PERSON TO PERSON B1 Your Community Press newspaper serving Loveland, Miami Township, Symmes Township E-mail: loveland@communitypress.com We d n e s d a y, S e p t e m b e r
2, 2009
HERALD
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Princeton High School student Jared Ballew
Adding debt to pay bills
Volume 91 Number 28 © 2009 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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By Jeanne Houck jhouck@communitypress.com
Natural leader
PROVIDED
First things first Luke Sanderson is posed and ready to go for the first day of classes at Loveland Primary School. He's in teacher Cristin Keifer's first-grade class. More photos, page A5.
Miami Township abolishes two positions, saves $109K By Mary Dannemiller mdannemiller@communitypress.com
One down …
The first week of the high school football season is history. Find out who won, who lost and who starred. SEE SPORTS, A6
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Miami Township trustees voted unanimously at their Aug. 18, meeting to abolish the community resource director and community relations director positions as part of a reorganization of the township’s management. Township Administrator Larry Fronk recommended the positions be abolished after the trustees asked him to look for ways the township could run more smoothly, not for budgetary reasons. “This isn’t a budget issue,” said Trustee Mary Makley Wolff. “It is really about being effective with the people we have.” Along with abolishing the two positions, the trustees voted to leave Fronk’s former position as community development director empty and create a new assistant township administrator job. “The trustees took the opportunity of hiring a new administrator as opportunity to take a look at our management structure and a look at our budget for redundan-
“It is very difficult when you have to make a decision that affects people’s lives and we don’t take it lightly. It’s the hardest part of the job, but it’s necessary for us to make changes that are in the best interest of the township.” Mary Makley Wolff Miami Township trustee
cy,” Fronk said. Community Resource Director Cindy Huxel, who made $54,000 annually, and Community Relations Director Tim Pennington, who made $55,000 annually, will be placed on administrative leave Aug. 26 through Oct. 2 to allow them to stay on the payroll in case they need to be consulted during the transition, Fronk said. “It is very difficult when you have to make a decision that affects people’s lives and we don’t take it lightly,” Wolff said. “It’s the hardest part of the job, but it’s necessary for us to make changes that are in the best interest of the township.” Rather than hiring someone as the community development
director, the township will now use a consulting firm on a caseby-case basis. “The firm will review our site plans and zoning changes,” Fronk said. “What we will do is adjust our zoning fee schedule so when someone applies for a review or zone change, that money will go to the firm instead of the township so it doesn’t cost us anything.” Fronk said he stood by his recommendation to abolish the positions, but it wasn’t easy. “This was probably the toughest recommendation I’ve made in my career and I can’t imagine any manager would enjoy doing something like this, but it was the right recommendation for moving the township forward,” he said.
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As part of the requirements to achieve the rank of an Eagle Scout, Craig Schatzman is taking on the task of cleaning up and repairing the Camp Dennison nature trail. Schatzman, a freshman at Indian Hill High School and member of Troop 243, laid out his step-by-step for the Symmes Township Board of Trustees. SEE LIFE, B1
Loveland City Council Sept. 8 will consider issuing some $2.3 million in bonds for a range of projects that include refinancing old debt and paying for improvements to city hall and parks. At the Aug. 25 council meeting, City Manager Tom Carroll presented a proposal to save costs by issuing a single bond issue of no more than $2.31 million (including costs) to: • Refinance $1.39 million in debt issued in 1998 to pay for water-system improvements in order to save an estimated $40,000 over 10 years. • Replace two dump trucks for a total cost of $140,000. The trucks will cost $170,000, but $30,000 in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds will be used to make up the difference because the dump trucks the city owns now were heavily used during the Hurricane Ike wind-storm clean-up last year. • Replace the heating, ventilating and air conditioning system at city hall for $260,000. Carroll said this would pay for a conventional system, but that staff continues to look for grants and other funding sources that would allow Loveland to buy a more expensive and environmentally progressive geothermal system. • Finance $500,000 in recreation improvements, including $50,000 for the White Pillars homestead, $100,000 for Lever Park and $350,000 that some council members would like to see at Nisbet Park. Councilman Todd Osborne said the Nisbet Park amphitheatre – site of Loveland’s Concert in the Park series and the Loveland Art Show – is aging. Carroll urged caution on the proposed Nisbet Park improvements, noting that borrowing funds before a consensus is reached on the desired improvements means the improvements must fit within the $350,000 budget or there will be a need for additional general-fund money – money he doubts will be available in 2010. “Of greater consequence,” Carroll said, “taking on this additional debt will in all likelihood preclude additional recreation projects for a number of years.”