INDIAN HILL
JOURNAL
Your Community Press newspaper serving Indian Hill 75¢
THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013
ALL JAZZED UP Armstrong Chapel hosts Wheaton College Ensemble. See LIFE, B1
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Patrol officers, village reach deal By Jeanne Houck jhouck@communitypress.com
The dozen patrol officers who work for the Indian Hill Rangers will get 2-percent raises next year and in 2015. That’s in a three-year contract with the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association that Village Council unanimously approved April 22. The contract, which had already been ratified by members of the patrolmen’s association, runs from June 1 through May 31, 2016. It includes no salary hike through Feb. 28, 2014, for the patrol officers, whose beginning base pay is $59,000 annually.
One 2-percent raise in the new contract is effective March 1, 2014, and another 2-percent raise is effective March 1, 2015. The contract Minneci also gives patrol officers six more hours of straight time for working on Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. “I am proud of the cooperation, professionalism and commitment to strong public service promoted by all those involved in the negotiation process,” said City Manager Dina
Minneci. “The process included a thorough understanding on everyone’s part of the budgetary impacts due to the loss of the estate tax, the Schlie decrease in local government funding and the economic downturn. “The village appreciates the dedicated personnel that are so highly valued by the community,” Minneci said. “But the village also is being very cognizant of the total effects the contract provisions would have on future operating budgets.”
On average, Minneci said, the patrol officers’ contract will cost Indian Hill taxpayers about $40,000 more per year. The village’s police budget is $3.3 million. Bill Schwartz of the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, who represented the Indian Hill patrol officers, was not immediately available for comment. “Both sides worked cooperatively to come to mutual agreement,” said Chuck Schlie, chief of the Rangers Police Department. “The patrol officers were respectful of the village’s financial situation and the village showed respect for the out-
standing job the officers perform. “Mrs. Minneci did a great job directing the first contract under her administration,” Schlie said. Indian Hill Rangers who rank higher than patrol officers are not in a bargaining unit. Salary and benefits for them and for non-police department personnel will be considered during the village’s budget process that begins in July. For more about your community, visit www.Cincinnati.com/IndianHill. Get regular Indian Hil updates by signing up for our email newsletter. Vsit Cincinnati.com/IndianHill.
School drafts vision plan for the future By Forrest Sellers fsellers@communitypress.com
Indian Hill Elementary School intervention specialist Heather Milligan has been selected as a “Teacher of Excellence” by a local university. Milligan has been an intervention specialist at Indian Hill for five years. FORREST SELLERS/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
Indian Hill teacher honored for excellence By Forrest Sellers fsellers@communitypress.com
A local university has selected an Indian Hill teacher as a “Teacher of Excellence.” Indian Hill Elementary School intervention specialist Heather Milligan was selected by Cincinnati Christian University as one of 10 “Teachers of Excellence” based on qualities such as leadership, service and character.
Teachers were chosen from among Greater Cincinnati public and private schools. “Heather is an advocate for student success,” said Indian Hill Elementary School Principal Melissa Stewart, who nominated Milligan. “She works tirelessly to offer students the best educational environment possible.” Milligan, who is a resident of Mt. Carmel, has been a special education teacher at Indian
FOOD
GAME ON!
Try Aaron Sanchez’s Mexican brownies, with chili powder and cinnamon, for Cinco de Mayo. Full story, B3
Sportsman of Year voting starts May 1. Full story, A6
The Indian Hill Elementary School multipurpose room was recently awash in Post-it notes and index cards. Administrators, staff and school board members were encouraged to contribute their ideas for developing a strategic plan for the district. This included listing priorities, values and a mission plan for the future. “We are beginning a conversation tonight,” said Superintendent Mark Miles, who led the meeting. Miles said this was an opportunity for those attending to provide feedback on where they see the district in five to 10 years. Participants were grouped at various tables where they responded to questions such as: » “What do you value most?” » “How should we be different as an organization in five to 10 years?”
SELLERS/THE COMMUNITY
See MILLIGAN, Page A2
See page A2 for additional information
PRESS
For the Postmaster
Contact us
News ...................248-8600 Retail advertising ......768-8357 Classified advertising ..242-4000 Delivery ................576-8240
See VISION, Page A2
Indian Hill Board of Education member Elizabeth Johnston, left, looks at some of the responses to what district personnel value. Johnston was among those who attended a recent strategic planning session for the district. FORREST
Hill Elementary for five years. She is an intervention specialist for third-graders. Prior to Indian Hill she was a teacher and intervention specialist for the West Clermont Local School District. “I was drawn to the creativity and satisfaction of working with struggling students and seeing their progress,” she said.
Indian Hill Journal 394 Wards Corner Road, Suite 170 Loveland, Ohio 45140
NCCAA NCCAA College College B Baseball aseball World World Series Series
Division II Games: May 8 - 11 Division I Games: May 15-18 www.prascopark.com/nccaa CE-0000554713
» “How should the Indian Hill Exempted Village School District look the same in five to 10 years?” Participants wrote their responses on Post-it notes and index cards. The responses were then shared at each table and then with the group as a whole. Answers were as diverse as the questions themselves. Indian Hill Primary School Principal Jim Nichols said “community, staff and students” are what he values most. “Technology will offer more opportunity,” said Indian Hill Elementary School Principal Melissa Stewart, responding to what will be different in the next few years. Treasurer Julia Toth said “engagement” is a quality she hopes remains “the same” in the future. “We want students who are happy to be with us,” she said. The latter portion of the meeting was spent reviewing
Published weekly every Thursday Periodicals postage paid at Loveland, OH 45140 and at additional mailing offices. ISSN 15423174 ● USPS 020-826 Postmaster: Send address change to Indian Hill Journal 394 Wards Corner Road, Suite 170 Loveland, Ohio 45140
Vol. 14 No. 46 © 2013 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED