News archive

Committee of the Whole - 7 of 8 council members did not attend

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…

Family Disc Golf Day August 9th

I have been talking about a Disc Golf event since the beginning of the summer with a couple of different concepts. With the help of the Parks and Recreation Board and DDGA this idea of a introductory Family Disc Day emerged. For more information; direct registration or to volunteer to help go to Family Disc Golf Day in Huber Heights.  

Last week I took Irvin out to play disc golf for the first

Give $15,000 to Developers or $4,000 to longtime residents.  How sh…

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…

City to buy nearly "free" land and Lamandola vote likely Monday

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…

Two sets of books to track Music Center and Aquatic Center costs.

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…

The pictures make it obvious a no bid contract for the new Fire Hou…

Sometimes when you know something is wrong you have to take actions that are painful.  I fully expect that these pictures of Mr. Campbell and Mr. Conaway will get distributed over and over again this election cycle.  I should not feel bad about spreading them myself, but I do.  However, it's incredible that Councilman Ed Lyons and Councilwomen Jan Vargo and Lu Dale don't realize that incidents…

Updates:  Zoning of old Lamandola School to allow Private Residenti…

Updates - 23 June 2015
Too much going on to post all the updates but I'll get some now and I'll post others as they occur.

The most important is that the Applicant withdrew the application before the Jun 22 council meeting.  The paper tells us that the intention is to make a new application so  it can be heard by the planning commission on July 14, 2015.  

From the news article and from the…

Fire House Management Contract - Part 1 - the Contract

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…

Fire Pits and Campfires

Yesterday a resident asked me about the need for a permit for small fires in their back yards.  I'd like to thank Chief Ashworth for providing this response:

Mayor,
Open burning is regulated in three areas; The Ohio Fire Code,  the Ohio Administrative Code (Chapter 3745-19 Open Burning Standards) and RAPCA which is the Montgomery County Regional Air Pollution Control Agency.  We also post on the Fire Division’s web site those laws pertaining to the guidelines.

Say hello to the Mayor at the Chamber of Commerce Business Expo

Thursday evening Jun 4th from 5 to 8 pm at Wayne High School, 5400 Chambersburg Rd the Huber Heights Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual Community and Business Expo.  I will be there and have a booth so that we can talk about City business and the community.  I learn the most when you tell me what you're thinking and what is important to you.
 
We can also talk about the things that I know people are already talking about.  For…

Fishburg Road (west of Old Troy Pike) will be closed from Elysian W…

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…

Election Day Tuesday - Matt Truman - Video - Council at Large

Matt Truman started Brick City Town Hall a Facebook page designed to talk about City issues.  You can see his campaign Facebook page here.


 

 

A short video for you this morning. Thank you all for your support and well wishes, as the election is just around the…

Posted by Matthew Truman for Huber Heights Council At Large on Tuesday, April 28, 2015

And don't forget to check out the…

Election Day Tuesday - Glenn Otto - 30 Minute Q &A - Council at Large

Sunday at 6:00 pm Glenn Otto will be doing a live YouTube Question and Answer session.  

 You can pass him questions before hand via his Facebook site

Put it on your schedule.  You will also be able to watch the reply at the same You tube address:





And don't forget to check out the other council at large candidates:


 

Election Day Tuesday - Jaclynn Shook Flier - Council at Large

I spoke with Jaclynn Lee Shook today.  I really like the idea of having a contracting officer on Council.  Here is a copy of her flier. 



Jaclynn Lee Shook Flier
Jaclynn Shook  Jaclynn…

Early Voting has started, I won't be voting for Ms. Vargo - even th…

Although she is my favorite council member, I can't vote for Jan Vargo in the primary election May 5th and is underway now in Early Voting.  Here is one reason why.
 
In 2002/2003 the City spent about $8 million dollars to build the Carriage Trails Parkway Connector. In 2007 the City entered the initial Development Agreement with DEC Land Co, LLC.  One of the objectives of that agreement was…

The Rose Music Center Concerts as of 27 Mar 2015

The full schedule for the Rose Music Center can be found at: http://www.rosemusiccenter.com/  I recommend buying tickets at the box office if you can.  
 

Music Center Box Office - 6800 Executive Boulevard

Monday - Friday
11:00AM - 5:30PM
Saturday
11:00AM-1:00PM



Rose Music Center Schedule as of 27 Mar 2015

Do you want more Bike Paths?  Do you think we will need to upgrade…

Do you think we should have more Bike Paths in Huber Heights?  Are you opposed to the one expected to go in on Chambersburg to Rt 4?  Do you wonder if we could have had a traffic circle instead of a stop light at Chambersburg and Belfountaine?  These kind of inputs are what the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission would be interested in hearing at their Public Participation Meeting to be held Thursday April 16, 2015 from 4:00 to 6:00pm at 10 N Ludlow Street Suite 700 Courthouse Square in Dayton.

It is time for the City to stop paying $15,500 of DEC's profits on…

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…

Should we shovel sidewalks?  

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…

Aquatic Center Contract award based on friendship

This past week council decided to award the Aquatic Center Management contract based upon their desire for friendly relationships instead of on performance and cost.  The result is that the city will likely pay $20,000 or more per year than the city needed to pay in order to get equal or better performance.  I also question whether it makes sense to bend over backwards to keep friendly…

Real time reports on City Finances soon to be available online

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…

Citizens on Patrol Unit known as P.R.I.D.E.

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…

Why don't you run for City Council

Though I still hope that we will see good business decisions from this council this year, it only makes sense that I should transition to the November election so that we can make sure we see them eventually.   Petitions are due Feb 4th.  I'm hoping you are working to make sure we get quality candidates on the ballot.   Here are some reasons why.

This past year I asked our City Manager to…

Why don't you run for City Council

This past year I asked our City Manager to write out the tasks that need to be done in order to successfully run a Music Center so that when we looked at possible management companies we had some criteria to help us with that decision.   I was told this

Why don't you run for City Council

This past year I asked our City Manager to write out the tasks that need to be done in order to successfully run a Music Center so that when we looked at possible management companies we had some criteria to help us with that decision.   I was told this

Information from the mayor needs to be accurate

I just got finished reading the unsigned editorial in the Jan 1st edition of the Huber Heights Courier titled "Information from the mayor needs to be accurate" found in the "Your View" section.  The unidentified author says, "It is an unfortunate event that McMasters, in his elected position as Mayor of Huber Heights, distributed inaccurate information.  It is his responsibility as mayor to be…

No Bid and Weak Contracts - why did I talk about them in my Flyer?

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…

Mayor Campaigns for School Board - and Wins

Mayor Campaigns for School Board - and Wins
 
This was the headline I suggested for the Dayton Daily News article that ended up being titled "Huber mayor's flyer blasted".  Here is the information that makes my suggested headline much more appropriate than what was chosen (I list points first then I back them up with references later in the artice).
 
1.  Back in May as part of the 2025 plan…

Another TIF / Music Center Discussion

I was reading Facebook and saw a discussion on the Music Center and then progressed into TIF.  I participated and thought I would copy relevant comments here because Brandon made some good points that allowed me to bring up other information people should know.  My comments are in black, his in blue.

Brandon posted:

This is my understanding: a TIF district diverts all property tax (above the current tax level) to a special fund that can be used for updates that impact that TIF district. Th

Young Marines meet @ St Peters

Open House Jan 14th at 1745 (5:45 PM)  Boot Camp starts Jan 21, 2015

Who:  Any Miami Valley youth - must be accompanied by a parent/gaurdian

What: Observe regular MVYM drill activity and receive information briefing (one hour)

Where:  Saint Peter Church Basement, 6161 Chambersburg Rd. Huber Heights OH

Contact info in the flier.

Young Marine Flier