The Huber Heights City Council meets 26 November 2012. There are about 50 items on the agenda so it will be a full night. Below I identify a few of the items I think most citizens should watch in order to make sure council conducts educational discussions about how decisions are made. I recommend you also look over the rest of the agenda items to see if any of them deal with things that you personally would find interesting.

Listing of items I think you might be interested in:

1. The city wants to change the zoning of Thomas Cloud park from C (Conservancy) to PP (Planned Public and Private Buildings and Grounds).

2. The city plans to exempt itself from paying its water bill and refund all the payments it made since 1997.

3. The city presents the first reading of the 2013 Budget.

4. The YMCA presents the Aquatic Center financials.

5. There are a number of economic development issues where the city is working with developers.

Summary of items listed above:

1. Thomas Cloud park is currently zoned C according to council all the other parks in the city are zoned PP. Council tells us they are changing the zoning so that the zoning in all the parks in the city are the same. In all the previous announcements for this zoning change council makes a point to write " There are no proposed modifications to the park with this application", or something similar. Though accurate when looked at specifically with this zoning change, council and other entities would like to be able to generate cash using the park in a way the they cannot do with it zoned C but could do with it zoned PP. For instance one idea that seems to be taking hold is allowing one of the city's sports organizations to build and run batting cages and then use the proceeds to fund the running of the organization. It would be nice if the residents of Huber Heights were given the opportunity to guide discussion on the use of the park earlier in the process than what council seems to be setting up given the present public discussions.

2. Because the Water fund appears to have plenty of money in it and the General Fund does not, council has discussed ways to be able to use the money in the healthy Funds in order to support the General fund. This proposal is one of the methods they have discussed and would like to implement. The logic they use to justify this measure is that "it doesn't makes sense for the city to pay itself when it owns the water company" and "it takes a lot of resources to have city employees read and pay the bills". If the Water fund is super rich like council claims I can understand some of the attempts to ensure residents aren't sending too much of our tax dollars to United Water. However, this proposal does not follow sound accounting practice and opens the door for water customers to pay excessive fees to cover the City's portion of their water usage. This is especially true if the city believes it is a waste for city employees to track water usage. This also opens the door for city agencies to think they can use a lot more city water. For instance if it is free why wouldn't Parks and Recreation start watering the soccer fields at Thomas Cloud?

3. The proposed city budget is out for 2013. You can download copy. Here is a 17mb version that is not searchable using Adobe Acrobat Reader. Here is a 32mb version that is searchable.

4. The YMCA will make a presentation that goes over some of the aquatic center / recreational activity center numbers. Trying to reconcile the top level numbers that will be presented and the numbers found in the budget shows just how complicated finance can be. For instance the YMCA will give us numbers that make it appear as if they are going to give the city a check for $114,000 dollars. Then if you look at page 140 of the city budget it looks like the city paid $114,000 dollars to run the recreational activity center.

5. These economic development projects the city is undertaking highlights why I need help with this site. In order to make this site as useful as I would like it to be someone needs to look up the law references the city attorney's used to arrange the $17 million bonds that required the city's involvement but does not put any city tax payer money at risk. I want to examine (using real examples) the differences between property taxes and TIF revenue. For instance we have just passed a levy that we think should go toward improving the county library system, however, it seems as if by creating TIF districts the city will be able to funnel that money into the city's coffers.

Below are some of the links to agenda items.

Kroger Aquatic Center At The Heights Presentation - Mr. Josh Sullenberger, Executive Director, Huber Heights YMCA

A Public Hearing Scheduled For November 26, 2012 By The Huber Heights City Council For Zoning Case 12-41. The Applicant Is The City Of Huber Heights. The Applicant Is Requesting Approval To Rezone Thomas Cloud Park From C (Conservancy) To PP (Planned Public And Private Buildings And Grounds) For Property Located At 4707 Brandt Pike, Huber Heights, Ohio.

A Resolution Approving An Agreement With Johnny Holloway, Jr. That Addresses And Resolves Issues Arising Out Of The July 19, 2012 Decision Of The Personnel Appeals Board, And Declaring An Emergency. (first reading)

A Resolution Authorizing The City Manager To Submit A Project Application And Accept Funding Awarded As Provided For Under The Terms Of The Ohio Department Of Transportation Agreement Between The City Of Huber Heights And The Ohio Department Of Development For 629 Funding To Assist With Economic Development Activities And Job Retention Efforts For Fiscal Year 2012-2013, And Declaring An Emergency. (first reading)



Economic Development Department agenda items: N. O. P. S. dealing with the sewer improvements for the Alcore Huber LLC retirement community. I didn't post the links here.

An Ordinance Authorizing The Provision Of Certain Incentives To Trimble Navigation Limited To Induce It To Construct A New Facility And Retain Its Associated Operations And Workforce All Within The City, Authorizing The Execution Of An Economic Development Agreement, And Declaring An Emergency. (first reading)

An Ordinance Exempting The City Of Huber Heights From Paying Water And Sewer Charges At Certain City Facilities, Authorizing The Finance Director To Transfer Money From Funds To Reimburse The City For Past Water Payments, And Declaring An Emergency. (first reading)

An Ordinance For Making Appropriations For Expenses Of The City Of Huber Heights, Ohio For The Period Beginning January 1, 2013 And Ending December 31, 2013, And Declaring An Emergency. (first reading)

An Ordinance To Approve A Rezoning From C (Conservancy) District To PP (Planned Public And Private Buildings And Grounds) For Property Located At 4707 Brandt Pike And Further Described As Parcel ID Numbers P70-203913-0001, P70-203913-0002 And P70-203913-0003 On The Montgomery County Auditor’s Tax Map (Zoning Case 12-41), And Declaring An Emergency. (first reading)