Weekly Update to City Council
from the City Manager
January 3, 2010
Many Thanks!
Looking back over my second year in Middletown, the time has flown by. I love Middletown and am proud to be part of the community! Thank you to the Mayor and Council Members for your support; working together we have laid the ground work for many great things to come. Our hard working department heads and employees deserve special thanks. Working during such challenging economic times is not easy. While on one hand we are thankful to be employed, on the other hand, our work is all the more difficult as we navigate through unprecedented budgetary issues internally. Externally, we are working more diligently to provide services for all of our residents, especially knowing that there are more residents in need now than ever. I thank each employee for working hard each day to accomplish our mission of improving Middletown.
Severance Pay for Layoffs
We have an ordinance prepared for the severance pay for those 7 employees who will be laid off effective January 22. While we have not provided severance pay in the past for the few layoffs we have had (in the past, we’ve been able to mostly reduce staff by eliminating unfilled positions), we believe it is the right thing to do given such severe economic times. We are proposing one month of pay for each employee affected. This will amount to about $30,000 in total payouts. There has been some discussion of providing the 7 affected employees the opportunity to stay until May, given that some will be attaining an anniversary date during the first 5 months. If we provide this opportunity, the cost will be $213,000 if all 7 employees stay for 5 months. While my first choice is not to lay off any employee, given our budgetary situation, we need to move forward and provide a one month severance. Sadly and unfortunately, we cannot afford to fund the affected positions for an additional 5 months.
From the Int’l City Management Newsletter: Money-Strapped Towns and Counties Replacing Paved Roads With Gravel.
The Associated Press (12/18/09) reports that "cash-strapped" municipalities and counties find paved roads "too expensive, and they are tearing up battered roads and putting down gravel." The high cost of pavement and the bad economy "have driven municipalities in states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Vermont to roll up the asphalt - a mile here, a few miles there, mostly on back roads - rather than repave." But drivers are not fans of the gravel and "warn of danger ahead, including mud, dust and damage to their cars." Supporters, however, argue "that gravel roads are cheaper to maintain and can be just fine in lightly traveled parts of the countryside. Note from Judy: though we are not considering gravel at this time, it is interesting to see what decisions other cities are faced with.
H1N1 Update
The H1N1 vaccine is available at the Health Department’s Vaccination Clinic located inside of the Health Center on 9th Avenue Wednesday mornings 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jackie Phillips from the Health Department has been vaccinating the homeless Monday evenings at the Shalom Project 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. She also has been working with many local businesses to vaccinate their employees.
Help us spread the word:
Vaccinations are available to businesses and organizations at no cost. To arrange a clinic or if you have any questions please contact the Health Department at 513.425.1818.
2009 Light Up Middletown
We received the LUM final report from the organizers of the event. Attendance was up by 17% over last year and total cash donations were at an all time high! Interesting to see that over 16,000 vehicles visited the event this year, which translates to over 54,000 visitors who donated over $35,000 to the event. The event attracted 70 tour buses in addition to private vehicles. LUM runs the day after Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, entirely staffed by volunteers. We are very fortunate to have events like this in our community.
Upcoming Events
January 5 City Council Meeting- Council Chambers 5:30 p.m.
January 5 2010 Census Complete Count Committee Kick-off 4:15 – 5:00 p.m. Middletown Community Center
January 6 Airport Commission Meeting- 4th Floor City Building 5:00 p.m.
January 7 Chamber Monthly Business Luncheon -11:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
January 13 Planning Commission Meeting- Council Chambers 6:30 p.m.
January 18 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day- City Building CLOSED for Business – stay tuned for details on the celebration and March to commemorate this day.
January 21 Chamber Annual Celebration for 2009 12:00- 1:30 p.m. Manchester Inn
February 1 Park Board Meeting- 2nd Floor Room 2C City Building 5:30 p.m.
Links for additional information:
City Manager’s Weekly Update: www.cityofmiddletown.org
Middletown Community Calendar: http://www.calendarwiz.com/middletowncalendar (copy and paste in your web browser)
Pothole Patrol: www.cityofmiddletown.org or call 727-3691 (Option 2)
Have a great week! Judy
