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Former Police Chief Matthew Fruchey had a proclamation read by Mayor Joe Hubbard at the Village of Glendale Council meeting on Monday, June 4. Mayor Hubbard spoke of the accomplishments made by Chief Fruchey during his seven-plus years of service to Glendale. There was a presentation of his gun to Mr. Fruchey. Mr. Fruchey spoke about his replacement, Police Chief Dave Warman. If other chiefs had had him as a number two man, there would be a lot of happy police chiefs, explained Mr. Fruchey. He also thanked former Mayor Thomas Todd and others who have made his job easier. He could not have done it without them, according to Mr. Fruchey.

Council passed the ordinance to promote David LeCompte to Lieutenant. Mayor Hubbard swore in Lt. LeCompte and then presented him to Council. Police Chief Warman said he and former Police Chief Fruchey had seen Officer LeCompte at a session where he was teaching. They were so impressed with his skills. Chief Warman feels that this is the best thing that came to the department since Chief Fruchey.

Council also passed the ordinance to hire Sheldon Rox as a full-time patrol officer. They found him at the Indianapolis Police Academy and was overwhelmed by his experience. He has a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a doctorate in theology. He brings a diverse background to the department. Since he was unable to attend, he will be sworn in later.

There were three other ordinances passed: to pay VPGI appropriated and emergency repair bills; one to establish a fund for the police department to accept gifts and another fund for the fire department to accept gifts. Mayor Hubbard said that these department receive gifts and he would like to see it put into a special fund.

Mayor Hubbard provided his report. He spoke about a Municipal League Meeting which was presented by the President of the Municipal League out of Columbus. The person spoke about the bill related to help AT&T use their phone lines for cable usage. The Village now makes about $20,000 a year from Time Warner Cable. This would not happen if the bill goes through. ICRC would be gone as well. The Ohio Supreme Court is attempting to eliminate Mayor’s Courts in Ohio. The Village uses a magistrate. It is hard to say how this will affect the Village. The speaker also had spoken about school funding initiative. The school district is in support of more consistent funding. This may not end up on the ballot.

Mayor Hubbard’s report continued. They are looking for a replacement for Jack Howard on the Planning Commission. He sent a letter of resignation. Mr. Howard was a prime mover of the published guideline. Five people have stepped up to apply for the position. Mayor Hubbard will try to set up interviews on a Saturday. Mayor Hubbard and Walter Cordes met with the Erickson Retirement Communities group (Landmark development). The representative spoke about the latest plan for the property. They made some changes to the plan. They intend to have 1500 units, 350 assisted living units. The expected payroll is $30 million. This community will be split between Evendale and Glendale. Mayor Hubbard said this will be a 1/3 increase in the tax structure to the Village. This will be a gated community with the main entrance off of Glendale-Milford Road. Mr. Cordes and Mayor Hubbard also met with the business development manager of Hilliard, Ohio, Mr. Meeks. Mr. Meeks also came down and met with some others from Council and Planning Commission. He informed them about how they can deal with the developer of the project. Mr. Meeks provided information that will help the Village through the process. The developer will have a representative at a meeting on June 13 at 7:00 to talk about the latest plans. All are welcome to the meeting. They will be in Evendale the evening prior.

Dr. William Aronstein stated that the Finance Committee did not meet but will hold a meeting to review the budget halfway through the year. The Law Committee met and reviewed the changes to the parking ordinances. The discussion was not finished and that is why the ordinances needed to be tabled. Another item that they looked at was a bed and breakfast business in Glendale. They received an ordinance from Lebanon related to bed and breakfast businesses. They want to review this and go over it at the next meeting. Dr. Aronstein asked Chief Warman and Finney to talk to the police and fire departments about how they are affected by this type of business.

Jenny Kilgore reported that the Fire Department is working on their training. They also are working on standard operating procedures, they hope to present them in July. The Fire and Police Department will be working on inter-department training. Capt. Tungate has invited citizens and the rest of the departments to the Friday evening grill-outs at Town Hall. They usually start about 6:00 pm.  

Chief Michael Finney said it was a busy month for the Fire Department. They had about 20 runs along with doing inspections and fire hydrant testing. Some members of the department are ready for the Firefighter 1 test. It has been a group effort. Chief Finney had the opportunity to work a live burn at Scarlet Oaks with the crew.  

Debbie Grueninger stated that there were two Police Committee meetings in May. At the first meeting they discussed the process for the selection of a lieutenant and a replacement for the person who is promoted. The report for the CLEAN Team was given. They have been active with 30 properties in Glendale. The cost to replace the roof on the Police Department came in $7,000 less than thought. The department had to replace two guns (one went to Chief Fruchey) and have to paint a cruiser that was damaged by the roof leak. At the second meeting Police Chief Warman asked to have everyone meet the candidates for the lieutenant position and the full-time patrol position. Committee members were asked to submit questions to the candidate for the lieutenant position. They were impressed with the comments and  gave their recommendation for the slot. Chief Warman and Mayor Hubbard feels that Dave LeCompte would be the best replacement for the lieutenant position. The Ad Hoc committee for the quiet zone has been selected. It is a very good group, according to Ms. Grueninger. They should have their recommendations made by January.

Police Chief Dave Warman thanked all who helped with the ordinance for shrubs and grass. An officer walked the sidewalks to look for overhanging limbs. The officer does not want to cite, but ask residents to clean up the limbs and shrubbery. So far people are cooperating, there has been a lot of brush out on the streets. It has been a busy month. There is an increase in traffic, probably due to the construction on I-75 and I-275. Be prepared for Duke Energy’s replacement with new gas mains in Glendale. They will be doing about 20 streets. Duke will notify residents in advance about when they will be on their street. Work should start in late July.

Ephriam Swafford announced that the Streets Committee will meet at 7:00 pm on June 19. The discussion will be about connecting sidewalks on Sharon Avenue and other matters.

Monica Alles-White noted that the Harry Whiting Brown organization was meeting this same evening. The GYS (Glendale Youth Sports) organization met on May 8. They looked into the request for damages but realize that they need to do a more formal inventory from now on. As for trophies, some groups will get a bobblehead, some will get trophies and others will get sports medals. All teams are doing well. They meet on the second Tuesday of the month. At future meetings they want to talk about reaching out to the Hispanic community and marketing strategies for the organization.

Mr. Cordes informed everyone that the water plant is under budget.

Mr. Swafford asked if Evendale EMS would be better to answer calls at the new development (once built). Chief Finney said that they have a good relationship with the Evendale Fire Department and will work together to work out details.

Carol Muntz reported for the Princeton District. She noted that there have been a number of meetings. They continue to report on the Glendale Elementary progress. They have found lots of surprises and it may not be ready for this fall. It may open a semester later.

As far as the levy survey, it did not go well. Neither did the telephone survey. The results were not positive. The district intends to have an educational process to educate why the levy is needed for the middle/high school. The next meeting on June 25 at 7:00 pm should be the meeting where they will vote for the schools to be built or not.

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