Posted: 8:00 a.m.Monday, Sept. 21, 2015

Middletown to upgrade 19railroad intersections

By Ed Richter

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — 

Middletown will be entering anagreement with the Ohio Rail Development Commission to upgrade 19 intersectionsthroughout the city to meet railroad preemption requirements.

CityCouncil approved Tuesday an emergency ordinance to proceed with the project toupgrade four signalized intersections along North University Boulevard and addedfunding for 15 other intersections so work could begin immediately.

Ofthe three companies to bid on the project, Capital Electric Line Builders wasawarded the contract as it submitted the lowest and best bid of $452,636.56which is 6 percent higher than the engineer’s estimate and less than 1 percentlower than the next bidder.

Theupgrade includes installation of new controllers, new signal phasing &timing, LED blank-out signs and interconnect with railroad equipment. Inaddition, this project will purchase a centralized control system and convert19 additional intersections to the centralized control system.

Theproject will be funded with $288,215 from the city’s General Capital Fund whichwere allocated in the 2015 Capital Improvements budget, and $263,500 from federalfunds distributed by the Ohio Rail Development Commission.

Council confirms personnel

CityCouncil Tuesday confirmed several new employees.

Theyinclude:

·                      Rachel Combs as a full-time human resources clerk in the city lawdepartment. She has been working as a part-time human resources clerk. In hernew position, she will receive an annual salary of $29,842.80.

·                      Michael Marksbury and Mark Pitocco as corrections officers in the publicsafety department. Both were selected from the eligibility list as a result ofCivil Service testing. Marksbury will fill the vacancy created by theresignation of John Skinner, while Pitocco will fill the vacancy that wascreated to cut down on police officers having to work the overtime slots in thejail at a higher rate of pay. Both of the new corrections officers will receivean annual salary of $1,197.76

·                      Larry Gregg as a part-time bus driver in the community revitalizationdepartment’s division of transit. He will receive an hourly wage of $13.66 andwill work approximately 20 hours per week.

Finance award No. 20

Cityofficials recently recognized Finance Director Michelle Greis for receiving theDistinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance OfficersAssociation. This award reflects the Presentation Award commitment of thegoverning body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmentalbudgeting.

Thiswas the 20th time the city was recognized with the award. Greis also received aCertificate of Recognition for her efforts.

Inorder to receive the budget award, the city had to satisfy nationallyrecognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines aredesigned to assess how well an entity’s budget serves as a policy document, afinancial plan, an operations guide, and a communication device. Budgetdocuments must be rated proficient in all four categories, and the 14 mandatorycriteria within those categories, to receive the award. The DistinguishedBudget Presentation Award is the only national awards program in governmentalbudgeting.