MORE LEVIES FOR FIXING ROADS

factguy, I appreciate the Jay Earnest dialogue, but--the only people that think that the 60% idea is ok and workable are the Council and Admin members who don't want to go back to their being respoinsible for road repair/maintenance + the S Main, downtowners and city people who have had their streets repaired without the 60% requirement/payment. NO ONE else sees this as a realistic option. Where else do municipalities do it this way?

As homeboy Chris Carter says, "Come on, man!"

How about a top 10 ranking of what you'd the city to do in 2015-2016, such as number 1, set aside $20 Mm a year for road repair. Number 2, put in colonial period street lamps throughout all resident neighborhoods. Takers? 

I don't live in Middletown, but I'm from there and could potentially move there in the near future depending on where my first job out of college is, so here's my top 10 list of what I'd like Middletown to do:

Factguy:

I see you made it as far as "2" on your list. Don't have anything else to add or don't want to let the cat out of the bag yet?

1. Not knowing the revenues of the city would make placing a definitive amount on road repair simply a wish. That being said, I would certainly repeal the 1986 ordinance that put infrastructure repair into the general fund. That should shorten the time for road repair.
2. Vivian Moon is absolutely correct when she states the biggest problem (and most expensive) is the sewers. That needs to be addressed with a sustainable and consistent revenue stream.
3. Get out and stay out of the real estate business. Stop buying property and then giving it away!
4. The city sales tax needs to be reduced so that Middletown isn't one of the highest tax cities in the area.
5. Stop the interference in business. Way too much interference and pointless ordinances.
6. Disband the Historical Appropriateness Board.
7. Improve the school system. Partner with business and social orgainzations to improve learning. Opt out en mass of this idiotic testing program.
8. Public safety and health should be given priority over government run economic development.
9. Return council to the ward system so that every area of the city is represented.
10. Rebuild trust in city government by being more open and transparent, particularly financial transparency.

I'm sure given enough time to think about it I could come up with more. What should happen is some real community outreach to find out what citizens in all areas of town think instead of what 5 members of council want.

BTW; no one wants fancy street lights. We need a functional and safe city, not one dressed up for pretty pictures.

Factguy-Both were excellent responses. Doug Adkins efforts to modify the ordinances will make the city more business friendly. The city has been collecting for years a set amount for sewers and the EPA concerns, so that also is a check. On the ward system, having an at large system with a reduced number, accelerates the bimonthly meetings and also was logical as the population was shrinking. Admittedly, many share your opinion, as those having issues within a ward are under represented as they see it. As one council attempted unsuccessfully to get the ordinance change, the prospects of making that a reality are not bright.

Factguy...where are you getting your information from?
Please do inform the public about the amount of money that as of this date that is in the sewer fund that they have been collecting for years. 
I have heard enough lies out of you. So if you are soooo well inform give us the numbers...
This like all the other city funds has been raped, raided and robbed......and now we do not have the money to repair and seperate the sewers. We are talking MILLIONS of dollars have simply disappeared.
Now we will need to BORROW MILLIONS to even start this project.

So show me your numbers and I'll show you mine....It's time for you to either put up or shut up and sit down.

February 8, 1911 Wednesday    Middletown News-Signal, Middletown, Ohio
THE PAVING OF BROADWAY
  Well, well Broadway will surely be paved. Robert Jones has just finished securing the names of abutting property holders of Broadway asking for the street to be paved and we have another Mr. B. F. Harwitz who is out asking for Broadway to be paved with asphalt. The signers to the second petition were being secured today.

February 10, 1911  Friday    Middletown News-Signal, Middletown, Ohio
BROADWAY
What Will Be The Paving Material
  The paving of Broadway is now under consideration. The situation is much as it was on Main street and Yankee road about the time these streets were to be paved. Some of the people were fooled as to material. Particularly was this the case on Yankee road which was saved from being paved with brick just in the nick of time. A brick street is noisy, filthy, and always look ugly by comparison with an asphalt street. The nice homes on Broadway, and they are almost all beautiful, should jealously guard the  immediate environment. To put a brick street would cause them to regret it as long as they lived.
  Property stands out clean and clear with a white street like Yankee road, free from the odor that emanates from the filth that settles between bricks and from the noise that is a source of annoyance day and night and especially in the summer when houses are open.
  It is probable that it is now too late to save the street from what it is said the council intends to do to it. True, brick is cheaper, but the difference is not great enough to prevent asphalt being adopted in preference to the coarser material.
  Woodblock is fine, but it is an experiment and may swell and rear up and push even the sidewalks into the cellar.
  But asphalt is the material for paving and should be adopted.
  It is said that a petition is now being circulated for asphalt or wood block, but tonight the council will say what material will be placed on the street. 

February 13, 1911  Monday    Middletown News-Signal, Middletown, Ohio
MORE ASPHALT
Wanted By The People Living On Good Streets In This City

  Lakeside people are waking up to the fact, that, possessed of one of the most beautiful drives in the city of Middletown, Tytus avenue should not be marred by inferior paving material and will make their desires known, to the council committee, having the question in charge.
  The little difference between the cost of asphalt and brick, the superiority of the former over the latter, in its appearance, its cleanliness, and from a sanitary standpoint, as well as its effect on the value of abutting property, gives it a preference far above any other material.
  A street paved with brick is always considered secondary to asphalt street. It gives it a cheap appearance and effects the value of the property, and the owners do a great injustice to themselves when with beautiful homes on which they are spending their labor and money to  give them a fine appearance, they permit the laying of an inferior street to mar the comfort and value of their property.
  The people of Lakeside appreciate this fact and are preparing to present their claims for the better material to the council. The facts are that Main street and Broad street should be paved with asphalt throughout.

October 23, 1911  Monday    Middletown News-Signal, Middletown, Ohio
THE WHITE WAY
New Cluster Lights Up In Front Of Bundy Block More Of Same Lights To Go Up
  East Third street with its pretty white way was surely the attraction, and the way the people paraded the well lighted thoroughfare showed that the white way is appreciated. Dr. D. B. Bundy had two of the splendid cluster lights burning in front of the Bundy block and the dazzling lights in front of the Bijon picture theater in the Bundy block, the street was beautifully illuminated, a credit to the east end and a strong drawing card for the business in that well lighted section. 
  W. S. Harlan was out at the white way. He was so well pleased with the new light in front of the Bundy block that he has decided to put three of the cluster lights in front of the Harlan block.
  Ed Stutz, the big boss of the white way says the place is so full of light out his way that the old rooster crows every fifteen minutes now during the night. Ed says when he used to hear the clarion note of this old Plymouth Rock, he  used to get out of bed and go down into the milk pitcher to meet the milk man and he never missed. Now since the old boy has been

Vivian:
Thanks but those are Trotwood's ideas, not mine!

TonyB wrote: Vivian: Thanks but those are Trotwood's ideas, not mine!

Don't we have an "add on" in Middletown? Why would the tax rate be lower in West Chester if that were true?Or am I thinking of income tax? Whichever it is, that is what needs to be lowered to bring Middletown more in line with other local communities.