BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT B1 Your Community Press newspaper serving Columbia Township, Deer Park, Dillonvale, Kenwood, Madeira, Rossmoyne, Sycamore Township E-mail: suburban@communitypress.com
Web site: communitypress.com
We d n e s d a y, J u l y 2 2 , 2 0 0 9
Artist Merlene Schain, right, works with Abby Koenig during art class.
Volume 46 Number 28 © 2009 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Through July 24, you can win daily cash prizes and get entered for a $500 jackpot from CincyMomsLikeMe.com. Go to MomsLikeMe.com/ cincycontests for all the info.
Kings Island bound
Readers who won tickets to Kings Island as part of our Readers Choice survey are: • Michael Brunner of Cincinnati • Tara Reese of Hamersville • Darla Hartmann of Cleves • Mark Class of Alexandria, Ky. Watch the newspaper for more Readers Choice announcements in coming weeks.
Water logs
Mason and Dane Mechler didn’t grow up in the water – they grew up on it. The Loveland residents are two of the top water skiers in the country. “(Water skiing has) always been big in our family,” said Dane, who will be a freshman at Moeller High School. “Our dad started us out when we were young, and we kept it up.” SEE LIFE, B1
Their parents are happy
Ursuline Academy’s Class of 2009 raked in a total of more than $15.5 million worth of scholarships when members graduated last spring. Some 89 percent of the school’s 129 graduating seniors won scholarships. SEE SCHOOLS, A5
LIFE
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A nuisance? Not here
Neighbors form cleanup squad
By Amanda Hopkins
ahopkins@communitypress.com
While many foreclosed and vacant homes in the area become nuisance cases brought before township officials, residents of one neighborhood took matters into their own hands to maintain the beauty of their community. Led by Suzanne Sartarelli, neighbors from Michael Drive in Sycamore Township and surrounding streets cleaned up the empty home at 6870 Michael Dr., two doors down from Sartarelli’s home. “The grass was knee high. It was very dismal looking,” Sartarelli said. “We wanted to make it look a little more decent.” Sartarelli passed out fliers and about 10 neighbors showed up one afternoon to clean up the yard. The property owner had moved out Memorial Day weekend, but Sartarelli said that the owner had not maintained the yard in the last few months he had lived on the property. Foreclosure papers have been filed, according to the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, but there has been no resolution. This house is currently for sale
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Neighbors of a vacant house on Michael Drive in Sycamore Township got together one weekend to clean up the overgrown yard to keep it from becoming a nuisance. The neighbors continue to take turns mowing the lawn. From left: Ed Klein, Chris Klein, Robert Sartarelli, Suzanne Sartarelli, Charlotte Scheppers and Betsy Flynn. Not pictured, Martin Frohlich and Trey Hilberg. through Re/Max. Sartarelli said neighbors wanted the yard cleaned up because many of them were having graduation and other summer parties and didn’t want the vacant house to become an eyesore for the neighborhood. “I think we all could have stood around and complained
Columbia puts waste levy on ballot By Rob Dowdy rdowdy@communitypress.com
Columbia Township voters will decide in November whether to approve a 3.5-mill waste collection levy. Township Trustees Marty Power and Susan Hughes voted last week to approve placing the levy on the Nov. 3 ballot. Columbia Township Trustee President Stephen Langenkamp was not at the meeting. The levy is basically a renewal of the 3.5-mill levy the township currently has in place.
“We’re offering the general public what we think is a reasonably good price.” Tom Weidman Sycamore Township Board of Trustees president
To place an ad, call 242-4000.
The township’s contract with Rumpke Consolidated Companies Inc., the current waste collector in Columbia Township, expires at the end of the year. Trustees conducted the first reading of a resolution accepting and awarding a new three-year waste and recyclable collection and disposal services contract to Rumpke for about $827,000. Rumpke was the only company to submit a bid on the township contract. Township Administrator Michael Lemon said the $827,000 cost to taxpayers is an increase of
In other news
Here’s a look at the other topics of discussion at last week’s Columbia Township trustees’ meeting: • The township will conduct a meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 23, to discuss the Ridge Pointe project, a $21 million office and retail redevelopment proposal from Neyer Properties at the former Kmart site on Ridge Avenue that has been vacant for about five years. A resolution on the matter is also expected by the end of the month. about 2.6 percent, but the millage on the ballot issue will remain the same as the one voters approved several years ago. “There will not be an increase” in millage, he said. Hughes said she was “very happy” there was no millage increase to pass along to voters. Power said with gas prices as
in the township office as a nuisance case. The house at 6870 Michael Drive has not. “It hasn’t become an issue, it hasn’t become a nuisance,” Molloy said. Sartarelli said that the neighbors are taking turns mowing the lawn every couple of weeks to maintain the yard. • Township Administrator Michael Lemon said the committee to help create the township’s property maintenance code has been formed and recently conducted its first meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for July 21. • Lemon also offered his condolences for Ohio Sen. Robert Schuler, who died June 19 after a battle with cancer. Lemon said Schuler always tried to help communities in his district and will be missed. “Bob Schuler was really the individual who helped us achieve home rule status,” Lemon said. high as they are, he expected an increase in the millage amount, which would have made passing the levy more difficult. Lemon said the waste collection levy shouldn’t be as difficult to pass as some other communities’ levies, considering garbage pick-up is essential to residents.
Sycamore offers gas aggregation By Amanda Hopkins ahopkins@communitypress.com
Sycamore Township will soon be offering gas aggregation through Integrys Energy Services. The gas aggregation program through Integrys is an opt-out program, which means that the residents can choose not to participate within a certain time period. The aggregation program puts
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about it or we could have pulled our energy together and done something about it, which is what we did,” said neighbor Chris Klein, who helped with the clean up. Sycamore Township Administrator Rob Molloy said he has heard of groups of neighbors organizing for the upkeep of a neighbor’s yard, but most end up
all of the township residents into a large buying group that helps to keep prices of natural gas lower for the community. Representatives from Integrys told township officials that last year at this time, natural gas cost about $14 a unit. The price is now around $3. They said the gas aggregation program could stabilize the price of natural gas for the township to keep it from that
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large of a jump in cost. Sycamore Township Board of Trustees President Tom Weidman stressed that natural gas service would remain the same with the aggregation program. “We’re offering the general public what we think is a reasonably good price,” Weidman said. Integrys is planning to mail a letter to township residents July 23 explaining the program and the prices.
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