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May 27, 2006

Council briefs for May 8, 2006

Mayor Policastro called the May 8, 2006, meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. The following Council members answered present to roll call: Mr. Rex Bevis, Mrs. Schmit, Mrs. Sullivan and Mr.Charlie Thomas. The absences of Mr. Doug Adams and Mr. Bill Ebelhar were excused.

• Council unanimously accepted the recommendation of the Public Works and Services Committee regarding paint colors for Village furnishings. The committee met on April 10, 2006, to discuss paint color choices for Mariemont street furnishings. After much discussion and input from Dennis Malone Building Commissioner, Martin Koepke ARB, Jane McDonald Park Advisory Board, and this committee, they recommend and introduced the color choices of Mariemont Green and Cargo Brown. These two colors will be used on pole lights, area lights, hydrants, village signage, planters, street signs, and traffic signs. Because the village street furnishings are currently in a variety of condition and color, these paint choices would give the Village a unified and polished look. Bevis complimented Schmit on the committee’s work. He asked if Schmit had compared it to the colors at The Strand. Schmit said it is the same color that was used at The Strand. Schmit thanked Malone and McDonald for their assistance. Mayor Policastro said he is very excited about having all the street signs and poles painted brown and looking uniform.

• Village council said they had no problem with Ritze’s Marathon Station requesting permission to sell alcohol. Ritze’s which is located near the village tennis courts, had inquired with the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Liquor Control, for a license to sell alcohol.

• Police Chief Rick Hines stated that during a May 7 police department meeting he stressed to all officers they needed to pay extra attention to the parks and tennis courts. They have been running quite a few people from those areas and taking their names, especially on the school grounds. Police will start warning people; on a second offense trespassers will be charged with criminal trespassing. Mrs. Sullivan asked if Chief Hines spoke with the school about taking down the basketball hoops. Chief Hines said Principal Summers said they would be taken down after the last day of school.

• Maintenance Supervisor Mr. Scherpenberg said spring has arrived and employees have been working on the baseball fields and flowers are getting planted. All the sprinklers on the village square are now working. Mr. Thomas asked if all of the street light problems have been resolved and Mr. Scherpenberg said all but two lights are fixed, adding Cinergy is working on them. Cinergy is still working on the one on Wooster Pike at Madisonville Road and the one in back of Dr. Mills’s office. Mayor Dan Policastro said the village has a new supervisor from Duke Energy and he looks forward to working with him. Mr. Thomas asked if all the new parking places that had been striped in on Wooster and Miami were working out. Police Chief Hines said they are working great. There were no problems with traffic and it has helped the parking problem. Mrs. Schmit asked if people are using the spaces and Mayor Policastro said they are being used a lot at night and on the weekends.

• Village resident Madeleine Rechtin sent village a check in the amount of $200, “for the pleasure of living in Mariemont.” Mayor Dan Policastro said he appreciated Mrs. Rechtin’s donation, was glad that she is happy to be living in the village, and mailed her a thank-you letter on behalf of the village.

• According to Mayor Policastro, the village does not have any money budgeted to contribute to the Boathouse project. The Reakirt Foundation had offered up $18,000. Grant money has been asked for, also, with progress being made. Policastro suggested the village the area around the boathouse be regraded so the water flows away from the structure; he added there should also be a rear-wall and erect a diversion wall (those items would cost approximately $18,000 to $20,000). How exactly would a diversion wall work? During a catastrophic thunderstorm, such as the one that occurred a few years ago, water gushes under Wooster Pike and is partially dammed before it can get to Whiskey Run and it overwhelms the creek. The idea is to build a concrete diversion wall that would divert the water to get it past the front lawn of the Boathouse and get it down to where gravity would carry it on out. It was addressed that the items the Mayor had listed would not make the building any more usable or address the problem of the mold and rot, but it would protect the building so it could be fixed up without having to worry about water damage again. Mayor Policastro said he would like to write a letter to the Mariemont Preservation Foundation (MPF) requesting that they accept the grant and use the money for these three things which would be the first and foremost things to do. Next year, the mayor said, council may be able to budget for this project.

Posted by johnston at 02:28 PM