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Thursday, May 9, 2024 |
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Grant to give facelift |
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VietVet 
MUSA Council 
Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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 Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 8:35pm |
29- Back at you bud. Point me to one positive thing the dam city leaders have been successful at doing and I'll acknowledge their achievement. Everything they touch they screw up, if not immediately, in time. For God sakes son, open your eyes and look what has transpired in this city under the current leadership. Desolate areas of town that look like a movie set for The Book Of Eli or any other apocalytic movie with that theme. Look at the money spent on various projects and the end results being failures or minor impacts at best. Look at the number of properties for sale in this town......people wanting to leave. Look at the reputation this town has now as opposed to years ago. Look at the condition of the infrastructure and roads, the school system and it's performance and reputation as opposed to years ago. How about the city leaders watching the major employers either downsizing or leaving altogether for greener pastures and taking their sweet old time in finding replacements. The lack of shopping and entertainment. The quality of life in this town is a shadow of what it once was. The town closes up at 9 PM due to a lack of interest from it's residents. Hardly a lively town is it. 29, you tell all of us what is so fascinating about your little rose-colored town and the way it is currently being run. What makes you so dam positive in a town as devastated as this one is. Pendleton? Beau Verre? CS? Hardly progress in epidemic eye-opening proportions. Is it the new street lights for the S. Main St. people that excites you? A new store opening now and then producing $6/hour jobs that makes you all giddy with delight is it? If so, you sure are easy to please and the bar isn't set that high for you, now is it? Mercy! Are you the "Fool For The City". |
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council
Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 7:59pm |
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City Manager’s Weekly Briefing Update on Land Bank Activities The most recent Board meeting of the Butler County Land Reutilization Corporation took place on August 23,2012. Doug Adkins, Community Revitalization Director, is the Vice Chairman of the land bank Board. The land bank has incorporated, adopted a Code of Regulations, and is currently reviewing insurance and legal epresentation options. The land bank has applied and has been awarded the full allocation of just under $2.7 million for the Ohio Attorney General’s Moving Ohio Forward demolition grant program.The City of Hamilton has already used the land bank to take title to 89 residential properties during July and an additional 4 residential properties in August to meet their revitalization needs. The City of Middletown is completing the 2013 budget at this time to finalize which accounts will fund the Moving Ohio Forward Grant program. Community Revitalization staff are reviewing the first properties to be demolished under the program. To save funds on demolition, two Community Revitalization staff members are in the process of getting asbestos certification to perform the asbestos survey required for any residential demolition. This asbestos survey generally costs the City about $500 per property. The certifications are being paid by Community Development Block Grant training funds and not the general fund. We will perform the original asbestos survey in-house. With approximately 300 demolitions at $500 savings per house, we theoretically save $150,000 in demolition costs over the life of the grant program, which in turn can be reinvested in additional demolitions. We have procured through RFP additional title services to accommodate the large number of title searches required to start the demolition notice process. We have discussed the demolition requirements under the program with our existing demolition contractors and have been verifying that we have the capacity to meet our grant requirements. The first $250,000 in demolition grant funds are reimbursed at 100% by the Moving Ohio Forward fund, meaning we get every dollar spent back. Staff will be approaching Council in the near future to request appropriation authority to complete the first $250,000 in demolitions during 2012, and then re-use the $250,000 reimbursement during 2013 as additional matching funds for the project. |
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council
Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 5:59pm |
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More than $650,000 will be spent to fix up downtown buildings thanks to a federal grant. How can Downtown Middletown Inc. manage City Funds since they are not a department of city government? These Funds have been used for Façade Improvement for years.... so why is City Hall making such a big deal over this program now? The devil is in the details so keep your eye on this little devil. |
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spiderjohn
Prominent MUSA Citizen 
Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749 |
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Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 3:34pm |
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stanky--I am a businessman--I notice things like that. I also try to buy something every time I am there, and always bought from their deli lady. Artists are probably always going to have turnover, especially if they aren't making $$. You can be sure that they aren't driving to Middletown for Friday nights just for a good time, + most of their work is obviously done elsewhere since these "studios" mostly don't seem to be working studios.
I like Pendleton and the re-make of the building. I was troubled by the financial arrangement, however that is water over the dam. I simply don't see the current situation as a functional business model, and living up to the promises behind the acquisition. I don't see real local jobs being created other than one good night AT THE SQUARE. Believe me or not, Mtown29, I would like to see this area work. It would be a boost for everyone. C St. is the long-term hope currently. Unfortunately many of us won't be around long-term. I served for years on the former Downtown Partnership. I know what happens when you don't own the properties and have no cash other than what is supplied by government. The property owners have to make this work with their own money. This keeps them focused on their own stake. If I owned down there, I wouldn't want anyone else telling me how to manage my properties either--understanding that concept helped me to get along with Mr.Thatcher, the Blakeleys, Mr.Isroff, and the 505(?) group. We have created an attitude of expected dependance down there, not shared with other parts of our struggling city. It has gone on far too long with far too little to show for the attention and cash outlayS. Government involvement can't make it work without substantial involvement(innovation and financial) from those who own the properties imo. Outside of not agreeing Mtown29, where am I wrong?
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Stanky
MUSA Resident 
Joined: Jul 04 2011 Status: Offline Points: 193 |
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Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 2:48pm |
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SJ, I have attended more than a couple First Fridays and I am troubled by the artist turnover. Each time I go there it seems that 20-25% of the artists have moved on and been replaced. I've done my part and made several purchases. But I also see too many who walk out of the building empty handed. I'm starting to wonder if PAC will ultimately fail.
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spiderjohn
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749 |
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Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 12:39pm |
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This action really isn't about improving our COMMUNITY--it is simply a repeat of a failed action years ago. Buildings were given a facelift, and then never occupied or maintained.
Tie this funding to REAL job creation before the match funds are granted. Put people to work down there--would lead to real money-spending traffic. Go to the first Friday this week-end At the Square, Pendleton and Beau Verre will be the only businesses open--as has been the case since inception. There has been no growth. You can count on one hand the # of people making a purchaseWill C St. be open for information and tours? Come on Mtown--quit defending the indefensible! .
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Middletown29
MUSA Citizen 
Joined: Mar 30 2011 Status: Offline Points: 474 |
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Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 12:15pm |
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Vet and Sjohn
Your reaction is as expected. No matter what is done, how or by whom, you guys and gals just can't see positive from any attempts at improving the community. Vet, point me to one positive post you have made here. |
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spiderjohn
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749 |
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Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 11:46am |
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The former downtown area needs much more than a facelift.
Besides--what do you get when you give an 80yo a facelift? The problem is hardly appearance-- it is a complete lack of substance. Very little there to attract locals, let alone attract out-of-towners. Beau Verre is wonderful, though with a very small local niche. Pendleton has been an expensive bust when not hosting freebies. At the Square seems to be the best example of something beginning to take hold. A few new small shops are popping up--best to them! A few thousand $$ to the new Opera House owners seems like a waste. The Brown House across the street looked better before the current renovation. Chamber headquarters is already too big, they really need landscaping maintenance. Maybe the $$ should be spent to take down most of S Main St, Sonshine, Wards, Orman, Rose, Ligon's, the rooming part of the Manchester(leaving the restaurant and upstairs ballroom), Studio/Strand, Hobby House and many other wasted Central Ave structures? Maybe some of the cash should go to SUCCESSFUL business operators in other parts of the city to improve/expand their operations, possibly tied to job creation? Are there any job creation requirements attached to the new taxpayer fund granting? Kinda seems like the SOS that we have experienced for decades that has produced little and has cost millions to make an area look worse than ever before. Maybe that area should be returned to farmland and community gardens? What say--Mtown29? Agree? |
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VietVet
MUSA Council
Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 9:30am |
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Didn't Kohler and company have a "facade redo program" a few years ago?
So much attention and money being poured into downtown. So little attention being paid to the entrance to the city out by I-75. Bass ackwards thinking on the subject of city perception to newcomers. The activity has been in the east end for decades, but the city leaders insist on making the downtown the new frontier of activity. Totally misfocused. The downtown development can come later AFTER the city has it's act together out east. Like the lady who recently moved from Springboro to Middletown said, Middletown has this low class image with the surrounding communities. Funny, back in the 50's and 60's, Springboro was the cow pasture and Middletown was more well respected. Over the years, the people running Springboro had a development plan to grow the farmland into what it is today. Middletown's leaders took the city in the opposite direction by sitting on their butts and letting the city die a little at a time. How sad to see. |
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Vivian Moon
MUSA Council
Joined: May 16 2008 Location: Middletown, Ohi Status: Offline Points: 4187 |
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Posted: Sep 02 2012 at 9:05am |
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Grant to give facelift to downtown Middletown Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN — More than $650,000 will be spent to fix up downtown buildings thanks to a federal grant. Eight businesses were awarded a share of $50,000 through the Facade Improvement Program being managed by Downtown Middletown Inc. The businesses are expected to use their share of the grant and add their own money for the improvements. All projects had to meet the city’s historic commission approval, said Middletown Planning Director Marty Kohler. And once the properties are inspected and the bills are paid, he said the city will then reimburse the property owners. “I think it’s a good thing,” he said of the grant. “The owners do need to be stake holders and feel invested in a project.” The facade grant program is one tool to help remove the stigma of a struggling and antiquated downtown, said Downtown Middletown Inc. Director Patrick Kay. “It takes people to that next level,” he said of the program. “It leverages more money downtown.” Kay said his group did alter the city’s program slightly. The city required a match only if it awarded more than $5,000 for a project. Downtown Middletown Inc. required stakeholders to match any amount awarded. Building owners could have received up to a 50 percent match of the project cost. And they must start the work within six months and complete it within 18 months, according to the program parameters. The ultimate goal of this program is to make downtown Middletown look better and attract more businesses as the place to be, Kay said. “Once you have more places downtown, it creates a destination down here,” he said. Since the start of 2011, downtown has seen several new businesses open, including the Pendleton Art Center opened, Tufts of Hair, @ The Square and just this past Wednesday Cincinnati State Middletown. Kay said the facade grant program is one tool to help remove the negative barrier of downtown Middletown’s antiquated look. But it takes time, he said. Kohler said the program is funded with money the city still has from an Urban Development Action Grant, a defunct U.S. Housing and Urban Development program. Applications for projects were ranked and selected based on “a clear and documented set of evaluative criteria,” according to the grant application. Roland Lutz, owner of the Forest Hill Sports Plex and Country Club on Second Avenue, will improve the sports plex’s gutters, signage and roof. He’ll receive $7,800 for the estimated $16,000 project. “The goal is as you pull down Second Avenue to see a refurbished, remodeled facility,” he said. The exterior work will help with the tens of thousands of dollars he plans to invest improving the interior of the sports plex and country club. These improvements will bring people downtown, Lutz said. With the volume of traffic and the tournaments and membership, “there are a lot of people that will be coming in to these sports and recreation destinations. That’s important to make it as attractive as we can.” Improvements will be made to at least one Main Street business. The Sorg Opera House, which was recently sold, will have its upper ballroom windows secured, said Chuck Miller, the lead partner in the ownership group that purchased the 19th-century building at 63 S. Main St. The $3,000 project will be reimbursed $1,500 from the grant. “One window is falling out of its bracket and I view that as a safety issue,” he said. “I want to get it back in and properly mounted. Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or michael.pitman@coxinc.com. Facade grant recipeints The owners of the following properties have been granted city money for the Facade Improvement Program: 63 S. Main St.: $1,500 was awarded for a $3,000 project to sure up the ballroom windows at the Sorg Opera House. 68 S. Main St.: $5,000 was funded for a $19,500 project to improve the former Brown house at First Avenue and South Main Street. 1054 Central Ave.: $8,500 was awarded for the $17,000 project that will improve the front entrances to both businesses along Broad Street. They are at BeauVerre at the Square. 1500 Central Ave.: $1,700 was awarded for a $3,400 project to paint the exterior of the Chamber of Commerce Serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton. 791 Fourth Avenue: $7,800 was awarded for a $16,000 project to improve the exterior of the Forest Hills Sports Plex 1124/1126 Central Ave.: $5,000 was funded for the $89,000 project to enclose a gap in the rear of the Castell building. 18 N. Clinton: $15,000 was awarded for a $36,000 project to an entrance of a new restraunt, Outside the Line. |
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