M I N U T E S
The Village of Evendale
Special Council Meeting
August 2, 2005
The Village of Evendale held a Special Council Meeting at 5:00 on August 2, 2005. The meeting was called to order by Vice President of Council J. Jeffrey Albrinck. Upon roll call, the following members were present: Mr. Chris Schaefer, Mrs. Carolyn Smiley-Robertson, Mr. Jeff Albrinck, and Mr. Stiney Vonderhaar. Mrs. Catherine Hartman and Mr. Bill Puthoff, Jr. were absent and excused. Also present was: Assistant to the Mayor, Jack Cameron, Economic Developer, Linda Fitzgerald, and Village Clerk, Michelle Ficke.
Carolyn Smiley-Robertson explained that Council would review the Reading Road Revitalization Plan that was submitted by Poggemeyer in November of 2004. The report recommended that Council review the report every six months to prioritize and implement the plan. The goal of tonight’s meeting is to begin to prioritize and implement the Reading Road Revitalization Plan.
Mr. Schaefer was concerned that all of the council members were not present. Linda Fitzgerald explained that Bill Puthoff is on CIC and would see the exact same presentation at the CIC meeting. She also said that she would invite Catherine Hartman to attend the CIC meeting so that she could be informed as well. Carolyn Smiley-Robertson explained that this meeting is to gather information and make suggestions and discuss how to move forward. Mr. Albrinck stated that it is not to identify and prioritize as much as to keep the momentum going so that council continues to focus on the report. He said that we need to keep things moving.
Linda Fitzgerald explained that many factors play a role in what can be implemented such as budget, timelines, and who is responsible for each part of the plan. Some of the recommendations require hiring outside consultants and some can be done using staff in-house. There were 18 items listed on the board for council to discuss and review.
1. Access Management Plan (P. 32-33) an engineering firm would be retained to do an access management study. Mr. Schaefer stated that Planning Commission is currently reviewing access for the Evendale Commons development and if we have a new access plan, we could freeze things as is and the engineering firm’s recommendations could be followed when we receive a new access management plan. He felt that this should be done soon so it could direct Planning Commission in evaluating access for Evendale Commons. Linda Fitzgerald stated that this is a good example of how to clarify the goals listed in the report. Mr. Schaefer stated that Council will consider the adoption of the subdivision plan for Evendale Commons this month. There is a turn lane into the development that goes back to Arby’s and down.
Planning Commission wanted to know the impact of this since Glendale-Milford Rd would need to be widened at a huge cost. If Evendale had an Access Plan we would have the ability to better control access.
2. Street Scaping (pg. 36-39) Mr. Schaefer stated that the recommended plans for the entrance off of Reading Road into Evendale Commons is to remove three or four islands that already exist in order to save seconds going into the development from Reading Road. Ms. Fitzgerald reminded everyone to keep the focus on the entire corridor. Mrs. Smiley-Robertson added that if the final subdivision plan opposes the Reading Road Revitalization plan, it is a concern. Ms. Fitzgerald said that all but three of the requirements were met and that money will be given to the Village (approximately $50,000) for beautification elsewhere if the islands are removed. Mrs. Smiley-Robertson was concerned that the islands already exist and was concerned about removing them. Ms. Fitzgerald said that a Landscape Architectural Firm
would probably be hired to develop Street Scaping and reminded everyone that the Reading Road Revitalization Plan is simply a wish list and that the report is very fluid. We already have a grant for money for gateway signage.
3. Pedestrian Path (p. 40-41). Ms. Fitzgerald stated that she had spoken to Mary Lou Isaac from the Recreation Commission about pedestrian pathways. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has funds available and we need to prioritize and get costs for implementing the plan.
4. Gateway Entrances (p. 41-43) Linda Fitzgerald stated that $50,000 has been granted to the Village through a grant from Cincinnati Garden Center for gateway entrances. The Village has purchased the Burr property at the south east end of Reading Road for signage. Now it is hard to tell when you enter Evendale on the South end of Reading Road.
5. Number 5, 6, and 7 were combined to be one. It was determined that Land Use Plan, Overlay District and Design Guidelines, and Update Village Zoning Code would fall under one unit: to develop a Village Wide Master Plan. Mr. Schaefer said that branding the community ties in with Updating the Zoning Code. Schaefer said that Zoning and Land Use must be written to determine how land is going to be used. Mr. Albrinck said that the Master Plan would decide branding. Ms. Fitzgerald said that the same consultant can do Master Plan and marketing plan. It is possible for a different consultant to handle the Market portion of the plan. Mr. Schaefer explained that you should brand then implement but you need a Land Use Plan and Zoning Updates before you can develop a marketing plan. You would hire someone to do
branding and land use simultaneously.
The Mayor arrived at 5:50 pm from a previous appointment.
Mr. Schaefer stated that the access management plan was necessary to help in the development of the Evendale Commons subdivision and that an access study is needed for the entrance at Reading Road. The Master Plan ties into this. Mr. Vonderhaar stated that he wanted to see diversity in the branding of the Village.
8. Land banked Properties (p. 27-30) this would be to look at the properties we currently have land banked and consider the best use for them.
9. Civic Center (p. 21) Preserve or develop an adaptive plan for reuse.
10. P.G. Graves (0. 22) consider the redevelopment of P. G. Graves. When asked who does Land Use Development Planning , Ms. Fitzgerald said Edwards and Kelsey or KZF. Mr. Schaefer said that the Land Use Plan needs to be done first then Zoning Updates. It would take 8-12 months to develop.
11. Branding/Marketing Plan. . Potential brands would be medical, life-science, education, family destination, Gorman, sports, Northland.
12. Facilitate Evendale Crossing Redevelopment (p. 26 – 27)
13. Expansion of Evendale Surgical Center. Phase I is finished and Phase II includes a 20,000 square foot building. They are interested in putting medical buildings on Reading Road.
14. Underutilized properties on Reading Road.
15. Attract Senior Housing to Evendale.
16. Property Maintenance Code developed and enforced.
17. Gorman Heritage Farm (p. 30)
18. Walkways along Mill Creek (p. 32)
Mr. Schaefer said that we need a consultant for Village Wide Access because it goes hand in hand with traffic flow. Mrs. Smiley-Robertson said we need to focus on what needs to be done and who sets the direction. Mr. Schaefer said the consultant works with council in his opinion because Planning Commission has twenty to thirty hours into the Subdivision Plan and then it’s dropped in front on Council to decide whether or not it should be adopted. Mayor Apking agreed that Council should work with the consultants and then it should be taken to CIC and Planning Commission. Council ultimately should be responsible. Mr. Albrinck said that Council has to set and define the branding and that cannot be left for CIC and Planning Commission to decided. Gordon Geraci from Otterbein Road asked how you can restrict the branding to one field such as
medical. In the real world, what if medical is not interested in locating here. It was determined that if the Village does not control the branding that the branding will happen to the Village. Linda Fitzgerald said that a branding consultant could identify the niches that are already here and build on those. Mrs. Smiley-Robertson said that she would like to see a branding plan by the end of the year. Ms. Fitzgerald said it could be done in two months. Mr. Albrinck said there is a sense of urgency to get the branding completed.
The next step was to vote on what things from the list of 18 should be focused on. The top seven were: 1. Branding/Marketing plan; 2. Development of a Master Plan which includes Land Use, Overlay District and Design Guidelines and Zoning Update; 3. Land uses for land banked properties; 4. Identifying underused Reading Road properties and plan for adoptive reuse tied with Evendale Crossing Redevelopment; 5. Review Access Management Recommendations tied with Expansion of Surgical Center continued; 6. Property maintenance code tied with Streetscape recommendations; 7. Preserve Civic Center plan tied with Senior Housing attracted to Evendale.
Mayor Apking asked that he be authorized to go out and get consultants to get the ball moving at the August 11th Council Meeting. Mr. Schaefer stressed the importance for Council to be able to get information from consultants.
Mayor Apking said he would like to receive RFPs or RFQs for Branding and Access Management consultants by September and RFQs for consultants for Management of Master Plan or comprehensive plan by October The RFP would include descriptive language of what project is including deadlines. Mr. Albrinck said that streetscape, access, pedestrian pathways need to be addressed because of the timeline with Evendale Commons. Mr. Schaefer discussed access issues and how they are inter-related from Kingsport to Medallion Drive.
There being no further business to come before council, a motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Schaefer, seconded by Mr. Albrinck and unanimously approved. Council adjourned at 7:10 pm.
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Mayor
Attest:
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Village Clerk
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