Serving These Communities
Covering the Valley Since 1982
The City of St. Bernard held their Council meeting on Thursday, February 19. Mayor
Bill Burkhardt was the first to report. He pointed out that the Mayor’s Court total
disbursements were $5,574. The City is accepting sign-
Walter St. Clair spoke about the resolution to establish a separate FEMA Fund as required. The City received $73,032 for expenses occurred by Hurricane Ike in September. He also informed everyone about the ordinance to provide additional appropriations to various funds. Mr. St. Clair stated that a letter, based on the advice of Bond Counsel, was sent to the Note Registrar calling for the redemption of the $1.5 million land acquisition taxable bond anticipation notes. The date of redemption will be April 1 to allow the registrar time to provide the required 30 day notice to the note holders.
Rodney Chatman reminded citizens that the next Neighborhood Block Watch meeting will be March 5 at 6:30 pm. He also spoke about the St. Bernard Weight Loss Challenge, in which the Safety Department, Recreation Department and hopefully other departments as well will participate. The idea is to look at team weight only, no one will have to be weighed in front of everyone. The program will begin March 14 and end on April 25. Anyone interested should contact Mr. Chatman.
Phil Stegman said the bid opening for the roof of the Municipal Building was held on February 18. Mr. Stegman wants to give Council some spreadsheets and be placed on the COW agenda to discuss the bids.
Ed Geiser handed out a copy of the City’s income to date. He will keep Council informed as things proceed throughout the year as to how income is coming in. He has received a lot of good feedback about the online tax tool. Mr. Geiser reminded taxpayers that they still have to send in their signed returns with the attachments. They are still getting responses to the letters sent out to those who did not file. Mr. Geiser updated Council as to the adjustments being made to records from 1989 to 1999. They completed that on Monday, this allows them to run a function that is to run every month to update the penalties and interest on outstanding balances. When Mr. Geiser took office, he found that it had not be run since 2005. The software manufacturer had explained that the records had to be adjusted before it could be run. That is why the department is proceeding as it is. They can now send out balance due letters back to 2000, which will be done shortly. There are 210 individual accounts with an outstanding balance of over $80,000. The Tax Department will have to deal with these issues and clean up records. Mr. Geiser showed Council a stack of envelopes that came back from the calendars sent out. He noted that this is why the department needs to have the landlord and tenant laws enforced to know who is moving in and out of homes.
Don Tobergte provided the Service Committee report. The City received $264 for recycling
in December. Mr. Tobergte purchased 1000 recycling stickers which he donated to the
City. Anyone using garbage cans or other containers for recycling can call the City
Garage at 242-
Kevin Meier noted that he met with the President of CMC Properties, a large local developer. They develop apartment complexes, retail and office spaces. They also build incubators. The developer is familiar with St. Bernard and the community. The discussion included how the rental market has show that apartment communities now have ten to 15 percent vacancies, normally they are five to ten percent. The City was given compliments for using the architects for the drawings of the buildings at Bertus and Vine, and Mitchell and Vine. Mr. Meier presented how the costs would be per square footage for different building ideas. The ideas would include a strong restaurant anchor for people to go after a ball game.
The meeting with CMC Properties included a rental market for upscale apartments. They would target the professionals who work at hospitals or P&G. Mr. Meier would like to see projects prioritized and will bring all his information to the next CIC meeting, February 25 at 6:00 pm. He recommended all citizens interested in what is happening in St. Bernard to attend.
Mike Peck announced a Laws, Contracts and Claims Committee for March 12 at 6:30 pm to discuss safety of crowds attending live performances.
Peggy Brickweg informed everyone of the importance of the City submitting proposals for projects to obtain funds from the federal stimulus bill. OKI is expected to receive $30 million for Ohio projects. The projects must be shovel ready, transportation related, create and/or retain jobs and have to be located on classified roadways. Ms. Brickweg provided the details to Gerald Wiedmann.
Sue Kathman read two letters. The first was from Norm Miller who thanked the City for its attempts to attract business such as Graeters. He also felt that the City should have continued with an updated Bertus Street Park. It would have drawn in new professional homebuyers, would help make it a more walkable community, and would have improved property values. Mr. Miller felt that there are other parks the City could capitalize on. He suggested town homes along Vine Street. He urged the planning of a walkable community vision with people able to walk to get coffee or ice cream and usable parks. He suggested tree lined streets with benches for people to sit on. He noted that the City has turned into a strip mall environment with all the historical buildings destroyed. Now is the time to plan a to make St. Bernard a desirable place to live.
The second letter thanked the Police and Fire Departments for their help when the resident fell.
Council passed the resolution to establish a new FEMA fund. They tabled the ordinance to provide for a loan agreement between the City and the CIC. Council passed the ordinances to approve the editing of the codified ordinances; to allow the contract for purchase of road salt; and to have the Auditor to provide additional appropriations.
Under Old Business, Mr. Meier asked to have the loan agreement ordinance placed on the COW agenda.
Under New Business, Mr. Meier spoke about the economic stimulus package that was signed last week. There are a number of tax incentives for promotion of energy savings and green jobs. Some include using tax credits for new furnaces, windows, weatherization and insulation to provide more energy efficiency. There are also provisions for public housing repairs and energy efficient rehabs. There is money in the plan for the Neighborhood Stabilization Programs to rebuild or rehab homes. Mr. Meier also explained how residents can go the Hamilton County Auditor’s web page to challenge the value of your property. The instructions on the page are very easy to follow.
Ms. Brickweg informed residents that they will not get checks in the mail for the stimulus package, it is something that will be on the tax return at the end of the year to get a credit. Ms. Brickweg still does not have the final numbers on what St. Bernard will get from the county for foreclosures.