Tuesday at the Public Works Committee meeting there will be a discussion on the application for a major zoning change for the old Lamendola School Property.  A company called Concept 1 Academy desires to house up to thirty-two 16 - 18 year old males.
 
The read ahead within the agenda found on the city web site contains:
 
Staff Report, Minutes of the Planning Commission Hearing, Decision Record,…

Facebook is alive with a discussion about the Committee of the Whole meeting 7 of the 8 council members did not attend. 
 
Here is a little background; there was a Public Works Committee meeting scheduled for 4:30 followed by a Administration Committee meeting at 6:00 pm.  Thursday July 16 at 5 pm we got notification that the Admin Committee meeting was cancelled due to a lack of agenda items.  Thursday night I called a Committee of the Whole meeting and notification went out on…

This article is another attempt by me to get council to compel staff to compute real numbers that justify giving the developer of Carriage Trails $15,000 per house in financial aid.  I bring this up because Tuesday night council decided not to give a widowed retiree and long time property tax paying resident a $4,000 supplement to help her fix the lateral that connects to the sewer on the other side of Harshmanville…

Two interesting items on the agenda for the Council Meeting Jun 22, 2015.
 
The Lamandola property zoning issue will probably be voted on tomorrow.  At least it should be voted on.
 
I personally don't believe they will be opening an official school.  With that I don't believe that Planned Public is the proper zoning if they  believe they qualify for that zoning based on their business being a school.  However, the dilemma is what would be the proper…

Last council meeting I asked about the way the financial report in the weekly report tracked the costs of the Music Center.  What prompted this question was that I heard other council members say we've had more than $1 million dollars in ticket sales yet the weekly report showed receipts of only $437,674.55.

Currently both the Music Center and Aquatic Center are managed by contractors so the…

Monday June 1st 2015 at the Safety Service Committee meeting we discussed at length the management contract for the building of the new Fire House.  There are two themes to this article.  First I'll talk about some of the specific items in the contract I suggested but were rejected - for instance a conflict of interest / ethics clause so the project manager would have to act in the best…

City of Huber Heights – Road Closure
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 4, 2015
 
Fishburg Road (west of Old Troy Pike) will be closed from Elysian Way to Aaron Lane for one day on Friday, May 8, 2015.   The road will only be closed during the day from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.   The road is being closed in order to finish installing a new storm culvert on the south side of the road to fill…

Last March I pointed out that the City was paying to supplement the building of houses in Carriage Trails and we weren't doing this in any other parts of the City.  During the discussion we had in one of the committee meetings where the developer was again asking for a supplement I asked those that thought this was a good deal for the City to show the impact on City Services and tax base so…

Tuesday evening during the Public Works Committee meeting we discussed the ordinance that currently requires residents to shovel their sidewalks.

The current ordinance reads:

521.06  DUTY TO KEEP SIDEWALKS IN REPAIR AND CLEAN.
        
             (a)     No owner or occupant of abutting lands shall fail to keep the sidewalks, curbs or gutters in repair and free from snow, ice or any…

Here is the link to the City's Financial Transparency Portal


Here is another presentation tonight that I am interested in seeing and learning about.

Agenda Item Description or Legislation Title
Huber Heights Open Gov Presentation - Mr. Jim Bell, Finance Director, And Mr. Don Jones, Assistant City Manager

Purpose and Background
The Finance Department was challenged early on to always look…

Tonight at the Council Meeting we are going to recognize Citizens that participate in the Police Departments PRIDE program.  I've copied the agenda item announcement because it gives good detail on what the program is about and how you can get involved.  

Agenda Item Description or Legislation Title
Huber Heights Police Division P.R.I.D.E. Recognition Presentation - Police Chief Mark Lightner and Sergeant Chuck…

No bid and weak contracts have been a major issue the City has had to deal with all year long.  I'm pragmatic enough to accept that often it can be cheaper and more efficient to not go out to bid on some contracts and services.  However, I expect that if this is the way we are going to do things then we should have good, written documentary evidence that we've done our homework on making sure…

Tuesday November 18th at 6:00 pm the Administration Committee will meet. The location is different than usual, it will be in the Police Community Room.  The police station is behind City Hall at 6121 Taylorsville rd.  The reason the meeting has been moved is because there should be a lot of interest in the main agenda item;  The 2015 City Budget. 
 
This morning I was cleaning my bathroom.  As…

I'm seriously thinking of voting for Issue 2 which is the School Levy.
 
The reasons are:
 
1.  It is in my own best financial interest
 
2.  My conservative friends let me down when they didn't run anyone for school board.
 
3.  I believe Mrs. Gunnell, the School Superintendent is a great administrator. 
 
4.  As Mayor I should consider voting for Issue 19. But voting yes on 19 without voting…

There is an interesting (and should be controversial item) on the agenda Monday night.  It would be controversial if some of the more conservative members of the community were aware.  This is because the proposal is set up to allow the developers of Carriage Trails to get State money with no real benefit to the State or the City. 
 
Interestingly, one of the Council member was struggling with…

I know I gave great praise in my article "We Won" to staff for producing some written documentation that can be reviewed by residents to help us understand the financial situation of the City.  This will be somewhat helpful in helping people evaluate the city financial situation when they go to vote November 4th.  Hopefully, we are working toward the day when the information is made available…

I received an email this evening from a resident complaining the City is sending out campaign literature about the upcoming vote on the tax levy.  My first inclination was to write him back and tell him the city is forbidden by law to spend money campaigning for a tax levy.  I haven't actually read the law or the opinions that state the city or the school district is forbidden from spending…

We won the opportunity to do more work.  Monday night at the Administration Committee meeting Huber Heights residents got background information that was useful in helping us understand some of the positive and negative reasons past decisions have been made.  We received a number of briefings, accompanied by worksheets, that can help us understand the financial situation of the city.  For once…

I was included on an email inquiry and I thought I would share the author's request as well as my response:

"I attended the meeting last night and JVargo said at the end the reports were at library, online etc, the only thing on line are estimated for 2013, 2014 and the one from 2013 refers back to the 2012.  I respectfully request that you direct to the actual expenditure reports for 2013."…

Not too long ago council borrowed $8 million dollars to build Carriage Trails Parkway.  They kept rolling over the short term notes until the debt became $13 million.  Then they got a public / private partnership going where the private party paid the debt down so that there is only $7 million dollars left on that original investment.  Of course the city has borrowed another $12 million…

Monday 29 Sept after the Music Center discussion which starts at 6 pm City Council will discuss some of the controversial items about the Aquatic and Amphitheater as well as try to develop an overall strategy to improve the operations of the entire park system.  Read the meeting notice below.  Keep in mind we’ve already heard from opposing views on many of these items.  Your yea and nea…

Monday (29 Sept 2013) Huber Heights City Council will hold a Special Session of Council in order to discuss:
 
The Process By Which Talent Is Engaged For The Music Center At The Heights By Music Event Management, Inc., The Role Of The City In That Process And The Role Of The City Manager In The Execution Of The City’s Duties Under The Facility Management Agreement,
 
My apologies for the…

Though tonight's meeting seemed pretty chaotic it boils down pretty simply.
 
Before reading the VIP sponsorship contract I thought the VIP section concept consisted of individual ticket purchasers having the option of also buying the experience of using the VIP section.  In this concept if it turned out that all the people in the VIP section were all associated with one family or company it…

There will be an edit to this article - Alizea is currently telling me I'm late to taking her swimming, I'd appreciate you emails / comments that will assist in corrections:

A couple years ago Montgomery County voters approved a Library Levy that will result in Huber Heights getting a new library.  Huber Heights new facility is planned to be completed as part of the last phase of the County's…

There are a couple new broadcasts of the City Council Meetings.  I received this message from the Clerk of Council.
 

I walked into the Ward 3 meeting this evening and I caught the last of the discussion where a friend of mine bought up the balances shown in 2014 budget projection of the  balances for the Unencumbered Cash in the General, Police and Fire funds. 
 
If you attend the Ward meetings or listen to the City's 2025 plan you will hear that the city has been on average running a $2.3 million deficit…

From the Administration Committee meeting Tuesday Jun 17, 2014.
 
Council intends to add an additional $1 million to the Music Center construction cost Monday night. The two additions are a VIP Tent / reception / parking area and upgrades to the concession stands. 
The VIP tickets may be presented to sponsors, purchasers of box seats and possibly season ticket holders.  Additional to the…

I've posted the notes I used when I spoke Monday.  I follow that with the observations I passed to city staff concerning the management agreement.  Also local media outlets attended the council meeting.  I'll be posting links as I find them.  

Here is the WDTN report:  http://wdtn.com/2014/06/09/city-approves-company-to-run-huber-hgts-music-center/    Here is the WHIO.com report

Watch the video…

The agenda and read ahead for Monday's General session are on the City Website.  The two main items I hope you read and consider providing input on are the Ballot Ordinance for the November Income Tax Levy and the Music Center Management Contract.
 
Remember if you chose to speak Monday Night you have two options.  When filling out the request to speak you can chose to do it as Citizen…

In case you missed it, below you can find the letter to the editor I wrote and was printed in the Huber Heights Courier.  Twice already this week I've heard the City Manager say that it would be irresponsible too commit to buiding a Firehouse, yet in the same week he recommends we sign a $225,000 dollar a year, unbreakable for ten years, contract to a management company to run the Music Center.
…