Pig Marathon. I was overwhelmed by the crowd support and the absolute charm of the community. Before I made my way out of there I had to ask one of the spectators where I was because I wanted to remember the name and let you know. My brother and I traveled from Birmingham, Alabama and this was our first time in Cincinnati. I can’t thank your community enough for making my marathon one that I will always remember”.
CLOSING
In closing I want to quote former Mayor, Citizen of the Year and a man I have the greatest respect for, Don Shanks, When I was elected to Council about 14 years ago, Mayor Shanks said to me “You are here at the will of the people and everything you do on Council must be for the good and safety of our citizens”. This administration will always live by those words.
Thank you for coming to this assembly and God bless our troops, our great country and our Village.
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