Minutes of Committee Meeting
Police Department, Village Engineer, Service Department
Gorman Farm
May 3, 2005
The meeting of the Evendale Council Committee for Police Department, Village Engineer, Service Department, and Gorman Farm was called to order at 7:00 pm. Councilmembers Hartman, Puthoff and Schaefer were present. Also present were Jeff Ficke, Gary Goosman, Jack Cameron and Chief Foust during portions of the meeting.
Gorman Farm
Gary Goosman and Jeff Ficke reported on the progress of the foundation in a range of activities.
1) Gary Goosman reported that talks continue with the Cincinnati Nature Center to discuss the future of the Trossett property. No final decisions have been made. One potential issue is the ongoing support by the Trosset family of $200.00 per month. This covers the minimal expense to keep the property from deteriorating. If the property is transferred, this is expected to end. The Gorman Heritage Farm Foundation anticipates that if the Trosset property is acquired, it would be used to house summer interns. Perhaps it would be offered for use of one of the Foundation employees as part of a benefits package. Councilmember Bill Puthoff noted that one of the three lots making up the Trosset property has been offered for sale. A builder has the rights to the lot and is
looking to build a house on the property. At the Griffin Farm Committee meeting the issue of moving wild flowers on the lot was discussed. Gary Goosman noted that one idea was to move the wild flowers to the Gorman Farm. At this point, no Village action is required.
2) Gary Goosman also discussed the fund raising strategy which the Gorman Heritage Farm Foundation is developing. Individuals are targeted for memberships, event admission fees, direct mail, memorials, major gifts and endowments. Sponsorships and grants are being sought from the corporate community. Foundations and governments provide grants, contracts and work place giving. Five year goals for each of these areas have been established. The Foundation has had some success in obtaining the Sara Lee grant for the April Shear Fest.
The Foundation is putting in place financial policies, gift acceptance policies, and investment strategies to handle gifts. It has been accepted as a member of Community Shares which is a united way type organization which accepts and distributes payroll deductions. A team for making personal solicitations is not yet fully formed. Gary noted that on average it takes twelve years from time of the decision of a person to leave a bequest to a charity until the bequest becomes a reality. About 10% of people make charitable gifts in their wills. Most gifts are made to charities with whom the decedent had interaction of some sort during their lives.
3) The Foundation is holding a Rise and Shine breakfast with officials from Cincinnati State with the hope of partnering the Foundation with Cincinnati State’s horticultural program.
4) The pole barn expansion is proceeding so that all the equipment can be removed from the bank barn. The bank barn will then be available for presentations to school groups. Currently school groups are booked for every available day through the end of the year.
Settler’s Lodge
(formerly Lodge of Evendale)
Michael and Thomas Toensmeyer, the developers of the proposed senior housing facility met with the committee. The Lodge of Montgomery insisted that the name be changed to avoid confusion. The Toensmeyers agreed to rename the proposed facility Settler’s Glen. The facility would be located on the site of the former Rinks/Churchill building which Evendale acquired a couple of years ago. The developers are looking for feed back from Village officials in order to determine how or whether the facility will move forward. The developers commented that they received 14 written positive responses and four additional verbal positive responses from Evendale residents. Councilmembers Puthoff and Hartman commented that they have had feed back from some residents that the cost of the facility is too high. The
developers responded that on a ten year analysis, the cost of this facility is less than the cost of several similar types of facilities in surrounding communities. Most persons considering this facility ignore the fact that in other facilities the initial payment depreciates as much as 70%. In Settler’s Glen, the plan is that a minimum of 90% of the initial investment would be recovered by the resident/investor following sale of the lease to the new resident/investor. The developers indicated that interest has been in the more expensive units, not the less expensive studio units.
Another concern expressed by Councilmember Hartman is the lack of medical support which would make this a final home for the residents. There is no assisted living. Eventually, as infirmity increases with age, the residents would have to relocate into facilities with assisted living capability. The developers responded that two/thirds of those from Evendale with interest in the facility are couples and the interest in the facility is due to the fact that it is not perceived as a final home. The concern in the community about whether this is the best use for this Village owned land was also discussed.
Councilmember Schaefer reported that he has discussed with planning commission a plan which would fit this facility into the existing zoning plan with some modification to the zoning requirements. The problem for the developers is that, have no ownership interest in the property, they have no standing to ask for consideration of a zone change for the property. After some discussion, the committee unanimously agreed that a straw poll of Councilmembers before a recommendation from the Planning Commission is not in the best interest of the developers or the Village. The only items the Council has authority to vote upon is the land sale and the zoning change. The zoning change would obviously have to occur before any sale. Without a Planning Commission determination of the effect of the proposed zoning change
on other properties in the Village, a straw poll of Councilmembers may well be misleading. The Committee recommends that the Mayor take an initial look at all the issues and determine whether to request that the Planning Commission consider a zone change. If the Mayor is so inclined, this will begin the process toward approval or rejection of the zoning change by Council. If the Mayor decides not to initiate the zoning change, the issue will end with the Mayor.
Police Department
Chief Foust, as a follow up to the April meeting, presented a packet of material on employee drug testing. It contained surveys of twenty-five local governmental units in southwest Ohio. Twelve of the twenty-five only had random drug testing for employees required to have CDL licenses as mandated by federal law. Evendale falls into this category. Eight of the twenty-five have random drug testing for safety /service employees. Five communities had no random drug testing policies. Chief Foust recommended adoption of the Sharonville drug testing program. Employers with these policies have seen a reduction in risk liability costs and worker compensation costs. Since the Committee had not received the material prior to the meeting, further consideration of the proposal was deferred until the June
committee meeting.
At that point the committee recessed and went to the Fire Department for a demonstration of the new taser weapons purchased for each police officer. Officer Abrams explained how the taser works. The features of the devise were explained. Injuries from taser use are generally caused by the person being tased injuring him or herself during a fall to the ground. Following the explanation, Officer Abrams used the weapon on Officer Shope with the predictable result. Unlike mace or other types of force, Officer Shope, although somewhat shaken, was able to continue his presentation immediately after the end of the demonstration.
Other Issues
Following the recess, Jack Cameron had two items for the Committee. First he indicated that the new website will be available to the public beginning in about two weeks. Finally, the Anchor property tenant is Wal-Mart.
The meeting adjourned at 9:20 pm.
Approved:
Councilmember Hartman
Councilmember Puthoff
Councilmember Schaefer
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