By CECILIA FOX
Record Herald Writer
Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed 5.13.12

TIPP CITY – Monday’s Tipp City Council meeting ended with organizers and participants in the What A Girl Wants demanding an apology for the difficulties they encountered in planning the event. Cancer survivors and community members spoke out in support of the event.
The event, which benefits breast cancer research and charities, ran into difficulties late in the planning stages. Council, concerned about closing Main Street while the citywide garage sale was taking place, suggested that the organizers consider moving the event or closing the street later. Eventually, the event organizers settled on closing Main Street later than they had planned.
“In order for any community to work, the first thing that has to happen is the government has to work for the community. This event almost didn’t happen because a small group of people didn’t agree with it,” Will Grosz said. Grosz’s business is one of the sponsors for the event and he also served as Logistics Chair.
According to Grosz, 58 cancer survivors attended the event and 400 women came to the fashion show.
He added that 50 volunteers helped to make the event happen, and approximately 2,000 people attended the free concert.
Budding also voiced concerns that not all of the downtown businesses supported the event and might not benefit from having Main Street closed. To prove that the downtown businesses could profit from the event, Grosz reported that sales were up for many of the shops on Main Street.
“Sweet by Kristy’s was up 16 percent from last year same day sales, which is an 84 percent increase from a normal Saturday. Cairn’s Toy Store was 64 percent up from last year, which is 145 percent up from a normal Saturday,” Grosz said.
Kelley Andary of Harrisons and Urban Ava’s announced at the meeting that the event will move to Beavercreek next year because of the construction on Main Street and also because of what she felt was a lack of support from council.
“I’m asking each and every one of you, and I want it to be addressed at some point, what are you going to do to fight to bring this back to our town,” one resident asked.
Members of council offered their apologies and their support to the organizers of What A Girl Wants, except for Budding, who said he was looking out for the minority.
Hale told the organizers he thought the only issue was that of having the street closed while the garage sale was happening, so he was sorry they felt council wasn’t being supportive.
Mayor Dee Gillis said the event was wonderful and she was sorry they were leaving, but cautioned that disagreements are bound to occur anywhere.
“You need to get a little tough skinned,” she said, but concluded, “We love you and we thank you.”
“If there is any way that you could reconsider your decision, please do so,” Councilman Joe Gibson added.

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By CECILIA FOX
Record Herald Writer
Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed 5.13.12

TIPP CITY – Tipp City residents will soon notice an increase on their water and sewer bills. Council approved the rate increase for both water and sewer at Monday’s meeting in order to pay for the Downtown Utilities Replacement Project and the Main Street Lift Station Project.
The sewer rate will increase by 22.5 percent, which means that the average user, who uses about 7,500 a month, will see a monthly increase of about $2.73 on the sewer portion of their bill.
“The net effect of a 22.5 percent increase on the collection portion of the bill is about a 12 percent increase overall,” City Manager Jon Crusey said.
The water rate will go up 3 percent, so the average user can expect to pay about $1.11 more per month.
The water and sewer rate increase will fund the Downtown Utilities Replacement Project, which is expected to cost $2.15 million. This includes the construction of a new 12-inch water main, new sanitary sewers, an 18-inch storm sewer, and the repair of the roadways and sidewalks affected by the construction.
The project will affect Main Street between Fourth Street and First Street.
The sewer rate increase also funds the renovation of the Main Street Lift Station, which will cost the city $1 million. The city is required by the EPA to eliminate the sanitary sewer overflows – when the system is overwhelmed by clean watering infiltrating the sewer system – that happen during heavy rains. This project includes upgrades to the lift station and a new 30-inch sanitary sewer main.
“I’m not usually one of those guys that’s for raising any kind of rates,” Councilman Bryan Budding said, who sponsored the ordinance. “But as the cost of business goes up, whether it be employees, healthcare, a project you want to take on or a project you have to take on, as go those costs, so does the cost of the product.”
The first stages of these projects are expected to begin this fall, with construction beginning late this year and continuing through 2013.
“It probably won’t be done by summer and it will disturb some of the events that are planned for downtown. Our goal is to have it done by the first Saturday in November 2013 when we have the Winter’s Yuletide Gathering,” said Crusey.
Council also awarded contracts for two more upcoming road construction programs. The contract for the reconstruction of Franklin Street was awarded to Finfrock Construction for $116,000, which is well under budget. The estimated cost of the project was $135,249. Franklin is being reconstructed between N. Third and N. Second Streets.
The contract for the 2012 street resurfacing program was awarded to John R. Jurgensen Co. for $462,949.55, which exceeds the appropriations for the project by almost $11,000. Council voted to use funds from the underbid Franklin Street project to cover the costs of this contract.
All or part of the following 17 streets will be resurfaced: N. Willow Glen Avenue, Rolling Acres Drive, Heartwood Court, S. Willow Glen Drive, Tamarak Avenue, Wilson Court, Sycamore Court, Red Oak Court, Nelson Court, Barbara Drive, Smith Street, Fern Avenue and Fern Court, N. Weller Drive, S. Hyatt Street, South St., N. Sixth Street, and the Kyle Park parking lot.
The council approved the issuance of $675,000 in bond anticipation notes for the construction of Abbott Park Way and to extend utilities to the site of the new Abbott facility. The city has received several grants from the state to assist with this project.
The council also authorized the advance of $775,000 from the General Fund to the Abbott Park Way Fund until the grants are received. The General Fund will be paid back once the city is reimbursed with grant funds.

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By CECILIA FOX

Record Herald Writer

Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed on 4.22.12

TIPP CITY – During Monday’s meeting, the Tipp City council approved more ordinances and resolutions to facilitate the construction of the Abbott Labs manufacturing plant. The city struck a deal with the Ohio Department of Transportation for a $175,000 grant to help finance the construction of Abbott Park Way.
The council also approved a measure granting the planning board the authority to modify site plan requirements in order to allow for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings. The Abbott manufacturing plant will be LEED “silver” certified, meaning that the plant will be more energy efficient than legally required.
The council also voted to authorize a cooperative agreement between the city, the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority and Abbott Labs. In the interest of bringing new jobs to the region, the Port Authority agreed to assist Abbott Labs with the development of the project, issuing $60,680,000 in taxable development revenue bonds. The city will bear no financial responsibility in this arrangement.
At the end of the meeting, Mike Woody and Scott Brownlee addressed the council about Council President John Kessler’s debts.
“It’s with a heavy heart, but an even lighter wallet, that I address you on the sensitive subject of money owed to me for services rendered,” said Woody, a former reporter for the Tipp City Independent Voice. The Voice was owned by Kessler until the Internal Revenue Service shut it down in 2009.
Tipp City Law Director David Caldwell advised Woody to take the matter up with Kessler privately, saying that the issue is not a matter of business for council.
“This is not the proper time for a personal attack on a member of council,” said Caldwell.
Woody cut his comments short during the meeting, but in a written statement claimed that Kessler owes him six months’ pay. The statement was part of a packet of information handed out by Brownlee.
Brownlee, reiterating claims he made at the Jan. 2 council meeting, alleged that Kessler owes more than $10,000 in federal tax liens and has failed to pay his former employees’ Tipp City income withholding taxes.
“I’m asking you to step down both as president of council and as councilman because of your dastardly behavior,” said Brownlee.
He also called for the city to make a formal investigation into the matter, which only council member Joe Gibson supported.
“Personally, I owe the city nothing,” said Kessler, who also said he had no desire to be publicly involved in a personal attack. “Those taxes are paid.”

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Record Herald Writer

Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed 4.22.12

TIPP CITY – Council reviewed plans for the Fire and EMS station renovation and expansion Monday night, and while they were honed down from the original plan, the renovations are expected to meet the needs of the city’s firefighters and EMTs and stay within budget.
“It meets all those things that we said we needed,” said EMS Chief Mark Senseman. “We started with the ideal, and then started crunching down.”
Representatives from MSA Architects met with council and the Fire and EMS Chiefs at Monday night’s pre-meeting study session.
Their purpose was to present the design concept along with cost estimates for the project. The plan is not to completely replace the station, but to work with and around the existing building.
“Rather quickly we realized that the biggest cost option was going to exceed the budget and exceed the parameters of the project, so we had to scale back and really find a way to make sure that we met the needs of the fire and EMS services within that budget range,” said Nestor Melnyk, one of the architects on the project team.
Some big cost items nixed were tearing down the original facility and putting a large apparatus bay on the site, or adding a second floor to the station and putting in an elevator.
The new design incorporates the existing buildings – the original 1950s facility and the 1978 addition – in order to be more cost effective. The project will expand and make necessary changes to the station, fixing the leaking roof and adding much needed space for storage and training.
The project is expected to cost between $1.4 and $1.6 million. It will enlarge the bay doors to accommodate the city’s new ladder truck, add and improve living and training space, and add another garage bay for EMS equipment and vehicles on the western side of the building.
“What we determined is that the least expensive way to add to this project condition would be apparatus bay type space. That’s the cheapest space to build,” Melnyk said.
The new apparatus bay will have two doors opening to the north for ambulances and two opening to the west for other EMS vehicles and feature storage for EMS equipment. Fire equipment and vehicles will be housed in the existing apparatus space.
City Manager Jon Crusey said they don’t have a time frame yet, but one should be in place by next council meeting.

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By CECILIA FOX
Record Herald Writer

Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed on 4.6.12

With five related items on the agenda, the construction of the new Abbott Nutrition manufacturing plant dominated Monday night’s Tipp City Council meeting.
Council voted unanimously on a resolution formalizing the agreement between the city and Abbott Laboratories.
As part of the agreement, the city will be responsible for the construction of a new road—to be called Abbott Park Way—and the extension of utilities to the site.
“On behalf of the search team who spent 10 months, we’re really excited to conclude the search and truly go about the building of this facility,” said Dale Johnson, Vice President of State Government Affairs for Abbott Laboratories.
Abbott Laboratories will be investing $270 million in the project, which will create 240 jobs. The estimated cost to the city, including the new road, extending the utilities, and waiving inspection fees, is approximately $1.2 million. Because the facility will generate more than one million dollars in annual payroll, the city is required to share 50 percent of the local income tax generated by the facility with the school district.
Representatives from Abbott Laboratories attended the meeting, outlining their aggressive construction and FDA approval schedules and presenting their plans for the new facility to the council.
State Senator Bill Beagle also attended to thank Abbott executives for their investment in the area.
“We are very, very excited to be building this plant here in Tipp City. I drove my team to find the most efficient, economical, cost-competitive location because we are competing globally,” said Executive Vice President of Supply John Ginascol.
Construction on the new facility will begin immediately on a 60 acre site on CR 25-A. Abbott representatives expect the facility to be completed, FDA certified, and begin production in 18 months. The Tipp City facility will be Abbott’s seventh site in the U.S and the first new U.S. plant since 1983.
“Historically it would take us three years to build a plant of this complexity and bring it online,” said Ginascol.
The new site, when completed, is expected to the most high tech facility of its kind in the United States. “We estimate that this plant will utilize approximately 12 percent less energy than a similar liquids manufacturing plant that we have elsewhere in the United States.”
According to Ginascol, this plant will save enough electricity to fuel 330 homes in Tipp City year round.
“You’ll find us around the world to be a good neighbor and a good corporate citizen,” said Vice President of U.S. Nutrition Scott White.
Another resolution formalized the agreement between the city, Lesher Farms, and Abbott Labs for the use of 136 acres of land.
The new manufacturing facility will utilize 60 acres and Lesher Farms will donate 3.62 acres to the city to be used as right-of-way for the construction of the new road. This resolution also allows for the subdivision of the rest of the property into four lots for future projects.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to attract either complimentary businesses to the Abbott facility or some other businesses that will realize that Abbott has selected this site as a good business to do business,” said City Manager Jon Crusey.

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By CECILIA FOX

Record Herald Writer

Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed 3/23/12

TIPP CITY - In order to meet Abbott Labs’ construction timeline, Tipp City Council approved a resolution at Monday’s meeting that will allow the city to bypass the usual public contract bidding process. Instead, they will immediately hire Choice One Engineering to design a new 1,600 foot roadway and extend the utilities to the construction site.

The resolution declared the selection of a design firm an emergency and exempted the city from section 153.65-153.70 of the Ohio Revised Code. These sections of the code require every public authority planning to contract for design services in excess of $25,000 to publicly announce the contract and accept bids from all applicants.

“We’re simply declaring an emergency so we don’t have to go through the state mandated process of selecting a professional design firm,” said City Manager Jon Crusey.

The process of selecting a professional design firm — advertising the contract, interviewing and negotiating with firms — can take six to eight weeks. Because Abbott needs to begin construction as soon as possible, with digging slated to begin this past Monday, the City must get the road and utilities work underway quickly.

Choice One Engineering has worked with the City before and was recently awarded the contract for the engineering and design of the County Road 25-A widening project. The cost of the design and engineering work for this project is $65,440.

The meeting also included the swearing in of one new police officer and a new police sergeant. Council welcomed William S. Connor to the Tipp City police force and congratulated Marc Basye on his promotion to sergeant. The newly promoted Basye has served Tipp City as a police officer for the past 11 years. He serves as the commander of C Shift Mid Watch, an evidence technician, crisis intervention team member, and patrol rifle operator.

Basye and his wife Susan live in Covington, where he is a councilman and head of the police committee. He is also a peace officer instructor at Sinclair Community College and Central Ohio Technical College.

New to the Tipp City Police Department is Officer Connor. He received his Ohio Peace Officer Certification in July 2009. Connor has worked for both the Springfield and German Township police departments. He and his wife Julie live in New Carlisle with their two children, Cassie and Cole.

In February, Council authorized the hiring of a police officer to fill one of three current vacancies. At that same meeting, Council also approved the promotion of an officer to fill the spot that will be left after the upcoming retirement of Sgt. Joe Mauro.

At the pre-meeting study session, Council approved the Tipp City Masonic Lodge’s request to install a seven foot tall statue of a World War II soldier, valued at $44,000, in Veteran’s Park. Ron Re presented his plan to raise the funds needed to purchase and install the monument to the Parks Advisory Board last week.

Re said that no city funds would be required, though the City would own and be responsible for its maintenance like everything else in the park. He hopes to begin fundraising efforts immediately.

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Police officers J.J. Mauro knew as a boy sold him on a career in law enforcement.

The officers – a Boy Scout scoutmaster who worked as an Oakwood policeman and a neighbor two doors down who was on the Dayton police force – caught the young man’s attention with their stories from work. “They always had great stories. They made you laugh, made you cry, made you really put yourself in their shoes. They enjoyed their jobs. I grew up hearing all the police stories,” Mauro said. “Every Mauro and on mom’s side every man worked in factories.  They hated it … they had no good stories.” As a student at Northridge High School, Mauro said the career goal wasn’t hard to set.

“I got to thinking about what sounded enjoyable to me: factory or police work?”

More than three decades later, Sgt. Mauro has no doubts he made the right choice. This week, he’s retiring from the Tipp City Police Department after 36 years in law enforcement, all but three with the local department. “You always hear about people becoming police officers because they want to help people. I chose the field because I wanted to have fun and, I have had fun,” he said last week. Mauro attended Sinclair Community College and the University of Dayton before being hired, at  the minimum age of 21, for the Randolph Township Police Department in what is now Clayton.  He served there three years before being hired in Tipp City in 1978. Mauro worked as a patrol officer for 17 years and was promoted to sergeant in 1996 when a third sergeant position was added. He joined longtime sergeants Gary Gulden and Ron Re, both now retired.

A volunteer fireman in Montgomery County when he joined the police department, Mauro started a fire investigator program “from scratch” after attending arson school. “I joined the (Tipp City) fire department and got the program going so firemen wouldn’t have to wait for a state fire investigator to come (to a fire scene),” he said. The department today has two other fire investigators.

Over the years he became an evidence technician through the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab and was assigned a special detail to evaluate the different technologies available for an electronic fingerprint system. Today’s systems reduce by hours the process for collecting and filing fingerprints. He also served as a coroner’s investigator for several years while Dr. Judy Nickras was Miami County coroner. After years of working the streets and reading laws the department is charged with enforcing, Mauro became the go-to guy for officers with questions on the job.

“They call me Sgt. Revised Code here … I do know the intricacies of the laws from dealing with them all of the time,” he said.

He hasn’t decided what he’ll do following retirement, but hasn’t ruled out possibly working as the chief at a smaller department. In the meantime, he plans to spend more time with his family. He and his wife, Brenda, take daily walks on area bike trails accompanied by Rocky and Magnum, two miniature dachshunds Mauro refers to as his “boys.” The boys were sitting on his lap at home one morning a few weeks ago when the doorbell rang and a couple officers told him to join them for a ride. They ended up at a restaurant for a  lunch with several other officers. “It was such a good feeling. They are not just wanting to scoop me out the door,” Mauro said of his coworkers. “This is the kind of guys I work with here. If you treat them right, they will treat you right.” Like those officers who inspired him decades ago, Mauro said he’s been told he’s influenced others to become police officers.

He also has more than a few police stories of his own to share.

He laughed telling about a fight he and Gulden tried to break up on North Tippecanoe Drive one day.  One of the fighters was getting the best of both when they asked a gathering group of bystanders for help. An elderly man with a cane threw it in, grabbed the battling offender and helped restrain him. He choked up a bit as he told of a young girl whose uncle he’d arrested for molesting her. While working traffic near a school, the girl came up, hugged him and told him she loved him. “It gave me a great feeling that I was doing something right,” he said.

By CECILIA FOX
Record Herald Writer

Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed on 03/09/12
City Council heard the first reading of an ordinance that provides a wage increase for certain city employees Monday night.
The ordinance will increase the base wages of city employees who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement by two percent in accordance with an American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees fact-finding report approved by council Feb. 13.
The wage increase will include the police and Emergency Medical Ser­vices chiefs, the city manager, the utilities director and many other Tipp City employees.
This agreement was negotiated between the city, AFSCME and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations Council 8.
The ordinance will face its second and final reading on March 19.
Though the meeting was brief, with no resolutions and no ordinances for second reading, several members of council took the opportunity to welcome Abbott Nutrition to Tipp City.
“I want to give my compliments to Mr. Crusey, Mr. Vath, and all the city staff who have made this possible and made it happen. I also want to thank Abbott Labs for choosing us, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the quality of the people you’ll be working with,” said councilman Joe Gibson.
The announcement was made March 1 that Abbott Nutrition has selected Tipp City as the site for a new manufacturing facility.
The company is expected to create 240 jobs and invest $270 million in the new facility.
“Very rarely do cities like Tipp City get that type of economic development opportunity,” said council member Mike McDermott, thanking Crusey, Vath, and the team that worked to draw Abbott to Tipp City.
Although time was set aside at the end of the meeting for three public hearings, no one came forward during the meeting to speak.
The hearings were concerned with the renewal of agricultural district designations for three separate parcels of land.
The first property, 85.85 acres of land along Donn Davis Way, is owned by Berry-Logan Prop­erties.
The second, owned by Lesher Properties LTD, is a 195.69 acre area along the west side of County Road 25-A between Kerr Road and Kessler Cowlesville Road.
Wilma Mohr Farms LTD also applied for renewal for 94.15 acres north of State Route 751.
All three applications for renewal were approved by council.
Agricultural district designation provides the property owners with certain benefits, including nuisance law protection so long as the farmer is following acceptable management practices.
To qualify as an agricultural district, the land must be used in agricultural production.
This includes animal husbandry; the growing of field crops, timber, nursery stock and sod; and the processing, storing, and marketing of any agricultural products.

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The City of Tipp City Community & Economic Development Department wishes to remind residents that if they are planning to install a fence, deck, swimming pool, or accessory building (shed) in their yard  or make an addition to their home, that a Zoning Compliance Permit is required prior to starting the project. Any other building/electrical/heating permits needed are obtained at the Miami County Building Regulations in Troy.  Please stop by the Government Center, 260 Garber Drive for further information, call 667-6305 or check our website www.tippcityohio.gov when you are putting together your spring and summer building plans.  Permit information on improvements to sidewalks, driveways, and approaches is also available.

By CECILIA FOX

Record Herald Writer

Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed 02/10/2012

TIPP CITY – Council approved the purchase of a new police vehicle, approved an ordinance raising Aquatic Center pass rates, and voted on road work projects that will affect the city for the next few years at the Monday meeting.
On Feb. 6, the council authorized the purchase of a new 2013 Ford Police Interceptor. The Interceptor will replace a model that has a current mileage of 100,309 miles.
“In our experience, at about 100,000 miles is when we begin to have significant repair issues,” said Police Chief Tom Davidson.
The SUV, though slightly more expensive than the sedan, was chosen for its substantially larger cargo space and increased passenger room. This will allow officers to have all of their gear on hand and be better equipped for any situation.
The new SUV will cost the city $25,481, which is $1,481 more than what was allotted for in the 2012 budget. The cost difference will be offset by the $8,500 appropriation for equipment that also was included in the budget.
In all, the total cost for the new SUV and equipment will stay within the $32,500 that was budgeted.
Council also passed an ordinance that will increase the season pass rates at the Tippecanoe Family Aquatic Center by $10 for family passes and $5 for individual passes. The city will offer a pre-season discount of $20 for family passes and a $10 discount for individual passes purchased before April 30.
The season pass rates were last raised four years ago in 2008.
The council approved a resolution awarding the County Road 25-A reconstruction project design contract to Choice One Engineering for an amount of $255,034. Most of the funding — $238,000 — for the engineering and design was appropriated in the electric fund. The Miami County Engineer’s office is contributing the difference.
Choice One Engineering will handle the design of the reconstruction project which will expand a portion of County Road 25-A to five lanes. Though project is not scheduled to begin until 2015, the design work must begin now.
“We have to get the engineering and design work done in keeping with ODOT’s timetables,” said Assistant City Manager Brad Vath.

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