Monday, May 22, 2006

VPCA President Speaks: It's Time to Pick Your Neighbor!

Have you seen the that gorgeous home on Beechtree that's set back from the road? It has the gazebo in back with a VERY private back yard? I hear through the grapevine that an open house is planned this Sunday, Memorial Weekend, from 1 - 3 p.m.

Why don't you stop by to say hello to any "lookers" and talk up the neighborhood? This is a very good way to stay involved in the neighborhood community by talking up our good name. And hey, know any newlyweds or family looking for a good investment? Invite them to come look at it ... We'd love to have your family move back home here in View Place.

Memorial Weekend is coming up and I'm looking for mini military flags to put in the flower boxes... any ideas???

Springfield Sandy's Survey Results ... Part I

Part I.

Do you own or rent your home?
Own (157 respondants)
Rent ( 2 respondants)
Total 159

Please indicate the age category you fall into:
18 to 25 (2)
26 to 35 (15)
36 to 45 (17)
46 to 55 (33)
56 to 65 (37)
66 or older (57)

What is your gender?
Male (79)
Female (76)
Total

How long have you lived in Springfield Township?
Years
Average number of responses received
26 year


Overall, how satisfied are you with living in Springfield Township?
Very Satisfied (54)
Satisfied (88)
Dissatisfied (14)
Very Dissatisfied (1)
In general, how satisfied are you with each of the following services?

Police:
Very Satisfied (70)
Satisfied (72)
Dissatisfied (5)
Very Dissatisfied (5)
No Opinion (12)
Total
Fire/Emergency Medical
Very Satisfied (84)
Satisfied (58)
Dissatisfied(0)
No Opinion (17)

Road
Very Satisfied54
Satisfied 81
Dissatisfied19
Very Dissatisfied 2
No Opinion 3

Brush/Leaf Pick-Up
43
57
12
5
42

Parks
57
66
8
3
23

Senior Programs
14
30
5
0
108
157

Zoning
16
51
15
11
64


Based on importance to you, please rank in order the three most important Township services listed below.

Ranked Number Uno
Police 97
Fire 37
Road 7
Brush/Leaf 0
Parks 1
Senior Prog.
Zoning 0
Total

Ranked #2
40
89
1
1
1
0
4
136
Ranked #3
3
6
75
7
18
4
24
137
11
Given the fact that approximately 24% of your tax bill goes to Springfield Township, how satisfied are you with the value you get for the 24% you provide to fund the Township Services?
Very Satisfied 28
Satisfied 101
Dissatisfied 20
Very Dissatisfied 5

How likely would you be to support a tax levy if it improved or increased the Township services listed below?

For Police:
Very Likely 33
Likely 54
Not Likely 67

Fire/Emergency Medical
Very Likely 31
Likely 56
Not likely 68

Road
Very likely15
Likely 49
Not likely 87

Parks
Very likely 16
Likely 38
Not likely 94

How likely would you be to support a tax levy that would enable the Township to provide high-speed wireless internet service and provide waste and recycling pickup if residents increase in taxes was less than the cost you currently pay for those services?
54 Very Likely
52 Likely
47 Not Likely

When you think about the information you receive concerning Township news, meetings, and events, from what source do you typically receive this information?
Local Newspaper
72 Public Access
16 Newsletter
136 W ebsite
Other 14

How would you rate the Township’s ability to communicate with residents?
23 Excellent
81 Good
40 Average
12 Below Avg.
1 Poor

Will you be attending the Neighborhood Grill-Out?
Yes
175

RESULTS
Surveys
Sent
626
Received
162

Friday, May 19, 2006

Neighborhood Meeting Notes ... May 10th

Springfield Township Neighborhood Meeting
View Place & Parkview Heights
5/10/06

Township representatives:
Mike Hinnenkamp, Chris Gilbert, Sandy Haner, Police Chief Dave Heimpold, Asst. Police Chief Rob Browder, Fire Chief Rob Leininger, John Musselman
Trustees McFarlin, Honerlaw, & Bryan; Clerk John Waksmundski

Residents: about 150, only about 5-10 from Parkview Heights, rest View Place

Complaints/Comments/Questions
Nuisance residents & poor property maintenance in rental housing
Investors buying up houses?
Section 8 vouchers are good anywhere in US of owner is willing. Owner subject to additional inspections.
Section 8 % in township is not more than most other places. 14,000 residents in Township; about 960 are Section 8 (7%). 25% if Galbraith Pte. is on rent subsidy (not Section 8).
Issue is usually not property maintenance with Section 8, but residents (Chief Heimpold)
Wish for more active monitoring of property maintenance violations on regular basis.
Township did an A-B-C-D rating of housing overall when property maintenance implemented.
You have to report to Township for them to do something. Telephone or website report.
Fear of retaliation. Can remain anonymous.
69 nuisance resolutions at yesterday’s Township meeting
Nuisance complaints take month minimum because of state law.
What about internet service & recycling mentioned on questionnaire?
Internet may be possible at perhaps $20/month
Recycling probably won’t work at any significant savings
St. X traffic in the morning is a big headache
Increased use of North Bend if close I-75 exits?
Parks
Paul property est. $3-5 M to develop into fields by Ham. Co. Parks. Even cooperative effort is probably not enough.
No money!

Submitted by VPCA Secretary

Neighborhood Meeting Notes ... May 10th

Springfield Township Neighborhood Meeting
View Place & Parkview Heights
5/10/06

Township representatives:
Mike Hinnenkamp, Chris Gilbert, Sandy Haner, Police Chief Dave Heimpold, Asst. Police Chief Rob Browder, Fire Chief Rob Leininger, John Musselman
Trustees McFarlin, Honerlaw, & Bryan; Clerk John Waksmundski

Residents: about 150, only about 5-10 from Parkview Heights, rest View Place

Complaints/Comments/Questions
Nuisance residents & poor property maintenance in rental housing
Investors buying up houses?
Section 8 vouchers are good anywhere in US of owner is willing. Owner subject to additional inspections.
Section 8 % in township is not more than most other places. 14,000 residents in Township; about 960 are Section 8 (7%). 25% if Galbraith Pte. is on rent subsidy (not Section 8).
Issue is usually not property maintenance with Section 8, but residents (Chief Heimpold)
Wish for more active monitoring of property maintenance violations on regular basis.
Township did an A-B-C-D rating of housing overall when property maintenance implemented.
You have to report to Township for them to do something. Telephone or website report.
Fear of retaliation. Can remain anonymous.
69 nuisance resolutions at yesterday’s Township meeting
Nuisance complaints take month minimum because of state law.
What about internet service & recycling mentioned on questionnaire?
Internet may be possible at perhaps $20/month
Recycling probably won’t work at any significant savings
St. X traffic in the morning is a big headache
Increased use of North Bend if close I-75 exits?
Parks
Paul property est. $3-5 M to develop into fields by Ham. Co. Parks. Even cooperative effort is probably not enough.
No money!

Submitted by VPCA Secretary

VPCA President Speaks on Issues from May 10th Meeting at Hummer Park

It is vital that VPCA neighbors, all VPCA neighbors, report nuisances, eyesores, and anything else that reflects poorly in our neighborhood. The Township cannot assist us in anyway unless they are notified.

If there is an issue that has not been properly addressed after taking steps to contact the Township, then be assured that the neighborhood will back you up as long as it is a legitimate issue. Remember, the Township meetings located at the Meeting House on Winton Road are held the second Tuesday at 6:30. After the business report, anyone with a gripe, complaint, or issue can go before the Trustees.

Remember:

We cannot control how fast somebody drives or whether they use the Stop signs. We can notify the police when we see people going over the speed limit or not stopping at the signs.

All people should feel welcome in our neighborhood and we cannot make assumptions about our neighbors or their children. Sometimes our neighbors or their children make bad choices. When this happens, we need to band together and address the issue or use the Township to mediate. Sometimes a simple call to your neighbor can resolve an issue. Don't make assumptions about your neighbors that they don't care.

Everyone should feel safe to go to Graeters or Krogers. It is a very sad mistaken assumption that what happens here doesn't happen in places like Kings Mills, West Chester and Milford. We just don't hear about it.

My sister-in-law, for example, who lives in an upscale neighborhood has had her car keyed, her neighbors' houses and cars spray painted with graffiti, a few of her neighbor cats skinned alive or torched, and neighborhood kids arrested for drugs and drunk driving.

Elsewhere in these outlining communities, drunk drivers are killing innocent people, banks are being robbed, and people are murdered in their homes. We don't hear about it because we don't read the community papers from these communities, do we? What we see on the news is bias mis- representation of the city. They want to make things sound "newsy" to sell papers. People thrive on this kind of garbage.

One fallacy is that when we think we are moving away from a "problem," the problem goes away. But really, problems are really a result from people failing to act or respond proactively.

We can't fix a problem but we can resolve issues.

This is why we have VPCA.

E-mail me at viewplacenews@yahoo for any questions or concerns or comments.






The Township Police are VERY, VERY good about keeping things anonymous! Besides, people who are offenders usually don't pay attention to details like we think.

2006 Hamilton Fairfield Relay For Life...

Here's information submitted by good neighbor Mr. Joseph Burst at 7343 Commonwealth Drive:


POWER OF PURPLE RELAY FOR LIFE
18-hour walking event that raises funds to fight cancer. During the event, a special luminary ceremony is held to recognize cancer survivors, and to honor those we have lost to disease.
JUNE 10-11, 2006
2 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Fairfield Football Stadium


Double click here for more information and forms:

alice.fisher@cancer.org

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

News from Christa Criddle ....

Just a note about gearing up for articles in our Summer edition of "Grapevine" newsletter. Please send your comments, articles, and information to Christa Criddle at christa.criddle@fuse.net.

Please give her big thank you for doing the Easter Egg Hunt this year, again. She did a terrific job as always and we very much appreciate the time she spends organizing the event. With everything else she has on her plate, we are so lucky she is giving of her time!

Just in from the Ohio Department of Health ....

Greetings!

The second annual 2006 Healthy Ohioans Fitness Walk is just around the corner! Wednesday, May 17th in communities all across the state, Ohioans will walk one mile for better health. Healthy Ohioans, in conjunction with the Governor’s Advisory Council on Physical Fitness, Wellness and Sports, is encouraging individuals, schools, communities, businesses and civic organizations to walk one mile at 12:00 Noon that day in recognition of National Employee Health and Fitness Day.

If Noon is not convenient, any time the week of May 14 – 20 is suggested. To register, go to www.healthyohioans.org And, don’t forget to re-visit the website after your walk to report the number of walkers and miles walked because this year, we’ll have a random drawing of those registered and reporting their results. Fifteen lucky groups will each receive 100 Healthy Ohioans pedometers! Remember, small steps lead to big strides in becoming a Healthier Ohioan!


Janet Phillips
Ohio Department of Health
Janet.Phillips@odh.ohio.gov

Springfield Township Meeting 5/06

Springfield Township invited a Hamilton County Health Department staff to talk about "Pandemic Influenza" information & strategies. For details, contact the Hamilton County Health Department at http://hamiltoncountyhealth.org and click on article. The police, fire, and EMT have all been trained for prevention/intervention in the event this bird virus hits the heartland. As for the "epidemic" part of the presentation, let's just say we'll probably read about it happening elsewhere in the US if it hits here. The vaccines are not ready and won't be ready for at least 6-9 months. Ms. McFarland asked about "symptoms" specific to this flu, which I thought was a very good question. Unfortunately, the representative could not respond but pointed to the website for further information.

More on this later. Mr. James Wright, our school board representative, former VPCA Pres, and neighbor, took notes for the rest of the meeting since I had to scoot out at 7:30 p.m. to get my babysitter home on time. He's a much better note-taker than me, so I'll wait for his notes through e-mail.

Speaking of birds, did anybody see the Baltimore Orioles in town last week? The bright orange/black birds were migrating overhead and stopped in our neighborhood. I counted 5 perched high up in the oldest/tallest trees in my backyard.

Every May, for the last 12 years, I've been watching them fly through Cincinnati. They are very, very reliant on the tallest trees here in the Ohio River Valley area. They are flying northeast...

They are beatiful to watch... but only briefly ... because they move on...
More to come ...

Submitted by our neighbor on Deanview Drive ...

Kathy Edelen will present "The Truth About Bats" at the Audubon meeting at Winton Center at 7:30PM on Monday, May 15th. Winton Center is just west of the stop light on Winton Rd. just north of the lake in Winton Woods County Park. Admission is free. Kathy worked at the Cincinnati Zoo for 5 years including stints in the Nocturnal House, She has been a naturalist with the Hamilton County Park District for 4 years. In 2004 she founded a group called Echo Bats for Kids. A recent mother, Kathy is the wife of zoo bird keeper Chris Edelen. Please come and hear Kathy.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

If you can't walk, then carpool to Hummer Park on Wednesday!

Here's another suggestion: Do you have a new neighbor next door or down the street or have an old friend in the neighborhood. Give them a call or drop over to see if they want to carpool to the meeting.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.

Special Thanks to .... (Revised 5//10/06)

I'd like to extend a very special thank you to Mr. Shubert for installing 7 brand new flower boxes around the neighborhood. Mr. Bob Dean and Greg from the Township put up 4 ... THANK YOU!

Our good neighbors at Georgetown and Wellesley are working on installing a new post at the corner there thanks to Hasler Lumber on Blossomhill. We are ten down, and two to go.

A special thanks to Dave Hasler for helping me stain the flower boxes. He had an assembly line going and we finished in no time.

I also want to thank personally Pat Kraemer, her daughter, and Roxanne Engel for putting up with my indecisiveness. When I purchased the lettering for the memo board, I was very positive about my choice in style. Both Pat and Roxanne came to the rescue and painted the lettering. It was tedious and time consuming. When I put the lettering up this past week, I realized I made a terrible choice in style and replaced it with the letters on display now.

I owe a major apology to all three woman for their time and effort. I really appreciate that you stepped up to the plate to help me with this project. We will be using this unused lettering for a future project when we can find somebody to make us a nice wooden sign at the corner of View Place and Wellesley to hide the Bell box eyesore.

It is my hope that all the flower boxes will be ready by Mother's Day. If you have an empty flower box in front of your house, please call me at the number listed on the memo board. To the good neighbor who put the Lantana in the box at VP and Wellesely, when we put the new flower box on we will carefully transfer your flowers. Thank you whoever you are!

And I think Mrs. Rizzi and crew are working on the boxes at Blossomhill and Shelley. Thanks to all of you!

Hope to see you all at Hummer Park on Wednesday. I'm sure at least one of my kids will have something going on this evening like many of you... but I will try my best to be there. I know you will, too!

Donna on Deanview...

Thursday, May 04, 2006

TO VIEWPLACE PARENTS: DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE AT 7:45 P.M.?

At least one parent did not know that on Tuesday, May 2 at approx. 7:45 p.m. their darlings were vandalizing yards/homes on Viewplace, Wellesley, Blossomhill and Shelley.

I don't know the details but it appears that two of our neighborhood kids had nothing better to do on Tuesday except for using homes and yards for target practice. Neighbors heard a potato "gun" going off and tried to go after the kids running down the street. I heard through the grapevine they have a good description of the boys.

Also heard through the grape vine, in case any of you parents reading this are wondering what happened to the oranges you bought for school lunches, I hope you give the township police a call. It appears your boys may be in for a few years of "hard labor" like cutting grass, house painting, and cleaning kitty litter trays to pay for the damage.

The neighbors who were victimized are also in need of an apology. Big Time!

Welcome May Members!

Alicia & Harry at Georgetown
Mark & Barb on Georgetown
Thiemann & Ohr renewed after re-joining in October! THANKS!!!
Dick & Nola on Deanview
Mary & Art on Keats at the top of the hill renewed, too! Thanks!
Dave & Elizabeth at Blossomhill
Joseph on Commonwealth
Jen and Chris on View Place -- newer neighbors -- welcome!!!
Phillip and Barb on View Place!
Anne on Deanview -- another new neighbor but not new to Finneytown
Donna & Thomas on Shelley Lane
Hesse's on View Place
Hester's on View Place
Duffy's on Deanview
Debby and Tom on View Place
Richard and Mary on View place