BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT B1
JOURNAL
Your Community Press newspaper serving Anderson Township, California, Mount Washington, Newtown E-mail: foresthills@communitypress.com We d n e s d a y, M a r c h 2 4 , 2 0 1 0
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Volume 49 Number 52 © 2010 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Latin music
Jaime Morales wants the music to expose the audience to Latin America. “We can unify different cultures through music,” he said. “This will be a musical passport so they can go from Mexico to Argentina to the Caribbean without leaving their seats.” Morales, the music director for the Philharmonic of Anderson, will bring the orchestra to the Anderson Center on Saturday, March 27. FULL STORY, A3
Changes planned
Anderson Township wants to revamp its former government operations center campus on Beechmont Avenue. The site currently houses the public works building, the Anderson Senior Center, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office building, Station 6 of the Fire & Rescue Department, the community recycling center and a Metro park and ride. Steve Sievers, assistant administrator and Development Services director, said these are long-term plans and he doesn’t anticipate much change in the near future. FULL STORY, A3
The results of the March 17 unscientific poll on our Anderson Township community site at Cincinnati.com/ andersontownship asking readers who they think will win the battle of lawsuits between Quantum Construction Co., the general contractor for the Anderson Center construction project, and Anderson Township are: Quantum Construction: 37% Anderson Twp.: 63% Total votes: 30
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By Forrest Sellers
fsellers@communitypress.com
The Forest Hills Local School District is considering four different building configurations to meet facility needs in the future. These configurations were presented by the facilities committee of the board of education during a special meeting Saturday, March 20. Superintendent John Patzwald said a number of factors led to some of the proposed configurations. These include aging facilities, unfunded state mandates and projected reductions in state funding. “A tough economy requires districts to look at the potential cost savings that could be identified both in the short and long term,” he said. Patzwald said student enrollment is projected to be from 7,600 to 7,900 in the coming years. The enrollment as of October 2009 was 7,789. Additionally, Patzwald said full-day kindergarten, which is required by the state, will require about 12 additional classrooms. Several of the options involve the construction of new buildings.
Watch the presentation Visit our Web site at Cincinnati.com/andersontownship to view the PowerPoint presentation that was considered by the facilities commission March 20.
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Building options The Forest Hills Local School District is considering four different building configurations for the future. During a special meeting Saturday, March 20, a facilities committee of the board of education presented the options. The proposed configurations and the costs that will be involved are: • Maintaining the existing building configuration of six elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools. This would require a 4.04-mill operating levy in November or a 5.71-mill operating levy in May 2011. This would not include any facility improvements. • A configuration of four elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools. This would involve the construction of one new elementary school as well as additions to the existing buildings and renovation of the high schools. This would require an 8.72-mill combined operating and bond levy in November or a 9.98-mill combined operating bond levy in May 2011. The annual operating savings would be $2 million. • A configuration of four elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school and one high school. This would involve the construction of a new elementary school and construction of a new high school. This would require a 6.8-mill combined operating and bond levy in November or a 7.54-mill combined operating and bond levy in May 2011. The annual operating savings would be $4.2 million. • A configuration of four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. This would involve the construction of one new elementary school, construction of a new high school and additions to some of the existing buildings. This would require a 9.7-mill combined operating and bond levy in November or a 10.26-mill combined operating and bond levy in May 2011. The annual operating savings would be $5 million. new high school. • A configuration of four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. This would involve the construction of one new elementary school, construction of a new high school and additions to some of the existing buildings. “A lot of hours (were) spent narrowing down configurations,” said Pam Sanders, a parent on the committee. “(We) talked about the human factor and how it relates to configuration.” The facilities committee has
also set up a timeline which will include various small group forums and community meetings to gain feedback from residents. A survey has also been discussed. “I believe (these) options are broad enough to engage dialogue,” said Patzwald. Two community discussions are planned. The first will be 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, and another will be 8 a.m. Saturday, May 1. Both meetings will be at the Nagel Middle School Cafetorium, 1500 Nagel Road.
Residents can learn numerous facets of police work By Rob Dowdy
The Newtown Police Department is once again offering residents a glimpse inside the inner workings of law enforcement. The Newtown Citizen Police Academy begins Wednesday, April 7, at the Newtown administration building. The academy will run for eight consecutive weeks and will allow participants to learn about numerous facets of police work. Newtown police officer Todd Bruner said this year’s academy will differ from the previous two based on feedback from “graduates” of the program. He said the weekly meeting has been extended to two-and-ahalf hours to provide enough time to learn each subject. Participants of the upcoming citizens academy will tour the Hamilton County Justice Center, the Hamilton County communications center, learn about the county’s K-9 unit, meet with the coun-
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As far as why the district is considering alternatives to keeping the current configuration of nine buildings, he said that will be Patzwald addressed in upcoming meetings. “We will try to seek an answer to that very question,” said Patzwald. Treasurer Rick Toepfer said the facility committee’s charge statement was to deliver a cost effective school district. “The goal of our committee was to look at facility configuration options that maintain or enhance the educational services at a reduced cost,” said Toepfer. “These are options that were selected out of 38-plus that met the committee’s charge statement.” The proposed building configuration options are (more details in the sidebar): • Maintaining the existing building configuration of six elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools. • A configuration of four elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools. This would involve the construction of one new elementary school as well as additions to the existing buildings and renovation of the high schools. • A configuration of four elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school and one high school. This would involve the construction of a new elementary school and construction of a
Newtown cop academy coming
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rdowdy@communitypress.com
Poll results
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B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
District discusses building options
Voice your opinion
An Anderson Township resident wants to lower the speed limit on Five Mile Road at Nimitzview Drive (story, A2). What do you think? Let us know by going online and voicing your opinion by typing Cincinnati.com/ andersontownship into your Web browser’s address bar and voting on our poll. We’ll run the results in next week’s edition of the Forest Hills Journal.
Web site: communitypress.com
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FILE PHOTO
Lt. Shawn McBreen of the Newtown Police Department shows residents how police check for fingerprints on various surfaces during the final Newtown Citizens Police Academy of 2008. The program is returning in April for a third session.
What’s going on? What: Newtown Citizen Police Academy When: 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. every Wednesday beginning April 7 Where: Newtown Town Hall, 3536 Church St. Applications are available at Town ty’s underwater search and rescue team and learn about fingerprinting and firearms from local officers.
Hall or by visiting www.villageofnewtown.com. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and a criminal history check will be completed before being accepted. For more information, contact officer Todd Bruner at 561-7697. “Once we get the people here they absolutely love it,” Bruner said. Bruner noted that while resi-
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dents enjoy attending the program, the officers also benefit from increased knowledge in the community. He said a former attendee recently witnessed some suspicious behavior and notified Newtown police. The information the resident provided help further an investigation. “I’m not sure he would have made that notification had he not felt comfortable with us,” Bruner said.
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