1. Special Announcements
None
2. Review of November 2006 Minutes
November minutes were approved and will be sent to Tom Strothers
for posting on the website.
3. Review of Action Items from Previous Meetings
August meeting
notes were completed.
Development of
the walking club is in progress. Rick is working with Chappie
on this and will update Summit later on, when plans are
complete.
4. Discussion Topic: Business District
Discussion was
continued from the previous meeting concerning the business
district. Key points made included:
§
Karen briefly outlined CHBA’s goals for the
business district, which include increasing the number of
businesses and to support the businesses that are already there.
§
Phyllis reported that CHBA has talked with various
businesses in other parts of the city regarding a possible
relocation to College Hill, but there is resistance due to (a) a
perception of a crime issue and (b) the run down appearance of
the current business district.
§
The façade project for improving the appearance of
the business district is continuing, with 4 businesses/property
owners having followed through to initiate work and to get the
available city funds. Marty expressed disappointment that more
businesses and/or property owners are not enthusiastically
taking advantage of this opportunity.
§
CHBA has been considering hiring a private duty
officer to help improve safety and security on the avenue even
more. CHBA met with some professors from UC who are experts in
Criminology and asked for their opinion and advice on this.
The professors advised that private duty officers are really not
needed, given all the good things already being done (ie,
streetscape, reduction of litter, reduction of loitering,
hanging Christmas decorations, etc). The professors suggested
that the only need now is for an occasion strong (& visible)
police presence, and for the façade program to be fully
implemented.
§
CHBA has spent time with their counterparts in
Clifton, and heard that having lots of people on the streets
makes a very big difference in the overall health of any
business district.
§
CHBA has a few large initiatives that still need
more work:
- Current property owners need more support and need to be
more involved in the overall development of the business
district. The next step is to work with them on evaluating and
attracting more new businesses.
- Specifically try to attract new businesses to the empty
buildings next to St. Theresa’s Textile Trove. St. Theresa’s
has a lot of traffic, including customers from long distances
and/or out-of-state. This creates opportunity for adjacent
businesses.
- Complete the Marketing packet. Marty still needs a couple
of additional volunteers. And CHBA needs one person to
coordinate the marketing program.
§
Keep Cincinnati Beautiful sponsored a 2nd
banner (“Discover the Avenue”). The first is hanging on a
building next to LaRosa’s.
§
Grace Episcopal Church shared that they are
redecorating to create a meeting & banquet hall.
§
Cincinnati Children’s College Hill Campus is
doubling its staff size as it consolidates some city
programs/departments at this location. This will bring more
potential residents to the community, as well as potential
business customers.
§
Marty handed out copies of the SID (Special
Improvement District) flyer shared at a previous Summit
meeting. He indicated that there was a SID Kickoff meeting in
January, and 3 people attended. He still needs a few more
people for this to be a viable initiative.
No further
discussion about the Business District is planned, other than as
part of normal information sharing at ongoing Summit meetings.
5. College Hill Fundamental Academy Update – by Barbara
Gordon
Barbara handed
out a presentation which outlined the Beliefs and Values of
College Hill Fundamental Academy. It included emphasis on
learning as a life-long process; parents as the primary teachers
of their children; partnership between home and school; creation
of a safe, orderly and caring environment; and high
expectations.
After Barbara’s
presentation, Phyllis shared some information about Aiken High
School. The latest plan is for the whole building to be
knocked down and rebuilt, not just renovated. The selected
architect also did the design of the Mason schools. Programs
will also be reevaluated and redone, and the plan is to end up
with one high school at this location, reduced from the current
two. The school will need to be relocated while the
demolition and construction is done, and other sites are now
being evaluated.
6. CHCURC – by Marty Weldishofer
·
Linden Park – signs are now up on the Shuler lot
corner, depicting the development. The sales office is next.
Neyer is reworking the proforma agreement to reflect their
proposal of the development in two parts: one east of Hamilton
Ave, and one west of Hamilton Ave. This more accurately
reflects how the development will proceed, and will provide
flexibility on getting started. The Kroger property
negotiation continues to move slowly, with various complications
to be resolved. On a positive note, Sibcy Cline has a $2000
reservation on one of the largest condos planned for the
development.
·
Llanfair Commons – this is still needed and
desired by the community, so they are looking at various other
properties since the corner of Llanfair & Hamilton will be used
for a new firehouse.
·
Strategic Plan – a strategic plan was developed a
few years ago, in which community development experts
recommended separate development of North and South Business
Districts, with residential properties in the middle. This is
seen as a good plan, but will probably take at least 10 years to
achieve.
·
Gateway Project – the city submitted a proposal to
purchase a 30’ X 30’ section to Tom Hammond, owner of the A&S
property on the corner of Hamilton Ave and North Bend Rd,
several weeks ago and has not received a response. A proposal
to obtain an easement will be pursued if there is no response
soon.
WIN has purchased
one house, and is pursuing several other properties on Cedar.
Acquisition is slow and challenging, with many owners believing
their properties are more valuable than the true market value.
Most of the properties being sought will need to be demolished
because the poor condition will make uneconomical to renovate.
Sr. Barbara of WIN expected this because of her many years of
experience, but the team is going through a learning process.
9. CCHMC Update & Needy Families – by Joan Burger
□
CCHMC needs space for training up to 80 people in
their security force. Please contact Joan with any suggestions
you might have for suitable locations.
□
The College Hill campus is expanding the mental
health residential treatment program. They are moving the
psychiatric division from Burnett, which will 13 additional
outpatient offices and 2 more 12 bed units by May. Eventually,
when the whole division is located in College Hill, there will
be about 1000 employees.
□
CCHMC is treating children from 2 families whose
homes have burned down, and are looking for additional
support. Need gift cards for Christmas gifts (Target, Walmart)
and gift cards for food (Kroger). Tax exempt forms are
available. A suggestion was made in the meeting for Joan to
talk to Christ’s Community, which typically responds to such
needs for the community churches.
10. CPOP/CPD/COP/Court Watchers – by Jim Bodmer
Officer Herb
Noble was home sick, so Jim filled in.
(a)
Stealing of copper is rampant. The thieves drive trucks
and vans which look like legitimate businesses/contractors, and
so don’t draw attention. The tend to hit unoccupied houses, but
have also gone into houses where the owners are just away on
vacation. They steal wiring and pipes, often not bothering to
turn off the water and flooding the homes.
(b)
There is a Robbery Task Force operating undercover in the
community. There has been a rash of robberies just north of
North Bend Rd. There are more COP patrols in that area and
recently helped to catch someone. CPD also just caught a 17 yr
old boy and 16 yr old girl who were involved in some of these
robberies.
(c)
Court Watch continues to be successful. Lt. Wolf sends
a list every week of everyone who is arrested. Diligent
followup by the community is believed to have significantly
reduced the number of incidents of criminals loitering with bad
intent in the neighborhood.
10. Announcements & Community Events– by All
¨
Aiken Community Breakfast – The second
annual Aiken College & Career Community Breakfast will be held
on January 27. Invitations are going out now.
¨
Aiken Pancake Breakfast – Aiken University
is holding a pancake breakfast on Feb 9 and still needs people
to flip pancakes.
¨
Community Potluck – this year’s Community
Potluck dinner will be held at CHPC in Jan or Feb, with the
exact date to be decided soon. Anita Trigg is chairing.
¨
Paint The Town – Give Back Cincinnati, a
group of young professionals who live and/or work in Cincinnati,
will be in College Hill on June 9. 600-1000 people will be
painting houses in College Hill, with an appreciation party to
be held for them that evening. $1000 sponsors one house.
¨
CHCURC Annual Dinner – the CHCURC Annual
Dinner will be held February 6.
¨
City Budget Meeting – the final city budget
meeting for citizens to ask questions and make comments will be
Dec 14 at the Rec Center. People must sign up by 5 pm if they
wish to speak.
¨
Christ’s Community – Kevin Ward is moving
to Atlanta, so the Board is interviewing candidates to replace
him. They hope to have a replacement by Jan 1.
¨
Pleasant Hill Academy – needs volunteers to
help run their star incentive store (positive behavior
program). Time required is minimal – only twice per quarter.
¨
Laurel Court – the large 1917 mansion on
Belmont, former home of Peter Thomson who founded Champion Paper
Company, is being opened by the current owners for holiday tours
and events. A flyer was handed out. More information is
available at laurelcourt.com.
Next Summit Meeting: January 11, 2007 @
8:00 am at College Hill Presbyterian Church.
[Location was previously scheduled to be at
CCHMC, but was moved.]
Summarized by:
Valerie Hershberger
January 8, 2007
Modified Jan 9, 2007
