INDIAN HILL
JOURNAL
CELEBRATING
120 YEARS
Your Community Press newspaper serving Indian Hill
See page 3A for details!
$1.00K2
THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Deer Park leader retires Search begins for Berens’ replacement Sheila Vilvens svilvens@enquirer.com
Speakers at the Indian Hill Church forums in March will lead discussions from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. on these Sundays: » March 5 - James Pilcher, investigative reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer, will discuss problems with the Brent Spence Bridge and why it is
Deer Park Safety Service Director Michael Berens’ longterm plans didn’t include retirement. After 45 years in public service, he intended to work a few more years. That all changed three years ago when one of his grand- Berens daughters was diagnosed with Leukemia “She’s fine now,” he said. The experience of the past few years, however, was a real eyeopener for Berens and his wife, Barb. “It made us, my wife and me, start thinking that working all the time wasn’t what’s most important,” Berens said. “Even though I was originally planning on working for a couple more years. Between that and some other health issues we’ve had in the family, I felt that now was a good time to go.” Berens retires May 31. This is the second retirement for him from Deer Park. He started his public service career as a parttime EMT for Reading, he said. In 1975 he joined the Deer Park Police Department. He retired for the first time from Deer Park when he was police chief in 2001 under the Police and Fire Pension Fund. He accepted a job in Sycamore Township as the administrator where he stayed for five years before accepting the safety service director position in Deer Park. Through this retirement, he will receive a pension from Public Employees Retirement System. Sycamore Township Trustee Cliff Bishop praised Berens as a committed public servant. Berens is only the second safety service director for Deer Park in the last 38 years. He replaced Dave O’Leary who held the job for 27 years. Replacing Berens will be tough, Mayor John Donnellon said. “I think everyone on council hates to see him go,” he said. In 2015 council approved a new four-year contract with Berens. Despite council’s efforts to keep him, he ultimately decided to retire. “He chose to leave. I understand that. He chose to be with his family,” Donnellon said. Councilman Charles Tassell said that Deer Park is going
See FORUMS, Page 2A
See BERENS, Page 2A
JEANNE HOUCK/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
The owner of the Drake Motel wants a hearing in Sycamore Township about the fate of the property.
Drake Motel owner seeks hearing on its fate It was declared ‘unsafe,’ ‘structurally defective’ Jeanne Houck jhouck@communitypress.com
SYCAMORE TWP. – The owner of the derelict Drake Motel has asked Sycamore Township for a hearing on the future of the Reading Road property closed after complaints of drug activity and prostitution. While date of a hearing before the Sycamore Township Board of Trustees has yet to be set, it likely will be April 6, Board President Tom Weidman said. The request for the hearing by LVREIS Inc. of Las Vegas, the owner of the 70-room motel that sits on nearly two acres of land at 8109 Reading Road, comes after LVREIS skipped a hearing before township trustees in December.
Hotel declared ‘unsafe and structurally defective’
PROVIDED
This picture provided by Sycamore Township shows a room at the Drake Motel.
Based on information provided by Harry Holbert, Sycamore Township building inspector, trustees at the December hearing declared the Drake Motel “insecure, unsafe and structurally defective. The unsafe conditions that exist on the property create a fire
and safety hazard.” Sycamore Township notified LVREIS Inc. that unless it asked for a hearing, it had 30 days to repair the property or raze it – or the township would demolish it. The Hamilton County auditor’s website shows LVREIS bought the Drake Motel for $375,000 in November 2014, after the property currently valued at just over $1 million went into foreclosure. “Since that time, the current owner has let the property deteriorate to a stage where it is no longer compliant with the basic building code and is in need of major repairs just to be considered a safe structure, let alone be habitable,” Weidman said. Representatives of LVREIS Inc. could not be reached for comment. Weidman said the Drake Motel was declared a nuisance by Sycamore Township and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in 2013. See MOTEL, Page 2A
Public invited to Indian Hill forums on infrastructure Jeanne Houck jhouck@communitypress.com
Local infrastructure will be the focus of a series of free public forums at Indian Hill Church in March. “Infrastructure is extremely critical to our economic growth, and yet America’s aging transportation system suf-
HERE’S SOMETHING TO DO Get the best of Cincinnati on your phone. Download the Things to Do app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.
fers from insufficient investment,” said Gerri Strauss, a member of Indian Hill Church at 6000 Drake Road. “Building transportation infrastructure isn’t usually politically controversial. It puts people to work in both whiteand blue-collar jobs. “It lays the foundation for economic development and re-
duces the potential for calamities such as bridge collapses and everyday problems like airport congestion,” Strauss said. “Yet, if this is so, why is it so hard to reach a consensus and move forward? This forum will look at Cincinnati’s issues from a city perspective and the region’s need for cooperation.”
For the Postmaster
Contact us News ...................248-8600 Retail advertising ......768-8404 Classified advertising ..242-4000 Delivery ................576-8240 See page A2 for additional information
Indian Hill Journal 312 Elm St. Cincinnati, OH 45202
Published weekly every Thursday Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH 45202 and at additional mailing offices. ISSN 15423174 ● USPS 020-826 Postmaster: Send address change to Indian Hill Journal 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
Vol. 18 No. 48 © 2017 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED