Developer wants to restore historic Hamilton mill with apartments, retail space
Developer Bloomfield/Schon wants to restore the historic Shuler & Benninghofen Woolen Mill in Hamilton’s Lindenwald neighborhoods, to outfit it with apartments and retail space.
Under details City Manager Joshua Smith provided Hamilton City Council on Wednesday, the project would include a $20 million investment from the developer in the 127-year-old facility. The project would include 100 “1+ bedroom apartments,” at least 10,000 square feet of commercial space and 50 indoor parking spaces.
The developer wants the city to buy the property for $650,000 and hold it while Bloomfield/Schon seeks national and state historic tax credits and a new type of incentive called Transformational Mixed Use Development Credits. If the developer lands those credits, the city would sell the property to the developer for $1. Smith in a report to council said the project would improve what now is a four-acre eyesore in a key Lindenwald area.
Attorneys set to argue ‘bar fight’ statement ahead of murder trial for Middletown man
A man accused in a fatal assault at a Middletown bar will be back in Butler County Common Pleas Court today for a final hearing before his trial that is scheduled to begin on Monday.
Brian Ingram, 52, is charged with murder and felonious assault after allegedly punching and kicking a man on Feb. 25 at Billy T’s on Tytus Avenue.
The man Ingram allegedly assaulted, Phillip Taulbee, 56, of Middletown, died a day after the incident at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.
West Chester firefighters coping after string of tragedies, including triple fatal fire and murder-suicide
West Chester Twp. firefighters and paramedics have responded to a string tragedies over the past week, and counseling sessions have been scheduled for next week to make sure they are coping with the stress.
This week, despite efforts to save them, three people died after a fire in the Princeton Crossing mobile home park. Thomas Kozee Sr., 80; Carole Kozee, 77; and Jennipher Kozee, 56, died at area hospitals after the fire. Smoke inhalation was ruled as the preliminary cause of death for each.
A firefighter in his 40s went to the hospital suffering severe dehydration and kidney problems. He was still in ICU Wednesday afternoon but if tests went well might be released.
‘Optimism’ on exhibit during local chamber’s 1st post pandemic Business Expo
WEST CHESTER TWP. — One the largest business expos in the region attracted a crowd Tuesday and exhibited something not seen much since the spring 2020 onset of coronavirus — optimism.
That was the general mood among the hundreds of public visitors to Lakota West High School who came to walk through and view dozens of area business exhibitions for the first West Chester/Liberty Chamber Alliance Business Expo since 2019.
“It’s unbelievable and better than we expected,” said Joe Hinson, president and CEO of the chamber, as he took a short break from the expo housed in the giant, main atrium area of the West Chester Twp. high school.
Setting the budget: Butler County planned revenues for 2022 exceed expenses by $6.5 million
Butler County has maintained a structurally balanced budget for a decade but next year budgeted revenues exceed expenditures by $6.5 million, not including a $37.2 million windfall from the federal government.
The commissioners approved the $106.7 million general fund tax budget Monday which is well below projected revenues of $113.3 million. A structurally balanced budget means officials don’t dip into reserves to balance the budget. The county expects to begin the year with $112.8 million in carryover.
The commissioners asked everyone to hold expenses to 2019 actual spending, but County Administrator Judi Boyko said few strictly followed that directive. General fund expenses in 2019 totaled $100.4 million.
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Vaccine incentives: Miami students offered hockey tickets, laptops, free tuition and more
Officials from Miami University have taken a page from state officials’ playbook in offering prizes as incentive for students returning to campus in August to get a coronavirus vaccination.
School officials are offering more than 80 “prizes” to full-time students returning to classes at the main Oxford campus and the regional schools in Hamilton and Middletown.
“Because vaccination remains our most effective and important tool to fight the spread of COVID-19, we want students to get vaccinated and report that they received their vaccinations,” said Miami President Gregory Crawford.