MORE LEVIES FOR FIXING ROADS
Printed From: MiddletownUSA.com
Category: Middletown City Government
Forum Name: Engineering
Forum Description: City Engineering Department
URL: http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5941
Printed Date: Apr 25 2024 at 4:45pm
Topic: MORE LEVIES FOR FIXING ROADS
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Subject: MORE LEVIES FOR FIXING ROADS
Date Posted: Jan 04 2015 at 8:49am
|
Posted: 8:00 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015 Staff Writer
A glimpse into the future of how local
communities will forage for funding to cover the costs of street and road
maintenance is murky at best. Ask any city leader or elected official
what the main challenge is to address this issue and the answer is simply
“funding.” One answer may lay in Madison Twp. “There are a number of communities watching
this result,” Madison Twp. Administrator Todd Farler told the Journal-News
during the recount of the 1-mill continuing roads levy held just after the Nov.
4 general election. He didn’t say, however, which communities were watching,
but the numbers show there is a year-to-year growing trend from 2013 to 2014. Madison Twp. voters passed its road levy by
2 votes, and it is believed to be the first roads-specific levy in As state and federal funding shrink, it
remains a challenge for local communities to do much more with even less as
they look for other revenue sources as well as become more strategic in future
planning and hoping for some good luck for new opportunities to arise. The math is pretty simple, said Butler
County Engineer Greg Wilkens, and seeing more road levies on the ballot “surely
has the potential” to happen. Butler County Engineer’s Office receives
money from several sources at the federal, state and local levels. But the two
primary sources are from license plates fees and the gas tax, which the federal
gas tax hasn’t risen since 1993. “All of us are in the same boat,” Wilkens
said. “There’s a major reduction in purchasing power. I think federally since
1997 we’ve lost 28 percent of our purchasing power.” And with the “lack of purchasing power,” he
said “we’ve started scraping the barrel.” On roads that have 1,000 cars or less
traveling them per day, instead of asphalt overlays — where a road is repaved
with 2 to 3 inches of asphalt — the engineer is doing more inexpensive road
treatments, such as chip seals where a very thin layer of asphalt is removed
and replaced with a combination of asphalt and fine rock and aggregate. Though he has been criticized by the public
about doing more chip seals and other inexpensive options, Wilkens said he and
community road departments don’t have a choice. “They’re getting squeezed. What else can we
do to maintain these roads,” he said. “We’re kind of forced to go backwards.” Middletown City Manager Doug Adkins said
the long-term plan is to build sustainable new revenues through economic
development and reining in spending. As that plan is being further developed,
he said the city will continue to leverage outside funding on major
resurfacing/reconstruction projects, continue pothole patching and crack
sealing programs, and continue in-house paving on residential streets and
problem areas. Among the city’s 2015 goals is tasking the
city’s Public Works department is to provide updated costs of paving
Middletown’s roadways along with a 25-year plan to put all paved streets to at
least “fair” condition on the PCI. In addition, the city will look at options
to reduce lane miles for low traffic locations and the impact of combined
sewers and grants on the overall price tag. The update is also to include a
plan to return all sidewalks to city standards including costs as part of a
city-wide paving program. That update is to be completed by June 30. Adkins and other elected and appointed
officials have to work with their communities to help get tax issues passed to
make road repairs and make other improvements. In The city’s charter was amended by voters in
1986 that required half of the 1.5 percent earned income tax revenues be
allocated for streets and infrastructure to avoid a budget deficit in 1987 and
in 1988. Some think this might be something to revisit as a way to raise more revenue.
In his presentation during his job interview last summer, Adkins suggested by
2018 that council consider the charter amendment to require capital
expenditures annually. “I am not aware the (Middletown City)
Council has or is considering a charter amendment at this time,” Adkins said
earlier this month. “I think it’s important to have a workable plan and rising,
sustainable revenues in place before we lock in a charter amendment. It took 30
years to get here and you can’t fix it on a Thursday. It will take careful
planning, taking advantage of opportunities, a little bit of good luck, and
time to build a dedicated revenue source for road improvements.” Hamilton Public Works Director Richard
Engle said he had been unaware of Madison Twp.’s proposed street levy when the
city looked at street paving options. “But I am interested in seeing how it
goes,” he said. http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/city-officials-discuss-street-repaving-options/njCfr/" rel="nofollow - on Nov. 20. While the options are
merely conversational at this time and require more discussion and analysis
before becoming anything concrete, the levy options enable funding to maintain
five miles of road, seven miles of road, and 10 miles of road annually. Having well-maintained roads is important
for the city because “they reflect on the community,” Engle said. “When we’ve
gone into lower income communities and done resurfacing, there seems to be
increased pride in the community where they’ve actually improved their yards
and done improvements on their house to reflect more pride in their
neighborhood.” He added that although the trend of the
moment is to work toward “walkable” cities that are catered to pedestrians and
cyclists, “vehicular travel is still essential.” Maintaining
roads are a top priority for governments, but the money is not always there. So
officials try to be economical, and sometimes creative, with tax dollars in
order to maximize the return on investment. This is the third of a three-part
series looking at roads in Butler County because without drive-able roads, our
economy and residential growth can suffer. |
Replies:
Posted By: bumper
Date Posted: Jan 04 2015 at 9:54am
| yep that's it !! with their luck on MORE taxes!! heck cut some more firefighters while you are at it and cut more police!! then put a chief on top of a new chief !! IMO the plan already looks like it has a bunch of screws stuck in it !! they just keep on sticking to the tax paying people that are stuck in this good for nothing city that they made it be!!! by them cutting the heart of the city, meaning police and fire but all the overpaid pushing the buttons of the copier sucking up the gen. fund and once again putting a chiefs on top of chiefs, just does not sound right!! to give them more in taxes you will just be wissing your money away!! just like its been for how many years now!! |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Jan 04 2015 at 10:55am
|
"“All of us are in the same boat,” Wilkens said. “There’s a major reduction in purchasing power. I think federally since 1997 we’ve lost 28 percent of our purchasing power.” And with the “lack of purchasing power,” he said “we’ve started scraping the barrel.”" And don't you think that the taxpayer has lost purchasing power over the years Wilkens? The working people have been scraping the bottle of the barrel for many years because the wage increases have not kept up with the cost of living. "Middletown City Manager Doug Adkins said the long-term plan is to build sustainable new revenues through economic development and reining in spending" That should have started 40 years ago when Armco started to downsize, the paper mills started to close and the corporate revenue left the city. It is 2015 and we are just now talking about this? A lack of planning, a lack of effort and a lack of foresight from the absentee city managers and councils since the 80's have gotten us to where we are now. Incredible lack of leadership over the decades. "In Middletown, street levies have been considered a number of times in the recent past and in 1997 and in 2004, they were soundly rejected by voters." No one to blame but the city leadership in the Becker administration for this scenario. Under his guidance, the city asked the voters to transfer the street fund money to a more dire need. Never returned the money. Can you blame the voters for rejected these levies on a repetitive basis? Like everything else coming from the city leaders, nothing they say can be trusted. And what has happened to the gas tax money all these years? No one can verify whether they have been used for the roads or not. I would bet the money was channeled to other pet projects (downtown?) and needs even though the money is suppose to be used only for roads. "The update is also to include a plan to return all sidewalks to city standards including costs as part of a city-wide paving program." Sidewalks back to city standards? Why? Focus on the biggest need Adkins. People drive on the streets and incur large car repairs for doing so. Some streets are down to grass growing through the cracks in the residential neighborhoods. Very few people use the sidewalks. Take care of the streets first. The sidewalks can wait. "Adkins and other elected and appointed officials have to work with their communities to help get tax issues passed to make road repairs and make other improvements." NO!!!!! Adkins and other elected and appointed officials have to work with their communities to HELP GET TAX ISSUES PASSED to make road repairs..... Get the dam money from corporate and payroll tax revenues. NOT from the already overburdened taxpayer! Mercy, you still don't get it do you. YOU created a poor community with your dam low income invitations to the city. Now, you want to ask YOUR low income residents for more taxes? What's the matter with you? "The city’s charter was amended by voters in 1986 that required half of the 1.5 percent earned income tax revenues be allocated for streets and infrastructure to avoid a budget deficit in 1987 and in 1988. Some think this might be something to revisit as a way to raise more revenue." Yeah, that's the answer. Jack up the city income tax some more to attract more business and residents to town. Beat up on the poor people living in this city encouraging more to leave. Good idea......mercy. For crying out loud. Is taxing everyone's wallet your answer to everything around here? Inept leadership at it's best here in Middletown. Your "do nothing" attitude toward road and infrastructure maintenance is catching up with you now after four decades of neglect. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Posted By: spiderjohn
Date Posted: Jan 04 2015 at 11:43am
|
Not sure, but believe that the 1986 resolution to transfer road funds to general fund black hole traces back to the Schiavone/Nenni/Armbruster era, along with the section 8 fiasco. Bill Becker came along later, though the section 8 increases went thru around his tenure(I think). Maybe Middletown 29 can set the timeline correctly? Tax increase for roadwork? Hard to trust this group, since they systematically divert these "dedicated" tax revenues to their pet project funds. As Townsend/Daltrey say, " won't get fooled again". |
Posted By: acclaro
Date Posted: Jan 04 2015 at 12:13pm
|
The Journal is writing the articles that will NEVER materialize into anything to advertise they write 5 times the garbage articles than the Cincinnati Enquirer. We know the city and commissioners shafted everyone by allowing the diversion of funds and never looked back. They care about their city payroll and their city employees, nothing else. Adkins talk about planning and looking at economic revenue years out, is another way of saying the band aid patch will continue. If you want a progressive county, its in Warren Cty, not Butler. If you want good roads, move to Oxford or West Chester. The pebbles will be getting worse, not better. Maybe in series 4 and 5, the Journal will enlighten all how many neighborhoods have chosen to pay the tax for the roads to be fixed, you know, Gilleland's mindless solution., In 5 years, road will be worse than today, no dedicated funds put in place, and Donham Abbey still fat and feasting. Middletown will never change. And neither will the lack of economic development positively impacting the city. All the city wants is to down-size its population to the desirable individuals whom allowed commissioners and others to run it into the ground. That's the Master Plan. Downsize its population, keep AK and the Atrium, and maintain the castle called Donham Abbey. Revolt is not in the vocabulary of the Middletownian. Next. ------------- 'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.' - Winston Churchill |
Posted By: Trotwood
Date Posted: Feb 15 2015 at 9:20pm
|
Anyone consider voting NO on these levies? Because MIddletown doesn't need these roads? Just a thought.
|
Posted By: TonyB
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 10:22am
| Everyone votes "NO" on these levies because they have lost faith in their local government officials. Middletown needs the roads; they just want the money that was allocated for their repair to be returned to that function. The lack of transparency and real action on these problems will continue until those responsible are no longer members of council and the city administration. |
Posted By: Factguy
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 12:50pm
| TonyB; Why don't more citizens take advantage of the city program to petition neighbors to have their specific street paved with new asphalt and spread that tax out over years? Conversely, that would raise property values. |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 1:27pm
Ahh c'mon Factguy, you know why people won't petition their neighbors for street paving. First of all, in any normal city, it's the city's responsibility to pave the streets and most normal cities budget for that. Not this city. Not since the 80's. As the property lines are defined, the property owner's responsibility ends with sidewalk repair. Shouldn't be that way either because the property owner's line ends at the inner side of the sidewalk with the city owning the sidewalks, but I'll give them that. Technically, on a day like today, the city should clear their own sidewalks and driveway apron as they sit on the city's property. Same with the grass mowing in the summer months. Technically, the city owns the grass between the sidewalk and the curb, but, again, I'll give them that and mow for the sake of appearance. The overwhelming reason people don't petition the city is that they don't want the additional cost tacked onto their property taxes for 20 years. That, and the fact that most people in this city consider street paving the city's responsibility and can't afford any more additional taxes as they are already over-taxed. Middletown has some of the highest taxes in Butler County. We pay taxes and still are asked to foot the bill for services that should be included in the taxes we pay. Seems to me the taxpayer is getting the crappy end of the stick here. And no, the street repair isn't the only magical bullet for raising property values. It is much more complicated than that and Middletown lacks most of the other parts of the property value raising puzzle. You know better than to suggest that the streets are the sole solution to property values increasing. Mercy. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Factguy wrote:Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 1:45pm
|
You're kidding right? OR.....maybe we need to follow the law and use the funds for their intended purpose and fix the streets. |
Posted By: TonyB
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 2:47pm
|
Factguy: It seems reasonable until you remember you're dealing with a population of low to middle income households that are barely scrapping by now. The city already has one of the highest tax rates in the area. Where would you suggest the citizens come up with the money? Stop eating? You also seem to miss the other part of the puzzle. Most citizens here have lost faith in their local government. Why would you trust this city to fix the road once they have your money? |
Posted By: spiderjohn
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 4:51pm
| why doesn't the city use their funds for their basic obligations, such as infrastructure and public safety first? Hey factguy--how would you rate the prep and treatment of our streets today? |
Posted By: Factguy
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 5:13pm
|
The city has done a fine job all winter and has in my opinion. for the past 2-3 years. Its so cold, they had to wait until the snow began to tamper down. My only criticism is there should be a softer, protective shield put on the actual snow plows, as the metal and the depth the city workers are going into the streets is set too deep. It sends out sparks and really did some damage on several major streets. If residents don't pave their streets with the city assistance program, are you willing to wait 50 years to have the streets done. If not, how long and how street repair could be done even if the city rededicated street funds?
|
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 5:50pm
|
Well maybe Factguy...they should never have raped, raided and robbed the damn funds to to begin with... or maybe they need to explain where all the money went. |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 6:31pm
PERFECT EXAMPLE OF YOU MISSING THE ENTIRE SCENE HERE.......YOU STATE.. "If residents don't pave their streets with the city assistance program, are you willing to wait 50 years to have the streets done. If not, how long and how street repair could be done even if the city rededicated street funds?" This is what is so fascinating (and unbelievable) about your posts. The city "borrows" money from the road fund back in the 80's. They never replaced it. We don't know why they transferred the funds to another only saying they needed it for "a more pressing event". The roads deteriorate to the point of grass growing through the dam pavement and they still don't feel a need to put money into the account. And you defend this thinking? WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO WAIT THE 50 YEARS (AND GILLELAND WOULDN'T HAVE COME OUT WITH THIS "PEOPLE PAY FOR YOUR OWN PAVING" NONSENSE) TO HAVE THE STREETS DONE IF. SINCE THE 80'S, THEY WOULD HAVE MAINTAINED, SCHEDULED AND EXECUTED THE ROAD REPAIRS/REPAVING. You are now asking us, the taxpayer, to not only forgive this "slight indiscretion" on the city's part, but now you suggest we place even more money into our residential street to correct this city screw-up. You have placed the needed service of paving the streets on the backs of the people when you should be pointing your finger at the city for failing to uphold what we paid for in the first place. Is there ANY situation where the dam city officials have failed the people in your opinion or are the people at fault no matter how pathetic the city has done? We are NOT going to continue to pay the price because of the inept irresponsibility coming out of city hall. We are tired of shelling out money so that the dam city can waste and divert it, then turn around and ask us to pay the bill for the original intent because they wasted it on something else. Mercy! Pave the dam roads city people. It's YOUR responsibility to the people to provide the basics. Stop wasting all the city money in the dam downtown and use the money for the streets. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Posted By: Factguy
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 10:48pm
| You don't have it correct on the ordinance change in 1986. The city was facing personnel cuts and went to the voters to allow the funds to be used to help with payroll. There was complete accountability and the voters knew why the money was needed and approved it. The issue isn't woulda, coulda, shouda, it is why aren't residents using the program we have to pave individual neighborhoods. If the allotment was put back, the problem still exists and takes nearly 50 years to pave the roads. Is that acceptable to you, yes or no? If no, what is your solution. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 11:40pm
| Solution: Remove everyone on council |
Posted By: Factguy
Date Posted: Feb 16 2015 at 11:49pm
| Removing everyone on council would accomplish what? Even if they restored the previous ordinance allocation, it would still take 50 years to pave the roads. So, the city needs to raise he income tax or residents petition their neighborhood to get a 60% census. |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 6:34am
No, incorrect. The people were never told why the money was removed from the street fund until now when you told us it was to go to payroll. If that were true, we wouldn't mention the fact we didn't know what the money was used for many times on this forum. Great reason for allowing the streets to go to hell over the last 35+ years IMO. If the truth were known, most of those payroll positions were probably duplication paper-shufflers and multi-layer top-heavy management positions as per the city philosophy on department structure and they needed to be off the books to begin with. How did it get to the point of not being able to pay your people anyway? That's part of business 101 isn't it?....meeting payroll. I told you why the people won't take part in your little "people pave your own roads" program in an earlier post. They don't want a 20 year tax added to their already high taxes......and, again, it's the city's responsibility to pave the dam roads Factguy. Since you didn't comprehend the first time, I will say it again. It is not the people's job to pay for their own street repaving to bail out the city screw-ups when they removed the street funds in the 80's and never replaced them. We shouldn't have to pay the price for your inept leadership, but we have been doing it for decades. And, again, it wouldn't have taken 50 years, as you predict, to pave the roads if THEY hadn't raided the fund for payroll as you suggest. THEY screwed up. THEY need to fix it, no ask the people to bail them out.....again. You asked for a solution in your post. Here tis. Stop spending money in the downtown area and use the money to make the streets priority one. More people will benefit from using paved streets than will ever benefit from what the downtown has to offer. Simple matter of finding what benefits the most people and spending the money in those places for the biggest bang for the buck, especially when we are talking basics like street paving. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 6:41am
THE answer to everything coming from the city leaders and their supporters.......RAISE TAXES. Why, so you can redirect them from the roads, once again, and filter them to your little special needs projects benefitting no one but your little buddies? You people lost your credibility decades ago. As spider posts.....won't get fooled again. Removing everyone on council would give us another chance to place some competency behind the desk and stop the dam rubber stamping of all the idiotic nonsense occurring in this city now. Then, we could fire the city manager and all the cronies that follow him, allowing us to refill the city building with competent people who want to direct this city the right way. It would also reduce the influence of the MMF which, under their direction, has taken this city down the toilet. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Posted By: TonyB
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 9:29am
|
Factguy: For all of your suggestions about how the citizens should pony up more money to do something they already are taxed for having done, you still ignore my comments regarding lack of faith in the city officials. Why is that so difficult to understand? This city has a history of local government officials making grandious promises and undertaking massive boondoggle projects. Past history in this town shows that local government is incompetent at best and criminal in their attempts to deceive the citizens about their purposes. Why have an off-year election to shift money out of road repair and into payroll? Easier to pass when fewer citizens participate. Same with the city charter changes that reduced representation in council to 5 and did away with the ward system. An 11% turnout of voters should not be sufficient to change the charter of any government. Are you a member of this local government; either an elected official or an employee? Why won't you discuss the lack of faith in city government? |
Posted By: Factguy
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 10:55am
| Lack of confidence in city leadership? Confusing. Most present sitting city council members were elected multiple times, some, 3, and board members in education (MCSD), have been re-elected 3-4 cycles and more. Fail to connect belief leadership is failed when members are re-elected. Don't voters typically NOT elect candidates they have no confidence, not vote them in to second and third terms? Moreover, city council members don't have an impact on streets being paved. If they allocated the funds today as it was back i n 1986, it still takes decades. Points of argument can be made on the past; what is the solution for the future? It would be neighborhood petitions of 60% majority, or a tax increase. Or, wait 50 years to have them paved (all of them). |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 11:41am
Absolutely incredible Factguy. The sitting council members/school board members and most before them were elected for a number of reasons. 1. There is always a low voter turnout when compared to the total POTENTIAL voters the city can actually have. Most don't participate and that helps the MMF block win everytime. 2. The voters, who do show up at the polls, are the ones that present the winning majority of votes for the MMF sponsored candidates who always win and maintain the stranglehold on the city's elected offices. The MMF block of voters has always been difficult to beat just as the Repubs in Butler County have a one party stranglehold on controlling the decisions. 3. There is usually no one running against the MMF sponsored candidates. At times, the MMF candidates run unopposed. Those who choose to run that are not in the MMF candidate program have their vote counts diluted when the MMF offers a large field to candidates, reducing the impact (and election possibility) of the non-MMF candidate 4. There is an overwhelming amount of apathy among the residents of this city, most not caring at all who (or what) occupies the seats and makes the decisions regarding the city in which they live. 5. The constant occupancy of the city elected positions by the current crowd should come as no surprise and is definitely NOT an endorsement from the community. It just so happens they win by default because the other, different horses in the race have the deck stacked against them every time with the MMF money and network in place. Factguy: ...."what is the solution for the future? It would be neighborhood petitions of 60% majority, or a tax increase. Or, wait 50 years to have them paved (all of them)." Let's see.....neighborhood petitions of 60% majority.....a tax increase....or wait 50 years to pave the streets.......OR, RETHINK THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE CITY MONEY TO INCLUDE AN EMPHASIS ON FIXING THE STREETS. But, then again, you and the others don't see that as a choice.......but you could make it happen if you really wanted to do it. Hell, you make things happen all the time downtown while claiming to be a "cash-strapped" city. It's all in the priorities and you and the rest of city "leaders" have long ago decided the streets were of less importance than your precious downtown area. Wrong decision people. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Posted By: TonyB
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 11:42am
|
Don't equate confidence in city government to electing the same people. Not one of them have come close to getting a majority of the eligible voters in Middletown to vote for them. 25% of the electorate doesn't equate to confidence; it equates to apathy and disillusionment. The same slate of people run because they have the plurality of voters who show up to vote. They have name recognition and the lack of factual reporting in our local media keep their names out there as advancing the city when nothing could be further from the truth. Plus, if city council members dont' have any impact on what streets get paved, how do explain the paving of streets where city council persons live? If the funds had continued to be allocated like they were in 1986, there would be no problem because the streets would have been maintained. Why would it take decades if more money were allocated? What would be the difference between that and your 60% garbage? If every street did that, how long would it take? The past history of our city government is exactly why so little confidence exists. What plan does this council and government have to address that? Or should we wait 50 years for that as well? |
Posted By: Factguy
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 2:21pm
| Doug Adkins is putting a plan together that will be complete by year end 2015 addressing the asphalt and paving issue. It will take about 50 years with the funding available today to pave all streets. |
Posted By: spiderjohn
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 2:22pm
|
factguy, I appreciate the Jay Earnest dialogue, but--the only people that think that the 60% idea is ok and workable are the Council and Admin members who don't want to go back to their being respoinsible for road repair/maintenance + the S Main, downtowners and city people who have had their streets repaired without the 60% requirement/payment. NO ONE else sees this as a realistic option. Where else do municipalities do it this way? As homeboy Chris Carter says, "Come on, man!" |
Posted By: TonyB
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 2:34pm
| My confusion with your statements, Factguy; come from the notion that even if council put more money into street repair, it would still take 50 years. Yet you want citizens to pay additional to have their street repaired. What would be the point of putting more money into the fund or petitioning the city to fix your street if it will still take the same amount of time? Just one more reason to distrust city government and what they say as opposed to what they do. |
Posted By: Factguy
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 3:38pm
| How about a top 10 ranking of what you'd the city to do in 2015-2016, such as number 1, set aside $20 Mm a year for road repair. Number 2, put in colonial period street lamps throughout all resident neighborhoods. Takers? |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 4:42pm
|
ONE MORE TIME.....we need to talk about the BIG PINK ELEPHANT standing in the middle of the room called the EPA. We need to repair the sewers BEFORE we start paving all the streets. |
Posted By: Trotwood
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 4:46pm
1. Clean up litter on streets and in medians. Strictly enforce yard care requirements. Draft a tougher zoning code, get it passed, and hire enough citizens patrol to enforce it (note that I'm not saying "Police" - you'd want cheaper people with less power to do the job). Look to Huber Heights and their "Yellow Signs" program as an example. 2. Acquire vacant retail/commercial properties and start a pop-up shops program like this one instead of demolishing them: http://www.activatedspaces.org/ 3. Build a easy to use but thorough and intuitive website that states exactly what businesses, services, amenities, etc. Middletown has within its borders. Do this by hiring an intern to contact every business in the city of Middletown and ask for a write-up on their services. Hire another intern to sort out all these services and create a basic website layout. Hire a third intern to build the website, and then have your city's IT department review it. Then ask community members to test it to ensure the site is intuitive to use and have a SEO consultant ensure it gets good search results. Then distribute to corporations and residents. It's all about getting people to know exactly what's in their own backyard so they will start using it!! The end result should be like this: http://www.downtowndayton.org/ 4. Ask UC, Miami, OSU etc. architecture, planning, and engineering departments to have a class come investigate Middletown and its public spaces. Then allow them to propose solutions that foster connectivity within Middletown, and if possible and within budget, implement these plans. 5. Hire StrategyWorks! at Miami University or a similar program to do targeted marketing campaigns to recruiting 1) new businesses, 2) new residents. Once done, distribute marketing material free to Middletown residents and industrial building owners on a yearly basis so they can offer it when selling their homes. Also distribute to all Butler, Warren and Montgomery county residents if possible to help put Middletown on their radar for moving there in the future or expanding their business. 6. Get more tax revenue by increasing taxes on land zoned heavy industrial, if possible. Make this tax rate the highest in the state. You have a cash cow with AK, so milk it for what it's worth. They aren't going to China anytime soon. And even if they do, so what? The land would be far better served as an airport or for light industrial / distribution center use. And the detriment AK's presence provides Middletown every day is enough to justify the tax increases 7. Actively recruit Rural King to fill the former Target space. This is probably my most narrow request, but it's also the easiest. Economically speaking, Rural King and Middletown both would hit a home run if they moved into the location. 8. SCHOOLS!!! Look to Hamilton and Kettering as a model. Somehow Hamilton pulled off ranking ahead of Fairfield, and Hamilton is a near clone of Middletown. Kettering is more affluent, but has a large less affluent cross section but yet has figured out ways to get these students to accomplish amazing goals. Particularly notable are their programs for students with learning disabilities. Again, I don't know what the city can do specifically to help out the schools, but this is a big reason why people don't choose Middletown. 9. Ensure the city is a service provider to its residents, and not their enemy. The hate on this forum should not exist. Admittedly, a lot of the commenters on here have a... let's say... different perspective. One that is highly negatively biased, neurotic, and indicative of a general conservative/paranoid state of mind (there's great research on brain differences between conservatives and liberals here: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/brain-difference-democrats-republicans). But a lot of this negativity also is probably tied into Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - many of these individuals are showing obvious signs they are not and cannot progress past state 2 on the triangle - the safety stage. Compare to somewhere like Mason or Indian Hill where most residents are on the self-actualization level. The city can help people out through proper engagement, programs, and customer service. Basically, help your people out!!! 10. Bike Trails. I think I've explained this enough elsewhere on this forum... the All-American Cities thread. http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5978&PN=3&title=all-america-city#top |
Posted By: over the hill
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 5:45pm
| Somebody que Hamit. Isn't that her dept? |
Posted By: TonyB
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 8:28pm
|
Factguy: I see you made it as far as "2" on your list. Don't have anything else to add or don't want to let the cat out of the bag yet? 1. Not knowing the revenues of the city would make placing a definitive amount on road repair simply a wish. That being said, I would certainly repeal the 1986 ordinance that put infrastructure repair into the general fund. That should shorten the time for road repair. 2. Vivian Moon is absolutely correct when she states the biggest problem (and most expensive) is the sewers. That needs to be addressed with a sustainable and consistent revenue stream. 3. Get out and stay out of the real estate business. Stop buying property and then giving it away! 4. The city sales tax needs to be reduced so that Middletown isn't one of the highest tax cities in the area. 5. Stop the interference in business. Way too much interference and pointless ordinances. 6. Disband the Historical Appropriateness Board. 7. Improve the school system. Partner with business and social orgainzations to improve learning. Opt out en mass of this idiotic testing program. 8. Public safety and health should be given priority over government run economic development. 9. Return council to the ward system so that every area of the city is represented. 10. Rebuild trust in city government by being more open and transparent, particularly financial transparency. I'm sure given enough time to think about it I could come up with more. What should happen is some real community outreach to find out what citizens in all areas of town think instead of what 5 members of council want. BTW; no one wants fancy street lights. We need a functional and safe city, not one dressed up for pretty pictures. |
Posted By: Factguy
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 8:59pm
| Both were excellent responses. Doug Adkins efforts to modify the ordinances will make the city more business friendly. The city has been collecting for years a set amount for sewers and the EPA concerns, so that also is a check. On the ward system, having an at large system with a reduced number, accelerates the bimonthly meetings and also was logical as the population was shrinking. Admittedly, many share your opinion, as those having issues within a ward are under represented as they see it. As one council attempted unsuccessfully to get the ordinance change, the prospects of making that a reality are not bright. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 9:33pm
|
Factguy-Both were excellent responses. Doug Adkins efforts to modify the ordinances will make the city more business friendly. The city has been collecting for years a set amount for sewers and the EPA concerns, so that also is a check. On the ward system, having an at large system with a reduced number, accelerates the bimonthly meetings and also was logical as the population was shrinking. Admittedly, many share your opinion, as those having issues within a ward are under represented as they see it. As one council attempted unsuccessfully to get the ordinance change, the prospects of making that a reality are not bright. Factguy...where are you getting your information from? Please do inform the public about the amount of money that as of this date that is in the sewer fund that they have been collecting for years. I have heard enough lies out of you. So if you are soooo well inform give us the numbers... This like all the other city funds has been raped, raided and robbed......and now we do not have the money to repair and seperate the sewers. We are talking MILLIONS of dollars have simply disappeared. Now we will need to BORROW MILLIONS to even start this project. So show me your numbers and I'll show you mine....It's time for you to either put up or shut up and sit down. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 9:47pm
|
TonyB I will answer all 10 of your request in the morning...however I'm not sure you will like all the answers. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 17 2015 at 10:20pm
|
February 8, 1911
Wednesday Lakeside people are waking up to the fact, that,
possessed of one of the most beautiful drives in the city of Middletown, Tytus
avenue should not be marred by inferior paving material and will make their
desires known, to the council committee, having the question in charge. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 18 2015 at 7:13am
|
1. Clean up litter on streets and in medians. Strictly
enforce yard care requirements. Draft a tougher zoning code,
get it passed, and hire enough citizens patrol to enforce it (note that I'm not
saying "Police" - you'd want cheaper people with less power to do the
job). Look to
2. Acquire vacant retail/commercial properties and start
a pop-up shops program like this one instead of demolishing them:
http://www.activatedspaces.org/ NO! City Hall does not
have the money to purchase any more property. City Hall already owns far too
many properties and all of them need to be turned over to local real estate
agents to sell. Contact information needs to be placed in the window of each
and every empty building that the city owns. Because the contract that they have written on the other
downtown building were a joke imo. The end result should be
like this: http://www.downtowndayton.org/ the current development plans. 4. Ask UC, Tony, I believe they did a study however I do not know what
the ED is doing to recruit new businesses so I will have to pass on this one. 7. Actively recruit Rural King to fill the former Target space. This is probably my most narrow request, but it's also the easiest. Economically speaking, Rural King and I believe Target needs to handle this job since it is their building. 8. SCHOOLS!!! Look to Hamilton and Kettering as a model. Somehow TAXES and our SCHOOLS are the two greatest reasons why |
Posted By: TonyB
Date Posted: Feb 18 2015 at 8:24am
|
Vivian: Thanks but those are Trotwood's ideas, not mine! |
Posted By: Mike_Presta
Date Posted: Feb 18 2015 at 3:47pm
|
There's just one little problem with a 50-year paving plan: The average pavement life is only 15 to 25 years!!! With a 50-year paving plan it is guaranteed that at any time in the 50 year cycle, at least 50% of the pavement in the city will be well past (25 years or more) its service life. ------------- “Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012 |
Posted By: Trotwood
Date Posted: Feb 19 2015 at 1:27am
That they are! But thanks for taking time to reply, Vivian Moon.. I do appreciate your input. I should have specified earlier with Activated Spaces that the program does not require city ownership of the properties in question. In fact, it's the opposite - the city works with landlords to allow new clients to pay a next-to-nothing rate for space as they are getting off the ground. Sure, the city may have to pay certain subsidies/offer loans to the businesses at onset, but that doesn't mean the city cannot recoup these payments via taxation, loan collection, etc. But I would argue this program could not be successful without a well-targeted nationwide marketing campaign. The best and brightest in industries relevant to Middletown need to occupy these spaces. And that can only happen with effective communication of what exactly Middletown could offer a budding entrepreneur. For the Section 8... yeah, I bet you're right that there is a need for more of it. Middletown is becoming a magnet for these kind of residents. But Section 8 can, if implemented well, be like this example in Dayton's notoriously impoverished southwest district:  |
Posted By: Observer
Date Posted: Feb 19 2015 at 9:10am
| TonyB - I could be wrong but isn't the sales tax rate decided by County Commissioners? |
Posted By: TonyB
Date Posted: Feb 19 2015 at 10:28am
|
Don't we have an "add on" in Middletown? Why would the tax rate be lower in West Chester if that were true?Or am I thinking of income tax? Whichever it is, that is what needs to be lowered to bring Middletown more in line with other local communities. |