Weekly Update to City Council
from the City Manager
January 10, 2010

Annual Council Retreat

We are working on scheduling a day for the retreat and will be getting with Council to survey your availability. Our first choices of Jan. 30 and Feb do not work for all members. We are fortunate to have Kent Bradshaw assist us again with facilitation. Since Mr. Bradshaw sits on one of our Boards, we are unable to pay for his services but he has generously volunteered to facilitate. The Mayor, Vice-mayor and I will be meeting with Mr. Bradshaw to plan the agenda for the retreat. If any Council member has thoughts please feel free to contact one of us prior to Jan. 22. Mr. Bradshaw typically also makes contact with each Council member for input, and I assume that he will do so after our meeting on the 22nd.

Great News from Wausau!

Wausau will be demolishing their vacant brown building that fronts mostly on South Main Street. This is great news for the community as we further our mission of clearing out blighted and vacant buildings to make room for new improvements. They will begin demo at the end of January and finish in the 3rd quarter of this year. Wausau plans to create green space and to hold the property for future use. We are very appreciative of Wausau’s efforts because this project is being done without Brownfield funding or funding assistance from the City.

Wausau Artwork

The Downtown Mural Committee is working to relocate the mural on the Wausau building to another building prior to the demo. The mural was donated to Wausau by Armco to commemorate paper making. Wausau has generously agreed to pay for renovation and relocation of the mural.

Other Demo projects

Like Wausau, AK Steel also demolished buildings at their former HQ site without Brownfield or city funding. If you’ve driven by the site, it looks great, still needing some finish work, it provides opportunities for other development to take place. Midwest Services Brownfield demo project is coming along nicely. You can begin to see the work from Verity Parkway. All good for the City.

Annual Goals for 2010

I am meeting over the next couple of weeks with each department head to establish our goals for the year and to review our accomplishments for 2009. There are many in each category! We will provide the list to Council once it is compiled. As a result of our discussion at the Council retreat, we may have more goals to add.

From a Nov. 2009 Dayton Daily News Article on est. annual City-owned Golf Course Subsidies

Beavercreek: $1 million

Springboro: $330,000

Dayton: $0

Springfield: $200,000

Troy: $50,000

Piqua: $150,000

Mason: $1.5 million

Miamisburg: $0

Miamisburg: $250,000

Centerville: $150,000

Vandalia: $69,000

Middletown: $215,000 loan (we track general fund money going to the golf course and when Weatherwax operates in a profitable year, they make payments back to the general fund. Most other cities do not track and simply fund the golf course each year just as they fund other operations.) Note: the actual year end estimates for Weatherwax show the subsidy at $118,000 rather than $215,000… very good for the City and for Weatherwax.

Fire on Lamberton St. not classified as Fatal Fire

You may have read in the MJ about the follow up on the fire this past week, but I wanted to be sure to pass the info along to council: this tragedy was not classified as a fatal fire since the man’s death occurred prior to the fire. This is important information to know because we track and act on preventable tragedies.

From the Fire Chief: This past Tuesday, 1-5-10 at 12:21 PM Middletown Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 1612 Lamberton St., Apartment A. Fire crews were successful in quickly extinguishing the fire and limiting property damage to one of the four units but sadly found a deceased adult male.

An investigation was conducted by Fire personnel with the assistance of Middletown Police, the State Fire Marshal’s office and Butler County Coroner’s office. On 1-6-09 the Coroner released the cause of death was due to natural causes and not by products of combustion, as such this incident will not be recognized as a fatal fire. The cause of the fire has been determined to be accidental.

From the Int’l City Management Newsletter: Detroit Mayor Wants To Focus On Urban Farming As City Shrinks.

The AP (1/7) reports that Detroit Mayor Dave Bing hopes to reinvent Detroit as a smaller city and in the meantime, "he just hopes the nearly broke city can avoid receivership along the way." Bing says his vision for the city involves shrinking it, and moving "people from isolated homes in dying neighborhoods to stable areas near the central city." Once entire blocks are "closed, houses bulldozed," he wants "room for orchards, corn and bean fields" and says there will be urban farms there in "the next year or two." An additional focus will be entertainment, based on the city's "Motown musical heritage, gaming casinos and professional sports teams."

H1N1 Update

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.

Upcoming Events

January 13 Planning Commission Meeting- Council Chambers 6:30 p.m.

January 16 “Middletown Celebrates Community: In the Spirit and Footsteps of Dr. King!” MLK Weekend Celebration - Taste of Diversity Dialogue 10:30 a.m. –
2:00 p.m. MUM - Facilitator Dr. Darius Prier – serving a light lunch

January 17 MLK Celebration - Ecumenical Service- First Presbyterian Church – 4:00 p.m. Speaker: Reverend Mitchell Foster

January 18 MLK Celebration - Community Report & March to Governor’s Square –
9:30 a.m.
First United Methodist Church
Featuring the MHS Social Justice Class

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day- City Building CLOSED for Business

January 20 Tree Commission meeting Noon @ MUM Levey Hall. Lower Level

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