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Home > Blogs > Hamilton News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > April
April 2008
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Thursday, May 1, is Holocaust Remembrance Day in the United States. Like many, I might have let the date slip aside unnoticed, but in 2005 I traveled to the country of Poland and saw first hand the atrocities that resulted in the deaths of millions. On the trip, I met with several Holocaust survivors and heard their stories. I’ve seen piles of shoes and hair taken from the dead. I’ve seen little “standing rooms” where Jews were left to die of exhaustion and asphyxiation. I’ve seen a crematorium where the dead were disposed of.
So, when I interview people about the Holocaust, I truly realize and grasp the horror of the situation. The important thing to remember on Holocaust Remembrance Day is that Holocaust survivors are disappearing before our very eyes. It’s been 63 years since Auschwitz, the most infamous of the Nazi death camps, was liberated. Most men like Jaap Penraat, who helped save hundreds of Jews, are already gone. Other men like Hamilton resident Al Miller, a self-described “sort of survivor” who escaped Germany before he could be sent to a concentration camp, will eventually be gone, too.
Check tomorrow’s paper for Miller’s story.
Additionally, the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education at Hebrew Union College will host Dr. Michael Berenbaum as a speaker at one of its Holocaust awareness programs at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 4 at the Isaac M Wise Temple, located at 8329 Ridge Rd, Cincinnati, OH.
Who wants pools?
Most of the people who commented on our online story Tuesday seem to want them. As of late Tuesday, I only saw one comment that sort of supported Hamilton getting out of the pool business of the 10 or so comments listed.
The rest seem to think that the city should find the money to repair and operate city pools.
View the comments here.
The scene of the crime
A Hamilton man was driving the car when a Cincinnati firefighter was arrested in New Mexico last week.
The New Mexico State Police told me an arrest report would not be ready until the arresting officer came back on Saturday. Though, they were able to tell me that Hamilton resident Jason Garrett, 34, was arrested with Cincinnati firefighter Ryan Norman at 11 a.m. local time on April 25.
Originally pulled over for a minor traffic infraction, state police said that the duo’s erratic behavior caused them to look closely at the vehicle. That look yielded about 203 pounds of marijuana.
No word on Garrett’s status as of yet. He has no local criminal record according to the Butler County court’s Web site.
Meldahl gets at least one green light
Work on Meldahl, the would-be second hydroelectric plant on the Ohio River that serves the city of Hamilton, is moving along in the review process with the federal government.
City Manager Mark Brandenburger said in his weekly report that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has posted the environmental assessment for the project. Consequently, public comment will proceed for the next 30 days.
This is the final step toward obtaining the hydroelectric license for the city to begin construction. Brandenburger reports that the license could be here as early as July. With rising coal and environmental costs, he calls this “very, very good news indeed.”
Pools
Hamilton may or may not have pools this year.
Last year, the city closed two of it’s four pools and suggested residents approve a levy for a water park, which took a 4-to-1 beating at the polls.
Two reports, one designed to analyze the condition of city pools and one designed to analyze the condition of the city’s general fund, will guide the city’s decision on what to do with its final two pools.
Parks and Recreation Director Bob Harris said if there’s any way the city can open its pools, it will. However, the $140,000 budgeted from the general fund for pool operations cast a large shadow as a general fund forecast looms.
Tune into tomorrow’s issue to read more about the reports. More to follow in the coming weeks.
Liquor permits
Last week, city council objected to the renewal of liquor permits for two Hamilton bars.
I’ve received limited reaction to the move. One was a phone call from a woman who lives in Lindenwald who was very happy to hear the city objected to the renewal for Bob’s Cafe.
The other was a message from a man in support of Tailg8tors, the other bar to which the city objected. Check out his response:
“You neglected to include in your story that the owners of Tailg8tors purchased Weezies in 2006 and then changed the name to Tailg8tors. They have been pouring money into it since then. They have been trying to make it a classy place.
I think it’s funny that when trouble happens one is expected to call the police. And yet when you do you can lose your business over it.
Steve Cupp”
What do you think about it?
The race
The race is on. This Monday and again on Tuesday, fellow reporter and blogger Josh Sweigart and I are putting a myth to the test.
Apparently, some community members say it’s quicker to travel around Ohio 4 directly than to use the Ohio 4 Bypass. So, he and I are going to put this to the test.
It seemed to make sense that I, the Hamilton reporter, should take Ohio 4 around Hamilton and Sweigart, the Butler County reporter, should take the bypass. Google Maps estimates he will win the race with seven minutes to spare. On paper it makes sense, I am traveling 8.8 miles to his six and I will face several more traffic lights. Though, he’ll theoretically face traffic and, for the most part, just one lane in each direction.
So, how crazy does this idea sound? The photographer we commissioned with the assignment had some choice words for us about how stupid he thought the idea was. Does anyone who travels either route frequently think otherwise?
Ronda’s Courthouse Cafe
A new lunch business is in town.
Moving into the space exited by Fat Wally’s shortly after the new year, Ronda’s Courthouse Cafe is now prepared to start feeding the downtown crowd.
I’ll sit down with Ronda later this afternoon to talk about her hopes for the new restaurant. For now, it looks like it’s going to pick up where Fat Wally’s left off.
Keep reading if you’re curious why Fat Wally’s left downtown.
Popular spot to grab a bite to eat closes doors
By Joshua Rinaldi Staff Writer
HAMILTON - Fat Wally’s, a popular downtown restaurant opened in 1999, has succumbed to lean times and has closed its doors. Co-owners Scott Shepherd and John Curtis placed the blame on the five-month delay in opening their West Side location that “ate up” all their working capital. When the West Side store opened in August, there was Scott Shepherd co-owner, Fat Wally’s no money left to market it and it never really took off, they said. Shepherd said the West Side location was supposed to be the store’s savior. The last two years’ revenues decreased between 20 and 30 percent for the Third Street restaurant, Shepherd said. “I never thought it would be worse downtown now than in the year we opened,” Shepherd said. Shepherd said they couldn’t close one store and still operate the other because the assets are tied together and now being claimed by the bank. Now, Shepherd and Curtis are declaring bankruptcy and, consequently, they said they’d likely both lose their houses. Fourteen employees, four from the downtown store and 10 on the West Side, have lost their jobs as a result of the closure. Shepherd also said that because of the bankruptcy any unhonored gift certificates could not be refunded. Tony Traub, president of the Downtown Special Improvement District, said it was unfortunate that Fat Wally’s was closing while new businesses, such as the Cincinnati Bead Co., were coming to downtown. “It’s disappointing to see any business close,” he said. Gary Richards, executive director for ReDiscover Hamilton, said Fat Wally’s had been a mainstay for downtown Hamilton and its closure was a big loss for the city. “I feel bad for downtown. A lot of people depended on Fat Wally’s,” Richards said.
Revisiting a city impound lot
Earlier this month, I wrote about how the city is considering owning and operating its own impound lot. It thinks it can bring more money to the general fund by operating its own lot instead of contracting the services out.
I hadn’t thought about the matter in a few weeks, but today I got a letter from a concerned citizen. It sounds like he owns one of the impound lots the city contracts with, but I can’t be sure. It does remind me of the comments another impound lot operator told me.
Either way, I thought you might be interested in reading his letter.
750,000.00 per year
Where did this fellow get his figures from? If the tow yards were making this kind of money at the time this study was generated, that’s 150,000.00 dollars each per company. Which this is based on five towing companies being on the list at the time of this study. We sure would be very happy and less worried and certainly less stressed. Storage from impounded cars, that’s cars that has not been involved in an accident or just broke down and are strictly cars that was towed for such things as o.v.i. , no drivers license, expired tags, abandoned vehicles, stolen, or hit and run cars alone. Keep in mind , this is a not cars from car crash’s and they are cars that has been labeled police tows. In this model estimate, there was nothing in there about salaries of employees or all the benefit’s that come along with employees. Insurance for theft, property or fire. Were not just talking about one person here. You have to have someone qualified and capable of releasing vehicles, preparing vehicles for the auction, which by the way has to be advertised and that not free. Someone has to get the vehicles ready for the scrap yard. A lot of the impounded cars will come into the lot with all of their worldly possessions in them sometimes every thing they own. Now don’t get lost here thinking wow your going to be able to sell all that stuff. now when you open the door up to see all the worldly possessions after you become the new title holder you are knocked back about two feet due to the smell of rotten clothes and junk you couldn’t sell in a yard sale or donate to the needy. Remember this car was impounded the people are usually in jail or drugs have taken over there lives and have got down to living out this car. The cost of removing the articles in the cars is not factored into this equation and the scrap yards will not accept the cars unless they are removed. Also behind every good business you have to have someone to do the books. When Trenton and Oxford opened there impound lots back a few years ago, the cost for a city tow from a private individual was anywhere from 35.00 to 45.00 dollars. a police tow was 75.00 and you could charge extra for crash cars. now since the high cost of doing business and fuel prices have plummeted, the private individual will now pay around 75.00 dollars to get the car towed within the city. Now we get 90.00 now for police tows and we are no longer allowed to charge extra for clean up, that’s sweeping glass for sometimes as high as 30 minutes and disposing the trash when you’re your finished. We also are not allowed to charge for flipping cars back to the upright position or winching them from ditches or putting floor dry down on the ground even though the fire department charges for the floor dry and clean up. I certainly feel It would be hard to find a wrecker service that would want to tow the cars into the city’s lot that have the qualifications and dedication of the company’s that are on the list today. Now don’t get me wrong here. I do realize the city will find someone or maybe some of the wrecker services would continue to service the city’s needs. But for an extra 15.00 to be on call 24 hours, deal with the people already mad because they somehow can’t except the fact that they was impounded for a reason. Carry the insurance we are required to carry just because we tow for the police. Oh yes don’t forget this don’t include the poor old attack dogs you have to feed for the times you do have to leave the lot. The person who generated this model probably didn’t know what we go through, and I’m sure if he did. He would have certainly looked at the numbers a little different, and I’m sure he was not provided the correct information. So Let’s put this back into perspectives. We don’t make the kind of money projected in this model, and he certainly didn’t look at the whole picture. If you’re going to tell the public figures that don’t exist, at least give them the full pictures. I love and respect my job working with the city and it has been a pleasure, but this is Hamilton, Oh. last time I checked and a lot of people live paycheck to paycheck here. About 80 percent of the people only carry liability insurance. When they crash their car, it’s done, they don’t have the money to get them out or repair them. The cars that is impounded and labeled police tows are normally beyond their last leg. Maybe we should put this model back on the shelf and get the downtown water park model back out.
SINCERELY YOURS
KEVIN WOODS
Two Bobs, letter carriers and third graders
Something interesting usually happens at City Council. Wednesday, I got to see both important men in the city named Bob Harris in the same place for the first time. They stood next to each other, shook hands and laughed. I wonder if the rest of the room was as amused as I was.
A city employee, Bob Harris is director of Parks and Recreation. He’s at almost every council meeting. The other is the president of the Southeast Civic Association, which serves the city’s Second Ward. He is also a martial arts champion and photographer despite visual impairment (he wears an eye patch on one eye and admits the other “isn’t too good either”). True story.
They stood before council for one of the many appreciation certificates or proclamations bestowed Wednesday. The city honored a carpentry class that helped rebuild a shelter at a park, members of the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive, a few third graders who came up with pro-seat belt slogans and members of the city’s tree board. Additionally, former long-time councilman George McNally and SECA President Bob Harris received some kudos for their work with the annual city cleanup, which will be May 3.
I hope I’m not forgetting anyone.
Community First Pharmacy
Despite being open for months, the Community First Pharmacy, on Second Street, celebrated its grand opening Wednesday.
The event drew all the usual dignitaries, such as Hamilton Mayor Don Ryan and Chamber of Commerce president Kenny Craig. Additionally, some less usual dignitaries, such as Health Director Dr. Bill Karwisch and Hamilton Community Foundation President John Guidugli were present.
Anyone can go and have prescriptions filled in the not-for-profit pharmacy and if you go today there may still be some free cookies.
Continue reading to find out how a not-for-profit pharmacy works.
The story about the pharmacy in Jan. 3’s paper.
Not-for-profit pharmacy opens on South Second Street
In addition to serving the low-income population, the pharmacy also will serve the community.
By Joshua Rinaldi Staff Writer
HAMILTON - It's not the first, but organizers still broke a lot of new ground while establishing the not-forprofit Community First Pharmacy on South Second Street.
The pharmacy is similar to one in Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, which was the first nonprofit pharmacy in the nation when it opened last year to serve the low-income population in that community.
Jeff Thurman, president and CEO of the Fort Hamilton Healthcare Corp. that oversees the pharmacy, thinks they have improved on the original idea. "(The Over-the Rhine Pharmacy) is doing that and doing it well, but they struggle because there's no other revenue to help the cause," he said.
So, in addition to serving the low-income population via the federal government's 340b drug discount program, it also will serve the community the same any pharmacy would and will contract with other nonprofit agencies, such as nursing homes, to fill their prescription needs while also redeeming vouchers nonprofits issue for prescriptions.
In fact, the pharmacy's mission is to provide cost-effective services to local nonprofits.
"We have multiple potential clients," Thurman said.
Thurman isn't sure if the pharmacy can beat supermarkets like Kroger's promise of $4 generic prescriptions. However, Thurman said that the $4 is bait to get the customer in to the store to buy other things. He also said that many individuals are on multiple prescriptions and the total bills may still be more at the supermarket than at the pharmacy.
However, the pharmacy will be more competitive because is not out to make a profit. Consequently, there is much less markup on the drugs, Thurman said.
Assisting the pharmacy is a recently passed state law that allows not-forprofits to recycle rather than destroy unused medication, Thurman said.
For instance, if someone has a 30-day supply and only uses a few days worth, the remaining can be salvaged because the pharmacy is not-for-profit. This will help keep costs down, he said.
The pharmacy is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday
Magic bullet theory
After hearing about the breaker malfunction that knocked out power for two hours to parts of Downtown and the West Side, City Manager Mark Brandenburger told officials to look for a bullet.
A transformer leaking oil and past history sparked his suspicions about the cause of the outage.
“People with rifles have taken pot shots at our transformers,” he said.
However, Brandenburger said initial investigations have not found any bullets. He sent me the following email as an explanation of the outage.
“In answer to your question, I just talked to a chief engineer in our electric system, Butch Mikesell. He informed me (and I’m paraphrasing as best I can) that an internal weld failed inside of a mineral oil filled tank (and that tank is 1 of 3 tanks that make up a circuit breakers in the power yard across from the Power Plant). When that weld failed, certain parts broke and fell and made the kind of inappropriate contact that ultimately resulted in the power outage. So, that tank was not shot with a rifle or anything of that nature; instead, the outage was caused exclusively by the failure of this internal weld.”
Free eats at Ryan’s Tavern
The long-delayed Ryan’s Tavern will offer its first food for the public at its location in the 200 block of High Street. Mayor Don Ryan, the would-be owner, understands that the delays are costing him and seems to want a clientele when the business does open.
Several signs in the windows of the Tavern read “Thanks for your patience” and offer FREE hot dogs and hamburgers from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23.
The mayor understands the importance of keeping the tavern’s name in people’s minds. He also sold t-shirts and some small food at IceFest in February.
The mayor tells me that the tavern has missed three potential opening dates - End of 2007, IceFest in February and St. Patrick’s Day in March. Ryan was cautious to quote me another date, but hopes that he’ll be ready at the
beginning of June.
I couldn’t find the last Ryan’s Tavern story I wrote on our Web site, but here is what I wrote in November.
High hopes for High St. tavern By Joshua Rinaldi Staff Writer
HAMILTON - Mayor Don Ryan had originally hoped to open his High Street tavern in time for the Fourth of July festivities. Now he hopes to have it open by IceFest.
The mayor said delays have occurred during his renovation of the more-than-century-old building, including the fact that he wanted the building to have a capacity of 350 to 400 people.
“The construction delays were due to the fact that we had to do extra engineering to secure structural integrity,” Ryan said.
The inside is still taking shape, but the front of the building, complete with Ryan’s Tavern emblazoned on the bricks, is almost complete. Ryan said he has high hopes he can get at least the first floor of the tavern complete by the beginning of February.
“There’s a lot that’s going to happen in the next 60 days,” he said.
Ryan is leaving the remaining construction to his contractor, Robert Saurber, and is busy planning the menu and restaurant hours with his wife, Vickie. While exact hours have not been set, Ryan expects the tavern to be open from 7 a.m. to midnight and likely later on the weekends. Ryan said the tavern will employ 40 to 50 workers.
Ryan’s Tavern will be an anomaly downtown - a business open past 5 p.m. Currently, only Elder-Beerman, Mehas Music and McDonalds and Riverbank Cafe across the river are open late. However, Ryan said he thinks there’s a demand waiting for those later hours that his business can full.
“People don’t want to have to drive for hours to find a nice place,” he said. Ryan is also banking on some hometown love. “People of Hamilton are loyal to Hamilton business,” he said.
Natural gas rates increase
The city quantified its natural gas increase recently. The average residential customer will pay $12.50 more a month on average when rates raise on May 1. City officials blame the rising cost of almost all forms of energy.
“The prices are what they are and we have to pass it through,” Deputy City Manger Charles Young told me a couple weeks ago.
Despite the 16 percent increase, city officials say rates will still be cheaper than any local competitors. It provides the following chart as proof of its claims.
But $12.50 is still $12.50 a month and some will undoubtably feel the pain of the increase. How are you prepared to pay the extra money?
Side-mounted signals
A contractor has been hired to remove the side-mounted traffic signals on Main Street at the intersections of C, D and E streets.
A federal safety grant is paying for 90 percent of the project, which is expected to top $300,000. Sharon Smigielski, public information officer with the Ohio Department of Transportation, said the change is expected to reduce accidents in those intersections by 70 percent.
She said there were 408 accidents in those intersections in a 3-year period.
The side-mounted signals will switch to the standard signals this construction season.
Will you be sorry to see the side-mounted signals go or have you had one too many close calls from a driver who didn’t see the signals?
Hamilton!
In the mid-1980s, city officials voted unanimously to add an exclamation mark to the city’s name.
Think Yahoo! or Jeopardy! and you’ve got the right idea. Theoretically, Hamilton is the only city in the country to officially have an exclamation mark adopted as part of its name.
Read all about it here.
For the most part, the city has moved past the exclamation mark, but it can still be seen in various places. Take the Welcome Center for example:
Do you have any memories of when Hamilton became Hamilton!…?
Earthquake!
So, apparently the area felt some tremors from a 5.4 magnitude earthquake in the early morning hours today.
Personally, I never even woke up and didn’t notice anything out of place in my sparsely filled apartment.
But did you? What were your reactions if you woke up to the ground moving?
A tale of two firefighters
It’s not quite the best of times and the worst of times, but the stories of John Hansbauer and Chris Gabbard are starkly different. First, it was Hansbauer who got off easy, escaping with various injuries while Gabbard was in a coma. Though, a year later, Gabbard is back with the department and Hansbauer never will be. His injuries were too severe.
You can read about these two men here.
Hamilton Fire Chief Joe Schutte said Wednesday that he is just glad no one died from the accident. He credits the large amount of prayers the community said for the two injured men. A quick glance at the reader’s comments under the article seem to confirm his opinion.
Gas pains
The cheapest gas in Hamilton is, depressingly, $3.35 a gallon. I stumbled across this feature of the JournalNews Web site that compiles Hamilton gas prices with help from gasbuddy.com.
A quick look at gasbuddy shows that the Web site updates every 48 hours with the top 10 cheapest options.
Though, cheapest is just a comparison and not an adjective at this point.
One year later…
Thursday will make one year from the firefighter training accident near the low level dam that critically injured two firefighters.
Four firefighters actually hit the water on April 17, 2007. Two of the firefighters were pulled out the cold water early. However, John Hansbauer spent several minutes in the turbulent water near the dam they not so affectionately call “the boil.” Chris Gabbard would tumble in the boil for 26 tumultuous minutes before he was pulled out.
Once out, Gabbard would be resuscitated three times before he was stable. He would spend the next six weeks in area hospitals recovering.
A year later, Gabbard is on light-duty at the Hamilton Fire Department awaiting doctor’s permission to go back to full duty. However, Hansbauer, who suffered a spinal injury during his few minutes in the border won’t be going back to the department.
Today, I’ll sit down with these two men to recount the last year of their lives and how they’ve changed since that fateful day a year ago. Tune in tomorrow.
John Hansbauer (left) and Chris Gabbard at a press conference in September from a JournalNews file photo.
Preliminary injunction hearing pushed back
The preliminary injunction hearing hoping to prevent the city from attracting new business to its enterprise park has been postponed until Monday, according to Pierre H. Bergeron, who is representing the city as a lawyer with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey.
Al Neyer Inc. filed suit against the city in January, claiming it should be able to purchase remaining land at the park for $18,000 an acre. In March, the city filed claims of its own, seeking punitive damages.
The area is in question is the Hamilton Enterprise Park, which is currently about half full.
For those with a penchant for court documents, you can read Neyer’s original complaint and the city’s response here: Al neyer’s complaints.PDF
Downtown SID
The Downtown Special Improvement District has begun its quest for renewal. It was established in 1996 by city council and renewed in 2002. It’s current renewal is up in summer 2009.
President Tony Traub said that there is little opposition to the SID, but it did drop the self-tax imposed on all property owners within it from $8.66 a square foot to $7.50 a square foot upon renewal. Traub said he hopes this brings all property owners on board.
Mayor Don Ryan touts the SID and as a Downtown property owner sits on its board. Though, a few months ago the local YMCA requested out of the organization citing financial woes. The board said it was not permitted to drop out.
What should be SID’s priorities if property owners renew it in 2009?
A drink, or several, downtown
With several bars in the Downtown area, perhaps they should work together a little.
Personally, I’ve patronized the Riverbank Cafe, 3rd Street Tap and Grille and Easy’s in the Village. Thyme Savor, in the Ohio Casualty building, will begin a wet happy hour on Fridays come May. At some point, Mayor Don Ryan will open Ryan’s Tavern, but that’s a blog for another day.
From my perspective, which is just a few years out of college, the businesses could gain customers and income from a monthly pub crawl. Before you start shouting about the evils of intoxication, hear me out.
For argument’s sake, let’s say Riverbank, Easy’s, Thyme Savor and 3rd Street take part in such a pub crawl. Ryan’s can join when it opens. In the early evening hours, a person purchases a drink at one establishment, drinks it, enjoys the establishment, gets proof of their purchase (usually a bottle cap or coaster) and proceeds to the next establishment on foot and repeats the process. Once they visit each bar, they are rewarded with a t-shirt or some other trinket.
If it gets a few extra people walking around Downtown in the evening, it could be worth it. In addition to the bars, establishments like Elder-Beerman or Mehas Music may also see some benefit.
Easy’s owner and Thyme Savor’s owner have both responded favorably to the idea when I mentioned it to them. But, what do you think?
School diversity
Reporter Linda Ebbing, who covers Hamilton City Schools, sends me the following information you may be interested in.
At redistricting forums concerning boundaries of new schools Wednesday and Thursday, some parents and educators said that the new elementary school, Riverview, should be more diverse. Both Harrison and Jefferson will be the feeder schools to Riverview. They are about 75 percent non-white and some parents argue that the students should be given the opportunity to attend more diverse schools. Administrators haven’t yet responded to the argument.
What do you think? Should children be bused out of their neighborhood so they can go to a diverse school? If you have an opinion on the matter please contact Linda Ebbing at lebbing@coxohio.com
In tow
I’m still not sure where Mike Day got my cell phone number, but it was good to talk to him. Day owns Day’s Towing, one of the city’s four contracted towing and impound services. This explains why he was looking for me. Since Wednesday, I’d called various people about the city considering operating its own impound services.
Admittedly, Day has a lot to lose if the city starts impounding its own vehicles, but he thinks the city is just looking at the paper numbers and not the raw operations work. He said that the city should consider the fact that people try to break into impounded cars to steal stereos and people could attempt to make the city pay for damages to the car while in impound. Scrapping the car is no easier despite the fact that scrap is at its highest value in awhile - about $200 a ton. To scrap a vehicle, all fluids (gasoline, oil, freon, etc.) need to be drained from the car and disposed of in accordance with environmental regulations.
“It’s a time bomb that we hold all the time and we know,” he said.
The Mohawk spat part II
I spent a large part of the afternoon getting audio from Wednesday’s city council meeting. Well, actually, getting the file was the easy part, but getting it from the disc the city gave me to the Web was actually quite cumbersome. There is a roughly 18-minute audio file now available of Mohawk Chief Operating Officer Kevin Richard chastising city council Wednesday.
Access the file here.
I warn you that it is not perfect. The city’s recording program saves files in 5-minute segments, a few spots were lost in the process, but the bulk of his comments are present. To help navigate the long file, here are some areas of potential interest:
3:30 Richard said city’s sources are not supported.
7:00 Richard accuses city of wasteful spending
9:00 Mayor Don Ryan responds
11:00 Richard and Councilman Ed Shelton discuss what kind of jobs Hamilton wants
15:30 Richard expresses concern about other rising utility costs
Additionally, here is the city’s explanation of the riders which caused the electric increase in the first place:
Richard challenged these explanations in his address to council.
The Mohawk spat
“It was a tough meeting last night,” Mayor Don Ryan admitted this morning, April 10.
Wednesday night, city council received an earful from a heated Kevin Richard, the Chief Operating Officer for Mohawk Fine Paper. Richard spent about 20 minutes ripping council for the electric rate hike that took effect at the beginning of March. He questioned the city’s math and said its sources for the hike were “not supported or documented.”
Ryan said Thursday morning that he calmed Richard down following City Council’s meeting and Deputy City Manager Charles Young was meeting with him again this morning. Ryan said Richard had legitimate concerns and the city would work to address them. Mohawk is the city’s largest electric customer and employs about 180 people.
“It’ll be interesting to see how this unfolds over the next couple weeks,” Ryan said.
Ryan said that Hamilton is still the lowest cost provider of energy in the region and Mohawk understands that. However, he said the company just wanted to make sure rate hike was justified and the onus was on the city to convince the company.
“We have to now prove that the increases that our consultants have given us is for the right reasons,” Ryan said.
Matt Maupin Day
Flags will fly at half-mast Friday, April 11, as the city observes Matt Maupin Day.
Vice Mayor Pat Moeller submitted the resolution to council Wednesday evening. He said he got the idea while at Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds where the flags were at half-mast. He said Maupin’s parents had visited Hamilton several times and Matt had become a symbol of the American soldier. The city has honored other sons lost in the war, but not to this extent.
Moeller and Councilman Jim Noonan both expressed desire that the city take this action in the event of any local combat deaths in the future.
The quest for dollars
With the Hamilton’s general fund expected to come up $600,000 short of expenditures in 2008, the city is always looking for an additional revenue source. The prospect of raising income tax isn’t desirable and the process of building up industry to increase the tax base is desirable but neither easy nor quick.
So, where else can money come from?
City officials floated the idea of red light traffic cameras in the fall, but it met with some opposition on council and has yet to take off. Though, there has been some mention of the idea again recently.
Another idea is for the city to follow the lead of Cincinnati and Oxford and own its own vehicle impound lot. Currently, the city contracts out impoundment services to four towing companies. Those companies then make money by charging storage fees and by selling the cars if the owner never comes to pick them up.
“Those are all fees that we could charge if we had our own impoundment lot,” said Capt. Joe Murray, operations commander for the Hamilton Police Department.
While the idea is still in very preliminary stages, Murray said it would change nothing but where people pick up their cars. There’s not even a lot of start up cost to the idea.
“If you have the land, you basically need a fence around it,” he said.
So, in this early stage of discussion, how does it sound to you?
Hydro power
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown has written a letter on Hamilton’s behalf to the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Brown is trying to help urge the commission along to allow city officials to get started on the hydroelectric plant on the Meldahl Lock and Dam on the Ohio River.
Brown’s letter is probably due to the fact that several city officials went to Washington D.C. at the end of February to lobby for support for the project. Timing is everything, City Manager Mark Brandenburger has told me. A year’s delay in the project could cost an estimted $9 million as construction costs continue to rise.
Consequently, Brown urges the commissioner to make a final decision in a “timely manner.”
Up, up and away
The city will increase its natural gas prices by a yet-to-be-determined amount by May 1. This increase will follow the $4.85 a month increase in electric prices that the city announced in March. Rising fossil fuel prices is at least partly to blame on both accounts.
Deputy City Manager Charles Young said that current prices of 83 cents per CCF will remain through the end of the month. However, market prices plus the transportation cost to get the natural gas to Hamilton and the price will be closer to $1 a CCF, he said.
Young said the average Hamilton household uses 835 CCFs a year, with the bulk of that being used between November and March. If my math is correct, the increase will cost the average home about $141 a year.
“The prices are what they are and we have to pass it through,” Young said.
With the heating season now over, the initial impact should be minimal as use will be limited to gas stoves and hot water heaters. Residents on budget billing will likely not see an effect until next year, Young said.
However, Young also said that market indications are that the gas prices will continue to rise and natural gas may have to charge much as $1.10 a CCF by the next heating season. Though, he said the market is very volatile.
“Pick your day that you lock in your price and the next day it’s higher or lower,” he said.
Young said Hamilton has the lowest natural gas rates in Ohio and he predicts that the city will still have the lowest natural gas rates even after the increase. For comparison, Duke Energy uses a rate of about $1.41 a CCF according to numbers provides by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
The JournalNews will continue to update you when the city has concrete numbers. But in the meantime, how is an increase in heating costs going to affect your household? What impact will a loss of $140 a year play in your lives?
Like water
It seems some Hamiltonians are still peeved about the water advisory last week.
Though, response has varied. Resident Jim Coggin informs me, via email, that he gives notification of the advisory a D-. Business owner Terry Schmitt, who closed the Cappuccino Depot on High Street for two days during the advisory, thought the city was using too much precaution. After all, she said, the break was almost in Fairfield. Several people have commented on earlier blog entries that they didn’t receive notification of the advisory until after they drank tap water.
I guess it’s hard to move past something when residents are reminded every time they turn on the tap. Not to mention, that they and their children need water to survive. It seems to suggest that the city should consider its notification methods whether or not current methods are within the boundaries of Ohio law. They are, by the way.
A higher up in Cox Ohio has suggested that the city use the JournalNews and its Internet presence to alert residents.
What do you suggest?
notlimah.com
These days, everyone is carving out their own little piece of the Internet. So, it didn’t really surprise me when I was alerted to notlimah.com. I do give its creators points for creativity. Notlimah is Hamilton spelled backwards.
The beauty of the Internet being anonymity, the site is run by a group of individuals known only as Yvonne, Rebecca and Keith, according to the site’s “About us” page.
When first visiting the page, a flash intro welcomes visitors with greeting “Welcome to notlimah.com. The premiere place on the net about Hamilton. All stories are from people like you about our fair city to bring power to the people. Please stand by…”
I imagine we’re standing by because only a few of the site’s promised amenities are operational, such as the writings of someone dubbed the Poison Pen. The Poison Pen and I have even brushed up against similar subject matter. Though, his spelling, particularly of city officials’ names, could use a little work.
The site is pretty bare at the moment, but should provide a local forum when (or if) it really gets going. Especially, because it offers residents a voice without a face. As the character of Banky notes in the movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, “That’s what the Internet is for: slandering others anonymously. “
It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.
10-4, good buddy
In a newsroom, a police scanner is common background noise, but it’s often difficult to decipher if the operator isn’t frantically speaking in plain English.
For instance, a 10-66 in a 10-59 is a drunk in a bar fight. At least it is in Hamilton. Police codes can vary by department. Officers even have codes for general functions like car wash (10-52) or fuel stop (10-51).
To help understand this jargon, a complete list of the Hamilton’s police codes is is posted to the left of my work computer.
A bored spouse of fellow JournalNews blogger Josh Sweigart, seemed especially amused by the listing and penned the following paragraph:
“We have got a 10-69 that is 10-78 in a 10-80 after 10-47… actually, 10-3 that, it is just Rinaldi on a 10-40 run on his way back to 228 Court St.”
In plain English: ” We have got a mental subject that is leaving the city in a stalled/abandoned vehicle after personal relief… actually, disregard that, it’s just Rinaldi on a meal run on his way back to 228 Court St. (The JournalNews office).”
Though, unless you spend a large amount of time listening to police scanners, I’m not sure how this is helpful. OK, I’m 10-7.
Fore!
“Golf is like a love affair. If you don’t take it seriously, it’s no fun; if you do take it seriously, it breaks your heart.” ~Arnold Daly, American actor.
Hamilton’s love affair with golf hasn’t been pretty in some time. In the 1990s, the city was privileged to own two golf courses and each enjoyed vast crowds. Then, Tiger Woods came along and everyone started picking up the sport. Consequently, more golf courses started being built. As the golf market reached saturation, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, jolted the economy and many people stopped golfing. The result: the city owns two golf courses that have lost more than a quarter million dollars in the past few years.
The problem isn’t limited to Hamilton, but nationwide. Take Brownsville, Texas or Prineville, Or. for instance.
In the effort to get course revenue back to the black, the city has cut a $70,000-a-year management position, raised green fees and will not give any new retired employees free golf.
But as Parks and Recreation Director Bob Harris put it, there’s a good story coming from the golf courses for a change. The city will soon take part in the national First Tee program
The program won’t solve the city’s golf woes, but it will teach values to a group of kids using the game of golf. If it gets the city a few more golfers, Harris said that’s great, but not the main goal.
As he puts it, “It’s going to help improve the image of both golf courses.”
A full story about the First Tee program in Hamilton is coming soon.
Reverse 911
Several Hamilton residents have commented to me since the city’s water boil advisory began that the city needs an automated call system to reach people who don’t routinely watch/read the news media.
Not surprisingly, Hamilton City Manager Mark Brandenburger said that the city does have an automated reverse 911 call system, but opted not to use it for the precautionary advisory.
Why didn’t the city alert residents to the boil advisory with this system? Well, Brandenburger estimates that to reach more than 25,000 water customers through 20 phone lines with a minute-long recorded message it would take upward of 33 hours.
Yes, 33 hours.
“That system would not be very time effective and you’d be waking people up all over town,” Brandenburger said.
He said the city is looking at other options such as allowing utility customers to sign up for volunteer text or email alerts. Though, the efficiency of those methods is questionable as well. Claire Wagner, spokeswoman for Miami University, said only 5,800 of the potential 26,000 students, staff and faculty have signed up for its text alert system since it debuted over the summer.
So, there is no great method, but the city will investigate upgrades, Brandenburger said. For now, he said the city’s alert methods of going through the media were within the boundaries of the law and the same as those utilized by Duke Energy.
“We are not going to send sound trucks up and down the neighborhoods,” Brandenburger said. “That’s just totally inefficient.”
Most of Hamilton can now drink from the tap
Most of Hamilton drank a victory glass of tap water after the city lifted its boil water advisory. However, for 20 homes just south of Miami University Hamilton, the advisory continues.
Gas and Water Director Jim Collins believes that the sample from that area might have been contaminated. The city tested water in more than 70 areas of the city and this was the only positive sample. Without knowing how the pipes are laid, a car would have to drive more than four miles to get from the site of the water main break to the area that’s still under advisory.
Collins said the city has already taken additional samples from the area and has no plans for decontaminate the pipes in the area just yet. He said the city tests there often and results always come out clean. He believes that the samples will give an all clear to the area today.
Still some residents yesterday expressed frustration with the lack of information available. Hamilton resident Nicole Hatten expressed concern the boil water advisory left too many unanswered questions. She wanted to know if it was safe to wash her hands, if water purification systems were effective and if created problems when she was doing her laundry.
Resident Michelle Buchanan also expressed similar concerns and thought the city needed another message to get out the word besides the media.
“Most people I had talked to yesterday weren’t even aware of it,” she said.
We’ll let you know today if the city lifts the advisory for the entire city.
Another day without (tap) water
The boil water advisory continues in Hamilton today. Final bacteria samples were taken yesterday at 4 p.m., but samples have to be given 24 hours to culture or not culture. At which point, the Ohio EPA can give the city an all clear.
This means that businesses are again using bottled water and pop during the lunch rush. Personally, I’ve mistakenly drank the water several times. Though, City Manager Mark Brandenburger assures me that any risk of illness is very minimal and I haven’t come down with anything just yet.
If any readers have become ill from mistakenly drinking the water, I would like to hear about it. Though, I imagine that because all preliminary bacteria tests on the water have come back negative, the worst Hamilton’s residents have experienced from this debacle is some rattled nerves.
We’ll update you here as soon as the boil advisory is lifted.
Trains, trains and automobiles
I spent a few minutes stuck behind a train this morning. In Hamilton, I’m sure I wasn’t alone.
Some 108 trains a day go over the High Street overpass on average and additional trains run on the city’s other tracks.
I get a lot of anonymous phone calls, but I once got one about the abundance of trains in Hamilton. Although he never gave me his name, the caller did bring about an interesting question: What compensation does this city get for all these trains?
City Manager Mark Brandenburger’s answer was equally interesting.
Nothing.
Once upon a time - before interstates and airplanes - it was very beneficial to a city to have rail access. That’s how Chicago became the Mecca of the Midwest. (Coincidentally, Hamilton is nicknamed Little Chicago, but it has more to do with the fact that Chicago mobsters liked to summer here back in the Roaring 20s than it does with railroads).
But in the technological age, CSX owns the railroads and the land around them and just runs its trains through city’s like Hamilton across the county. The city cannot even paint the overpass they sit on.
I understand that knowledge doesn’t make sitting behind a train any easier, but at least know that the city isn’t lining its pockets because of it.
Water boil advisory in Hamilton
I may or may not be drinking tainted coffee right now.
Following a water main break last night the city issued the advisory asking residents and businesses to boil water as a precaution. I knew the city had issued a water boil advisory when I purchased the 16-ounce cup of joe from the Cappuccino Depot on High Street. However, I figured coffee is boiled. No harm. No foul.
A half hour later, I learned that owner Terry Schmitt had received orders from the city’s health department to close until the advisory was lifted. It seems her boilers only heat the coffee to 185 degrees instead of the necessary 212 degrees. Her machines aren’t equipped to use bottle water and it would likely be cost prohibitive if she did.
Lunchtime is nearing and I’ll check with other businesses about how the advisory is affecting them. But, is this water boil advisory affecting you? Do you boil water or use bottled water to brush your teeth? If so, I’d love to hear about it.
Hamilton’s mayor can throw better than your mayor (maybe)
Hamilton Mayor Don Ryan can out-throw at least 60 percent of the mayors around here. Following Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory’s forgettable throw before opening day last year, Cox Ohio Publishing invited mayors and trustee presidents from around the region to test their arms.
If you haven’t seen the video, visit http://www.journal-news.com/news/mplayer/sports/78607 and judge for yourself.
Ryan was one of only four mayors to reach the catcher and that was without removing his sweater. About 10 mayors were featured in the video.
Hamilton Parks and Recreation Director Bob Harris said Ryan has had a little practice throwing out the first pitch before more than one City of Hamilton Night at Great American Ballpark.
Though, Harris wasn’t yet sure if Ryan would be throwing the heater again at this year’s City of Hamilton Night on June 10.
