March 2005

SUMMIT MEETING NOTES

March 10, 2005

Location: McAuley High School

ACTION ITEMS

The key action items as agreed to in this meeting are as follows:

ATTENDEES: (See Abbreviation Key)

 ABSENT:

CH Library
CCHMC (there was a conflict with a CCHMC meeting)
Aiken HS
Pleasant Hills Elementary
 

AGENDA

Gathering and Introductions

Agenda Review & Modification

Review of Minutes from Last Month’s Meeting

Prayer

Special Announcements

Review of Action Items from Last Month’s Meeting

Hamilton/North Bend Update

NRSA Update

Streetscape Update

Surveillance Camera Update

Website Update

Community Events

General Announcements

DISCUSSION:

1.   Review of Feb Minutes – by Tom Haid

The minutes for the Feb meeting were agreed to, with no further corrections.

2.   Special Announcements – by everyone

·        Phyllis reminded everyone about the Margaret Garner opera excerpts to be performed at CHPC on Friday evening, and gave everyone a copy of a flyer with details.

·        Elizabeth shared that Ohio Senator Mark Mallory has rented the old Salt Upholstery building as his mayoral campaign HQ.   He plans a College Hill preview party on Friday, March 11, from 4-7 pm, to which local residents are invited.   The Grand Opening will be on Saturday, March 12.  Elizabeth does not endorse any particular candidate, but encouraged everyone to visit the HQ and welcome our new neighbor.

·        Elizabeth passed out a flyer on this year’s College Hill cleanup day, which will be Saturday, April 23.  She will be sending out the flyer on email as well.  Old gym/tennis shoe collection will the same day; the shoes will be ground up to make playground equipment and ground cushioning for play areas.   Breakfast for participants will be provided from Panera Bread.   A copy of the flyer is attached.

·        Tom Strothers reminded everyone that the next concert in the Cabin Fever series will be March 26^th at Twin Towers Gulden Hall at 7 pm, and will feature the group Changeling, which does Celtic music.

·        Tom reminded everyone of the College Hill Sampler on Saturday, May 28, which will be a Mountain Dulcimer/Folk Music Festival.    Jean Ritchie will be the featured artist, who is a singer and instrumentalist specializing in the Mountain Dulcimer.

·        Karen Hartman told everyone that tickets are still available for the raffle.

3.   Review of Action Items from Feb Meeting – by Tom Haid

(A) Get previous meeting minutes posted on the website – Ron has sent the minutes to John Cell, asking him to post them on the CollegeHill.info website.   There were some questions about using this website versus the CollegeHillOhio.org website, and Elizabeth informed us that CollegeHillOhio.org is not yet completely ready to take over all of the functions done previously by the CollegeHill.info website.   We agreed that in the short term Summit members should probably use both websites.   Valerie will follow up with Ron to ask that Summit minutes also be sent to Pam Menges for posting on CollegeHillOhio.org.

(B) Resend Dec/Jan minutes to Carol Lyon – this item was done.

(C) Review of McAuley student website design – the meeting is set for 3:30 pm on March 10.

(C) Set up community ribbon-cutting planning committee – Mike Battoclette has agreed to handle this item for the Forum, in conjunction with the streetscape committee.

(D)            Convene a meeting to plan the process for updating the Summit Mission/Vision – This has not been done.   Ron & Valerie plan to follow up on it after Ron returns from his trip out of the country.

(E)            Ministerium to share their mission in regard to College Hill community with Summit – Fr. George shared that the Ministerium has not had been able to address this topic yet in one of their meetings, but will soon.   Fr. George asked that Ron call him to schedule the specific Summit meeting where the follow up discussion will take place.

(F) Inform Phyllis about date/time for streetlight turn-on – this was accomplished.

(G)            Community leaders continue to provide expectation feedback to Ministerium – this item was intended to encourage everyone to not wait for Summit meetings, but to contact Fr. George directly if there are additional expectations.   Fr. George reinforced that.

4.   CHCURC Director of Development (DOD) – by Beth McLean & Elizabeth Sherwood

CHURC and Forum need support in continuing to fund the DOD position.    Beth reported that the CHCURC Fund Raising Committee is working on this, with the following specifics:

Ø      CHG has donated $1000 toward DOD

Ø      Elizabeth indicated that Forum has decided that proceeds from the Rhythm Race will go to help support the DOD position.  The race will be June 10.   Forum is spending $1500 to put on the race, and was able to donate $6000 last year.   Volunteers are needed to assist in the race.    Forum believes the DOD position is absolutely critical to the ongoing development of College Hill.

Ø      Beth suggested that smaller organizations in College Hill consider making small donations toward DOD, and asked that anyone interested in doing this please contact her.

Ø      Individuals wanting to make donations may do so through the Forum.

Ø      Forum is looking for corporate sponsorship/donations as well.

Ø      Tom Strothers said that any money raised from the Cabin Fever series above expenses and 25% seed money for future events will go back to the community in donations to things such as DOD.

Carol shared that the situation is very tight right now, and that they are managing from paycheck to paycheck.

5.      Hamilton/North Bend Update – by Marty Weldishofer

v     On Feb 8, the zoning was changed to help create a pedestrian friendly environment.

v     In March, the City Administration requested an ordinance approval from the Finance Committee, that would appropriate $800,000 for College Hill earmarked for the Linden Park Commons Development.   It was unanimously approved by the Finance Committee and was referred to Council for passage.   Council subsequently did pass the ordinance.  At the Finance Committee meeting, every member of Council expressed compliments and congratulations to the College Hill community for its coordinated and unified efforts and hard work in bringing about positive change within the community.  Tom Jackson, our Development Officer, was also recognized for his professional and excellent service as the liaison between our community and the leadership/administration of the City of Cincinnati.

v     Marty, Tom McLean, and Ken Schon with Al Neyer, Inc, met with Dwight Broeman, the owner of the Kroger property.   They discussed the potential of Mr. Broeman’s involvement, either as an investor or via sale of the property.

v     Marty and Ken Schon met with Dr. Sway and Mr. Levine, who own the Medical building at the back of the Shuler property.   The two gentlemen expressed interest in selling the building.   Dr. Sway is considering possibly becoming a tenant in the new development. 

v     Marty and Ken Schon met with Dave Bannerman, the CEO of the Ohio Masonic Home, to discuss the possibility of the Masonic Eastern Star property becoming part of the development.   There was receptivity to the idea, but Mr. Bannerman needed to discuss this with his board.   Various financial and economic scenarios will be developed before Marty, Ken, and Dave meet again.

v     There is a meeting scheduled for the afternoon of March 10 with Sue Fidelholtz to discuss the possibility of Hilltop medical & research facility becoming part of the development.  

v     Marty had a telephone conversation with Tom Hammons, the owner of the CVS property.   At this time, he is happy with his current tenant and he is going to be out of town frequently on business.   He asked to be kept informed of further developments.

6.   NRSA Update – by Tom Jackson

Tom gave some background for Summit members who may not be familiar with NRSA.  

NRSA stands for Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area, which is a HUD designation for low/med income areas.   This is defined as up to just under $50,000 for a family of 4.  A portion of College Hill qualified as low/med income for the first time in the 2000 census.   College Hill was then asked by the city to participate in a re-strategizing effort.   A team of people from the community was formed, and designated priorities and estimated required funds to support these priorities.   The priorities were accepted by HUD.  However, for clarity, this does not obligate the city to allocate the estimated monies since more priorities are accepted by HUD than moneys are available from Federal funding.  

Previous grants from the NRSA portion of the city budget included money for the DOD position, as well as early development study costs.    $300,000 has also been approved for CH business district façade upgrades.    In the plan but not yet appropriated are monies for residential improvement and social development, such as youth job training, in College Hill.

City Council is recognizing that of all the neighborhoods in Cincinnati, College Hill is the most organized and unified.   The community is working together to make major changes.

7.   Surveillance Camera Update – by Jim Bodmer

All 6 cameras are up.   5 are operable, and the 1 camera at CHPC is getting wired this week.   The system still needs 2 cable modems.   The system is scheduled to be done by April 8. 

There were several questions about costs, and the following was clarified:

It was in the plan from the beginning for each of the camera sites to pay half of the operating costs, with PNC paying its half by supplying the internet.   Ongoing pledging will be required to fund the cameras beyond this year.    The monthly cost for some sites will be around $49, while the monthly cost for sites that require cable modems will be around $100.   The possibility for needing cable modems was recognized at the beginning, but the hope was to be able to design the system to avoid having to use them.   This will not be feasible for all cameras.

Jim also reminded everyone that the value of the cameras is directly proportional to the people watching.   While CCHMC has generously agreed to provide continuous watching, the visual output of the cameras are being added to the output of CCHMC’s own cameras, so some things may still be missed.   Jim still wants volunteers to watch from the neighborhood, and said that this can be done at Twin Towers so watchers can feel safe.    Eric is working on developing the training required.

8.   Streetscape Update - by Tom Jackson

The initial walk-thru was on Tuesday, March 8, and a punch list has been developed.  (“Punch list” is a term used in construction for those items that still need to be completed.)    Tom recognizes that although every effort was made to ensure this list is complete, some things could have been missed, so he asks that everyone continue to notify him of any issues.  

Tom reviewed the major items that are on the punch list:

§         The street lights have a seven day burn-in, and each side of the street is being done separately.  After the 7 days, the lights are supposed to function on automatic and turn on after dark.   One side was accidentally set to “off” after the burn in, and the contractor has been notified to correct this problem. 

§         There is a lot of painting to do, such as on screws and to re-establish crosswalks.   Some painting has to wait until 70 degree days to properly cure.

§         Several businesses had their walls/doorways/sidewalks chipped.   These areas are being noted for repair.

§         New garbage cans are coming.

§         Urban forestry will be planting new trees as soon as possible this spring.  Some existing trees will have mulch instead of grating because their roots stick up well above the level of the sidewalk.

§         Hamilton Ave will get a full resurfacing in 2006, and some items will be done at that time, including replacement of some additional curbing and extending the streetscape north of North Bend Rd.

9.   Website Update - by Elizabeth Sherwood

Pam Menges has gotten Brenda Hogan, the new chairperson of the Forum Communications Committee, on board to manage the website.   Please send your questions regarding the website to Elizabeth, who will forward them to Pam.

10. Community Events – by Phyllis Schoenberger

·        Margaret Garner Opera excerpts will be at CHPC on Friday, March 11, at 7:30 pm.

·        There will be a Community Yard Sale on Saturday, May 21.   Homes throughout the College Hill area will be having yard sales, and the Forum QOL has gotten permission to use the Shuler’s lot for those residents who do not have a yard but wish to participate.   They are also planning to put tables in front of businesses, and forward those proceeds to support funding the DOD position.

11. General Announcements – by everyone

v     The next Forum meeting is on March 22 at 7 pm at the Rec Center.   Forum meetings are always on the 4^th Tuesday of the month.

v     The WIN 22^nd annual 5K Run/Walk and 10K Run is March 22 at Winton Woods.

v     The Forum QOL Team will give a power point presentation at the next Forum meeting.   The QOL Team’s mission is “one by one and street by street”.  Recently met with WIN in lieu of Forum having a Housing Committee up and functioning.

v     Rev Bill Enns recently attended the meeting of an organization called “Transformation Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky”.   At this meeting he learned that the College Hill Ministerium is the only one in the greater Cincinnati area actually functioning.

v     Central Clinic recently established a presence at Pleasant Hill School.  They are a United Way funded agency whose purpose is to coordinate activities at a school to support children’s academic progress, freeing up the school administration to concentrate more on academic programs.

v     Cincinnati Public Schools will have a Showcase of Schools on Saturday, April 23, from 2-5 pm.  All Cincinnati public schools will be open for the public to visit.

v     August 15 is the scheduled completion date for the new Pleasant Hill School.

v     Summit meeting schedule is getting developed for the calendar year 2005.   Summit members should contact Ron if they can host a meeting this year.   Current meeting schedule is attached.

Next Meeting: April 14, 2005 @ 8:00 am at the Cincinnati Children’s College Hill Campus.

                        Summarized by:

                        Valerie Hershberger

                        March 18, 2005        

Abbreviation Key: