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Home Improvement Program to launch on
June 3rd |
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| Beginning June 3rd, Hamilton
County homeowners will be able to access reduced rate interest loans
for home improvements. The Hamilton County Home Improvement
Program or HIP was originated by Commissioner Todd Portune and
approved by Commissioners as a part of the 2002 Budget. HIP
allows homeowners in Hamilton County communities to borrow money to
repair or remodel their homes or rental property at interest rates
3% below the lowest rate a bank would normally offer. |
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Key elements of HIP are
 | Loans at 3% below market. 5 year term with only one outstanding loan
at any given time. |
| Available in participating Hamilton County communities. To
date, 43 of 49 local governments have enrolled in HIP. |
| No income restrictions for eligibility. |
| Loans are capped at $50,000. |
| For single-family, two-family, and multi-family dwellings. |
| Owner-occupied and rental properties. |
| Single-Family and Two-Family properties valued up to $300,000 (based
on Hamilton County Auditor's real estate appraisal). |
| No property value limit on multi-family dwellings. |
| Loans can be used for alteration, repair, maintenance or
improvement, code compliance, and property upgrades. |
Participating banks are:
| Fifth Third Bank |
| U.S. Bank (Firstar) |
| Key Bank |
| Provident Bank |
| North Side Bank |
To find out if your community is participating or for other information
about HIP, contact Kevin Brown at 946-4988 or e-mail: kevin.brown@hamilton-co.org.
Information regarding HIP is also available on the Hamilton County website
at: http://www.hamilton-co.org/commissioners/doc/HIP.htm
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Thousands sign
Great American Ball Park Steel |
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On Thursday, May 23rd, Reds
fans were given the opportunity to literally put their mark on the
Great American Ball Park. Prior to the Reds' afternoon game, a
3,000 pound piece of steel
as placed on the Cinergy plaza available for people to sign. The steel signing event
was a huge hit.
In addition to the folks attending the ball game, quite a number of
people stopped by during lunch breaks and after work to sign the steel. A
number of children's groups also stopped by to sign the steel, including
the Boys and Girls Club and some school groups. By
the end of the day, the white beam was black with several thousand signatures. |
| Young and old alike enjoyed the
opportunity to sign a piece of Great American Ball Park steel. |
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COMPASS Announces
Action Plans |
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These strategies will be shared with public at
various forums from June through September. These forums will allow
greater dialog among citizens, elected leaders, and various other
community stakeholders. The comprehensive county plan and strategies
are tentatively scheduled to be presented to the Planning Commission and
the Board of County Commissioners by the end of 2002.
For more information about Community COMPASS, visit the (award-winning)
COMPASS website at: http://www.communitycompass.org/.
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Hamilton
County wins seven national communication awards |
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Hamilton
County will be among a select group of county governments to be honored for excellence
in communication efforts by the National Association of County
Information Officers (NACIO). Seven Hamilton
County departments/agencies have been selected for
awards. |
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Over 540 entries were received with
approximately 60 awards in various categories being awarded. Award
winners were selected by a panel of public- and private-sector public
relations/communications experts. The NACIO Awards of Excellence will be
given out in July at the National Association of Counties (NACo) annual conference
in July.
This year's Award of Excellence in Communications recipients are:
Meritorious Recognition:
| Department of Environmental Services for their Sustainable Design Seminar Series
brochure. |
| Hamilton County Administrator's Office for the Great American Ball
Park website. |
Excellent Recognition:
| Department of Environmental Services for their external publications
in conjunction with the Regional Ozone Coalition for the "Do your
Share for Cleaner Air" 2002 Calendar. |
| Hamilton County General Health District in the area of Citizen Education Projects
for the Public Education response to Shigellosis Epidemic. |
| Regional Planning Commission in the area of Computer media for
development of Community Compass website. |
| Personnel Department for their Employee Orientation program |
Superior Recognition:
| Community Compass Comprehensive Master Plan in the area of media
relations |
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MSD Collaborates
with other communities through Five Cities Meeting |
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| Eleven MSD Environmental Professionals presented
papers at the Five Cities Plus Conference in Louisville Kentucky.
The 2002 Five cities Conference is the 13th
Annual meeting that started in 1989.
It is a coming together of the cities of Cincinnati, Louisville,
St. Louis, Columbus, Indianapolis plus many more to learn from each
other’s past and present experiences.
The first Five Cities meeting was attended by various wastewater
agencies covering wet weather water quality issues.
Subject matter for presentations has greatly expanded since that
first meeting in 1989.
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Five Cities has grown into a diverse group of
presenters. Wet weather
issues are still presented; however, the additions of other presenters and
topics have greatly added to the annual success of the conference.
Federal and state regulatory issues along with engineering
technology were added in 1990. Basement flooding along with combined sewer overflow (CSO) and stormwater abatement
updates were added in 1992. In
1993 panel discussions included pretreatment and collection system
maintenance issues. Consultants
with expertise in wet weather and involved in on-going projects were
included. 1994 through 2002
has brought in the addition of privatization, odor control and enforcement
issues, organizational structure, development and leadership, public
education, public outreach and customer service, Sanitary Sewer Overflow,
water in basement, treatment plant issues and last but not least, MIS/GIS.
MSD speakers were (in order of presentation):
Greg Doherty - Alternate Sewer Technology Cost Comparison; George
Vila and Aaron Schwarber - Construction Safety: Start To Finish; Wendell
Young - MSD Security: A Changing Paradigm; Ken Wegenhart - How Charting
Data will Aid Process Control; Bill Winters - Cincinnati Approaches to
Managed Competition; Maria Turner - Public Education: Local &
International; Susan Moisio, Melissa Gatterdam and Steve Donovan - MSD’s
System Wide Model Project; and Mike Nalley - Internet Access at MSD.
Patrick T. Karney MSD Director provided a presentation during the 5
Cities Directors’ Reports session.
MSD Cincinnati hosted the Five Cities Conference in
1989, 1993 and 1998 and will host again in 2003.
Thank you to everyone who presented a paper and
represented MSD in such a knowledgeable and professional manner.
Your involvement was greatly appreciated.
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Employee of the
Year Profile: Anna Kelley |
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In
each of the next six editions of Hello, Hamilton County, we will profile
one of the Employee of the Year Award winners. |
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Anna
Kelley, Quality Assurance & Monitoring Coordinator for the Department
of Environmental Services. A
14-year Hamilton County employee, Anna supervises the County’s air
quality monitoring efforts. Ms.
Kelley is credited with being a results-oriented person with a
remarkable ability to “roll up her sleeves” and work with co-workers
to get the job done. Anna
puts in numerous extra hours, especially during the busy summer months of
the “smog season” and is dedicated to the accuracy and quality of the
department’s air quality monitoring work. |
| Anna Kelley of Environmental
Services leads the County's air quality monitoring efforts. |
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Ms. Kelley is a leader in numerous state and national organizations
dedicated air pollution control and works closely with the U. S.
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).
Outside of work, Anna continues to demonstrate her love of science
by serving as a science fair judge at local and regional competitions. |
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ATTENTION: Dept.
of Justice Grant Recipients |
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The Office of Justice Programs has announced that it
will withhold payment, new awards, and grant adjustments when
progress reports are delinquent. This is being done to meet
Congressional and Administration oversight requirements.
Timely submission of progress reports is needed to
effectively monitor grant-funded activity. |
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This requirement goes into effect for progress
reporting periods ending on or after June 30, 2002.
Please
contact Cindy Weitlauf (946-4317), Grants Coordinator, if you have
questions.
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Don't forget to
post Hello, Hamilton County so that everyone can see what's
going on! |
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Have
a great day! |
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| 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 Erica Binford
(946-4324), Sharon Booker (946-4428) or Eric Stuckey (946-4432) in the County Administrator's Office
or e-mail to eric.stuckey@hamilton-co.org. |
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