Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Activities

Middletown celebrates community in the spirit and footsteps of Dr. King January 14-17 with the

following festivities in his honor:

• Friday & Saturday 8:00 pm The Middletown Lyric Theatre Presents:

The Unity Project: “All Types of People”

• Sunday 4:00 pm Ecumenical: Service 2nd Baptist Church

Speaker: Pastor Mitchell Burch of Towne Blvd. Church of God

• Monday 9:30 a.m. Unity March & Service

From the Sonny Hill Community Center to Rosa Parks Elementary

Greentree Health Science Academy (GHSA)

Great news! The long awaited GHSA project officially started site work last Monday,

01/03/2011. Dirt is being moved to make way for the GHSA building pad. There are 204 days

until substantial completion of construction of the building. Then the move into the building

and interior finishing can be completed in time for the fall 2011 quarter / school year!

You can keep track of the progress of this exciting project through the web camera at the link

below:

http://.com/prooxblue/open/mrh/greentree

Chamber Annual Meeting

Jim Wainscott will be guest speaker. Held this week- Friday, Jan. 14, 12:00 at the Senior Center.

City Building Security

We continue to work on the assessment and plan for the court and city building security. In

light of this weekend’s shootings, we a reminded of how important it is to ensure the safety of

our employees, the public and our elected officials.

Council Retreat

A reminder that the annual City Council retreat will be on Saturday, Jan 22 from 9 – 3 at the Chamber Offices.

Economic Development Partnership with Middletown City Schools

During Business Retention visits, the retention committee representative asks employers about

their workforce development needs. Employers have commented that they would like to

receive more local applications, and that they would like a way to help make local graduates

and future graduates aware of their workforce needs. As a result of hearing these and related

comments, staff approached the Middletown City Schools (MCS) about partnering

opportunities, and was then invited to participate on the MCS curriculum committee. The

timing of this connection coincided with the current goal of the committee to grow employer

partnerships. The schools have enjoyed a long history of partnerships. They see an expanded

collaboration as away to provide employers with a stronger workforce while also promoting the

development of the students.

The partnering goal is part of the implementation plan for the “Milestones for Improving

Learning and Education (MILE)” program being implemented by the schools. The program plan

states that

“Community-based approaches to 21st century skills are part of an aligned, comprehensive

economic and workforce development strategy that supports the entire region.”

The first step will be to better identify the skills our employers are looking for, and to define

partnership opportunities employers may be interested in. The committee has been working

on an employer survey and anticipates this being distributed in the next few weeks. The survey

will be brief; it is designed as a first step in gathering information. Employers will have the

option to respond anonymously, however, employers are invited to include contact

information.

Depending on the results of the survey, the committee would like to implement two goals:

- host a gathering in March/April to discuss what New Age Partnerships look like; and

- host a career fair at Middletown High School in late spring.

Group WorkCamps (Community Revitalization)

The organizing committee for the Group WorkCamps project met Wednesday, January 5th at

the Middletown offices of United Way and selected the Meadowlawn and Prospect

neighborhoods for the focus of the Group Work Camps project in July 2011. With the

neighborhoods selected, City staff will be working with the various committees to identify

homeowners in need of volunteer assistance in completing housing repairs. The Group Work

Camps people and S.E.L.F. will be contacting homeowners in the area over the next few

months, identifying the houses to be repaired, drafting material lists for each project, and

performing all of the background work needed to bring all 352 volunteers to Middletown.

Middletown Division of Fire (MDF) One Stage- Three Bands- Twenty Grand……

Members of a local band which includes 2 Middletown firefighters are vying for a chance to

play for thousands at Lucas Oil Stadium (The Indianapolis Colt’s new house) and a shot at

winning a $20,000 cash prize. The competition has lured 25 bands from around the country to

compete in a battle of the bands. Bands cannot contain more than 5 members, one of which

must be an active first responder, in order to be eligible for competition. The three finalists are

to be determined via an online voting contest, while a panel of judges will decide the grand

prizewinner in Indianapolis.

City of Middletown Firefighters, David Adams (Vocals/Guitar) and Brian Fultz (Vocals/Bass) from

the band “The 3rd Alarm” recently shot a video of their song “Promise to Stay” along with band

mates Scott Wright (Vocals/Guitar) and Bob Mack (Drums).

The group entered their music video for a chance at national exposure and the $20,000 cash

prize. This is where you can help. To view the video and vote (you can vote once a day) for

“The 3rd Alarm” visit http://www.fdic.com/index/battle-of-the-bands-2010.html Voting

continues through the month of January with the big show happening March 25th.

Fultz says, “We hope the community gets behind us and sends “The 3rd Alarm” to Indy to

represent Southwest Ohio.” “It would be quite a thrill to play the stadium in front of a huge

crowd, kind of like the adrenaline rush of firefighting!” said Adams. Congrats to our firefighters

and good luck!

On a local note:

The Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis has a local connection. The Spurlino Materials located at

4000 Oxford State Road, provided the 300 million pounds of concrete for this project!

Middletown Division of Police (MDP)

Last September 18th, the MDP conducted a Prescription Drug Drop-off for area residents.

Nearly 100 pounds of prescription drugs were turned in and destroyed, which highlighted the

need for a safe, clean method for our citizens to dispose of medication that is old, expired or

simply no longer needed. To meet this on-going need, we have installed a prescription drug

drop-off box in the police lobby. This provides a location for Middletown residents to rid

themselves of outdated medicine without adding to the landfill or contaminating our water

supply, as other disposal methods can do. Police personnel will remove the drugs box, weigh

them and destroy them in an environmentally safe manner. Aside from minimal equipment

costs, this program is cost neutral, yet provides a much-needed service to our community.

Wellness Program

The Health Care Committee, in conjunction with the Health Department, is rolling out a new

web-based wellness program, “Vitality”, in our on-going effort to control the costs of health

care. City employees will have an opportunity to attend a demonstration of the new Vitality

program by attending one of the four meetings being held on January 13th and 14th. The

demonstrations will be held in the City Council Chambers on January 13th at 1:30 p.m. or 3:00

p.m. and on January 14th at 7:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m.

Counts for Open Enrollment

The health care plan open enrollment period closed December 3 and the Personnel Division,

along with the Finance Department has been diligently working to ensure that employees have

a smooth transition as we move forward with the administration of the health care plan. The

City offered an additional plan option and as well as a Flexible Spending Account for the first

time. Below are the enrollment counts for each new plan:

39 employees signed up for the new Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

15 employees signed up for the new Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)

Manchester Inn

As announced in my last weekly update, the Manchester Inn has discontinued hotel and

restaurant operations. The Thatcher estate has worked diligently this past week to contact

groups with scheduled events to ensure that refunded deposits are returned. City staff has

communicated all requests to the estate and will continue to field calls as needed.

Finance

The Finance department is finalizing the cash reports for council distribution at the next council

meeting. More details to follow.

2011 Paving Equipment Purchases

The Department of Public Works will be purchasing several new pieces of paving equipment

over the next several months as part of the 2011 budget. This equipment will allow us to

provide a more effective and efficient pavement repair program to roadways in addition to

pothole patching. The crews will also be able to repair and resurface parking lots at City

facilities and parks, and eventually some smaller roadway paving. This is one component of an

overall plan to streamline maintenance operations and focus efforts within our available

resources. Existing equipment that no longer fits within the new plan will be sold and the

funds from the sales will be used to offset costs.

Upcoming Events

Jan 12 Planning Commission City Bldg. Council Chambers(LL) at 6:30 p.m.

Jan 14 Chamber Annual Mtg. Middletown Area Senior Center 3907 Central Ave. 12p.m.

Featured Speaker: James Wainscott, Chairman of the Bd., Pres.& CEO, AK Steel, Inc.

Jan 17 City Building CLOSED in Observance of MLK Day

Jan 18 MPHA meeting City Building Council Chambers (LL) 5:30 p.m.

Jan 18 City Council meeting City Building Council Chambers (LL) 6:30 p.m.

Jan 19 Middletown Police Citizen Advisory Bd. Police Training Room 5:30 p.m.

Jan 22 11th Annual Middletown Police Explorer Benefit Dance VFW Social Center

6962 Coles Rd. House Band performing - door prizes, raffle tickets and 50/50

8pm to 1am. For tickets or other info contact CJ at the police desk 513.425.7700.

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