Dearborn County Register
thedcregister.com
TUESDAY, FEB. 16, 2016
A man of many ‘hats’ PHOTOS BY HARRY KANE
Harrison Mayor Bill Neyer stands on the catwalk of a settling tank at the South Dearborn Regional Sewer District, Lawrenceburg, where he is superintendent.
Bill Neyer balancing jobs as sewer plant superintendent and Harrison mayor By Harry Kane Contributor Bill Neyer has two important jobs. Monday through Friday, he’s the superintendent of a sewer plant. After hours, Neyer moonlights as the mayor of Harrison. Neyer, 52, takes pride in supervising operations at the South Dearborn Regional Sewer District, which serves Lawrenceburg, Greendale, Aurora, and the distillery, while performing the mayoral responsibilities in Harrison. Balancing the work week and his personal life is a job in itself, but he’s up to the task. Neyer’s stoic acceptance of long days is a testament to his work ethic and devotion to the conservation of the communities he serves. His schedule at the sewer plant is “fairly flexible.” Neyer works a 40hour week at the facility, and around 15 hours as mayor. But some weeks the mayoral duties may exceed the average. And he’s fine with that. “I pride myself on scheduling my life effectively and efficiently, and that helps out balancing the two jobs,” he said. Neyer spent the past 14 years as a city councilman. He had no aspirations of becoming mayor and was content in serving the community as a council member. But a few years ago it became evident to Neyer that the mayor didn’t share his vision of the city’s future. “The direction that the mayor started to take with the city and the direction that I wanted to see began to differ, and each year it became more significant,” he recalls. Neyer saw it as his civic duty to run for mayor in the November election. He won overwhelmingly, and began serving as mayor immediately when former mayor, Joel McGuire, resigned the day after the outcome. Neyer wears multiple hats on the sewer district job. “I tell the guys, there are many hats to being the superintendent,” said Neyer.
Bill Neyer, superintendent of South Dearborn Regional Sewer District, checks samples as part of his job in Dearborn County. When not supervising the day-to-day operations of the plant, Neyer puts in time as the mayor of Harrison. In the blink of an eye, Neyer goes from being the HR guy, trying to man“I pride myself on age sick time or a workers’ comp claim, to becoming a master scheduler. scheduling my life He wears the proverbial financial effectively and efficiently, hat, as well, because he’s got to oversee the budget. And then there’s ‘Bill the and that helps out friend,’ because he views all his employees as his friends. balancing the two jobs.” “You have to play every aspect, but -Bill Neyer you have to balance it, too,” he said. City of Harrison Mayor Neyer and his wife, Brenda, have three kids: Billy, Jacob and Hannah. SD Sewer District Superintendent “I’m not special. I’m just an ordinary Bill Neyer guy,” he said. “I walk He also likes to deer hunt, but said down my street, I’ll talk to you. I’m not above anybody else. …I get up each it’s difficult to hunt deer because there day and I go to work. I come home aren’t many deer hunting areas where he lives, and the cost of hunting in Ineach night, and I see my family.” In his spare time, when he has it, diana and Kentucky for non-residents Neyer loves to target shoot and hunt. is expensive. Neyer grew up in Delhi Township on He has a collection of shotguns, rifles Cincinnati’s West Side. When he got and handguns. “I’m not a shooting fanatic, but I married, he moved to Green Township. enjoy it. It’s fun! There’s no tension. In 1994, he moved to Harrison. Neyer holds an associate’s degree It’s kind of like that getaway from the in engineering from Cincinnati State everyday,” said Neyer. He sometimes shoots clay pigeons. Community College. He worked in “We’ll go out, get a box of clays, manufacturing for many years before they’ll throw them, and we’ll shoot working in the environmental industry. them.” See HATS Page 5
GARAGE, CARS, PET LOST TO FIRE
SUBMITTED PHOTO
© REGISTER PUBLICATIONS, 2015
Contact Register Publications
News................................... (812) 537-0063 Classified.............................. (812) 537-0063 Sports.................................. (812) 537-0063 Business . ............................ (812) 537-0063
A detached garage was fully-involved when firefighters were dispatched at 6:13 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, to 108 Railroad Ave., Aurora. The garage, two vehicles and one family pet were lost to the fire, said Aurora Fire Department. Damage was estimated at $40,000. AFD was assisted by Lawrenceburg, Greendale and Dillsboro fire departments, Aurora and Lawrenceburg EMS, Aurora Police Department and the Dearborn County Sheriff ’s Department.
WEATHERforecast
Today: High: 39 Low: 28 Wed: High: 39 Low:22
156TH YEAR ISSUE NO. 7 $1
Co. forced to slash $1.9 M from general fund budget Projected 2016 revenue too short for initial budget
By Denise Freitag Burdette Assistant Editor newsroom@registerpublications.com
Projected revenues were insufficient to cover the 2016 general fund budget approved by Dearborn County council last year, so the state has required $1,957,961 in spending cuts. The cuts, approved by county council members last month, were suggested by county financial controller Leah Bailey. They included reductions in bigger ticket items such as gasoline, jail inmate meals, and various attorney fees. The cuts were suggested because they were larger dollar amounts, resulting in fewer adjustments with the state, said county auditor Gayle Pennington. The general fund budget adopted by county council before the cuts equalled $14,081,107. The certified budget ended up at $12,123,146. The certified general fund budget for the county in 2015 was $13,866,848. Throughout the year, county council may make additional appropriations from other funds to cover the items cut for the adjustment, said
Pennington. The general fund, however, was not the only portion of the county budget to be cut. The budget in the health fund also was decreased because projected revenues were insufficient to fund the adopted budget, said Pennington. “The health department reduced the amount to equal their available revenue,” she said. Meanwhile, the Department of Local Government Finance has certified Dearborn County’s 2016 budget order and tax rates, paving the way for on-time property tax bills. The budget certification puts the county in a position to have taxes due May 10, said Jenny Banks, DLGF director of communications. “The certification of the budget order allows local governments to better plan for their operations for 2016 based on the approved budget and anticipated revenue figures. In addition, the certification of the budget order and tax rates sets the stage nicely for on-time property tax bills, which is important for the predictable administration of the property tax system,” said DLGF Commissioner Courtney L. Schaafsma. The first step in the assessment to tax billing process is the completion of the prop-
See BUDGET Page 5
Dillsboro man who beat girlfriend given maximum sentence Judge cursed, officer threatened
By Joe Awad Managing Editor
jawad@registerpublications.com
A Dillsboro man found guilty of felony confinement including bodily injury; and felony aggravated battery was sentenced to the maximum 50 years in prison Thursday, Feb. 11, by Dearborn-Ohio Circuit Court Judge James D. Humphrey. Habitual offender Ivan Gooden Jr., 37 received an additional 18 months for contempt of court after he cursed at the judge several times, threatened to kill the investigating officer, and made a gun gesture with his thumb and finger and pointed it toward the officer, said Dearborn County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard. Gooden beat Nicholl Lunsford in her Dillsboro apartment last January, according to the affidavit of probable cause. He initially also was charged with attempted murder but was found not guilty by the circuit court jury in December. The jury, however, found him guilty of the other felonies.
Ivan Gooden Jr. The court record shows Lunsford had two black eyes when police arrived. Her left eye was swollen, an indication she had recently been struck. She also had “fresh red marks” on her neck, according to police. The hour-long beating occurred after Gooden became upset because he was not permitted to use a vehicle that belonged to Lunsford’s friend. Lunsford told police she then began searching for a pen to write herself a note, asked Gooden where it was, and he responded by putting her in a choke hold from behind. He then threatened to kill her before Lunsford
See SENTENCE Page 5
INSIDE TODAY
OBITUARIES...................2
SPORTS.....................6-7