BASE COUNCIL MEETING NOTES [BASE MEETING NOTES]

BLUE ASH CITY COUNCIL February 12, 2009 Page 1 A regular meeting of the Council of the City of Blue Ash, Ohio, was held on February 12, 2009. Mayor Robert J. Buckman, Jr. called the meeting to order in Council Chambers at 7:00 PM.

OPENING CEREMONIES

Mayor Buckman led those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL

MEMBERS PRESENT: Councilman Rick Bryan (entered later in meeting), Mayor Robert Buckman, Councilman Lee Czerwonka, Councilwoman Stephanie Stoller, Councilman James Sumner, and Vice Mayor Mark Weber

MEMBER ABSENT: Councilman Stacey

Councilman Sumner moved, Councilman Czerwonka seconded to excuse Councilmen Stacey and Bryan (who later entered the meeting). A voice vote was taken. All members present voted yes. Motion carried.

ALSO PRESENT: City Manager David Waltz, Solicitor Mark Vander Laan, Clerk of Council Jamie Eifert, Deputy Clerk of Council Sue Bennett, Treasurer/Administrative Services Director James Pfeffer, Parks & Recreation Director Chuck Funk, Public Works Director Mike Duncan, Assistant to the City Manager Kelly Osler, and interested citizens

Mayor Buckman appointed Kelly Osler to read the legislation (resolution and ordinance) in their entirety in the rear of Council Chambers.

ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA

Councilman Czerwonka moved, Vice Mayor Weber seconded to accept the agenda. A voice vote was taken. All members present voted yes. Motion carried.

“1. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER

2. OPENING CEREMONIES

3. ROLL CALL - Clerk of Council Jamie K. Eifert

4. APPOINTMENT OF PERSON(S) TO READ ORDINANCES IN FULL IN REAR OF COUNCIL CHAMBERS

5. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA

6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

a. Regular Meeting of January 22, 2009

7. COMMUNICATIONS

a. Communications to Council - Clerk of Council Jamie K. Eifert b. Reports From Outside Agencies c. Recording of the 2008 Annual Report

8. HEARINGS FROM CITIZENS

9. COMMITTEE REPORTS

a. Finance & Administration Committee, Rick Bryan, Chairperson

1. Resolution No. 2009-1, making an appointment to the Charter Revision Committee

b. Parks & Recreation Committee, Lee Czerwonka, Chairperson

1. Ordinance No. 2009-12, authorizing contract for work and materials associated with the audio system at the renovated Recreation Center

BLUE ASH CITY COUNCIL February 12, 2009 Page 2

c. Public Works Committee, Henry S. Stacey, Chairperson

1. Ordinance No. 2009-13, amending Section 521.06 of the Blue Ash Code of Ordinances regarding sidewalks (first reading)

d. Planning & Zoning Committee, James W. Sumner, Chairperson

1. Ordinance No. 2009-14, setting an expiration date for the special use permit granted by Ordinance No. 84-14 regarding construction of a sign at 10996 Deerfield Road & repealing Section I(B) of Ordinance No. 83-47 (first reading)

10. MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS

11. ADJOURNMENT”

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Councilman Czerwonka moved, Councilman Sumner seconded to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 22, 2009. A voice vote was taken. All members present voted yes. Motion carried.

COMMUNICATIONS

Communications to Council The following liquor permit was presented to Council:

Permit #: 2527479 Type: TRFO

To: Ensenada LLC, 4767 Creek Road, Blue Ash, Ohio 45242

From: Showroom Inc., 4767 Creek Road, Blue Ash, Ohio 45242

The Police Department has reviewed this permit request and has no objections. No member of Council expressed objection to this permit.

Reports From Outside Agencies

There were no representatives from outside agencies present at the meeting.

Recording of the Annual Report Council had no objection to the annual report, and it is spread later in these minutes.

HEARINGS FROM CITIZENS

Dr. Peter Nord of Kenridge Drive asked what Blue Ash is doing regarding a potential economic downturn, similar to that being experienced by our state and country. City Manager David Waltz commented that as was explained throughout the budgetary process, the 2009 Budget provides for a zero growth level. Also due to the economic slowdown, the departments have structured capital expenses in such a way that allows the City to monitor revenue and facilitate cuts if declines are realized as the year goes forward. Major capital purchases are being delayed until later in the year, where possible, so that revenues can be monitored. In addition, no new positions were included in the budget and existing vacancies will not be filled until later in the year once more information is known about revenue levels. He emphasized that the City will continue to provide the quality level of services that our residents are accustomed to; however, the City’s “defensive” posture and careful review of revenues and expenses will continue.

Orba Arnold, 4839 Fairview Avenue, asked the status of the Target development. City Manager David Waltz commented that representatives recently informed him that Target has withdrawn the project. He explained their comments that given the state of the economy, they have put the project on hold and plan to revisit its possibility later in the year.

Jeff Capell, 9354 Hunter’s Creek Drive, spoke briefly about the airline crash in New York caused by Canada Geese, and encouraged Blue Ash to take an active role in making sure such an incident does not occur in Blue Ash. He encouraged Blue Ash to review their goose

BLUE ASH CITY COUNCIL February 12, 2009 Page 3 management plan since, in his opinion, the geese are not only a nuisance, but are also dangerous.

Mr. Capell also expressed concern with correspondence recently received by the Blue Ash Tax Office. He recently received a questionnaire asking for information which he believes is not needed since he is fully in compliance with Blue Ash’s tax requirements. He suggested that the Office spend their time bothering those not paying their taxes rather than those citizens, such as him, who are in compliance. Treasurer Jim Pfeffer asked Mr. Capell if he had received his recent E-mail response, and Mr. Capell confirmed that he had and thanked Mr. Pfeffer. Mr. Pfeffer further explained that most cities have a mandatory filing requirement for residents, which mean that every year, along with their federal and state returns, residents would be required to file a local return. However, Blue Ash does not have this mandatory filing provision. Though Blue Ash does not have this mandatory requirement, the Tax personnel periodically sends out questionnaires to residents since they cannot possibly know all circumstances within each home. For example, unless a questionnaire is sent out, the City would not be able to know about changes in the house affecting taxpayer status -- such as the addition of persons who reside in the home, change of status of persons, and a number of other such circumstances. The questionnaire is somewhat of a “compromise,” with the intent of the City to do the best it can to collect the taxes it is responsible to collect and those rightfully due the City. He further explained that compared to other area cities, Blue Ash’s approach is much less aggressive. The City’s intent is not to cause misery. However, when there is no response to the questionnaire sent out by the office, the staff cannot be effective in its responsibilities. The periodic questionnaire asking for updates was thought to be a balance – not to purposely cause annoyance.

Hearings from Citizens was declared closed at 7:20 PM.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Prior to the Council meeting, Council members received the following report describing agenda items: “The following offers a brief description of the topics included on the February 12 Council agenda:

9.a.1. Resolution No. 2009-1 - Making an appointment to the Charter Revision Committee

As directed by Council, Resolution No. 2009-1 appoints Richard Cogen of Classic Drive to the Charter Revision Committee to fill the vacancy due to relocation of former member Nicole Yasbeck. As specified in the Charter, Mr. Cogen is being appointed to fill the balance of the term which expires in 2010.

9.b.1. Ordinance No. 2009-12 - Authorizing contract for work and materials associated with the audio system at the renovated Recreation Center

Ordinance No. 2009-12 authorizes a contract for work and materials associated with the renovated and expanded Recreation Center’s audio system. The Facilities Maintenance group recommends that a contract be authorized with Sound Force for this work and materials, which would include items such as all audio components, wiring and assembly, and television mounting hardware. This project component is included within the overall budget for the project (under the furniture, fixtures and equipment portion), and the recommended not-to-exceed amount as reflected in the ordinance is $60,000. Any bidding procedures are being asked to be waived in light of the City’s past experience with this vendor on many audio projects in the past, and their favorable quote for the work and materials required.

Please direct questions regarding this ordinance to the Parks & Recreation Director.

9.c.1. Ordinance No. 2009-13 - Amending Section 521.06 of the Blue Ash Code of Ordinances regarding sidewalks (first reading)

Ordinance No. 2009-13, presented to Council at the recommendation of the Solicitor’s Office, amends the existing section of the Code (Sec. 521.06) relating to “duty to keep sidewalks in repair and clean.” The proposed change within paragraph (a) is: “No owner or occupant of abutting lands shall fail to keep the sidewalks, curbs or gutters in repair and free from snow, ice or any nuisance.”

BLUE ASH CITY COUNCIL February 12, 2009 Page 4 Council may recall some discussion of this issue several years ago, then recommending a change to the Code which the Administration thought had been handled through one of the several “general” updates to the Code since. However, we recently realized that it had not been incorporated within other general updates. The Solicitor’s Office has informed us that this recommended Code change also coincides with civil liability case rulings of the Ohio Supreme Court that indicate that a landowner does not owe a duty to the general public to remove natural accumulations of ice and snow from public sidewalks which abut the landowner’s premises, even where a City ordinance requires the landowner to keep the sidewalks free of ice and snow.

Thursday’s meeting represents the first reading of this legislation, with the second and final scheduled for the February 26th meeting. Please direct questions regarding this ordinance to the Solicitor.

9.d.1. Ordinance No. 2009-14 - Setting an expiration date for the special use permit granted by Ordinance No. 84-14 regarding construction of a sign at 10996 Deerfield Road & repealing Section I(B) of Ordinance No. 83-47 (first reading)

The City Solicitor’s office has recommended Council passage of legislation related to the court ruling associated with the City’s efforts to effectively remove the free-standing “banjo” style sign (i.e., billboard) at 10996 Deerfield Road.

In late October, the Hamilton County, Ohio First District Court of Appeals ruled that the ordinance originally authorizing construction of the sign (Ordinance No. 84-18) is still in effect because the ordinance did not state the special use permit expired in any specific period of time. The City’s legal counsel at Dinsmore suggests consideration of Ordinance No. 2009-14 which formally establishes an expiration date of July 1, 2014 associated with the special use.

Thursday’s meeting would represent the first reading of this ordinance, with the second and final reading scheduled for the February 26th Council meeting. Please direct questions regarding this ordinance to the Solicitor.”

Finance & Administration Committee, Rick Bryan, Chairperson

In Councilman Bryan’s absence, Councilwoman Stoller was asked to preside.

Councilwoman Stoller asked the Clerk to read Resolution No. 2009-1 by title only.

THEN WAS PRESENTED AND READ BY TITLE ONLY:

RESOLUTION NO. 2009-1

PROVIDING FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF RICHARD M. COGEN TO THE CHARTER REVISION COMMITTEE FOR THE TERM EXPIRING JULY 1, 2010

Councilwoman Stoller moved, Councilman Sumner seconded to adopt Resolution No. 2009-1. There being no discussion, the Clerk called the roll. Councilpersons Stoller, Sumner, Weber, Czerwonka, and Mayor Buckman voted yes. Five yeses. Resolution passed.

The Oath of Office was administered to Mr. Cogen who was present at the meeting. Mr. Cogen thanked Council for the opportunity to volunteer with Blue Ash on this committee. A brief break was taken to allow pictures of Mr. Cogen and his family to be taken.

Parks & Recreation Committee, Lee Czerwonka, Chairperson

Councilman Czerwonka asked the Clerk to read Ordinance No. 2009-12 by title only.

THEN WAS PRESENTED AND READ BY TITLE ONLY:

ORDINANCE NO. 2009-12

AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR WORK AND MATERIALS ASSOCIATED WITH THE AUDIO SYSTEM AT THE RENOVATED RECREATION CENTER; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY

BLUE ASH CITY COUNCIL February 12, 2009 Page 5 Councilman Czerwonka moved, Vice Mayor Weber seconded to suspend the rules of Council requiring a second reading of the ordinance. The Clerk called the roll. Councilpersons Sumner, Weber, Czerwonka, Stoller, and Mayor Buckman voted yes. Five yeses. Motion carried.

Councilman Czerwonka moved, Councilwoman Stoller seconded to adopt Ordinance No. 2009-12. There being no discussion, the Clerk called the roll. Councilpersons Weber, Czerwonka, Stoller, Sumner, and Mayor Buckman voted yes. Five yeses. Ordinance No. 2009-12 passed.

Councilman Bryan entered the meeting.

Public Works Committee, Henry S. Stacey, Chairperson

In Councilman Stacey’s absence, Councilman Bryan was asked to preside.

Councilman Bryan asked the Clerk to read Ordinance No. 2009-13 in its entirety.

THEN WAS PRESENTED AND READ IN ITS ENTIRETY:


AMENDING SECTION 521.06 OF THE BLUE ASH CODE OF ORDINANCES REGARDING DUTY TO KEEP SIDEWALKS "FREE FROM" SNOW AND ICE

The Clerk of Council explained that this represents the first reading of this ordinance, and there will be no formal vote until the February 26 meeting. In addressing questions from Council, Solicitor Mark Vander Laan commented that the Ohio Supreme Court ruling does “trump” the local Blue Ash Code in this regard. Mr. Vander Laan added that it was believed this Code update was made in a prior general Code update; however, staff recently learned that it was not. He further explained that the recommended Code change, to remove the words “snow, ice or” from the section (leaving: “No owner or occupant of abutting lands shall fail to keep the sidewalks, curbs or gutters in repair and free from any nuisance.”), coincides with civil liability case rulings of the Ohio Supreme Court that indicate that a landowner does not owe a duty to the general public to remove natural accumulations of ice and snow from public sidewalks which abut the landowner’s premises, even where a City ordinance requires the landowner to keep the sidewalks free of ice and snow.

Planning & Zoning Committee, James W. Sumner, Chairperson

Councilman Sumner asked the Clerk of Council to read Ordinance No. 2009-14 in its entirety.

THEN WAS PRESENTED AND READ IN ITS ENTIRETY:


AN ORDINANCE SETTING AN EXPIRATION DATE FOR THE SPECIAL USE PERMIT GRANTED BY ORDINANCE NO. 84-18, ENTITLED "GRANTING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT TO RED ROOF INNS, INC. AND JOSEPH H. GALLENSTEIN & SONS, INC., UNDER SECTION 154.7.307 OF THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A SIGN TO BE LOCATED AT 10996 DEERFIELD ROAD; REPEALING SECTION I.(B) OF ORDINANCE NO. 83-47; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY."

The Clerk of Council explained that this represents the first reading of this ordinance, and there will be no formal vote until the February 26 meeting.

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS

Public Information Officer Sue Bennett commented that the City will soon institute a new “E-newsletter” effort to allow the City to more quickly communicate with citizens on issues that

BLUE ASH CITY COUNCIL February 12, 2009 Page 6 may not coincide with the timing of the regular community newsletter (such as an upcoming comment from Mr. Duncan). This communication means is intended to supplement, not replace, the community’s regular printed newsletter mailed to all residences and businesses. The public will be able to sign up to receive these e-newsletters through the website.

Ms. Bennett commented that the City’s front desk received a complimentary call from a resident. The resident explained that she and her husband had just been reading the local newspapers and other national papers about the national financial crisis, amongst other bad news, and felt compelled to call Blue Ash to explain how grateful they feel to live in a community like Blue Ash where financial aspects are handled so well. She explained how happy they felt that Blue Ash does not have the problems so often read about recently at the state and national levels. Ms. Bennett also commented that the City has received many complimentary remarks regarding recent snow removal efforts.

Public Works Director Mike Duncan commented that the City’s Service Department crews will offer a curbside brush pickup this Tuesday (curbside pickup does not usually begin until March 1). Also, as a convenience for citizens, the crews will offer curbside leaf pickup from Wednesday through Friday next week (this service is usually offered only from mid October to mid December). He reminded Council also of the one-day curbside leaf pickup opportunity already scheduled for Monday, April 13.

Mr. Duncan noted that there have recently been two demo streetlights placed on the leg of Hunt Road between Towne Square Avenue & Cooper Road – the first two lights on the north side of Hunt just past Towne Square Avenue. He explained that the lights are a new design and include LED lighting. He encouraged Council to view these lights to see if that might be a desired lighting style for new lighting being considered for all of downtown. He explained that these lights are very energy efficient as these new lights pull .1 AMP, as compared to the older style lighting that pull 3.6 AMPS. The newer lights are also a brighter white, and their life span is 10 years (maintenance free), comparing to maintenance required on the old style of light every one to two years.

In addressing a question from Councilman Bryan regarding his suggestion to quantify the cost savings of the proposed new lights in downtown, Mr. Duncan commented that he is working with the Assistant to the City Manager, Kelly Osler, to do so.

Mr. Duncan noted that he recently attended a meeting of the OKI Council of Governments which discussed the stimulus package and he believes that three Blue Ash projects have a potential of receiving some funding.

Parks & Recreation Director Chuck Funk gave a brief update of the Recreation Center renovation and expansion project. He explained that the project is on schedule and that the majority of the expanded facility will be open by Memorial Day weekend, with the final items to be complete by early July.

City Manager Waltz commented that the City’s first month of tax collections is down a bit; however, the City continues to remain in a position where such downturns can effectively be addressed.

Councilman Sumner complimented the City Manager on his tie – which adorns the City’s newer blue-gold-green color scheme.

In addressing a question regarding the Target development from Councilman Sumner, Mr. Waltz explained that any deteriorated property conditions (residential or business) will be watched by the City’s property maintenance/Code enforcement personnel.

Vice Mayor Weber mentioned that an admired teacher with the Sycamore District, Rob Stoneberger, was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He mentioned that the owner of Samurai Sam’s, Mr. Vince Czetukaipis, recently held a fundraiser at his restaurant and donated half the proceeds to the family. Over $3,500 was raised, and Vice Mayor Weber commented on the compassion and kindness of this Blue Ash business owner.

BLUE ASH CITY COUNCIL February 12, 2009 Page 7 Councilman Bryan added that Mr. Czetukaipis has also been kind and generous with The Wellness Community.

Councilman Bryan suggested that someone from the City make a presentation at a future Council meeting regarding water gardens and their benefits to homeowners and the environment. Mr. Waltz commented that a staff meeting held earlier this week included information of this subject, and Mr. Duncan has information on hand made available by the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District. Councilman Bryan encouraged a formal presentation at a future meeting to share this information with the public.

Councilman Czerwonka complimented the City’s snow removal efforts on the recent storm.

In addressing a question from Councilman Czerwonka, Mr. Waltz asked the Assistant to the City Manager, Kelly Osler, to update Council regarding recent funds from the HCDC. Ms. Osler explained that the City has requested funds from HCDC (Hamilton County Development Corporation) to conduct a site assessment of properties both north and south of Osborne Boulevard. Blue Ash was one of seven communities granted funds. She explained that we expect the assessment to begin in March and be complete this fall.

In addressing a question from Mayor Buckman, Public Information Officer commented that some updates were made to the Cable channel just today, to be effective at Midnight. Efforts to input additional updates will continue.

ADJOURNMENT

All items on the agenda having been acted upon, Councilman Sumner moved, Vice Mayor Weber seconded to adjourn the meeting. A voice vote was taken. All members voted yes. The Council meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:56 PM.

______________________________________ Robert J. Buckman, Jr., Mayor ________________________________________ Jamie K. Eifert, Clerk of Council MINUTES WRITTEN BY: ________________________________________ Susan K. Bennett, Deputy Clerk of Council

BLUE ASH CITY COUNCIL February 12, 2009 Page 8

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SKB

2008 BLUE ASH CITY COUNCIL TEAM

L to R, Sitting: Vice Mayor Mark Weber (Ward 5); Mayor JackBuckman (Ward 4); & Stephanie Stoller, Ward 2. Standing:

Henry Stacey, At Large; Jim Sumner, Ward 1; Lee Czerwonka,At Large; & Rick Bryan, Ward 3.

January 2009

Honorable Mayor & City Council Members:

It is with pleasure that Blue Ash’s City Manager and Administrative team submit this 2008 Annual Report.

The Year 2008 was an exciting one for Blue Ash. Please note that this Annual Report is intended to only summa-rize highlights of major achievements and accomplishments of each department and division of the City during theyear. It is not intended to provide a comprehensive listing of all that the City of Blue Ash has to offer to those wholive, work, and visit our community.

It truly is a privilege to work for and be associated with the City of Blue Ash and its City Council. We look forwardto continuing efforts associated with the many exciting opportunities and projects that face our community and itsresidential and corporate citizens in the future. Thank you sincerely for your continued support and leadership.

Respectfully submitted,BLUE ASH CITY ADMINISTRATION

DDaavviidd WWaallttzzDavid WaltzCity Manager

JJiimm PPffeeffffeerrJim Pfeffer

Treasurer/Admin. Ser. Director

CChhuucckk FFuunnkkChuck Funk

Parks & Recreation Director

MMiikkee DDuunnccaannMike Duncan

Public Works Director

CChhrriiss WWaallllaacceeChris WallacePolice Chief

RRiicckk BBrroowwnnRick BrownFire Chief

SSuuee BBeennnneettttSue Bennett

Public Information Officer

TTAABBLLEE OOFF CCOONNTTEENNTTSSAdministration - Council & City Manager’s Office ..................................................................................................................1Administration - City Manager’s Office / Treasurer’s Office...................................................................................................3Treasurer’s Office / Sister City ..................................................................................................................................................4Administrative Services - Earnings Tax Office ........................................................................................................................5Administrative Services - Finance Office.................................................................................................................................6Human Resources ......................................................................................................................................................................7Technology & Project Management Offices.............................................................................................................................8Police Department ......................................................................................................................................................................9Fire Department ........................................................................................................................................................................11Economic & Community Development ..................................................................................................................................13September Wind Storm............................................................................................................................................................16Service Department..................................................................................................................................................................17Parks & Recreation - Rec Center & Pool ................................................................................................................................19Parks & Recreation - Fitness, Concessions & Hazelwood ...................................................................................................20Parks & Recreation - Recreation Center Expansion & Renovation .....................................................................................21Parks & Recreation - Special Events ......................................................................................................................................22Golf Course - Programming & Maintenance ..........................................................................................................................24Parks Maintenance ...................................................................................................................................................................25Facilities Maintenance .............................................................................................................................................................26City Vision & Mission Team Statements.................................................................................................................................27

The Year 2008 was another exciting one for Blue Ash,featuring a number of significant accomplishments in-volving all departments and divisions. With Council’ssupport and leadership, the team members based

within the City Manager’s and Treasurer’sOffices were involved with many of thesemajor projects on an ongoing basis.

Issue 15 passed by voters in Novem-ber 2006 provided the resources fora number of major capital improve-ments for the benefit of our citizens.

The first “Issue 15” capital improve-ment is the renovation and expan-sion of the Recreation Center. Moreinformation about this exciting capitalimprovement project for our commu-nity, including photos, is presentedwithin the Parks & Recreation portionof this report.

Also related to the capital projectsassociated with Issue 15 resources,the City continued to establish the

ground work for a future PerformingArts & Conference Center (PACC) –just one amenity planned for the fu-ture 130-acre park developmentplanned near the airport (see archi-tectural rendering). The City alsocontinued its work to explore poten-tial revenue sources to fund thismulti-million dollar communityamenity that will benefit residentialand corporate citizens throughout theregion. In September, the Citylearned that it was awarded a grantfor $150,000 in State of Ohio CapitalImprovement Program funds towardsthat project. Meetings with county,

state, and federal legislators wereheld to assure that Blue Ash’s futurePACC project remains top of mindwhen future capital expenditure deci-sions are made.

NATIONAL RECOGNITIONIn April 2008, our City received posi-tive national recognition by FOR-TUNE Small Businessmagazine asBlue Ash wasincludedamong their100 bestplaces in America to live & launch asmall business. In fact, Blue Ash wasthe only Ohio community selected tobe included within this prestigiouslist. A broad range of criteria was ex-amined, including housing prices,schools, cultural and recreational at-tractions, quality of the labor force,taxes, and the regulatory climate.The selection process also includedinterviews of business owners, localofficials, and economic experts. BlueAsh was listed as #62 on the list of“100 great towns that will feed yoursoul and nurture your business.” TheAdministration is particularly proud of

this award because it acknowledgesnot only Blue Ash’s efforts to createan environment that assures a qual-ity place for businesses to invest andcall home, but also attests to the factthat Blue Ash is a great place to live.The award reflects the government’scommitment, requiring teamworkacross all City departments, to pro-vide an exceptional and prosperousenvironment for our residential andcorporate citizens.PASSING OF LONG-TIME BLUEASH FRIEND RAY MACNABUnfortunately, in October, Blue Ashlost a long-time resident and friendwith the passing of former Council-man Raymond MacNab. Mr. Mac-Nab, a Blue Ash resident for over 49years, retired from his long-standingCouncil position in September 2004after serving on Council for over 32years. At the time of his retirement,he held the honor of having served in

a Council position longer than anyother person; however, today, cur-rent Councilwoman StephanieStoller retains that honor as she hasbeen on Council for 35+ years. 2008 CITIZEN SURVEYIn March, the City contracted withthe University of Cincinnati Institutefor Policy Research (IPR) to com-plete a citizen survey designed tomeasure residents’ perceptions of is-sues facing Blue Ash and to identifyattitudes and opinions about overallquality of life and development andredevelopment in the City, includingthe future 130-acre park near the air-port. This is the second citizen sur-vey in recent years where assistancefrom IPR, an institution which spe-cializes in public policy and opinionresearch, was utilized to gather datafrom citizens. This telephone surveywas conducted in mid March, with487 Blue Ash resident adults inter-

PROGRESS ON ISSUE 15 RELATED CAPITAL PROJECTS

ADDITIONAL COUNCIL & CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE ACTIVITY IN 2008

Architectural rendering of a futurePACC. Rendering by Steed

Hammond Paul.

1 - Blue Ash Annual Report - 2008

viewed. Overall, the Administrationviewed the results as a “vote of confi-dence” from residents that the City ismoving in the right direction. High-lights of the survey results are sum-marized below:Quality of Life – Blue Ash citizensremain extremely pleased with theoverall quality of life in their commu-nity. 98.7% answered that they wereeither “very satisfied” or “satisfied”with the quality of life in the City ofBlue Ash, and 84.3% answered thatthe overall sense of community inthe City of Blue Ash is either “excel-lent” or “good.” These ratings com-pare favorably to similar positiveratings received in the 2002 citizenassessment survey. Future Airport Park – Residents arewell informed about efforts related tothe future 130 acre park near the air-port as 85.8% answered that theyhave heard either “a great deal” or“some” about those efforts. Of spe-cific overall City projects, the airportpark ranked as the highest priority forthe City over the next 10 years. Thefuture airport park was also the mostfrequently noted item when asked anopen-ended question regarding thesingle most important issue facingBlue Ash during the next five years.Regarding the nature of specific de-velopment within the airport park andwhen asked which they would like tosee Blue Ash develop first, the per-forming arts & conference center andgreen space were most frequentlyselected. Downtown Blue Ash – It is clearthat Downtown is also on citizens’minds. Overall, 75.8% answered thatthey believe Downtown Blue Ash hasa positive impact on the quality of lifein Blue Ash. In addition, 63% an-swered that within the past year, theyhave visited Downtown Blue Ash

businesses “at least once a day” or“a few times a week.” Furthermore, aclear majority (68.4%) answered thatthey would either “strongly favor” or“favor somewhat” the City providingfinancial assistance for downtown re-development to encourage the de-velopment of new businesses indowntown. When asked to rank firstand second priorities for the City(over the next ten years), citizens an-swered attracting new business de-velopment downtown second mostfrequently only to development of theairport park. Miscellaneous - Additional surveyresponses showed high satisfactionwith Blue Ash’s overall land use mix(89.7%), and nearly three-quarters ofrespondents indicating that physicalconnection of more Blue Ash neigh-borhoods to one another is at leastsomewhat important. ADDITIONAL 2008 COUNCIL & CITYMANAGER’S OFFICE ACTIVITY:�Another successful Student Gov-ernment Day was coordinated bythe Admin team. In 2008, the eventwas moved to September (from itsformer spring period) to minimizecompetition experienced with thetraditional springtime high schoolscheduling, such as graduation ac-tivities. Students from Sycamoreand Ursuline participated.

�Public information outreach contin-ued through the year, including thecreation of three communitynewsletters (May, August, and De-cember) and the 2009 CommunityCalendar. These publications areused year-round for promotional andeconomic development purposes.

�The residential tree program, coor-dinated through the City Manager’sOffice, was expanded towards theend of 2008 to allow residents topurchase additional trees to be

planted by residents due to recentrelatively harsh conditions, such asthe extreme droughtexperienced in 2007,the effects of theEmerald Ash Boreron many Ash treevarieties, and the major tree lossand damage after the September2008 windstorm. The number oftrees planted during the 2002through 2008 phases of the pro-gram totaled 608, with 73 of thoseplanted in 2008. The program of-fers residents the opportunity forthe City to subsidize the cost oftrees planted through the programin a location viewable by the public.

�Administration of the Veterans Me-morial inscribed brick program con-tinued in its 18th year. Additionalbricks were inscribed and placed atthe Memorial in May, bringing thetotal number of inscribed brickshonoring American veterans to4,829.

�The City Manager’s Office, with as-sistance from Parks & Rec staff, co-ordinated efforts associated with theCity’s annual Memorial Day paradeand ceremonies. 2008 representedthe community’s 56th annual, andincluded the 338th Army Band fromColumbus as the featured militaryband (also performing a concert onTowne Square the Sunday eveningbefore to a large crowd). Keynotespeaker from the Memorial Day cer-emonies was Colonel Jay Strickler,Vice Commander of the 88th Air

2008 Blue Ash Annual Report - 2

Blue Ash’s Memorial Day Parade isthe largest in the region. 2008

marked the 56th annual.

Although the Treasurer, a key member of the Adminis-trative team, was involved on a daily basis with mostefforts described in preceding sections, a summary ofadditional activity performed by the Treasurer’s officenot captured in those descriptions is offered below:�General supervision and support for Finance, Tax,Technology, and Human Resource offices and staff.

�Overseeing of the City’s risk management functions, in-cluding involvement with the insurance pool, Miami ValleyRisk Management Association (MVRMA). MVRMA-deter-mined average loss experience for Blue Ash was

$150,585 in 2005; $69,658 in 2006; and $29,991 in 2007.�Continual review of the City’s overall financial posi-tion and updating of the City’s Capital ImprovementProgram (CIP) which is extremely helpful for Counciland the Administration in long-term planning efforts.

�Resolution of numerous complex real estate issues,including the City’s purchase of 130 acres near theairport from the City of Cincinnati. This involvescountless hours associated with finalization of thepurchase agreement, “due diligence,” surveys, envi-ronmental assessment requirements, etc.

ADDITIONAL TREASURER’S OFFICE ACTIVITY IN 2008

Base Wing based at Wright-PattersonAir Force Base.�The 16th annual Veterans Day ac-tivities in November took place, co-ordinated by the all-volunteerVeterans Day Committee, with lo-gistical assistance provided by theCity Manager’s Office. This eventalso includes participation fromGreene School students, and thisyear also hosted several classesfrom the Junior High. The annualluncheon traditionally held after theceremonies was not held in 2008due to construction ongoing at theRec Center.

�The 2007 Municipal & Safety Centerspace needs assessment was fol-lowed up in 2008 with a micro studyof the Police area. This effort, coordi-nated by the Assistant to the CityManager with assistance from PoliceCaptain Jim Schaffer, LieutenantPaul Hartinger, and Michael Schus-ter Associates, aimed at alleviatingcrowding in the locker rooms andconsolidating detectives operations.Renovations conducted by the City’sFacility Maintenance team are un-derway and began with a new meet-ing space in an area which formerlyhoused postal boxes.

�The City’s record retention effortswere continued with the creation of

the City’s Schedule of Records Re-tention and Disposition and theBlue Ash Records Commission.

�The Assistant to the City Managerworked with the Public Works Di-rector on a Community Develop-ment Block Grant request.Coordinated by Hamilton County,the City is eligible for about$90,000 of federal funds over athree year grant cycle (the currentcycle is ‘09-‘11). The City re-quested, and was granted, $90,000in 2009 for microsurfacing thestreets of Hazelwood which willprovide a new surface layer for theroadway, extend the life of theroad, and improve safety by in-creasing friction.

�The Assistant to the City Managercoordinated an effort to place la-bels on public storm drains to helpspread the word regarding the im-portance of protecting local water-sheds. The prevention message:“No Dumping,” since polluted runoffis one of the nation’s greatestthreats to clean water. She workedwith the Rotary Club of BlueAsh/Montgomery, employees fromBlue Ash based Sunny DelightBeverages Co., and students fromSycamore High School’s InteractClub to place labels throughoutseveral residential neighborhoods.

The storm drain labeling effort iscoordinated by the HamiltonCounty Soil and Water Conserva-tion District to help prevent pollu-tion from entering storm drains.

�In 2008, the City contracted withGruen Gruen + Associates ofChicago to conduct a citywidehousing assessment. This consult-ant was selected after a formal re-quest for proposal process, inwhich 11 proposals were received.The goal of this study was to iden-tify strategies to stimulate invest-ment and reinvestment in homesand neighborhoods. The consult-ants, working with the Assistant tothe City Manager and the AssistantCommunity Development Director,are expected to release the resultsof this study in spring 2009.

�The Assistant to the City Managercoordinated efforts associated withthe City’s Cable Franchise Agree-ment with Time Warner Cable(TWC) and kept abreast ofchanges affecting the City due torecent year’s legislation. As of theend of 2008, TWC has a videoservice agreement withthe State for the provi-sion of video servicesin Blue Ash, as doesCincinnati Bell Tele-phone.


2008 was a busy year for Sister Cityactivities with Blue Ash’s partner, Il-menau, Germany. In early May, a private tour group of43 citizens who live in or near Ilme-nau visited Blue Ash/GreaterCincinnati as part of a +two-weekvisit to the USA/Canada, visitingWashington DC, New York, NiagaraFalls, Philadelphia, Boston, andportions of southeastern Canada.The group ended their tour in BlueAsh, and it was reportedly unani-mous: they were very impressed

with Blue Ash and thoroughly en-joyed their visit! The group stayedin the Blue Ash Crowne Plaza.An official delegation also visitedBlue Ash in mid September. Thir-teen delegates enjoyed their visit toBlue Ash, including representativesfrom Ilmenau City Hall and Council,and the Ilmenau business and edu-cational communities. The groupalso experienced more than usualoccurrences as the hurricane-likewind storm happened in the midstof their visit, making various as-

pects of the group’s visit extra chal-lenging. A student group from UC/RaymondWalters College (RWC) also visitedIlmenau Technical University forthree weeks in August, led by BlueAsh Sister City Inc. Board memberDebbie Page, Department Directorof RWC’s German Department. TheRWC students earned college cred-its for the classes taken while in Il-menau (see photo).

SISTER CITY PROGRAM

�Worked with the Technology team on replacement ofa computer at the Northeast Community Challenge(NECC) office, including data conversion and resolu-tion of connectivity issues.

�Confirmed the safety of Blue Ash’s liquid assets withStar Ohio and Fifth Third Bank and monitored thecredit crisis impact on pension systems.

�Carefully followed and monitored the emerging“credit crisis” which impacted the national, and evenglobal, economy, to gauge impact on Blue Ash proj-ects, funding, and planning.

�Resolved numerous real estate issues, includingeasements, title issues, etc.

�The pie charts to the right give a pictorial description ofwhere Blue Ash’s revenue sources are derived (top)and the areas where expenditures are directed towardsCity operations (bottom). As can be seen in the topchart, the great majority (over 70%) of Blue Ash’s rev-enues are derived from the City’s earnings tax.

WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM ...

WHERE THE MONEY GOES ...


Left & below: pic-tures from the43-citizen tourgroup who vis-ited Blue Ash inMay 2008.

Pictured left is the RWC/UCstudent/professor group withthe Ilmenau Buergermeister.The group traveled to Ilmenauin August 2008.

Left & above: pic-tures from the del-egation’s midSeptember visit toBlue Ash.

The Blue Ash Tax office is responsible for earnings taxcollection and reporting, and enforcement of the City’sTax Code. 2008 represented the second year of imple-mentation of the earnings tax rate change from its priorlevel of 1.0% to 1.25% effective January 1, 2007. TheOffice has four full-time employees, in addition to theDeputy Treasurer/Tax Commissioner who also over-sees the Finance office operations. 2008 Tax officehighlights include: �The consolidation of management and oversight ofthe Tax and Finances offices a number of years agowas completed during the last months of 2007 andfirst quarter of 2008 with the renovation of a portionof the Municipal & Safety Center. This effort providedbenefits for the citizens as to confidentiality and ac-cess to the Tax Office staff, but also provided signifi-cant improvements in efficiency and coordination.During 2008, the Tax Commissioner and her staffworked on customer service improvements, ex-panded utilization of the periodic citizen/businessquestionnaire process, the design of new tax formsand form letters, and utilization of a subpoena deliv-ery service for taxpayers where communication prob-lems persisted. Additionally, the Tax Office installed acomplete upgrade to the computer software utilizedin their operations, which included over a week of in-house training. The new Windows-based software isworking well and will prove to be a wise investment.

�2008 gross income tax collections totaled$30,119,007.40, which represents a 9.27% increaseover collection levels throughout 2007. Of thatamount, $6,686,241.99 (or 22.1%) related to netprofit collections, while the remaining 77.9% relate towithholding collections totaling $23,432,765.14. A re-view of withholding tax collections on a monthly basisfor 2008 clearly showed a steadily reducing level ofcollections closely tied to the economic downtrend, or“crisis,” evident at the time. Withholding tax collec-tions, which are paid to the City on a monthly basisby nearly all the City’s businesses, are a very accu-rate and timely indicator of employment levels. Forexample, withholding collections during the first sev-eral months of 2008 were ahead of projections, andthey steadily declined throughout the year, so that theDecember collection was over 19% lower than thesame period during 2007. Net profit collections during2008 were clearly on the positive side, which wouldnot be unexpected given the delays reflected whennet profit is “earned” and when the returns are actu-ally filed. Historically, net profit collection levels lagchanges in economic climate by up to a year or ayear and a half, so the City should be seeing a reduc-tion in net profit levels beginning in 2009. Presentedbelow is a summary of income tax collection trends1998 through 2008, as well as the corresponding re-funds paid during those years.

INCOME TAX COLLECTION TRENDS - BY CATEGORY 1998 - 2008

1998 $822,975.47 $4,128,524.93 $14,066,294.17 $19,017,794.57 -2.33% $621,510.77

INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS WITH- TOTAL %YEAR NET PROFIT NET PROFIT HOLDING COLLECTIONS CHANGE REFUNDS

1999 924,925.96 2,941,725.95 14,768,702.92 18,635,354.83 -2.01% 666,147.982000 1,082,803.34 4,476,554.62 15,568,769.89 21,128,127.85 +13.38% 910,460.462001 991,648.81 3,717,073.33 16,951,098.00 21,659,820.14 +2.52% 972,764.892002 930,788.21 2,875,284.22 15,850,948.03 19,657,020.46 -9.25% 3,132,837.052003 952,778.24 3,542,606.89 16,099,710.59 20,595,095.72 +4.77% 1,118,006.612004 965,027.60 3,308,918.23 16,209,336.25 20,483,282.08 +0.54% 867,244.452005 1,062,636.94 5,061,717.32 16,295,486.48 22,419,567.74 +8.6% 658,119.962006 1,034,640.68 5,124,122.72 16,969,099.58 23,127,862.98 +3.2% 785,997.152007 1,288,605.77 3,747,225.59 22,528,565.40 27,564,396.76 +19.2% 1,529,796.042008 1,351,429.61 5,334,812.38 23,432,765.41 30,119,007.40 +9.27% 1,029,814.39


The Finance Office is responsiblefor overseeing all areas of financialadministration, including revenuerecording, investments, expendituretracking, financial records adminis-tration, budgeting, debt financing,auditing, payroll administration, andfinancial reporting. In 2008, the Di-vision had one part-time and threefull-time employees, in addition tothe Deputy Treasurer/Tax Commis-sioner who also oversees the TaxOffice. Highlights of 2008 activity in-clude:�A significant upgrade in the com-puter platform utilized for Financeoperations (including billing, pay-roll, budgetary control, etc.) wasinstalled during 2008, after waitingfor several other cities to havesuccessfully made the transition.This effort involved a change to aWindows-based format from theprevious character-based applica-tion, necessitating a number of fulldays of training for the staff. TheFinance team believes that theconversion was worthwhile asthere were significant benefits andimprovements provided by thenew program which improve effi-ciency and smooth operations.

�Prepared and loaded the 2008Final Budget and payroll ac-counts; prepared, presented, anddelivered to the County the 2009Tax Budget; and also preparedthe 2009 Proposed Budget andrelated Capital Improvement Pro-gram/Maintenance Effort docu-ment for presentation to Council.

�Cooperatively handled the re-quired audit of the 2007 financialyear and prepared and submittedthe 2007 Comprehensive AnnualFinancial Report (CAFR). Late inthe year, the City learned that itearned the prestigious Excellence

in Financial Planning Award --representing the 21st consecutiveyear the City has received thisaward, and the tenth consecutivefor the current DeputyTreasurer/Tax Commissioner. Thisaward is presented by the Gov-ernment Finance Officer Associa-tion of America and representsthe highest award and recognitionavailable for governmental report-ing.

�The Finance team, working withthe Treasurer’s office, finalizedthe loading and updating of allfixed assets for utilization in the2007 CAFR. Efforts continuedthroughout 2008 on the loading ofassets acquired in that year, andthose programs will be finalizedduring the first several months in2009.

�Although the City did not issueany bonds or bond anticipationnotes during 2008, the second

payment for the City’s acquisitionof the 130 acres of future parkproperty from the City of Cincin-nati near the airport was made ona timely basis, and the Financeteam carefully tracked the expen-ditures associated with the City’smajor capital projects during2008, such as the Blue Ash/HuntRoad Improvements project andthe renovation and expansion ofthe Recreation Center.

CITY OF BLUE ASHGENERAL FUND FINANCIALS

2008

Beginning 2008 Gen. Fund balance* ...................................$12,928,564Add: Revenues in Gen. Fund ...............................................$37,137,109Total Gen. Fund Resources..................................................$50,065,673Less: Gen. Fund expenses ................................................($22,359,424)Less: transfers to other funds:Streets (SCMR) .....................................................................($ 1,911,639)Parks & Rec..........................................................................($ 3,988,736)“Issue 15” projects ..............................................................($ 4,051,643)Golf operations ........................................................................($351,891)Debt retirement ....................................................................($ 3,637,616)Transfers/Advance health funds ..........................................($ 291,005)= End of 2008 Gen. Fund balance* .....................................$ 13,473,719

*Note: includes all reserves


The Human Resources (HR) team has one part-timeand two full-time (including the HR Officer) staff mem-bers. In addition to the routine internal support func-tions performed by the HR office on a daily basis for allCity departments and divisions, the following offers asummary of 2008 achievements:�HR teamed up with the Health & Wellness Committeeto coordinate several health-related events for thebenefit of employees. The Health & Wellness Com-mittee is comprised of +15 employee volunteers rep-resentative from all City departments. Examplesinclude the incentive program (see below); third an-nual health fair; the Healthy Ohioans Walk-N-Lunchevent in April; and opportunity for individualized em-ployee health assessments, with over 50 employeesparticipating. The Committee also coordinatedmonthly Brown Bag Lunch seminars giving employ-ees the opportunity to learn more about various top-ics of interest (i.e. stress relief, financial planning,elder care, green living, etc.).

�2008 marked the first full year for the Health & Well-ness Committee’s Incentive program. The objectiveof the program is to establish employee health andwellness as an important part of employee satisfac-tion and well-being that is worthy of special recogni-tion. The incentive program is a competitive and funprogram established to help encourage healthy be-haviors, with points given for participation in a varietyof "healthy" activities and prizes awarded to top fin-ishers. Eighty employees participated in the program.

�An Employee Health Insurance Committee was cre-ated to review medical insurance cost savings op-tions for the Nov. 2008 renewal. A high-deductibleplan with a flexible spending account (FSA) andhealth reimbursement account (HRA) was carefullychosen by the committee and recommended to andaccepted by the City Manager. Subsequent employeehealth insurance enrollment meetings were sched-uled throughout the month of October for employeesand family members to become better informed re-garding their health insurance and FSA/HRA options.

The City received a decrease of .15% (savings of$2,821.36) for the medical insurance renewal, andthe renewal for dental and optical coverage resultedin no change in costs.

�The uniform accident review process first imple-mented in 2007 in combination with employee train-ing in the areas of back safety, driver’s safety, etc.has been successful in 2008, with an overall de-crease in employee-related injuries/accidents by 17%and a decrease in BWC reportable employee in-juries/accidents by 46% from 2007.

�HR staff coordinated the periodic blood drives, on-sitemammogram van visits (open to the community), andflu shot program.

�The HR office coordinated the annual holiday lunch-eon in December. City employees raised more than$1,600 in donations towards the creation of militarycare packages and made significant donations to“adopted” needy families in Blue Ash as well as dona-tions of canned goods to the FreeStore Food Bank.

�An additional employee appreciation event, the an-nual summer luncheon and golf outing, was held inJuly. This event is coordinated by the Golf Pro andGolf Maintenance Supt.

�The Police Patrol Officer bargaining agreement wasfinalized in April. Negotiations began for Police Dis-patchers and Fire Lieutenants in the fall.

�Only one Civil Service exam took place in 2008 -- apromotional exam to fill an Assistant Fire Chief va-cancy. The following non-Civil Service positions werefilled in 2008: Public Works Director, EngineeringTechnician (promotion in the Service Dept.), Service-worker III (promotion in the Service Dept.), Service-worker II (promotion in the Service Dept.),Serviceworker I, and Maintenance Technician Spe-cialist (Facilities Maintenance).

�There were three retirements in 2008: Service Direc-tor and two employees in the Service Dept. (see pub-lic works section of this report for more info). Sadly, afellow employee in the Police Dept. passed away in2008 (see Police section for more info).

Photos from the employee health fair(far left) in Jan. 2008 & holiday lunch-

eon in Dec. 2008 (remaining).7 - Blue Ash Annual Report - 2008

�The Project Coordinator continuedto play a key role on the Rec Cen-ter renovation team. In 2008, workincluded the completion and “clos-ing out” of the Phase I portion ofthe improvements (addition of thenew gym). The Coordinator wasinvolved extensively with Phase IIof this project, representing thebulk of the renovation and expan-sion, including assisting the de-sign team preparation ofspecifications, prints, and biddingdocuments; coordination of bid-

ding procedures; review and doc-umentation of job progress; andreview and verification of progresspayment and contract requirementfollow-up.

�The Project Coordinator, workingwith Facilities Maintenance, com-pleted work associated with re-quired inspections, testing, andpermitting relating to the City’sbackflow devices, boilers, detec-tion systems, underground stor-age tanks, and elevators.

�The Project Coordinator continued

to serve as a key member of theCity’s storm water response teamand was active throughout 2008on a number of private and publicdrainage issues.

�Assisted the Parks & Rec Directorand Parks Maintenance area withthe bidding and award of a projectto purchase and install syntheticturf on Soccer Field A (one of twosoccer fields) at the Blue AshSports Center. (Ursuline Academyin Blue Ash is contributing fundstowards this capital project.)

The Technology team plays a majorsupport role city-wide, and includestwo full-time employees. This officemaintains and monitors the City’stechnology for all employees, includ-ing all desktop and laptop computers,copiers, faxes, printers, telephonesystems, cell phones, internal and ex-ternal websites, etc. Major 2008 accomplishments include:�Continued work with the Rec Centerexpansion team relating to the de-sign and installation of IT, telecom-munications and audio/visualinfrastructure.

�Assisted the Fire Dept. with installa-tion of laptop computers in emer-gency response vehicles, providingquick access to current maps andpreplan info when responding toemergencies. In addition, the lap-tops serve as Mobile Data Comput-ers to receive directcommunications and dispatch alertsfrom Hamilton County. Ambulanceswill have laptops and software toallow efficient field reporting of pa-tient care.

�In cooperation with City of Cincin-nati CAGIS Agency, implementedthe first phase of a Citizen Request

System with the Service Depart-ment. This system facilitates track-ing of problems or requests fromcitizens relating to various publicworks issues. The calls are turnedinto work orders for prompt action.The next phase of this project in-volves a web-based form to allowdirect submission by citizens and anexpansion of the system to ourCode enforcement efforts. �Assisted with installation of multi-media presentation systems inCouncil Chambers and and theBlue Ash Conference Room.

�Completed a comprehensive reviewof data and telecommunicationsservices that facilitated a consolida-tion of services, cut costs, and im-proved services.

�Provided Northeast CommunityChallenge (NECC) with IT supportto include the donation and installa-tion of a new computer system.

�Provided emergency communica-tions and IT support during and fol-lowing the September wind storm.

�Developed a process to repair a se-ries of defective computer mother-boards by replacing twocomponents in-house. The repair

cost: 60 cents, versus replacingeach motherboard at a cost of $267.

�The IT Officer continued assistancewith the general websiteBlueAsh.com. In 2008, the addi-tional site name “BlueAsh.org” wassecured, and the process of obtain-ing a comparable “.gov” addressalso began. Users who click onthese addresses will be seamlesslyredirected to the “.com” content.The chart shows the number ofpage views in 2008 of the top 10pages. Numbers represent the totalnumber of pages viewed (repeatedviews of a single page will count).

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

BlueAsh.com Website - Page Views


Blue Ash’s Mayor’s Court is allowed to hear only trafficor misdemeanor cases. No DUI, DUS, or felony casesare heard at this level. An officer can base a charge oneither Ohio State law, or the Blue Ash Municipal Code.Whether a case is heard in Mayor’s Court dependsupon how the Officer writes the charge. If based uponBlue Ash Municipal Code, and if it is a misdemeanor ortraffic violation, then the case may be sent to Blue Ash.Otherwise, the case must be sent downtown to beheard by the Hamilton County Courts. In 2008, about53% of the total adult criminal and traffic cases werecited to Blue Ash’s Mayor’s Court.

Mayor’s Court convenes generallytwo times each month. The totalnumber of Mayor’s Court cases in2008 was 1,960, compared to a totalof 1,929 in 2007. Of those 2008cases, 1,720 were traffic citations and 240 criminal ci-tations, compared to 1,697 and 232 in 2007. Mayor’sCourt collected $132,023 total revenue in 2008.In 2008, the Administration also monitored potentialState legislation which, if passed, could affect thestructure of Mayor’s Court in the future. As of late 2008,no changes of this nature were made at the State level.

MAYOR’S COURT...

In 2008, the Police Department em-ployed 58 full-time, part-time, andvolunteer personnel, 38 of whomare full-time sworn officers.

The Department consists of oneChief, two Captains, three Lieu-tenants, six Sergeants, 26 Patroland seven Auxiliary Officers, sixDispatchers, one Mayor’s Court Co-

ordinator, two Mayor’s Court Clerks, and four staff per-sonnel. The Department operates under two bureaus:Operations and Administrative. Operations performs allprimary police functions, and Administrative performs avariety of functions that support the operation of theDepartment.

The operating budget for the Department in 2008 wasabout $6.53 million, with actual expenses about $6.33million.

�In 2008, the Department recorded 1,340 criminal andnon-criminal reports, compared to 1,326 in 2007 and1,744 in 2006. The three largest categories for thesereports were theft (22.2%), non-criminal (21.7%), andDrug Offenses (14.3%). Of all reports, the Depart-ment successfully cleared 76%. This compares favor-ably to national statistics as the FBI Uniform CrimeReport for 2007 shows that in metropolitan countiesnationwide, 50.3% of violent crimes and 16.2% ofproperty crimes were cleared. Blue Ash cleared 86%and 32% respectively in 2008.

�The Department made 1,164 criminal arrests, com-pared to 1,241 and 1,249 in 2007 and 2006 re-spectively. Of the 2008 arrests, 95% were adult.The Department’s arrest statistics also compare fa-vorably to national statistics, as Blue Ash made al-most twice the Midwest’s average number ofarrests (based upon population). See pie chart de-scribing composition of 2008 Police arrests/cita-tions.

�The Department handled 15,210 calls for serviceand details in 2008, compared to 13,840 in 2007.About 15.5% of these involved proactive patrol

strategies, such as bike patrol, positive citizen con-tacts, etc. About 11.4% of the calls reflect servicetype details, such as public fingerprinting, backgroundchecks, bank runs, vacation house checks, etc. About12.4% of these details involved providing assistanceto the Fire Department.

�The busiest times of day for the Police Departmentwere between 3 and 4PM, 4 and 5PM, 5 and 6PM,and 2 and 3PM respectively. These time periods ag-gregately accounted for over 24% of total calls.

2008 POLICE STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

2008 Police Arrests/Citations


�In February, the Department responded to a burglaryin progress on Deercross Parkway. Two adult malesfrom Cincinnati were arrested while attempting tobreak into a residence. Subsequent investigation re-sulted in clearances of numerous burglaries in Fair-field, West Chester, Blue Ash, and Hamilton Countythat were committed by these individuals.

�Residential burglaries on Ash Court in SycamoreTrace and Donjoy Drive resulted in the arrests of anadult female from Loveland (Ash) and arrest of anadult male and a juvenile male (Donjoy).

�Reported break-ins at a medical office and a restau-rant on Cornell both resulted in the arrest of adultswho were former employees of those businesses.

�Unfortunately, the Police Department lost a 15-yearemployee with the passing of Dispatcher RandyRichardson in late October. Randy died from injuriessustained from a motorcycle accident in NorthernKentucky. Randy will be missed by his many friendsthroughout the Department and other City divisions.

�The Department continues to maintain a high level oftraining for its police officers. In 2008, the State ofOhio required each sworn officer to attend a minimumof six hours of continuing professional training inorder to retain certification as peace officers. For thestaff of 38 full-time sworn officers and 7 auxiliary offi-cers, 270 cumulative training hours were required,and the department provided over 3,100 cumulativetraining hours for its officers.

�In 2008, officers of the Blue Ash Police Departmentspent a total of 2,265 hours testifying in court on crim-inal and traffic cases. The courts included primarilythe Hamilton County and Blue Ash Mayor’s Courts.

�In 2008, the Department assumed the responsibilityof Administrative Agency for the Hamilton County OVI(Operating Vehicle Intoxicated) Task Force. The Fi-nance Office assists in managing the financial aspect

of this role. The Police Department’s Traffic SafetyOfficer coordinates the activities of the numerousHamilton County police agencies who participate inthe task force.

�On December 31, police canine Magnum was retiredfrom service with the Department. Magnum, togetherwith his handler, Officer Bob Rockel, had served asone of the Department’s two canine units since 2002.Magnum will continue to live with Officer Rockel andhis family as a pet.

�The Department continued to present the DARE(Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program at theEdwin H. Greene School and also hosted two classeson Women’s Self-Defense for the public.

�The Department pro-vided its traditional sup-port to the City’s specialevents through 2008. Asnoted within the Parks &Recreation section ofthis report, the City’sspecial events could notpossibly be successfulwithout true city-wide teamwork and support.

�In June, the annual Bike Safety Rodeo was held atthe Nature Park. The event is coordinated throughthe Police Department; however, employees frommultiple departments assisted with the free event at-tended by more than 100 citizens.

OVERALL DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS & NOTABLE EVENTS:

AUTO ACCIDENT STATISTICS:In 2008, the Blue Ash Police Department handled 655 auto accident reports,comparing to 648 in 2007. A total of 534 of those accidents occurred on pub-lic roadways, growing from 504 in 2007. Of the 655 total crash reports, 18.2%involved injuries (compared to 12.5% in 2007), 1.5% were DUI related, andone involved a fatality.


This Division’s main goal is preven-tion, with staff staying busy conduct-ing annual inspections, reviewingplans, and inspecting new and re-modeled businesses. To improveconsistency and efficiency, an em-ployee was moved to a 40-hour po-sition for the purpose of inspectingbusinesses and increasing rapportwith the business community. Addi-tional prevention stats include:

�A 24% increase over 2007 levelsof number of inspections com-pleted (2,156). This representsabout 88% of all Blue Ash occu-pancies (excluding one- and two-family dwellings).

�A 26% reduction over 2007 levelsin number of plans reviewed(259). This decrease is attributedto the slowing economy.

�93 Knox Boxes were installed,with the department nearing 100%compliance.

�Consulted (upon request) withbusiness owners 63 times.

�A 27% increase in acceptancetests (402) were completed onnew or modified fire protectionsystems.

LIFE SAFETY DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS

The Fire Department operates its 24-hourservices out of two stations - the North(main) Station at 10647 Kenwood Road,and the South Station at 4343 Cooper

Road. Organizationally, the Department offers its scopeof services and programs through four operational divi-sions, including Administrative, Fire Prevention & Life

Safety, Training, and Fire & EMS Operations. In 2008, the Department had 31 full-time Firefighter/Paramedics (including the Chief and officers) most ofthe year; one full-time secretary; and about 15 part-time firefighters, short of the Department’s goal of 21(due to people leaving for full-time positions else-where).

In 2008, there were a total of 2,676 emergencyruns by the Fire Department. Emergency runsper month ranged from a low of 187 in July to ahigh of 343 in September (including the 140 runsattributable to the wind storm). The chart to theright offers a graphed summary of the runs permonth made by the department (which averageto nearly 8 runs per day).

Training for fire personnel is required at federal, stateand regional levels. In 2008, a total of 3,605 hours oftraining was conducted -- 2,687 hours involving full-time and 918 hours involving part-time personnel. Ex-amples of training sessions include:�Advance Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) 6-hour manda-tory recertification class with all paramedics.

�NIMS (National Incident Management System)mandatory training completed by Lieutenants.

�Training of all personnel as Ice Rescue Technicians.�City-wide online drivers training program.�“Fit for Duty” testing for all Department members.�Rapid Assist Team (RAT) training with Evendale.�Ohio Fire Academy “Intro to Pumps” class.

�Haz-Mat Refresher Course instructed by ClevelandState University.

�Train the Trainer for Firefighter Survival.�Encountering Mental Illness and Mental Retardationtraining class.

�Trench rescue training.�Five training sessions withthe assistant medical di-rector.

�Over 20 mutual aid train-ings with neighboring departments.

�AirCare conference/training.�USAR (Urban Search & Rescue) training.

FIRE DEPARTMENT STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS

FIRE DEPARTMENT 2008 TRAINING HIGHLIGHTS


ISO Rating Improvement - One of the Department’sbiggest accomplishments in 2008 was the upgrade ofthe City’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating from a“4” to an ISO rating of “2.” This 2 designation makesBlue Ash one of the few jurisdictions in Ohio to achievethis high rating, with only 610 communities nationwideachieveing this status (or better), and only 24 in Ohio,making Blue Ash among the top 1.3% across the na-tion and among the top 1% in Ohio. Major reasons con-tributing to Blue Ash’s improved grade relate to theopening of the north station within recent years, as wellas the automatic response agreements Blue Ash haswith several surrounding fire departments, includingSharonville and Montgomery. These mutual aid agree-ments enhance fire protection in our region and assurean appropriate level of personnel available to respondto a fire. New Ambulance - In August, the Department receivedits new 2008 Horton ambulance, replacing a 1999 am-bulance sold at auction.Administration & Staffing - In November, a promo-tional exam was given for a vacant Assistant Fire Chiefposition. This extremely competitive process resulted inaward of the promotion late in the year to Greg Preece.Also in 2008, three full-time Firefighter III/Paramedicvacant positions were filled, welcoming Rob Suder, EricSimon, and Blake Dalton to the team. Five part-timeFirefighter/Paramedics -- Ben Alvis, Travis Burnett,Jason Graham, Amos Johnson, and Andrew Long --filled vacant part-time openings.Open House - Another successful open house tookplace during Fire Prevention Week. The event includeda live burn demo, and other fire fighter demos and edu-cational opportunities. (See photos.)Mutual Aid - In February, Blue Ash began automaticmutual aid with the neighboring Sharonville Fire De-partment, allowing sharing and utilization of resourcesto assure the best and most efficient citizen service forboth communities. Automatic mutual aid with Mont-gomery has been in place for over a year. Mutual aid isproving very successful in fire and EMS protection.

EMS Billing - Nov. 2008 began the fifth year withMedicount Management to handle EMS transportbilling. The Fire Chief negotiated a reduced collectionpercentage fee from 10% to 7.5%, with this reductionpartially due to increased technological capability. In re-cent years, the City has collected in excess of$325,000 annually from this process.CO Detectors, Etc. - The department continued tooffer citizens carbon monoxide (CO) detectors at asubsidized cost, free smoke detectors and child carseat installations, and the Fire Explorer and Junior FireSetters programs. Staff also participated with localschools (including Sycamore and Ursuline Academy)with various training and emergency planning.September 14 Windstorm - The unusual hurricane-like winds experienced in Greater Cincinnati in midSeptember created a challenge for multiple City depart-ments, including Fire. Extensive wind damage andmassive power outages throughout Blue Ash occurred,with the Department responding to 74 calls for servicewithin a 24-hour period, and 140 calls for service over-all. Two of the calls were significant fires in buildings -one residential and one commercial. See Page 16 ofthis report for photos and other information relating tothis major natural storm.

OVERALL DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS, ADMINISTRATION & EVENTS

84 public education classes were offered in 2008, andincluded a total of about 4,300 participants. Examplesof these public education efforts include tours of the firestation; CPR classes; fire extinguisher training; “what todo before the squad arrives”; fire safe house; and spe-

cial education classes such as fire safety talks, tornadosafety training, fire gear demos, neighborhood blockparty participation, truck/squad visits to schools, andschool/business fire drills. Free home inspections werealso continued for residents.

FIRE DEPARTMENT PUBLIC EDUCATION HIGHLIGHTS

OCTOBER 11, 2008 FIRE OPENHOUSE


Progress continued in the economic and communitydevelopment arenas in 2008. This office is staffed withfour full-time employees and one part-time Administra-tive Clerk, though the part-time position remained va-

cant for the last half ofthe year. Highlights ofoffice activities are sum-marized on these pages.

An exciting focus in 2008 in the economic developmentarea was on establishing the Blue Ash Life SciencesCollaborative. The goal of the Collaborative is to har-ness our community’s extensive life sciences expertise,grow the life sciences sector, and promote a healthy re-gional economy. The planning committee of the Collab-orative consists of Blue Ash and regional life sciencefirms, educational institutions and government officials.Their work culminated in the first program of the BlueAsh Life Science Collaborative held on November 13.Over 90 people registered to attend the Strategies forAttracting and Retaining Life Science Talent Program.The program attracted a diverse cross-section of pro-fessionals motivated by the need to address the multi-ple issues around talent attraction. Attendees expressed favorable comments, which in-cluded, “excellent program”, “well organized,” “ab-solutely one of the best programs I’ve ever attended,”and “networking was great.” The City will continue toprovide resources through our BlueAshAdvance.comwebsite and to produce another Life Sciences programin 2009.

The Blue Ash Life Science publication, Advancing Life,was in the December 14 issue of the Cincinnati Busi-ness Courier. This publication features five Blue AshLife Science firms and the University of Cincinnati. Thispublication will help promote the life science industry inBlue Ash and be used by the City, as well as the BlueAsh organizations featured in the publication, as a mar-keting tool to recruit additional companies.

Blue Ash continued to work closely with the CincinnatiUSA Partnership on economic development efforts. In2008, the City selected Sogeti USA (a provider of ITservices to business and public sector organizations),as the recipient of the Partnership’s Growth Award pro-gram. Sogeti USA, headquartered in Blue Ash, added100 full-time employees in 2007 to their 260 employeecount and forecasted growth of an additional 100 fulltime employees in 2008.The Chamber selected Blue Ash based Omya Indus-tries as their recipient for a growth award. Omya relo-cated to Blue Ash from Vermont.The City participated on a business development mis-sion to Chicago with the Partnership to promote the re-gion and community to site selection professionals inChicago. In April, the City Manager, along with several other rep-resentatives with Blue Ash connections, participated in

a business mission trip to the Netherlands coordinatedby the Cincinnati USA Partnership. Among other learn-ing opportunities, the group had the occasion to ex-pand their regional knowledge on renewable andalternative energy through its visit to the world’s largestwaste-to-energy facility.

LIFE SCIENCES COLLABORATIVE

CINCINNATI USA PARTNERSHIP - Regional ED Participation

Pictured L to R, Economic Development DirectorJudy Clark, John Suddarth from OMYA Industries,Mayor Jack Buckman, & Gene Gelasi from Sogeti

USA at the Chamber’s Growth Award event.


Research has indicated that over 65 to 80% of new jobs arecreated through the expansion of existing firms. The Ambas-sadors Committee, first initiated in 2007 and comprised ofvolunteers from several Blue Ash businesses and City staff,continued to assist the City on developing strong relation-ships with current Blue Ash companies through visiting with

business leaders and conducting a brief survey. The infor-mation gathered from these sessions provides insight forways the City can become more competitive and to uncoverbarriers to expanding in Blue Ash. In 2008, the committeesurveyed 98 Blue Ash businesses. Representatives havemet with over 268 companies since the program began.

A number of new businesses decided to call Blue Ashhome in 2008, with examples listed below:

�The new 108-room Hilton Garden Inn at Cornell ParkDrive & Cornell was completed and opened in 2008.This is Blue Ash’s 16th hotel, offering a total of 1,811total hotel rooms in the community.

�Berenfield Containers headquarter/corporate staff wasrelocated from Mason to office space in Blue Ash.

�Epsilon (Alliance Data Systems) announced its inten-tion to move to Blue Ash from Milford in February2009. Epsilon plans to occupy 28,000 square feet inDuke’s Lake Forest office building (space formerlyoccupied by Fidelity Investments).

�In December, City Council approved a rezoning re-quest and special permit for construction of a newTarget retail store west of Plainfield Road and southof Ronald Reagan Highway. The potential project in-cludes about 12 acres and currently houses a smalloffice park (Crossgate Square) and ten homes on

Penelope Lane (a private drive west of PlainfieldRoad). The new store will be about 140,000 squarefeet and will also include developer-provided majortraffic improvements to the area, including additionalsignalization, lanes, median areas, and other im-provements designed to improve traffic flow in thearea. Unless impacted by the economy, constructionis planned to begin in the summer of 2009 and becomplete in 2010.

�Examples of additional new businesses relocating toor opening in Blue Ash in 2008 include: Arcadis (anengineering & consulting firm), Diversified BrokerageSpecialists, Technical Training, Tri-Health ConcernServices, Galaxy Associates, Select Staffing, U.S.Remodelers, and Rising Roll (restaurant).

Investment of existing businesses in Blue Ash contin-ued in 2008, with just some highlights of major expan-sions or renovations described below:

�The Hyatt Place (formerly AmeriSuites) hotel onReed Hartman received major investment, including125 renovated guest rooms and public areas.

�Frisch’s restaurant on Plainfield Road was recon-structed and renovated.

�Major expansion occurred at the Oncology Hematol-ogy Care facility at Reed Hartman and Malsbary.

BLUE ASH AMBASSADOR COMMITTEE

EXPANSION AND ATTRACTION HIGHLIGHTS

The new HiltonGarden Inn atCornell ParkDrive & CornellRoad.

In 2008, there were 126 residential and 384 commer-cial permits totaling 510 permits issued for an esti-mated construction value of $41,059,253. In 2007,

there were 161 residential and 423 commercial permitstotaling 584 permits issued for estimated constructionvalue of $51,524,808.

BUILDING PERMIT ACTIVITY


Blue Ash continued to invite local business people to quarterly luncheons topersonally thank them for their investment in our community. In 2008, the pro-gram hosted 55 local professionals who were honored to be a part of thesesmall gatherings of City of Blue Ash and business leaders.

BUSINESS LUNCHEONS

The City received a Congestion Management/Air qual-ity (CMAQ) grant to replace traffic signal lights in down-town. This grant, available in 2010, will largely fundtraffic improvements, including the computer controlledsignals, to facilitate the movement of traffic more effi-ciently, thus reducing fuel usage and emissions. Engi-neering for such began in 2008 and will continuethrough 2009. In addition, the City will replace the ex-isting 20+ year-old poles for the traffic signals, as wellas various other street lights to a more contemporarylook. Combined with other possible streetscaping im-

provements such as sidewalks and curbs where appro-priate, the City intends to update the public facility com-ponents in Downtown over the next few years.

The City also explored a potential mixed-use develop-ment opportunity involving property housed by the“Towne Court” office/retail building (Re/Max, etc.) aswell as other City-owned properties. As this processunfolded and more details were examined, it was de-cided to not move forward with the project due to costsand the general economic climate.

DOWNTOWN BLUE ASH

National recognitionIn addition to Blue Ash’s being included in FORTUNESmallBusinessmagazine’s top 100 cities “to live & launch yoursmall business” (described earlier), Blue Ash was proud ofthe inclusion of the Blue Ash Advance.com website in theNational League of Cities’ City Practices database. The pro-gram joins more than 6,000 proven city solutions that NLCprovides to its 18,000 member cities on a variety of issues. Regional exposureMembers of the Community and Economic Development of-fice have served as panelists and presenters at regionaleconomic development programs. They also serve on com-mittees including Hamilton County Development Corpora-tion-Economic Development Steering Committee and CIC,Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Great Oaks, and CincinnatiUSA Regional Chamber.

Radio AdvertisementsAnother component of 2008 marketing efforts included radiospots on WVXU to air during peak morning and afternoondrive times. A general ad for all Blue Ash businesses andone specifically highlighting Blue Ash life sciences firms wasrun in late summer and fall. MapsAmenities maps were developed and in-cluded in new company folders as well ason the Advance website. These mapshave provided tremendous value to ournewest business and residential citi-zens.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION & MARKETING EFFORTS

In 2008, there were 12 applications for the City of BlueAsh Home Repair Assistance Program (HRAP). Thetotal year-to-date amount of purchase ordersprocessed for HRAP is $37,019, slightly higher than

2007 levels. This program continues to be a viable pro-gram that enables the city to provide assistance forqualifying homeowners who desire to keep their prop-erty attractive but require assistance.

HOME REPAIR ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The property maintenance area is responsible for stabi-lizing and maintaining the character of the residentialand commercial properties throughout the City. We per-formed 150 property maintenance code inspectionsand reinspections in 2008, 88 of those citizen gener-ated and 92 City generated. This compares to a total of126 in 2007 -- 68 and 58 of those being citizen and Citygenerated respectively (see chart).There were 100 property maintenance and 50 highvegetation inspections. Progress continues to be madeon problematic violations which impact the visual ap-pearance of our neighborhoods.

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE ENFORCEMENTCOMPARISON OF 2007 & 2008

INSPECTION ACTIVITY


On Sunday, September 14, the Greater Cincinnatiarea, including Blue Ash, experienced a wind storm likeno other in its history. Hurricane-like winds, remnantsof Hurricane Ike, were felt by the region, and resultedin long and massive power outages and property dam-age, including loss of many trees throughout the area.

Most business and residential areas of Blue Ash werewithout power for at least three to four days, and severalareas were without power for as long as a week. DukeEnergy crews worked diligently for many weeks, and alsocalled in assistance from other areas of the country.

The wind storm event essentially affected operations ofall of the City’s departments and divisions. Most imme-diately, Police and Fire personnel received a major in-crease in calls for service especially during the initialhours of this occurrence. City staff also went door-to-door in residential neighborhoods checking with citi-zens who might need additional assistance during anextended power outage.

The City’s Service Department was kept extremelybusy for at least the next three weeks in cleaning upthe debris, including massive amounts of downedtrees, limbs, and brush.

With thanks to Blue Ash based Duke Realty, the Serv-ice Department utilized a portion of their property southof Osborne Boulevard to stockpile much of the debriscollected, which was later ground and disposed of withassistance from the Hamilton County Solid Waste Man-agement District. City crews brought an estimated1,000 loads of debris to this temporary site with itsheavy equipment. This equates to approximately 5,500standard-size pickup truck loads!

The City applied for, and is expected to receive, federalfunds to recoup a portion of the additional expense tothe City related to that wind storm experience. Distribu-tion of these funds is coordinated through the FederalEmergency Management Agency (FEMA), and ex-pected reimbursement in 2009 is anticipated to be inthe $175,000 to $180,000 range.

As can be seen from the pictures, substantial damagethroughout the community was sustained. Though thestorm presented a major challenge and inconvenienceto all, fortunately, no loss of life was experienced as adirect result of the storm.

Tree on home on Kenwood Road Tree on utility lines on Kenwood Road.Thousands were without power for multiple

days due to tree & wind damage.

Major damage was done to this house inthe Peppermill Farms neighborhood.

Up-rooted trees were a common site in mid September throughout Blue Ash & Greater Cincinnati after the never-before-experienced-hurricane-like wind storm. Pictured above are downed trees in the Carpenter’s Run/Carpenter’s Ridge resi-

dential areas adjacent to the Blue Ash Golf Course. The Golf Course lost many trees due to this storm as well.

SCENES AROUND BLUE ASH FROM THE SEPTEMBER 14, 2008WIND STORM (THE REMNANTS OF WINDS FROM HURRICANE IKE)


The Service Department is responsible for a variety ofmajor public works functions, including street and drainagemaintenance, snow and ice removal, support of Cityevents, administration of refuse collection and recycling,traffic signal maintenance, equipment maintenance, build-ing maintenance support and administration of engineering

services. The Service Department attended to these andmany other duties during 2008 with 18 full-time and twopart-time employees. Three long-time employees retired in2008, including Service Director Denny Albrinck, ServiceCoordinator Bill Stabler, and Serviceworker II Steve Gille-spie.

SNOW & ICE CONTROL

WASTE DISPOSAL & TRASH/BRUSH DROP-OFF PROGRAM

CURBSIDE LEAF & BRUSH COLLECTION

Snow and Ice removal continues to be one of the mostimportant services provided by the Service Depart-ment. The 2007-08 snow and ice season was abovenormal with 30 inches of snow in Blue Ash. There wereonly three snowfalls of 3” or greater, but many smallerstorms required Service Department crews to respond35 times for anti-icing treatment and snow/ice removal.Crews applied over 2,600 tons of salt, 5,600 gallons ofcalcium chloride, and 1,000 gallons of geomelt, a moreenvironmentally friendly anti-icing and deicing material.Over 1,900 staff hours were spent treating our road-ways, driving approximately 18,000 miles. The largesnow in March dropped 14 inches of snow and resulted

in the only declared Snow Emergency of 2008. ServiceDepartment crews had all roads in Blue Ash clearedfrom this major storm in only 2 days.

The Service Department administered the third year of the five-year solid waste contract with Rumpke. The cost of the con-tract for 2008 was over $728,000. In 2008, Rumpke picked upand disposed of approximately 4,200 tons of residential solidwaste and made 6,673 pick ups of dumpsters for selected busi-ness and commercial trash. Additionally, Rumpke collected al-most 1,300 tons of recyclable materials under the residentialand community drop-off recycling programs.

The City of Blue Ash received the 2007 Best Community Recy-cler Award for cities over 10,000 from the Hamilton CountySolid Waste Management District. Blue Ash citizens recycled23.43% of their household waste as the City continues to movetoward the recycle goal of over 25%.

The City provides curbside leaf collection one day eachspring and for two months from mid-October to mid-De-cember. In 2008, crews spent over 1,400 hours collect-ing over 1,700 cubic yards of leaves. The City also provides curbside brush collection for res-idential properties. The windstorm on September 14from the remnants of Hurricane Ike caused widespreaddamage and large numbers of downed trees and treelimbs (see previous page). Department crews workedover 2,400 hours removing debris from the storm and

collected over 11,000 cubic yards of debris. For all of2008, a total of 4,800 hours were dedicated to brush re-moval with approximately 14,500cubic yards of brush collected and1,230 cubic yards of chips collectedand disposed. Although in 2008this service was provided the week-day following regular garbagepickup, in 2009 it will only be avail-able on Mondays and Tuesdays tobetter utilize Department personnel.

SNOW & ICE STATISTICSSEASON

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08# of response times 24 29 35Inches of snow 9.13 20.5 30Salt used (tons) 1,288.1 2,231.01 2,600+Calcium chloride used (gal) 3,005 5,908.9 5,600+

Miles driven treating roads 8,832.50 14,153 18,000# hours treating roads 1,054.24 1,728.75 1,900+


The Service Department maintains 167 lane miles ofroadway either with in-house crews or by contract. Re-sponsibilities include the maintenance and repair ofpavements, curbs, storm drainage structures, sidewalks,signs, guardrails, traffic signals and street sweeping. In 2008, Service Department staff used over 90 tons ofasphalt for road repairs, cleaned 1,600 catch basins

and repaired 20 catch basins, installed/repaired over1,000 feet of storm pipe, replaced 100 feet of guardrail,striped almost 44 miles of street and installed over17,000 square feet of street stencils (arrows, etc.), andinstalled or repaired almost 1,300 signs. Additionally,street sweeping cleaned over 1,300 miles of pavement.

ROADWAY & STORM DRAINAGE MAINTENANCE

The City provides a free service to Blue Ash citizens toproperly dispose of hazardous wastes including oil, batter-ies, paint, antifreeze, tires, etc. Certain hazardous materi-als can be dropped off at the Service Garage at 6131Interstate Circle. In 2008, the City spent approximately$22,500 to properly dispose of household hazardous

waste. Blue Ash citizens may also drop off appliances con-taining freon, such as refrigerators, freezers and air condi-tioners, and the City will dispose of them -- free curbsidepick-up is also available. In 2008, the City disposed of 118appliances after proper freon removal at a disposal cost ofapproximately $2,400.

HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE & FREON-CONTAINING APPLIANCE DISPOSAL

BLUE ASH/HUNT ROAD PROJECTThe Blue Ash/Hunt Road Project started construction inFebruary 2008. Blue Ash Road was totally rebuilt fromthe south City limit to Cooper Road with a new stormdrainage system, a new 16” water line, curbs/gutters,sidewalks, handicap ramps, and a complete new road-way. Blue Ash Road was completed in early December.Work on Hunt Road will start in spring 2009 and becompleted by late summer.

TRAFFIC SIGNALSThe City is in the second year of a five-year program toupgrade major traffic signals from incandescent lightingto Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights. LED traffic signalsare brighter, require less maintenance and require sig-nificantly less electricity to operate. New LED signalswere installed at the intersections of Kenwood and

Pfeiffer Roads, Kenwood and Zig Zag Roads (where asouthbound left-turn signal was also added), ReedHartman Highway and Glendale-Milford Road, ReedHartman Highway and Cooper Road, Reed HartmanHighway and Peppermill/Plainfield, and Pfeiffer Roadat the drive serving the Clarion hotel/Red Roof Inn/BobEvans commercial area. Battery backup systems werealso added to the signals at Kenwood/Pfeiffer andReed Hartman/Glendale-Milford to provide continuousoperation during short periods of power outages. ANNUAL PAVING PROGRAMThe 2008 Paving Program consisted of both pavementrehabilitation and pavement preservation methods.The deteriorated pavement on Reed Hartman Highwayfrom Glendale-Milford Road to 900 feet north of CreekRoad was milled and replaced. Other roadways re-ceived a preventive maintenance treatment called Mi-crosurfacing that seals the pavement and provides anew friction surface. These roadways included ReedHartman Highway from Peppermill to Cooper, Ken-wood Road from the south City limits to Ronald Rea-gan Highway, McKinley Road, Deerfield Road on bothsides of Cornell Road, and the south end of MohlerRoad. Portions of Hunt and Cooper Roads had thecracks sealed to preserve the pavement. In addition to the pavement treatments, deterioratedcatch basins were repaired and over 2,000 linear feetof damaged curb/gutter was replaced. New pedestrianramps were installed at required locations in accor-dance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

PAVING PROGRAM / CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS / TRAFFIC SIGNALS

The Blue Ash/Hunt Roadimprovement project wasawarded to C J & L Con-struction in early 2008.Work on the project con-tinued throughout 2008,with the Blue Ash Roadportion complete by theend of the year. The HuntRoad portion of the proj-ect should be complete insummer 2009. This esti-mated $3.1 million projectis primarily funded via ano-interest loan throughthe State’s SCIP pro-gram.


2008 was an especially excitingyear for the Rec Center, with con-struction on Phase I being completeand Phase II construction beginningin April. More info on this major cap-ital project is included on Page 21.Other Rec Center highlights aresummarized below:

�As of the end of 2008, there were3,362 Rec Center memberships,comprised of 2,466 residential and896 business memberships (fig-ures include family, single, senior,and disabled for each category).

�About 158,621 persons utilizedthe Center in some manner, in-cluding 144,657 members check-ing in, room rentals, classes, totroom and special events held inthe building.

�The City’s six park shelters re-mained busy, with an estimated20,178 rental patrons (a 25% in-crease from 2007).

�Due to construction, the indoorsports leagues were cancelled,though softball experienced a29% increase in participation with58 teams and 754 players.

�Projected revenues in admissionsand programs were exceeded in2008, and all areas stayed withintheir budgeted expenditures.

Recreation Center programmingand staff highlights include:�Two seasonal workers were changedto year-round (part-time) status.

�Full-time staff member TiphanieCrane became a Certified Parks &Recreation Professional (CPRP).This is a nationally-accredited andrecognized certification for profes-sionals in the parks & recreation field.

�Swim lessons continue to be pop-ular, with 2,278 participating.

�2008 was the inaugural year forthe Blue Fins recreational swimteam, featuring a total of 62 swim-mers and generating $5,940 ofnew revenue.

�From June through August, therewere 2,400 hours of tennis courtreservations.

�High quality tennis instruction wasmaintained for all ages, and par-ticipation in adult and youthcamps, clinics, and leagues ex-ceeded expectations.

�Tennis Courts 5 - 8 were resur-faced in the spring.

�Blue Ash tennis courts continuedto be the home court for bothMoeller High and Ursuline Acad-emy tennis teams.

�Camp Blue Fish purposely re-duced the number of campers dueto construction.

�The annual Ladies Distance Clas-sic was hosted, featuring 1,360participants - more than last year.

�The 7th annual Dog Day at thePool event was held in September,and is later described in more de-tail.

�Staff participated in the Red CrossRegional Lifeguard Olympics andqualified a number of teams forthe State competition.

�The early morning lap fitnessswim and support to theSycamore Schools “Flying Fish”and boys and girls water poloteams was continued in 2008.HISTORICAL HUNT HOUSEThe City’s historical Hunt House at4364 Hunt Road which was firstopen to the public in 2006, remainedopen for tours throughout 2008. Sixopen houses were held beginning inFebruary and continuing every othermonth throughout the year. Eachopen house featured a differenttheme, and an estimated 370 gueststoured the historic home in 2008.

The Parks & Recreation Department had a busy andexciting 2008 as it continued its tradition of offering anabundance of quality recreational programs and facili-ties throughout the year. The Parks & Recreation De-partment is responsible for the operation of theRecreation Center, Towne Square and Veterans Memo-rial areas, Nature Park, Hunt Park, White Oak Park,Hazelwood Center, Golf Course, and Sports Center, as

well as grounds maintenance throughout the City. TheDepartment also oversees and coordinates the City’smany special events and concertsheld year-round. Several timesthroughout the year, the Depart-ment mails a brochure to all resi-dences and members describingclasses, events, leagues, etc.

RECREATION CENTER POOL & TENNIS & THE HISTORICAL HUNT HOUSE

Blue Ash’s outdoor pool is the secondlargest re-circulating pool in the Greater

Cincinnati area (the largest is Coney’s Sun-lite pool).


FITNESS CENTER HIGHLIGHTS

Concession operations are offered at the RecreationCenter, Amphitheatre (East Side Players productionsonly this year), Sports Center, and the Sandtrap Sand-wich Shoppe in the Golf Course clubhouse (approxi-mately March through November). The pool concessionoperated out of a new trailer and the catering kitchenoff the “blue” gym. Due to construction, lack of workingand storage space, the menu was simplified and foun-tain drinks were replaced with bottled.

Located in the northern part of the City within theHazelwood neighborhood, this facility is used as adrop-in center, offers a variety of activities, and is oper-ated on limited hours. The facility is also available torent for events such as graduation parties, etc. 2008highlights include:�The 2008 Black History Program drew more atten-dees than ever before. The event featured manyspeakers and artifacts.

�Continued relationship with the non-profit group Op-

eration Giveback, which sponsored the weekly read-ing hour on Thursdays, Girls on the Run program,and afternoon tutoring at their nearby location (asthey transported students to and from).

�The second annual “Untouchables Car Show” washeld the same day as the annual Hazelwood Re-union. An impressive 100 cars participated in thisevent - up 50% from last year’s 65 cars.

�The neighborhood center had 28 rentals in 2008.

CONCESSIONS - Rec Center, Amphitheatre, Sports Center & Sandtrap Sandwich Shoppe

HAZELWOOD CENTER & OAKWOOD PARK

CONCESSION REVENUES - 2008Rec Center, Amphitheatre ..............................................$11,162

Sports Center.................................................................$65,583

Sandtrap Sandwich Shop (including outings*).............$135,793*Outings totaled 30(same as in 2007)

With construction underway for most of 2008, the fit-ness center facilities were temporarily relocated to thenew gym, which was completed in late 2007. Evengiven the “temporary” home for the fitness center formost of the year, participation was brisk. In addition totracking the maintenance and repairs of fitness equip-ment and treadmill mileage, additional highlights of2008 fitness center activities are summarized below:�The center generated $14,059 in new revenue. �Purchased four treadmills, new dumbbells, back ex-tension bench, vertical knee raise seat, and freeweight benches

�Staff highlights (all part-time) included the promotionof Scott Morrison to Assistant Fitness Coordinator inMarch, promotion of Kaitlin Smith to Assistant FitnessCoordinator in August, and the hiring of three new fit-ness aides in the fall to replace vacant positions.

�Incentive programs continued their popularity in 2008and included 247 participants. Examples of programsinclude Jump Start, Mt. Blue Ash, Iron Man/IronWoman, Ultimate Cardio Challenge, Early Bird LapSwim, Blue Ash Madness, Tour de Blue Ash, and Mil-lion Pound Club.

�The number of Personal Training staff was doubled tosix trainers due to high demand for the service. Train-ers added include Ryan Phelan, Andrew Stallworth,and Kaitlin Smith. Trainers provided over 2,000 hoursof training to members.

�A new Fitness Class Pass was offered to allow mem-bers and non-members to be flexible with their timeand participation and pay an overall reduced rate.

� There were a total of 4,644 group fitness class par-ticipants. Classes offered include: Boot Camp Chal-lenge (6-week program), Aqua-Step, Total BodyConditioning, Cardio Kickboxing, Tae Do, CardioCore, and Kids in Motion.

�The fitness staff gave 193 fitness orientations and 47Kids Orientations.

For most of 2008, thefitness center wastemporarily relocatedto occupy half of thenew gym, completedduring the Phase I ren-ovations. The otherhalf of the gym wasused as a groupclass/exercise room.


The passage of Issue 15 by Blue Ash voters in Novem-ber 2006 made it possible for the City to move forwardwith improvements at the City’s busy Rec Center. The project is being completed in two phases to limitimpact upon building operations. Phase I, constructionof a new gymnasium (behind the existing newer gym),was completed in late 2007. Bidding for the Phase IIportion of the project (the bulk of the renovation) tookplace early in 2008, with construction beginning in April. The 2009 Community Calendar featured this majorcapital project within its overall theme: “ExtremeMakeover: Rec Center Edition.” In addition to manyconstruction photos and other project information, onepage of the calendar focused on the economic impactof this project (data gathered by the Economics Centerfor Education & Research, University of Cincinnati).Here are just some highlights of that data:�This project will result in a total of about $29,631,000in economic output, including about $16,831,000 inadditional output beyond the construction of the ex-panded facility itself (such as purchase of local re-sources triggered by the construction project andlocal household spending of the earnings of employ-ees of the project as well as their suppliers).

�The project will result in a total of about $9,443,000 inearnings ($4,636,000 paid to workers directly in-volved in the project plus $4,807,000 additional earn-ings resulting from the project).

�The project is estimated to create 270 jobs – 125 ofthese directly involved in the project and 144 addi-tional jobs created in other sectors.

�Given the Recreation Center’s reasonable rates, theexpanded Center would generate up to $900 in an-nual savings for a single resident member, and $500for single business members.

�Research indicates that the expanded Rec Center isalso likely to have a positive impact on property val-ues and the potential to attract employers by increas-ing the value of a local public amenity.

Highlights of the Phase II work include demolition of theolder (1979) portions of the Cooper Road elevation andreconstruction of a new area to accommodate a two-story fitness center; an elevated three-lane walking/run-ning track (one-tenth of a mile in length); and newlocker room areas towards the east. The plans alsofeature a second entrance facing Cooper Road and anew open centralized lobby-type space, including fam-ily café, and community lounge areas. This centralizedarea, essentially where the locker rooms formerly ex-isted, will be very open, light, and will be accessible toall activity, including to the pool. Phase II also includesthe potential for additional basement space. The familysculpture formerly located at Towne Square will beplaced near the entrance of the new facility where hun-dreds will be able to enjoy it on a daily basis.As of late 2008, the project is under roof and is aheadof schedule, thanks to favorable weather conditions.Plans for a grand dedication are in the works for lateJuly 2009. The estimated cost of both phases of theproject as proposed is $14 million. (Aerial photos below courtesy of Schumacher-Dugan Construction.)

Aerial taken June 13, 2008 Aerial taken October 11, 2008 Aerial taken December 8, 2008

Mid April Mid July Early October Early November Mid November21 - Blue Ash Annual Report - 2008

Year-round special events were continued in qualityfashion throughout 2008. Although these events are co-ordinated and managed through the Parks & Recre-ation Department, none could be produced withoutsubstantial assistance and support provided from staffbased within ALL City departments and divisions. TheCity’s special events program is exemplary of the City’s

true team spirit as they are illustrative of all depart-ments and divisions working together to produce first-class events and to accomplish major goals for the Cityas a whole. The City’s major (regional level) specialevents include SummerBration; Red, White & Blue Ash;and the Taste of Blue Ash. Other smaller special eventsare also described on these pages.

This year’s SummerBration took place May 30 throughJune 1, with an estimated total attendance of 75,000. Inaddition to local entertainment, national level countryartists were featured each evening, including TracyByrd, Little Big Town, and Blake Shelton (with a sur-prise appearance by Miranda Lambert). Five restau-

rants offered their popular barbequefare, and their sales were up 50% over2007 levels. The family fun area fea-tured festival rides and free games.Title sponsors for the event were B105and 97.3 The Wolf.

Blue Ash’s largest one-day event is held at theSports Center on July 4th - Red, White & BlueAsh. This year’s title sponsor was WCPOChannel 9, and national entertainment featuredThe Volunteer Jam, including Shooter Jen-nings, 38 Special, and The Charlie DanielsBand. Although weather was overcast and rainymost of the day, estimated attendance (on site)was 100,000. In addition to the world-class fire-works produced by Rozzi’s, a family fun areaand variety of food booths were offered as well.

Sponsorships continue to be crucialto virtually all of the City’s specialevents.Media sponsors for all large specialevent were secured and includedB105.1 and 97.3 The Wolf for Sum-merBration; WCPO Channel 9 forRed, White & Blue Ash; and700WLW for the Taste. Sponsor-ships were up $17,000 over 2007levels with 2008 revenues of$275,000. 2008 event partners in-

cluded: Absolute Lipo Dissolve,Academy Rentals, Applebee’s, TheBeach Water Park, Blue Ash Edu-cational Building, Cadillac, Chick-fil-A, Cincinnati Concession &Catering, Cincinnati Enquirer, CocaCola, Cricket Communications,Doubletree Guest Suites, Fifth ThirdBank, GQ Business Products, GoBananas Comedy Club, Gutter-Shutter, Hills Communities Devel-opment, Horan Associates, The

Kroger Co., Land Rover of Cincin-nati, Larry’s Lock Safe & SecurityCenter, Inc., LSI Industries, MichaelSchuster & Associates, Miller Lite,Nina Paul Jewelry, Ohio Lottery,Owens Corning Basements, PhillipsSupply, Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks,Samurai Sam’s, SchumacherDugan Construction, SmarTravel,Time Warner Cable, Toyota, TrauthDairy, Trio’s Bistro, University ofCincinnati, and Wilmington College.

2008 SPONSORSHIPS

SUMMERBRATION 2008

RED, WHITE & BLUE ASH 2008

Pictured L to R, 2008SummberBration nationalentertainment: Tracy Byrd,Little Big Town, & BlakeShelton (with MirandaLambert).

Entertainers pictured above L to R, 2008Red, White & Blue Ash national entertain-ment: Charlie Daniels & Shooter Jennings.

Not pictured: 38 Special.

According to Rozzi’s Famous Fire-works, Blue Ash’s fireworks displayis the largest 4th of July display inthe Greater Cincinnati region!


Though SummerBration, July 4th, and the Taste repre-sent Blue Ash’s largest special events, there is moreoffered year-round. Examples are summarized below.

CONCERT SERIES -The Tuesday and Fridayevening summer con-cert series continuedtheir success in 2008. In2008, Tuesday con-certs, usually held in the Amphitheatre, were relocatedto Towne Square due to the construction underway atthe Recreation Center. In addition, the lunchtimeThursday Concerts at the Square were continued inSeptember. Presenting sponsor for these series wasFifth Third Bank, and estimated attendance for the se-ries was 49,605. A significant increase in concert atten-dance, especially the Friday series, occurred in 2008.

DOGGIE DOO-ATHLON - TheCity’s seventh annual “dog day”at the pool was another successand featured a 1.5 mile run/25-yard swim competition along withthe traditional open swim (the second year with this for-mat). The run featured 67 human/dog teams compet-ing. This event, held in 2008 on Sat., Sept. 6th, hasbecome a favorite, with this year’s event attracting over400 participants.

A CONCERT TO REMEMBER - This free event, or-ganized by the Alois Alzheimer Foundation, was heldon Towne Square. The proceeds from the sale of foodand beverage benefited the Alzheimer Foundation, andfeatured Cincinnati area jazz musicians.

HERITAGE DAY - The City’s annual Heritage Dayevent took place in October, with attendance estimatedat 4,000 on a beautiful sunny day. This event is held inthe Amphitheatre/Nature Park area, and features manyhands-on activities, entertainment, demonstrations,and concerts, centered around the “late 1800s BlueAsh” theme. The Hunt House was also open for tours,including transportation from the Park to the House viahorse-drawn carriage through the nearby Ravenwoodneighborhood.

HALLOWEEN WALK IN THEWOODS - This fun annual eventwas also blessed with beautifulweather on Sat., Oct. 25th. ThisHalloween event is geared for kidsunder ten. Attendance was esti-mated at 700, and the event fea-tured fun Halloween activities, includingtrick-or-treating, face painting, and other family-friendlyentertainment. Generous sponsors supplied candy andworkers for their doors.

Blue Ash’s largest special event is the Taste of BlueAsh, and was held the weekend of August 22, 23 and24, with attendance estimated at 175,000. Nineteenrestaurants participated offering a wide variety of fare,and national level entertainment was featured eachevening, including WAR, Kenny Loggins & EddieMoney. Kenny Loggins drew the biggest on-site crowdin Taste history. The Hunt Road stage was again fea-

tured this year and offered great localentertainment and Ohio Lottery gameshows, and the Go Bananas Comedytent featured local comedians. TheTitle sponsor was 700WLW, and Pre-senting sponsor was Toyota. The “Best of Taste” com-petition, held earlier in August, included 11 of the 19restaurants.

2008 TASTE OF BLUE ASH

OTHER 2008 SPECIAL EVENTS

Pictured L to R, thisyear’s Taste of BlueAsh national entertain-ment: Kenny Loggins(Saturday), EddieMoney (Sunday), &WAR (Friday).KennyLoggins drew thebiggest crowd ever toTowne Square, with anestimated 10,000 to12,000 on site.


2008 was an exciting year for the Blue Ash GolfCourse, representing the Course’s 30th full season.

Despite the down economy and unusually wet weatherin March, May and June, activity at the Course re-mained high. Total rounds in 2008 were down by about2,200; however, during the months of March, May andJune, due to unusually wet weather, rounds were down2,750 over 2007 levels. Excluding those three monthsof bad golfing weather, rounds were up by approxi-mately 550 during the remainder of the golf season.

With construction underway at the Recreation Center,the Golf Clubhouse was utilized for various events andcivic meetings through the year.

Work continued on planning for the future golf courseimprovements made possible due to passage of Issue15 in November 2006. Work on the feasibility and de-sign of a family-oriented golf learning center on the air-port park property continued throughout the year, asdid work on overall design concepts for a new club-house/banquet facility. As of late 2008, the thought is toinclude a six-hole short course and a driving range on

the airport park property (oriented towards PlainfieldRoad/the Golf Course) that would require no majorchanges to the current championship layout golf coursewest of Plainfield Road. The new short course wouldbe family-oriented, environmentally-friendly, and wouldbe attractive to members of our business communitywho might not have the time to play a regular full roundof golf. In addition, it was determined that the locationfor a new clubhouse/banquet facility would best be inthe approximate location of where the current club-house sets. Since the timing of the development of thegolf amenities on the future park is dependent uponCincinnati’s relocation of the existing airport facilities,the clubhouse/banquet center portion of the golf-re-lated improvements can begin independently (i.e., ear-lier) than those future improvements planned for eastof Plainfield Road.

Previous thoughts were that construction would beginon a new clubhouse/banquet facility towards the end of2009; however, due to the downturn in the economy,asof late 2008, the goal is to start this improvement in late2010 or early 2011.

The Golf Maintenance team also had another produc-tive year, and also continued to participate in planningmeetings for the future Golf Course improvements. The beginning of the year provided much-needed pre-cipitation, bringing adequate rainfall and cooler temper-atures which helped to restore the 2007 droughtconditions. However, summer and fall months produced

several days with aboveaverage temperatures andminimal rainfall, causingdrought-like conditions toreturn. The windstorm inSeptember caused signifi-

cant damage to the Golf Course, and the staff spentover three weeks cleaning debris and removing severaltrees. It is estimated that over 60 trees were lost on thecourse due to that storm.A major project in the spring involved this Division withhelp of the Service Department to complete block re-taining walls on the course. During the summer, staffbegan bunker sand replacement and construction of anew tee on hole #13. The Division implemented a vol-unteer program, resulting in about 30 volunteers work-ing about 1,400 hours during the season, helpingconsiderably with daily and weekend duties.

GOLF COURSE -- PROGRAMMING & FUTURE GOLF AMENITIES

GOLF COURSE -- MAINTENANCE

Golf-related amenities on the future130-acre property would be orientedtowards this section of the park &would include a short, family-friendly course plus a driving range.


The Parks Maintenance Division ofthe City is responsible for the main-tenance of all public City-ownedgrounds, except for the GolfCourse. The Parks Maintenance Di-vision crews and equipment arebased at 6171 Interstate Circle.2008 represented the second fullyear at the newer facility. The Divi-sion has eight full-time and approxi-mately 25 part-time employees(most seasonal). Parks highlightsinclude:

�2008 continued the beautiful dis-plays throughout Downtown BlueAsh, including the hanging bas-kets, wall planters, and large con-tainers. Many compliments fromcitizens and visitors were receivedagain of this year’s display.

�The Towne Square fountain andfamily statue were removed andreplaced with brick pavers. Thefamily and fountain will be re-cre-ated at the entrance of the newlyrenovated Recreation Centerwhere hundreds of citizens andvisitors will enjoy it on a dailybasis.

�New lights were installed on Fields2, 3 & 4 at the Sports Center.

�The division continued to maintainthe median areas of several majorroads, and older landscaping inseveral areas of the Glendale-Mil-ford/Pfeiffer Road median areaswas replaced.

�New wreaths with the more effi-cient LED bulbs were incorporated

into downtown’s holiday decora-tions.

�Installation of artificial turf on Soc-cer Field A at the Sports Centerwas essentially complete by theend of the year. This project isbeing partially funded by BlueAsh’s Ursuline Academy, who iscontributing $250,000 over thenext three years, representing ap-proximately half the cost of theturf’s installation. This arrange-ment represents a “win-win” forboth the City and Ursuline as theCity will benefit by increasedusage of the field and decreasedmaintenance costs. The Fieldshould be ready to use in thespring 2009 season.

Landscaping efforts in Down-town will continue to be afocus. The beautiful displaysof hanging baskets & wallplantings/decorations contin-ued throughout 2008.

Parks Maintenance ac-tivities in 2008 at BlueAsh’s 37-acre SportsCenter, a premier sportscenter facility in the re-gion, also resulted inshowcase park areas forBlue Ash. The SportsCenter includes 11 base-ball fields & two soccerfields, many of which arelighted.

The City’s extensive holi-day light display in Down-town continued in 2008.The City receives manycompliments about this ef-fort each year. The moreenergy efficient LED lightsare used in these decora-tions.


The Facilities Maintenance team is responsible for the rou-tine day-to-day maintenance of all City-owned facilities af-fecting all departments and divisions of the City. In 2008,Facilities had eight full-time employees and about 18 part-time employees. Many of these part-time employees workjust a few hours each week.In 2008, the Facilities crews responded to over 1,450scheduled and unscheduled maintenance requests city-wide. In addition to normal preventative maintenance tasksyear-round, examples of this division’s work includemonthly facility checks; annual opening and closing of allparks, restrooms, concessions, pools and fountains; andassistance at all special events sponsored by the City, in-cluding the summertime concerts and other recreationalprograms and events. Ongoing effort continued towardsidentifying and implementing cost-savings measures tocomply with the budget funding allocated. Those goalswere accomplished within the budget constraints while suc-cessfully maintaining quality of service.The Facilities Maintenance Superintendent was also a keymember of the ongoing Recreation Center renovation andexpansion design team working on both Phases I and II ofthat project. The following paragraphs offer a summary of other 2008accomplishments of the Facilities team.Parks and GroundsThe Facilities Maintenance team painted Sports Centerconcessions and epoxyed all restroom floors throughoutthe City. The damaged bridge in the Hunt Park was re-placed, as was the wood decking in the Nature Park am-phitheatre. The Facilities Superintendent also played amajor role in the relocation of the Towne Square fountainand family sculpture. Partially due to needed expensive re-pairs to the fountain’s underground plumbing, the decisionwas made to relocate the sculpture and fountain from theSquare to the main entrance of the expanded and reno-vated Recreation Center. Although the sculpture and foun-tain were enjoyed at the Square throughout the summermonths, it will be enjoyed year-round by hundreds on adaily basis when placed near the main entrance of the newRecreation Center. Municipal & Safety CenterFacilities Maintenance converted the space formerly occu-pied by the Tax Office into an impressive and much neededBlue Ash Conference Room adjacent to our main lobby.The former postal mailbox area adjacent to the main lobbywas converted into a new Police Interview room. Additional2008 activity at the Municipal & Safety Center included the

start of renovation of the East Wing main hall, including in-stallation of energy-saving lighting and devices, redeco-rated walls, and new carpet to be complete in 2009. TheFacilities team also assisted the Technology Office with animproved and more efficient video system in the CouncilChambers. Recreation CenterFacilities Maintenance was one of the key players in mak-ing the smooth transition of tearingdown the portions of the old Recre-ation Center building to prepare forthe new and renovated building.Many tasks were performed, such asseparating domestic water lines,HVAC, hot and cold piping, electric,alarms and fire sprinklers. While try-ing to minimize shutdown of the Recreation Center and in-convenience for its members, Facilities also moved andfacilitated temporary office, fitness, and programmingspace, as well as set up a temporary concession systemfor operation during the year-long construction of the newbuilding. In addition, the whale-shaped interactive chil-dren’s pool was resurfaced, as were four of the outdoortennis courts. Hazelwood Center & OakwoodParkFacilities Maintenance resurfacedthe outdoor volleyball and basket-ball courts located within OakwoodPark in the Hazelwood residentialneighborhood. North Fire StationFacilities Maintenance improved insulation of the building’sductwork for enhanced HVAC efficiency. The crew alsopainted and maintained the arbor details of the building.Service DepartmentAt the City’s main public works facility at 6131 InterstateCircle, the Facilities team replaced the roof and added sky-lights to reduce electric costs by minimizing artificial lightingusage during daylight hours. Crews also painted the truckwash bay and all of the office areas of the building.Street LightsFacilities Maintenance crew repaired 38 City-owned street-lights in 2008, and Duke Energy repaired 118. In addition,Facilities staff stained or painted all City-owned street lightpoles.


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BLUE ASH TEAM BLUE ASH TEAM MISSION STATEMENTMISSION STATEMENT

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Blue Ash Municipal & Safety Center4343 Cooper Road

This 2008 Annual Report was produced by the Blue AshCity Manager’s/Public Information Office in January 2009

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