Hello

Hello, Hamilton County

E-News for Hamilton County Citizens and Employees

June 25, 2001

Quote of the Week: “You are an important character in the drama of human history.” - Ross Dunn

Commissioners receive more good news about Ball Park progress

For the third consecutive month, the project team reported to County Commissioners that the estimated cost to complete the Great American Ball Park has gone down. The project team, providing the Board of County Commissioners with a monthly status report, stated that the Ball Park cost is now estimated at $280 million, down from a $300 million estimate just three months ago. The project team credits a competitive construction market for helping to bring project costs in under previous estimates. Overall, the project is within budget and appears to be on schedule for Opening Day 2003 (just 648 days away!).

The project continues to be very successful in terms of worker safety. With nearly 500,000 hours worked on the project to date, there have been no lost days due to injury. The project team also reported continued progress in terms of small business participation. To date, the committed small business participation for the Ball Park and related projects is 26.2% with 14% minority business participation and 4.7% woman-owned business participation.

"I am heartened by the trends, in terms of cost and participation of small, minority and women owned businesses," said Commissioner Todd Portune. Commissioner Tom Neyer echoed the sentiment and pledged the boards commitment to help keep the project on track.

Citizens can check the progress of Great American Ball Park by clicking onto the County's Home Page (www.Hamilton-Co.org). Digital photos of the Ball Park site are updated each hour, giving citizens a "real time" view of the construction project.

Great American Ball Park offers Small Business Information Session on June 28. The Great American Ball Park project team is hosting the second of its three small business outreach sessions on Thursday, June 28 from 5:30-7:30 pm. Small Business Enterprises will have the opportunity to meet with the construction management team and learn more about upcoming bid opportunities. The session will be held in the Hunt Construction trailer located at 201 East Pete Rose Way. For more information contact Sonya Walton at 513-946-8195.

Dispose of old computer equipment at Computer Recycling Event

Are old, unwanted computers taking up valuable storage space at your office and home? If so, the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District has a solution! Recycle your old computers and equipment for FREE at the District's Computer Recycling Event scheduled for Friday and Saturday, June 29 and 30 2001,at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds.

If you have old computers or equipment at home, the free collection event will be open to RESIDENTS ONLY on Saturday, June 30, 2001 from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds.

Accepted Items:

	PC workstations
	Scanners
	Printers
	Tape and disk drives
	Telephones
	Commercial telephone switches
	Cables of any type
	Only one monitor per computer system will be accepted.

Not Accepted:

	Fax machines
	Televisions
	Radios
	Monitors with broken screen will NOT be accepted.
	Cannibalized equipment will also NOT be accepted

A similar recycling event for Hamilton County businesses will be held on June 29th. Pre-registration was required and the event is full at this point.

Does your computer still work?

If a computer still works, don't bring it! Instead, donate it to one of the several non-profit organizations that accept computers. Click here for a complete list.

MSD Technology Donation Helps Students Abroad

The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) of Greater Cincinnati is a participant in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Great Lakes-Baltic Sea Partnership program. This Program donates equipment that is outdated or obsolete for use by MSD but can be used by graduate students in the Lithuanian Kaunas Technological University’s Chemistry and Environmental Engineering Program, and the Forestry Institute of Lithuania.

Director Jon Grand, of the Office of International Activities of the USEPA wrote a letter of thanks to Superintendent of Industrial Waste, Ms. Beverly Head, Supervising Chemist, Mr. Ty Gouda, and their staff for being instrumental in donation of the used environmental laboratory equipment to the Kaunas Technological University of Lithuania. Jon Grand stated, “The University as a whole is now in a better position to partner with other European institutions to investigate pollution problems in that part of the world. We look forward to continued cooperation with your institution as we endeavor to expand this effort to neighboring countries and bring their monitoring capacity into the last part of the 20^th century as your laboratories move into the 21^st century.” The Kaunas students and volunteers received invaluable experience in becoming familiar with the equipment through repairing and learning how to operate it. The donated equipment also allows students to receive applied laboratory training that is in line with their theoretical lectures.

The Metropolitan Sewer District would like to take this opportunity to thank our Environmental Professionals, Ms. Beverly Head, Mr. Ty Gouda and their staff for the assistance given to The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes-Baltic Sea Partnership program.

Employee of the Year Profile: Brenda Greene

Brenda L. Greene is a certified family nurse practitioner for the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Youth Center. Brenda joined the County in 1996 seeking to enhance patient services. She has achieved this goal in a variety of ways including collaborative efforts with University Hospital, University Hospital Psychiatric Emergency Services, and Franciscan Behavioral Health Services. This past year, Brenda took the lead in reviewing the Juvenile Court Youth Center’s Medical Department with an eye toward enhancing patient service and preparing for national accreditation.

Brenda Greene, a certified family nurse practitioner, has worked at the Youth Center to enhance patient services

Through Brenda’s efforts the department’s training program was revamped and numerous health standards, policies, and procedures were written and/or updated. As a result of these efforts, the Hamilton County Juvenile Youth Center was accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, the most prestigious medical accreditation offered. Brenda also played a major roll in preparing for the Youth Center’s successful accreditation from the American Correctional Association. In addition to her public service career, Brenda is an active community volunteer, serving at the Free Store’s Kid’s Café.

Sheriff receives grant for Marine Patrol

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded a grant in the amount of $12,497 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. This grant will be used for the Sheriff’s Marine Patrol. The goal of the Marine Patrol is to lower the number of boating accidents and fatalities, and to enhance the recreational opportunities for boaters during the 2001 boating season.

Don't forget to post Hello, Hamilton County so that everyone can see what's going on!

Have a Great Week!

Hello, Hamilton County is published twice each month. It is placed on both the County's internal and external Web pages. It is design to enlighten and inform both citizens and employees of Hamilton County. If you have questions or suggestions for future editions, contact Sharon Booker (946-4428) or Eric Stuckey (946-4432) in the County Administrator's Office or e-mail to eric.stuckey@hamilton-co.org.