Village Manager's Report

August 21st , 2006

Eric, Phil and Ed have worked with Carol Gasho from Community Resources to discuss options for keeping the McGregor building on schedule, while still receiving grants. The whole process was put off kilter when then transportation grant finally caught up to the infrastructure grant, putting both efforts into a more lengthy process as a result. The Army Corps has agreed to de-couple the two grants, clearing the way for meeting McGregor's schedule.

Ed represented the Village in the Environmental Analysis required by the Army Corps and Highways Administration for the Center for Business and Education grants. The three agencies (Village, Army Corps and Highways Administration) met in Lebanon to discuss the project specifics.

Efforts to mediate an agreement between Antioch College and Jerry Papania have shown good progress. The parties met with Eric, noted mediator and resident Bruce Heckman and former Mediation Coordinator Tucker Malishenko to discuss the matter. There was agreement between both Antioch and Mr. Papania on a number of points, with final resolution slated for a week or two from now. The 3½-hour effort on Friday night proved very worthwhile for all involved, and there is considerable goodwill for future neighborly endeavors.

Work was recently completed to streamline the Village's phone system to make better use of automation. The effort will minimize the time staff needs to spend on the phone and provide quicker access to people who can help customers. It also allows staff to handle more calls at the same time.

The Village Manager received numerous e-mails regarding extending the pool season from August 19 th to another week or two. A quick look at past pool seasons suggested that the pool is closing about where it did since 2003. In 2003, the pool closed on August 16 th , in 2004 the pool closed on August 13 th , in 2005 the pool closed on August 21 st . School typically starts the last Wednesday in August. Concern citizens received a reply that reminded them about the unsustainable and serious financial position of the Village.

Street and Electric crew worked this week to trim trees where they might pose a problem during the winter months. Unlike the DP&L crews who worked along Fairfield this past week, we did not receive any complaints about the trimming work.

Eric received complaints about DP&L's line trimming along Fairfield Road . The trimming looked to some residents as excessive. Unfortunately, the Courts have consistently ruled in favor of utility easement owners in such cases, so residents have little recourse. Staff will inquire with other communities about DP&L trimming activities to see if there is something that could minimize the impact. Resident education about putting the right tree in the right place may also help reduce the need for trimming in the future, creating a win-win for all involved.

Greene County Parks and Recreation performed surface recoating on the bike path this week, closing the trail for a day or two. Parks and Recreation is hoping that ongoing maintenance needs will minimize the need for more extensive repairs in the future.

Eric attended a information session on the Ohio Capital Asset Financing program (Ohio CAF). Ohio CAF is a program operated by Cincinnati-based Center for Local Government, which is comprised of cities and villages in the Cincinnati area working for innovative programs that benefit from mutual cooperation. The CAF program allows Villages in good financial standing to fund improvements using market-based bonds, but with a fraction of the financing costs, and lower interest rates. On a regular basis, the program participants share the financing costs with each other (such as bond counsel, offering statements, insurance ratings, bond insurance, etc.) by pooling their borrowing needs into a single financing instrument. It appears that this would be the preferred financing for anything under $2 Million, assuming we can achieve the financial standing needed to participate.

Work to repair the sewer effluent pump at the Wastewater treatment plant is being made. The pump is well past its useful life, and has become an inefficient energy waster, due to the level on wear on the pump impellers. A generous donation by Susanne Clauser of $3,000 is helping to fund the repairs. The repairs will reduce operating costs at the plant, as the pump will not need to run as long as we currently need to. In a dream world, we would have funds for a variable speed pump, which is the most energy efficient pumping mechanism available today.