Council Minutes Archives City of Harrison COUNCIL MINUTES April 17, 2007 Council met in regular session with Vice Mayor Robertson presiding due to the absence of Mayor Gieringer. Members present included: Mrs. Deborah Acra, Mr. Tony Burkart, Mrs. Judy Kercheval, Mr. Joel McGuire, Mr. Bill Neyer, and Mr. Randy Shank. Mr. Bill Deters, the Law Director, was also in attendance. The meeting opened at 7:30 p.m. Vice Mayor Robertson asked Council if there were any corrections or objections to the April 3, 2007 Council meeting minutes; otherwise, the minutes will stand as presented. Mrs. Kercheval made a motion, seconded by Mr. Neyer to approve the purchase orders. Roll Call: All - yea. Mr. Shank made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Kercheval to approve the March Finance Report. Roll Call: All - yea. Fire Chief Rob Hursong recognized Firefighter Bruce Metzler as the American Legion Firefighter of the Year. Mr. Metzler was nominated for the award by the Western Joint Ambulance District (WESTJAD) for his commendable efforts on June 19, 2006 in performing CPR on a car accident victim. Mr. Metzler was credited for saving the patient’s life. He also received the Hamilton County American Legion Firefighter of the Year Award. Chief Hursong displayed a check in the amount of $20,544 from the Cheviot Savings & Loan Bank & Foundation for the purchase of communication equipment for the Harrison Fire Department EOC. Vice Mayor asked visitors at tonight’s meeting to be brief and to only speak if they have something new to add with regards to the Parks of Whitewater development and the surrounding area. Short Road resident Norma Salzman addressed Council with concerns about the city’s responsibility in the future maintenance of Short Road. Mrs. Salzman read specific information from the joint agreement between the county and the city and explained that the city of Harrison is responsible for more than just fixing potholes, snow removal, and occasional grass cutting. According to the document, Mrs. Salzman reported that the city is also responsible for resurfacing, widening, repair and/or replacement of guard rail, culverts, and bridges, etc. Mrs. Salzman expressed concern over the cost to the city of maintaining these roads and the effect of additional cars from the new development on these roads. Jeanette Losekamp of Farmland Drive addressed Council to ask them to consider making the Parks of Whitewater development a more restrictive development than is presently planned. Patricia Verling of New Haven Road addressed council to ask that they consider approving the Parks of Whitewater development. As a future owner of acreage abutting the development, she explained to council that the layout of the Parks allows the area to retain some of its rural character. Mrs. Acra offered several comments regarding the proposed Parks of Whitewater. She explained the City of Harrison zoning code does not presently contain a less dense zone of two houses per acre and at the present time, R-1 zone is the least dense which allows 3.22 houses per acre. Mr. Neyer explained that the developer of the Parks of Whitewater originally came to the Planning Commission with 3.5 houses per acre. He explained that the Commission pushed to developer to get down to 3.1 houses per acre and into the P.U.D. with numerous concessions. He added that the addition of retail to the development was suggested by members of the Commission in order to help alleviate traffic back and forth from the development into other parts of the city. Council members Mrs. Kercheval, Mr. Burkart, and Mr. Shank asked the developer several questions with respect to the width of the buffer along Baughman Road, the addition of more patio homes and less condos, the makeup of the Homeowners Association(HOA), the traffic study ordered by the developer, and future buffering of abutting property. Mr. Neyer made a motion, seconded by Mr. Burkart to approve the proposed project for Parks of Whitewater as a R-1 Zone with a Planned Unit Development(P.U.D.) overlay as recommended by the Planning Commission. Mr. Deters explained that five votes would be needed to overturn the recommendation; only three votes would be needed to approve the recommendation. Roll Call: Neyer - yea; McGuire - yea; Acra - yea; Kercheval - nay; Burkart - yea; and Shank - yea. Mr. Neyer made a motion, seconded by Mr. Shank to add an item to the agenda regarding the approval of an ordinance regarding improvements on State Street. Roll Call: All - yea. Mr. Neyer made a motion, seconded by Mr. Shank to approve an ordinance approving additional costs for improvements to State Street. Roll Call: All - yea. (Ordinance # 10 - 2007). Mrs. Kercheval made a motion, seconded by Mr. Shank to add an item to the agenda regarding the approval of an ad publicizing for an Economic Development Director. Roll Call: All - yea. Mrs. Kercheval made a motion, seconded by Mr. Neyer to approve an ad for circulation for the Economic Development Director position. After much discussion by council on the need to have the ad approved, Mrs. Kercheval withdrew her first motion followed by the withdrawal of the second motion from Mr. Neyer. Vice Mayor Report Vice Mayor Robertson announced the Finance Committee would meet on April 24 at 5:00 p.m. He also announced that he will be attending the ICRC quarterly meeting on April 26 at 6:00 p.m. Discussion will center around Senate Bill 117 which provides for state control of the telecommunication franchising. Finally, the Vice Mayor thanked Boy Scouts for their collection and donation of canned goods to the Harrison Mayor’s Fund. Law Director Report Mr. Deters had no report. Council - Committee Report Mr. Neyer reported the Utilities Committee will meet with on May 10 at 3:00 p.m. along with ARCADIS to discuss present and future projects. Mr. McGuire announced the Civil Defense Committee would meet on April 18 at 5:30 p.m. to continue further discussion on the table top flood scenario drill. Mr. McGuire reported that the Western Hamilton County Corridor Project began with 109 projects and will take the top 20 for consideration. He thanked Coke Powers for his input in the beginning stages of the project as a representative of the city and the OKI Oversight Committee. Mrs. Acra announced the next Police Committee meeting would take place on April 18 at 6:00 p.m. at the Community Center. She also announced the Building & Lands Committee would meet on April 24 at 6:00 p.m. The committee will continue work on designing new offices for the Finance and Utility Departments out of the current offices in the Community Center. Mrs. Kercheval congratulated Firefighter Bruce Metzler on receiving the American Legion Firefighter of the Year award. Mrs. Kercheval announced the Economic Development/Resource Committee would meet on April 23 at 4:00 p.m. Mr. Burkart reported on the success of the Harrison Recreation Commission Easter Egg Hunt held on April 7. Mr. Burkart reminded residents that the Annual Kite Flying Contest will be held on Saturday, April 28 at 1:00 p.m. behind the Community Center. Mr. Burkart reported on the Fire Department Activity Report for the month of March. He also reported that firefighters Kugler, Helcher, Nusekabel, Draper, and Strausberg attended a rescue training workshop. Also included in his training report were firefighters Hursong, Chetwood, and Ward who completed a series of several training sessions in Columbus. Finally, Mr. Burkart thanked the Cheviot Savings & Loan Bank & Foundation for their generous donation to the department and offered his congratulations to firefighter Bruce Metzler on his award. Mr. Shank thanked the Cheviot Savings & Loan Bank & Foundation for their donation to the Fire Department and also congratulated Bruce Metzler for receiving the American Legion Firefighter of the Year Award. Finally, Mr. Shank announced the Personnel Committee would meet on April 26 at 7:00 p.m. There being no further business, Mrs. Acra made a motion, seconded by Mr. Neyer to adjourn the meeting. Roll Call: All - yea. ATTEST: Daniel J. Gieringer, Mayor             Carol A. Wiwi, Clerk Back to top • Home
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