City Manager's Weekly Briefing September 10

Middletown Area Senior Center (MASC)
MASC is moving ahead with the levy which will be on the November 6th
ballot. The levy campaign committee is in place- Citizens for the Senior Levy; treasurer, John Lyons, former Finance Director for the City of Middletown; and Deborah Preston, MidPoint Library CFO, deputy treasurer. Mike Scorti, Michael Bailey and Richard Isroff will co-chair the committee. They will have some support for the SW Ohio Council on Aging as well and will appoint several honorary co-chairs early next week from their membership.

Other MASC news:
-Hospice Care of Middletown has relocated to 3909 Central Avenue.
-The Oaks Church is holding their services every Sunday at 3907
Central.

“My Town” Video Wins National Award of Excellence
Given by the City/County Communications Association (3CMA). Judges’
comments on the video: Infectious, creative, proud = FABULOUS! Yes,
Middletown is Fabulous!

Skydiving Boogie Brings Visitors to Middletown
This Labor Day (Works Stinks Boogie) event brought hundreds of
skydivers from all over the United States. Thousands of residents and
visitors watch thousands of jumps occur over 3 days. Live music and a
30 minute fireworks display topped off this event which occurred at the
Middletown Airport. The skydivers and onlookers spent money in
Middletown, helping our local vendors. One local restaurant reported
that Saturday night sales where way beyond expectations! Thanks to
Start Skydiving for bringing a first class event to Middletown. The
skydiving group has made many improvements to the airport thus
improving the overall image of the airport!

Reimbursement of Funds
On March 2nd, 2012 a tornado roared thru Clermont County. The City of Middletown sent crews and equipment down to help support the devastated community.   Tornados can happen anywhere and the city
provided help to our neighbors in their time of need even though the City wasn’t sure of any reimbursement. Happily, the City has received notification that it will receive $22,573 from the State of Ohio EMA that will be returned to the funds that helped pay the original expenses.

Community Garden Featured in August edition of Ohio Magazine
The private-public partnership that created the Reynolds Street Community Gardens was featured in the August edition of Ohio Magazine. Cynda Kash was interviewed and discussed the collaboration between local
neighbors, the Gathering Church and the City to create the gardens. Pictures of the gardens and Rev. Carrie Jena accompanied the article.

The Middletown Division of Fire (MDF)
In 2011 MDF was successfully awarded a federal grant of approximately $18,000 for the purchase and replacement of personal protective equipment. Though there are multiple components of this equipment the
largest part is the protective clothing issued to each firefighter; with the average individual cost of $2,000. This gear has to be replaced for age as well as serviceability. Recently MDF made a 2012 application for
another $30,509. These types of alternative funding sources are critical to cost effectively protect our personnel and deliver service to our community.

Rumpke Driver Alerts Citizen
A resident on Eastline Drive in Middletown called to commend her Rumpke Waste Collection driver for alerting her of a gas smell at her home. She was able then to notify Duke Energy and they found that there was a gas leak. Trouble averted by an alert Rumpke driver!   We do receive excellent Waste Collection service from Rumpke and this is another example of how their employees assist our residents.   

Safe Streets Program                                   
The City of Middletown, in partnership with Redflex, is expanding the Safe Streets safety program. Over the past several months we have audited a number of intersections to see which, if any, would benefit from automated enforcement. The issues we examined were 1) number of accidents, 2) number of violations, and
3) constructability. As a result of the survey, four locations were identified as candidates for automated
enforcement. They are:
-Germantown Road at Carmody, Southbound approach
-North Verity (SR73) at Carmody, South-West approach
-Breiel at Bonita, Southbound approach
-Breiel at Lefferson (northern section), Northbound approach

The new systems were activated on Friday, August 31st. The appropriate signs are in place, and the timing of the lights has been verified to be in compliance with State law. Warning notices only will be issued for the first ten days the new locations are active to allow drivers to become accustomed to the new equipment.
Studies have consistently shown that automated traffic enforcement is a safe and effective manner of increasing the safety of the motoring public. The model used in Middletown is 100% offender funded, and is an example of using emerging technology to benefit our community at zero cost to the public.

Planning Commission Cancelled
Please note that the September 12th Planning Commission meeting has been cancelled due to a lack of quorum. Due to a lack of Planning Commission members able to attend the meeting on September 12 or eligible to participate due to a conflict of interest, the hearing regarding the proposed amendments to the Renaissance Development must be postponed until the October 10, 2012 meeting. Notices will be sent today to the 58 affected property owners and applicant.

Middletown Boards and Commissions
Annually, Middletown City Council solicits applications from Middletown residents who are interested in volunteering to serve on one of the many City Boards or Commissions. Applications are accepted throughout the year with a strong focus on public awareness during September and October. Council will review applications in November and the Clerk will contact candidates. Board appointments are generally made by the last council meeting in December. The application is attached and is posted on the City’s web-site under the government icon. If you have questions, please contact Betsy Parr, Clerk of Council at 425.7831.
Application for Board

Economic Development Newsletter
The ED team is putting together an ED newsletter. The informative newsletter will be available in the next
couple of weeks on the City’s website.

1st Annual VA Clinic Car Show
The Inaugural Veterans’ Salute Car & Motorcycle Show is scheduled for Saturday, September 22, 2012 at 8:30
am at the Middletown Veterans Outpatient Clinic- 4337 Union Road, Middletown, OH 45005. The event is
hosted by Middletown Community Based Outpatient Clinic, Southwest Ohio Veterans’ Charities & Knights of
Columbus. The event is Open and Free to the Public.

Upcoming Events
Sep 10     Park Board City Building Conf. Rm. 2C 5:00 pm
Sep 11     Health Commission Board meeting Conference Room 2C 7:30 am
Sep 12     Planning Commission Council Chambers (LL) 6:30 pm-CANCELLED
Sep 13     Chamber Steak Fry Miller Coors 5:00 pm
Sep 18     MPHA meeting Council Chambers (LL) 5:30 p.m.
Sep 18     City Council meeting Council Chambers (LL) 6:00 p.m.
Sep 19     Cemetery Board meeting City Bldg. Conference room 2C 5:00p.m.
Sep 20     Keep Middletown Beautiful Awards Luncheon MUM noon – 1:30 pm
Sep 23     Middfest Stained Glass Tour & Wine/Cheese Pairing. Tour 2-6pm Wine Pairing 6-7 pm BeauVerre
Sep 30     Middfest Exhibits opening & French Cuisine Sampling Donham Plaza & City Bldg. 3pm
Oct 4-6    Middfest International @City Building and Plaza
Oct 10     Planning Commission Council Chambers (LL) 6:30 pm