4TH OF JULY PARADE AND MORE NEWS!

The 4th of July Parade is scheduled for 10:30 am and meet up is at Deanview Drive and Keats! Remember to wear your red, white, and blue ensemble and decorate your bikes, wagons, and tractors!  The parade goes from Keats, to Beachtree, and ends at the parking lot of St. X. High School. It is less than a 20 minute walk and fun for the kids and grandkids.  Family and friends are welcome to participate! 

Also welcome our new neighbors Ashley and Leroy on Commonwealth! Also new neighbors Alicia and Tom on Deanview in Bob and Janet Dean's mid-century California ranch. Wow! They restored the home to picture perfect mid-century Modern! 

Thanks to all the neighbors updating their homes, mowing and gardening their front lawnscape! Please continue to represent what we're all about here in View Place - community pride, caring neighbors, and a friendly a place we call home! 

About the Zoning Board and Appeal/Special exception to expand the Boy's Hope Home, there is no news. Last I heard, they were deliberating in an "executive" meeting to go over the information. I am hoping that Boy's Hope will see the safety issues, parking issues,  ongoing traffic of caregivers, and wear on neighborhood morale by considering another location for the boys.  More on this later.

Something we should all be concerned about -- a car was broken into on View Place.  Here is the account from one of our neighbors;

"Monday June 8th sometime during the night my car was broken into.  There was cigarette ashes left all over the steering wheel and belongings in the console were thrown around.  I filed a report with the police and they said if we see anything that seems funny in the neighborhood, or someone that looks like they are up to no good.....call!  Also, a reminder to keep any exterior lights on at night.  The officer did say they will try and increase the patrol during 3rd shift in our neighborhood."

See ya at the parade!

Donna on Deanview

Cheryl on Commonwealth

"Family Defense" Presented by Springfield Township Police Dept.

Family Defense, 

Presented By The Survive Institute &

The Springfield Township Police Department

The Springfield Township Board of Trustees and Police Department bring you one of the most powerful presentations you may ever attend. "Family Defense" is a program taught by The Survive Institute, specifically designed to pass along self defense tactics that work. This empowering program with the motto “Let No One Confuse your KINDNESS … as Weakness”, is ideal for women and parents. *Children over the age of 12 may attend this program if they are accompanied by a parent.

Date Jan 28
Time 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Location Grove Banquet & Event Center
9158 Winton Road
Cincinnati, OH 45231
Cost Free

Traffic Count on View Place, Again!

I'm sorry to hear about Karen's accident a few weeks ago! It's a shame that we can't figure out something that works for the neighbors without having the inconvenience of adding an additional 45 minutes just to get out (or in) the neighborhood.   If it wasn't for X-period at Finneytown High School, my kids would never get to school on time unless I left here at 7 am to arrive back in time to get my other daughter on her bus at 8:20! Even if I left at 7:30 am, I would never get back in time to meet the other bus for my other daughter.  I have the same challenge in the afternoon. My one daughter has to wait 45 minutes at the high school before anyone can pick her up  because no one can get out and back in the neighborhood to meet the bus dropping off my other daughter.

So thanks to Jeff Dean & Joe Gorman for alerting the county traffic engineers (again) to the challenges that many neighbors face without having someone (or something) to direct traffic out of (or into)  the neighborhood.  A flashing light that activates during "busy time" would be great. Hopefully we don't have to wait until a tragedy occurs before anything is done about the traffic at North Bend & View Place!

Good News For Township!

Renegotiated Contract with the Union Saves Police Officer Positions in Springfield Township












(SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Hamilton County, Ohio, December 9, 2011)



The membership of the Springfield Township Police Department Unions (FOP-OLC) voted to ratify a renegotiated contract today. The concessions made by the Police Unions will prevent layoffs that were scheduled to go into effect on December 12th and maintains current service levels in the Police Department for 2012. The new 1-year agreement with the Unions calls for a pay freeze for 2012 through the elimination of raises that would have taken place under the previous agreement, which ends in December of 2012. In addition, there are changes regarding overtime and health insurance benefits that will lead to cost savings.







Negotiations have been on-going with both the police and fire unions since September. Both were aimed at renegotiating existing collective bargaining agreements in order to save five full-time emergency services employees in each department and would allow the continuation of current service levels.







"The Board of Trustees and I are very pleased that we have been able to work together with the Police Unions (FOP-OLC) on an agreement that averts the layoffs and allow us to maintain our service to the community at current levels. Much of the credit for this deal getting done needs to go to the leadership and members of the Union (FOP-OLC). They understand the financial difficulties that we face as a community and have worked very closely with us over the last several weeks to find a solution.







Throughout this entire process our goal has been to maintain service levels to our residents and businesses. The Township's number one priority is to provide excellent service to our citizens and the concessions made by the Union in this very difficult economic climate will enable that to continue", said Township Administrator, Michael Hinnenkamp.







Overall, Springfield Township faces revenue reductions Township-wide of approximately $2.8 million dollars as a result of the unprecedented cuts in local government revenues from the State and reduced property tax revenue due to lower assessed valuations.







The Township's 2012 budget will be discussed in a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, December 13th at 5:30 p.m. in the Allen Paul Community Room, 9150 Winton Road.









About Springfield Township



Springfield Township is a first ring suburb in the Greater Cincinnati area consisting of approximately 16 ½ square miles and 38,285 residents. The Township is governed by an elected Board of Township Trustees who is dedicated to delivering reliable and superior services to create a sense of community, enhance property values and improve the quality of life for residents and businesses in the Township

4th of July Parade & Springfield Township Events:

Links:


4th of July neighborhood parades


July 5 - 9 Kids Fire Academy (Ages 8-12)

July 12: Next Trustee Meeting

July 11-15 Junior Fire Academy (Ages 13-17)

July 11 - 16 - Kids Police Academy (Ages 8-13)

July 13 - Touch A Truck Event

July 21 - Cincinnati Civic Orchestra Concert

August 4 - Ohio Military Band Concert

Good Detective Work in View Place

These two burglers didn't know they were messing with a neighborhood like View Place!

One guy is already arrested because he was traced to the stolen jewelry recovered in a pawn shop on Colerain. It just so happens that one of our neighbors did a little detective work visiting pawn shops looking for her stolen  jewelry. Lo and behold, she found a few of her precious memories and contacted Springfield Twp. Police! This is the same woman who drove around nearby neighborhoods in Colerain Twp. looking for the vehicle that many of the neighbors described to her! (At least 5 neighbors reported a dented white "work" truck parked in a "home for sale" driveway and got a good description of the two guys who were knocking on doors asking if somebody named "Amy" lived here.)


Just another reminder why it's a good reason to contact the Springfield Twp. Police to report people who are walking around the neighborhood or parked in driveway where they don't belong!

Neighborhood Watch

Be on the look out for any vehicle that backs into your drive or your neighbors drive and waits there and suddenly pulls away after they notice you're watching them. Don't approach them but you can be pretty intimidating when you're taking down their license plate number from across the street.  If they're legit, they will completely understand you're just doing your job as "good neighbor" back here in View Place.

Quickly write down  licence #s and call Springfield Twp. with the description and license especially if they suddenly pull away and hide their head from your view.  Also, if you see a person walking around your neighbor's property and you don't know if your neighbor is home, just call the Springfield Twp. and let them know you are concerned there is a person you don't recognize on the property.  Get a good description of the individual and/or vehicle. 

These people may not be burglers, but this is how burglers get away with what they do.  They have a driver who "waits" in a vehicle close to where the burglery is taking place.

Burglery Reported in Neighborhood

Heads up, Neighbors.

Roxanne just called with the very distressing news.

She and Dave went out for a few errands this morning and came home to find their house was burglerized. 

PLEASE CONTACT SPRINGFIELD POLICE IF YOU HAVE ANY DESCRIPTION OR INFORMATION IN REGARD TO ANYTHING YOU SAW OUT OF THE PLACE THE PAST FEW DAYS. FOR EXAMPLE, PEOPLE OR VEHICLES THAT WERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT WERE "OUT OF PLACE."




Just a reminder, too, to have your neighbor's phone number handy to call them if you see someone walking on their property. If they don't answer the phone, contact the police to report anything suspicious or people walking around your neighbor's house that you don't recognize as the owners.



Springfield Township police reminded us a few years back about reporting people or cars that don't belong in the picture. It may be a contractor distributing flyers or a visiting out-of-town uncle but let's get in the habit of calling and letting the police handle the rest when the owners are not around.  

The non-emergency number for the Police Department is 729-1300 if you have any questions or concerns.









I have an independent contractor right now working on my chimney so I called my neighbors so they wouldn't be concerned.

Hunting Laws in Finneytown

Greetings on this lovely Fall day. I am sharing this email below from a resident questioning the Finneytown (deer) hunting laws. You may be surprised at what the laws allow.

If any of you want to help the Finneytown Civic Association address this issue, please email or call me at 325--5202.

Joe Gorman, FCA President

> Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2010 16:51:23 -0700 (PDT)
>
> Hello,
>
> I was given your name from a friend. I have lived in Finneytown my entire life,
> and my family when they came from Italy they chose Finneytown because it
> reminded them of their homeland. I own property in Finneytown my home and 8
> acres of land near St. Xavier high school, this has been in my family since
> 1942. Needless to say I was recently shocked when my son went hiking with his
> brother and two friends and came upon hunters. they were hunting on my property.
> I contacted the police and today I found out it is legal to hunt within 1000
> feet of a structure in Finneytown! This means if an animal was shot and wondered
> onto my property or even yours the hunter will follow it and wait for it to
> die.
>
> So I am asking you to please address this issue ASAP!! The Springfield Township
> Police were also shocked, but it was affirmed by the police Chief. I am trying
> to get the word out so we can stop this and change the law. This is just a
> warning for all in Finneytown, this includes bow hunting (that is what they were
> doing on my property) and GUN hunting. Be careful!
>
>
> Sincerely
>
> Regina Shatzer

News from the Township

The neighborhood steering committee is made up of residents throughout Springfield Township who were in attendance at a township information sharing meeting held back in 2009. It was at that time that this group of people volunteered to participate on a steering committee that would be responsible for getting the "word out" to their respective neighborhoods one of which was View Place. Currently, Jeff (Dean) on View Place, Donna (Saul) on Deanview, Bill (Merusi) on Blossom Hills, and Pat (Kramer) on Bruce Hills have been in attendance to at least one of the those meetings so if you know any of these people, please feel free to ask them for more information.

Most of what is discussed at the meetings has been made available on the Springfield Township web page ( See Neighborhood Steering Committee news http://www.springfieldtwp.org/neighborhoodmasterplan.cfm) and here on this blog so feel free to navigate on your own to review the meeting agenda and discussions. In general, most of the planning and ideas are coming from residents like yourself who have been attending the trustee meetings, state of the township meetings, information sharing meetings, or residents who are watching community access cable stations.


During the original neighborhood meetings, a few reoccurring themes in crime/safety were communicated by residents. Specifically, residents in every neighborhood singled out problems of vicious dogs, neighborhood parking violations, and negative or criminal juvenile activity.

We were provided with recommendations for the master plan regarding these three issues and were asked to accept, reject or modify the recommendations. Knowing that crime and police related issues are not the same in every neighborhood, the township had taken the time to analyze the neighborhood-specific data and brainstorm possibilities that would be pertinent to our specific neighborhood issues.

On hand at this meeting tonight were law enforcement officers assigned to every neighborhood steering committee to answer questions and provide feedback. We had Chief Dave for Finneytown South.


What I learned from a presentation given by Chief Dave of the Springfield Township Police Department was that crime in Finneytown is down 22%. Overall, the township is also seeing a decrease in crime activity by 26%. Great news!

The Chief also presented recommendations for parking resolutions due to all the complaints and concerns they've been receiving over the years. Since most of the parking issues in View Place are about "zoning" we didn't have much to contribute other than our ongoing concerns about dogs and the few neighbors who drive faster than what our speed limit allows.

The parking recommendation that were shared with the steering committee was as follows:

"Pass New Comprehensive Parking Resolution tht resinds all previous parking resolutions and creates new parking regulations, by sections, fire lane, and special parking restrictions on certain streets (as previously have been adopted), 72 hour parking regulation, snow emergency, commericial vehicle prohibition and temporary parking for construction pods and dumpsters.

- Parking on the street would be limited to 72 hours
- Parking of commecial vehicles would be prohibited
- Parking on the unpaved portion of ROW would be prohibited
- Allow for the special permitting for the placement of dumpsters and PODs for construction projects when the placement in the yard is not feasible"


Another topic was about dogs and the concern that many neighbors had with dogs that are not restrained and pose a safety issue for neighbors. It was recommended that they focus on creating a resolution about the "behavior" of the dog rather than the "breed" of the dog which I supported 100% due to the complaint I've been receiving about 2 dogs that are getting out of the "invisible fence" at the end of Beechtree.

Another topic was about finding ways to engage our youth more into the community. The Fire Department, for example, made a recommendation to create a pilot program that identifies at least 10 "at risk for dropping out of school" or "at risk for drug abuse or gang violence" by partnering with area schools in the township.








The next steering committee meeting is planned for August.

Updates from the Neighborhood Steering Committee Meeting"

There are many View Place residents who are not registered with the Springfield Twp. CODE RED program for emergency calling. If you want to be notified in the event in the emergency, you need to register through the website: http://www.springfieldtwp.org/searchresults.cfm





Crime



The PDF presentation wasn't available before the meeting so I'll post later what was shared at the meeting tonight. The news is good here in Finneytown. Due to the additional services and protections currently offered by the Police and Fire departments, it was reported that there was a big decrease in crime in our area:



Township-wide crimes for the first half of 2010 was 394. Township-wide crimes for first half 0f 2009 495 which means there is a 26% decrease overall. In 2010, Finneytown South crimes were 25 and 32 in 2009which means 22.5% decrease overall.





New Resolution about Dogs: Going After Dog Complaints



The police are writing a new resolution to protect neighbors from menacing dogs focusing on impounding the "bad behavior"of the dog (bites, attacks, etc.) and not the breed.





Parking



Police are working on resolutions about street parking that will bring it up to date. There will be a 72 hour limit for street parking in designated areas.







Youth Activity



The Fire Department will be focusing creating mentoring programs with students at who are at risk for dropping out of school.

News from the Neighborhood

June 3rd will be taking bids for the final streetscape project on Winton Road. Streetlights, flower baskets, and banners which will be controlled by ODOT.

Galbraith Road will be closed westbound to finish up the county construction project. If you have complaints, it's an issue you need to take up with the county. Springfield Twp. has limits to what can be done on this road.

Great American clean up was successful with 178 volunteers!

ID Theft Program - Police dept. just completed a theft program.

Yard Sales and the Criminal Element ...

Shortly after our community yard sale, one of the homes on Pinebrook was the target of theft. Since there was no sign of forced entry according to my source, there was some speculation that the thieves "cased" the home beforehand possibly during our community yard sale.

A few years back, one of our neighbors invited a sales person from a virtually unknown window company for an estimate and a few weeks later, their home was broken into. What was unusual about this break in was that the thieves took little things that were in clear view ... jewelry on the bathroom sink ... knicknacks on tables ... it appeared to be quick sweep with no time for unplugging televisions or dvd players.

At one of our last safety meetings, the Chief of Police urged residents to keep our homes secured by locking the doors, closing the garage doors, and reporting any suspicious cars or people in the neighborhood so they have it logged in. It may be all very innocent -- that strange car parked in front of our neighbor's home on vacation -- but AT LEAST THE POLICE WILL HAVE SOMETHING ON RECORD TO GO BY IN CASE IT WASN'T SOMEBODY THE FAMILY KNOWS.

PLEASE, DO NOT BE EMBARRESSED TO CONTACT SPRINGFIELD TWP. POLICE, THEY WANT TO HELP US BACK HERE BECAUSE THEY ARE PROUD OF THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, TOO.

Link to Hamilton County Sex Offender search ...

Here's Hamilton County neighborhood search for people listed as "sex offenders." I look periodically ...

http://www.hcso.org/PublicServices/SexOffenders/offender.asp

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH/ALERT STATUS

HERE'S A MESSAGE FROM A GOOD NEIGHBOR ON VIEW PLACE ...

AS ALWAYS PLEASE WRITE DOWN THE LICENSE PLATE NUMBER/TIME OF DAY/DESCRIPTION IF YOU SEE UNUSUAL MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES/PEOPLE AND CALL TOWNSHIP POLICE 522-1412 ... ASAP

WE'RE COMING UP TO A HOLIDAY AND MANY OF OUR OUT OF TOWN FAMILY/FRIENDS WILL BE VISITING SO IT IS NATURAL TO CONFUSE THE "UNUSUAL" WITH "VISITORS" BUT LET THE TOWNSHIP POLICE DETERMINE WHAT IS "UNUSUAL MOVEMENT."


24/7
CALL 522-1412


Hi Donna:

I just wanted to inform you that some one broke into house on Thursday around 1:30 pm. The burglar was able to open one of the entry doors but
security alarm saved us…

Will you send this to the bigger distribution and ask people to stay on the look out for any unusual movement of people in the neighborhood.

Thanks for your support.

Regards,

Tyag Sehgal

*77 May Save Your Life! Posted by View Place Neighbor on Keats ...

YOU MUST KNOW *77

I knew about the red light on cars, but not the *77.

It was about 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and Lauren was driving to visit a friend.

An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her and put his lights on.

Lauren's parents have always told them never o pull over for an unmarked car on the side of the road, but rather to wait until they get to a gas station, etc.

Lauren had actually listened to her parents advice, and promptly called *77 on her cell phone to tell the police dispatcher that she would not pull overright away. She proceeded to tell the dispatcher that there was an unmarked police car with a flashing red light on his rooftop behind her!

The dispatcher checked to see if there were police cars where she was located and there weren't, and he told her to keep driving, remain calm and that he had back up already on the way.

Ten minutes later 4 cop cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and tackled him to the ground. The man was a convicted rapist and wanted for other crimes.

I never knew about the *77 Cell Phone Feature, but especially for a woman alone in a car, you should not pull over for an unmarked car.

Apparently police have to respect your right to keep going to a safe & quiet; place. You obviously need to make some signals that you acknowledge them (i.e. put on your hazardlights) or call *77 like Lauren did.

Too bad the cell phone companies don't generally give you this little bit of wonderful information.

Speaking to a service representative at **Bell** Mobility confirmedthat *77 was a direct link to state trooper info. So, now it's your turn to let your friends know about *77.

Send this to every woman (and person) you know; it may save a life.