FOREST HILLS
JOURNAL
Your Community Press newspaper serving Anderson Township, California, Mount Washington, Newtown
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013
75¢
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Speed zones remain intact By Forrest Sellers
fsellers@communitypress.com
Newport Fire Department Chief Gary Auffart, a 1993 graduate of Anderson High School, with one of his old helmets and a mural depicting important moments in U.S. history that will hang in his office. PATRICK REDDY/STAFF
Anderson H.S. alumnus named fire chief
Expect to see a lot of the new Newport, Ky., fire chief, who – despite running a 36firefighter department in a densely active city surging in commercial growth – wants to get to know you. “My big thing is the community,” said acting Newport Fire Chief Gary Auffart, who was recently sworn in at a city commission meeting. “That’s really who we serve: the people in the community.” Auffart graduated from Anderson High School in 1993. Newport officials keyed in on the need for someone who would be visible and active in the community, said City Manager Tom Fromme. They found their man, choosing the city’s youngest-ever fire chief, 38-yearold Auffart, for the job. It’s a big order, Fromme said, because although the city is small, with an estimated 15,438 population in 2012, the fire department is busy. It averages 14 calls per day, grapples with urban issues, historic and new buildings and has a constant stream of visitors. Even so, the concept of engaging the community isn’t novel for Auffart. Since starting as acting chief July 1,
Auffart has met with Newport neighborhood groups, school and business officials. He is beginning to see how busy he will become with his new role, but it’s not overwhelming to him. After all, he said, he’s had17 years with the Newport Fire Department and a childhood inundated with emergency calls that his father, now an assistant fire chief in Union Township in Ohio, ran to at all hours. The senior Gary Auffart was with the Cincinnati Fire Department before he moved to Clermont County’s Union Township Fire Department. “My dad has 40 years in firefighting,” Auffart said. “As a kid, we had scanners that would just go off in the house.” Auffart said his mother, Debbie Auffart, who still lives in Anderson Township, has put up with a lot: Both of her sons, Gary and Steve Auffart, 36, developed a love of the field their father chose. Steve Auffart is a lieutenant with the Union Township Fire Department, while Gary Auffart decided to hit the other side of the river and join Newport’s firefighting force. While Auffart doesn’t live in the city yet, he has devoted his career to it and said he plans to move to Newport to be
FOOD
HEY HOWARD!
Rita used her own fresh green beans to make delicious dilly beans. Full story, B3
Is it a good idea to buy from a door-to-door salesman? One woman says she’ll never do it again. Full story, B4
Gannett News Service
more visible. “I love it here,” he said. “My loyalty and dedication are to Newport.” Auffart plans to enlist tech-savvy firefighters to bring Newport Fire Department closer to residents who are on social media such as Twitter to further engage the community. He hopes to be able not only to make public announcements – such as department news and community classes – but to learn of their needs. “He’s a high-achiever,” Mayor Jerry Peluso said. “ ... He wants to become a better leader – a community leader in the city. He wants to wave that Newport flag.” Auffart replaces former Newport Fire Chief Paul Uebel, who pleaded guilty Aug. 9 to driving under the influence. Uebel retired from the department in April after he was cited for DUI after driving erratically and hitting a guardrail in his department vehicle about 8 a.m. April 24. Campbell District Judge Karen Thomas suspended Uebel’s driver’s license for 90 days and ordered him to pay $200 plus court costs and fees. Uebel will be eligible for a license allowing him to drive for work within 30 days, said his attorney Harry Hellings.
ANDERSON TWP. — The Forest Hills Local School District and Anderson Township put the brake on a potential speed zone change. Working cooperatively, both submitted a request to the Ohio Department of Transportation to extend the school speed zones up to 300 feet in either direction of Sievers the property lines at Ayer and Wilson elementary schools and Nagel Middle School. A Nagel speed zone sign had been moved as part of utility pole work at the site, according to Steve Sievers, assistant administrator Johnson for operations for Anderson Township. As a consequence, the length of the speed zone was shortened. Ray Johnson, Forest Hills director of business operations, said the speed zone signs at Ayer and Wilson had not been moved, but there were indications Hamilton County was considering moving them back to the property lines of the schools. The signs would literally have been at the edge of the driveways for both schools, said Johnson. During its July meeting, the Forest Hills Board of Education approved sending an application to the Ohio Department of Transportation to extend the school speed zones at the aforementioned schools. Hamilton County Engineer Theodore Hubbard said the request for the speed zone changes has been approved by the Ohio Department of Transportation. Sievers said the signs at Wilson and Ayer would originally have been moved back to the property line to remain consistent with state law. He said maintaining the 300 foot area is beneficial. “This will insure the highest level of safety not only for pedestrians and cyclists but anyone traveling in the school zones,” he said. Johnson said the location of the speed zone signs is important because it provides a safety buffer.
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