BUSINESS SPOTLIGHTB1
CLERMONT
Robert Westbrook, owner of the Pill Box.
Vol. 30 No. 41 © 2010 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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, O c t o b e r 2 7 , 2 0 1 0
jseney@communitypress.com
Glen Este’s Michelle Thomas approaches the finish line in the Division I district championship race at Voice of America Park Oct. 23. Thomas won the race with a time of 18:11.77 and advances to regionals Oct. 30. For more information about others who advanced, see Sports, A9.
Find local election news online
Find how local candidates and issues fare on Election Day, Nov. 2, with our online coverage. Stories and results will be posted online election day and evening at Cincinnati.com and local stories will appear on your community’s Web page, which you can find at Cincinnati.com/ uniontownship or Cincinnati. com/bataviatownship.
If voters approve a 2.9-mill levy for the Central Joint Fire and EMS District Nov. 2, almost $1.2 million a year will be available to replace aging equipment district officials say is badly needed. But the money is needed for purposes beyond the new equipment, Chief Kevin Riley said. Money from the levy will be used to address a budget deficit and hire new firefighters. The district also has long-range plans to build a new fire station. The levy is the first new one on the ballot since the district was formed in 2001 to serve Batavia Township and the village of Batavia. A 5.5-mill levy passed in 2001 generates $1.9 million a year, according to the Clermont County Auditor’s Office. That levy will remain if the new levy passes. The new levy will cost the owner of a $100,000 house $88.81 more a year for a total of
$ 2 2 3 . 9 6 , according to the auditor’s office. It is a continuing levy and does not expire. Riley said the equipment that needs replacing Riley includes two fire engines, two EMS units, a water tender, a brush unit, two staff vehicles and a command vehicle. The department also needs new heart monitors, rescue tools, mobile data terminals and turnout gear. One of the old fire engines is 25 years old and the other is 19 years old. New fire engines will cost $500,000 to $600,000 and will be financed over five years, he said. Riley said the department also needs to hire three new firefighters. Batavia Township Fiscal Officer Jennifer Haley, a member of the CJFED board, said the district has
Central Joint Fire and EMS District additional levy This 2.9-mill additional levy would pay for new equipment and other costs for the fire district. It would be in addition to an existing 5.5-mill levy. Residents can estimate their new and old net annual costs from the chart below. Net annual cost Net annual cost of additional levy of existing levy Appraised value Total $50,000..... . . . . . . . . .$67.58 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$44.40 . . . . . . . . . . . . .$111.98 $100,000 . . . . . . . . . .$135.15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .$88.81 . . . . . . . . . . . . .$223.96 $150,000 . . . . . . . . . .$202.72 . . . . . . . . . . . . .$133.21 . . . . . . . . . . . .$335.93 SOURCE: CLERMONT COUNTY AUDITOR’S OFFICE. THIS INFORMATION IS FOR THIS LEVY ONLY
a rotating schedule for replacing equipment, so that other equipment eventually will have to be replaced. “The equipment has been kept up, so we haven’t had to replace a lot,” she said. “We’ve been very conservative and responsible with taxpayer money.” Haley said most of the budget goes for personnel, including health insurance costs, which continue to rise. She said district officials eventually want to build a fire station
Cooper Snyder considers the completion of the James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway one of the major accomplishments of his career as a state senator. Snyder considered he and his wife, Dorothy, a team during his Senate service, which ran from 1979 to 1996. The couple will be honored by the Clermont Chamber of Commerce with the Martha Dorsey Pacesetter Award. FULL STORY, B1
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on land owned by the township on Clough Pike. The district now has three stations. The new station would require funds for construction, personnel and equipment, she said. Haley also said training is constantly needed to keep firefighters up to date. ”We have to keep up with the trends,” she said. “Taxpayers will be getting more than their money’s worth if the levy passes,” Haley said.
Girls with lighter blamed for brush fire
Snyders named Pacesetters
In the next few days your Community Press carrier will be stopping by to collect $2.50 for delivery of this month’s The Community Journal. Your carrier retains half of this amount along with any tip you give to reward Allison good service. This month we’re featuring Allison and Lauren Fragassi. Allison plays soccer, enjoys ballet, tap and jazz, plays the Laura piano and has a rabbit. She also likes to roller skate, skateboard, and ripstick around the neighborhood. Lauren also plays soccer, takes ballet, tap and jazz, plays the piano and loves spending time with her puppy Stella. For information about our carrier program, call Steve Barraco, 248-7110.
50¢
Fire levy to address deficit
By John Seney
Thomas wins district title
B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
KELLIE GEIST/STAFF
Pumpkin art
St. Veronica fourth-graders Olivia McFarland, right, and Megan Copenhaver work on their paper mache pumpkins during Mollie Williams’ after-school art class. For more photos, see page A8.
Nothing found in park search By John Seney jseney@communitypress.com
covered the area we wanted in the search.” He said there are no plans to come back to the park in the next few days, but he would not rule out another search in
Search teams found no new evidence after a two-day search of East Fork State Park in the case of a missing Northern Kentucky teenager. More than 100 people from 30 different agencies searched the Johnson Clermont County park Wednesday, the future. Oct. 20, and Thursday, Oct. 21. “We can’t close the door,” he They were looking for evidence said. in the disappearance of 17-yearNally said the park was old Paige Johnson of Florence, searched because cell phone who was last seen in Covington records of Jacob Bumpass, 22, of Sept. 23. Taylor Mill, Ky., the man who was “We didn’t recover anything last seen with Johnson, indicate that would help in the investiga- the phone was used in the vicinition,” said Capt. Teal Nally of the ty of the park about 4 a.m. the Covington Police Department. “We night Johnson disappeared.
Dried blood and latex gloves were found in Bumpass’ apartment and have been sent to the Kentucky crime lab for testing, Nally said. He said results of the tests have not come back. Bumpass has not been charged in connection with the disappearance, although he is being held on a parole violation. Nally called him “a person of interest.” “So far we haven’t even confirmed a crime has been committed,” he said. Nally said the searchers at the park were looking for any evidence that would associate Johnson’s disappearance with a crime. “A piece of clothing, anything that might be out there,” he said.
Kids playing with a lighter caused a brush fire in Batavia Township Saturday, Oct. 9. Chief Kevin Riley of the Central Joint Fire and EMS District said firefighters responded to the fire at 1:47 p.m. in the woods behind Pine View Drive. Upon arrival, firefighters confirmed several different fires with separate ignition sources, Riley said. The fires were extinguished in about an hour and 45 minutes. Units remained on scene another 45 minutes for overhaul and investigation. A total of 14 f i r e f i g h t e r s “With the dry r e s p o n d e d , conditions including some from the Union that we have Township Fire in the D e p a r t m e n t . district, I’m Three minor injuries occurred surprised to firefighters: A that the bruised foot, a entire woods minor burn and a sprained knee. did not Riley said the burn.” fires were Chief Kevin Riley caused by two juvenile girls who were playing with a lighter. One of the girls received a minor burn to her foot, but refused treatment at the scene. The incident was under investigation by the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office. “With the dry conditions that we have in the district, I’m surprised that the entire woods did not burn. It is through the quick action of the responders that prevented the fires from spreading,” Riley said. Riley said the fire district is continuing to enforce a ban on all open burning until the drought conditions improve.