BUSINESS SPOTLIGHTB1
Meridian Mark Language Services Partner Madonna Kohnen.
CLERMONT
Your Community Press newspaper serving Amelia, Batavia, Batavia Township, New Richmond. Ohio Township, Pierce Township, Union Township, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Township E-mail:clermont@communitypress.com Web site: communitypress.com We d n e s d a y, S e p t e m b e r 2 2 , 2 0 1 0
Vol. 30 No. 37 © 2010 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Trick or treat
We want to know when your community is holding trick or treat this year. E-mail calendar@cincinnati.com and include: Name of community, date, start and end time and contact phone number or submit the information through SHARE here: http://local. cincinnati.com/share/.
B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
Clepper Park to get facelift
By Kellie Geist
kgeist@communitypress.com
Clepper Park will get a facelift this fall. The Union Township trustees approved three purchase orders at their regular meeting Thursday, Sept. 9, to pay for improvements to the park’s playground and basketball courts. The township will pay Houck Asphalt Maintenance $19,950 to restore the Clepper Park basketball courts. The other two purchase orders are to Walnut Grove Construction Inc. The first one, for $36,910, will pay for two sets of new playground equipment. Service Director Matt Taylor
said the township is switching from one set of playground equipment to two sets – one for younger kids and one for older ones. He said this has worked well at the Union Township Veterans Memorial Park. The new equipment also will include a climbing wall and tented area to keep the slides cool, Taylor said. The second purchase order, for $24,731, will pay for the installation of the playground equipment as well as wood chips and a border. Township Administrator Ken Geis said Walnut Grove Construction is not on the state bid list, but “they would be exempt because they meet and exceed the state bid contract.”
Tennis court reconditioning
Union Township trustees Sept. 9 approved a $24,989 purchase order to Total Tennis Inc. This money, spent out of the capital improvements budget, will pay for reconditioning of the tennis courts at the Union Township Veterans Park. The township also is going to replace the old tennis nets with new, Glen Este purple nets. “If we were to purchase similar equipment off the state bid, we’ve be paying much more,” he said. The funds for the playground replacement and basketball court restoration will come from the
More than 300 people were on hand at Receptions Eastgate Friday, Sept. 10, to bid on items at the Clermont Senior Services Art, Antiques & Collectibles Auction. George Brown, executive director of Clermont Senior Services, said it was the largest crowd ever for the 11th annual event. FULL STORY AND PHOTOS, B1
By John Seney jseney@communitypress.com
Mobile food pantry stops in Union Twp.
For people in Clermont County, getting to The Freestore Foodbank means driving more than 20 minutes to downtown Cincinnati – and that’s if the economy hasn’t left you without a car. That’s why the food pantry and Inter Parish Ministry collaborated to bring The Freestore Foodbank’s mobile food pantry to Union Township. FULL STORY, A2
When UC Clermont students head back to classes Sept. 22, they will have a new way to enter and leave campus. A ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, Sept. 15, officially opened the extension of Old Ohio 74 to College Drive in Batavia Township. FULL STORY, A3
Teachers meet WT students
The staff at WithamsvilleTobasco held its annual Meet the Teachers Thursday, Sept. 2. FULL STORY AND PHOTOS, A5
To place an ad, call 242-4000.
township’s capital project budget, Trustee Matt Beamer said. That money cannot be used to pay for operations. Beamer said he was happy to see this project moving forward. “I had some conversations with the residents in the Clepper Park area and they would certainly agree that the playground equipment needs to be replaced,” he said. “The park is in dire need of attention. I know it’s something we’ve held off on for the last couple of years because of finances ... but we have capital money available that we’ve set aside for these kinds of things.” “I’m glad to see us getting this done,” Beamer said.
Treatment program to increase Clermont jail space
Auction to help Senior Services
New route to UC Clermont opens
50¢
KELLIE GEIST/STAFF
Seeing the lights
Nine-year-old Nicole Jordan of Amelia and Nancy Wenstrup of Withamsville place their memorial lanterns on the lake at Mount Moriah Cemetery during the lantern lighting ceremony Saturday, Sept. 11.
Pierce Twp. considers hiring firm to draw up master plan By John Seney jseney@communitypress.com
A Pierce Township committee formed to study the way development is handled recommended the township create a strategic plan for the future. The trustees Sept. 14 began looking for a way to implement the recommendation. Administrator David Elmer said he compiled a list of planning firms that provide master planning services for communities. He asked the trustees if he should ini-
Batchler
tiate talks with the firms. Trustee Bonnie Batchler said she wasn’t sure if the township budget could withstand the expense of hiring a planning
firm at this time. “We can’t just jump in and spend money if it’s going to put a burden on the general fund,” she said. Trustee Christopher Knoop said
he thought it would be all right to get some proposals from firms without committing any money. “We need to get this thing in motion,” he said. Fiscal Officer Karen Register suggested she and Elmer look at the budget to determine what the township can afford. Trustee Gregg Conrad said in the meantime Elmer should look for two or three planning firms to recommend to the trustees. The trustees then could conduct interviews with officials of the firms, he said.
A new program to treat nonviolent offenders will open up more beds at the Clermont County Jail. The jail, which was built to hold 512 inmates, can house only 240 because of cutbacks in the number of corrections officers. Within the past year, the jail had to close 80 beds because of b u d g e t restraints, said Clermont County Sheriff A.J. Rodenberg “Tim” Rodenberg. This has forced many convicted offenders to be put on a waiting list to serve their time. The new program is funded by a $50,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Public Safety. Clermont County commissioners Sept. 15 approved the grant and a $9,982.91 cash match from the general fund. Doug Brothers, assistant to the county administrator, said the program will treat non-violent offenders sentenced for drug, alcohol or probation violation offenses. The Talbert House of Cincinnati will administer the program, using a section of the jail that had been closed off. Brothers said the program can serve up to 20 inmates. The participants will be transferred from the general jail population. The emphasis will be on rehabilitation rather than just incarceration. “It’s an effort to halt the revolving door of inmates at the jail,” Brothers said. “This will allow us to get back 20 more beds for more serious offenders,” Rodenberg said. “It’s a way of getting more jail beds without adding staff.” Rodenberg said the program was a positive step in reversing the trend of losing beds at the jail. “It’s not going to solve the problem, but it should help,” he said. “If the program is successful, it might be expanded.”