ArtsConnect Invitation!

Friends of Springfield Township,

We have an excellent family show coming to Springfield Township’s Grove Banquet Hall on April 29th! Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park is bringing the show “Rikki Tikki Tavi” to The Grove Banquet Hall. Through generous sponsorships and support from ArtsConnect and the Wyoming Fine Arts Center, this show is FREE! There will also be a craft (provided by Playhouse in the Park) and snacks (provided by ArtsConnect) for children to enjoy after the show.

Enclosed is a flier that can be copied and used in your church bulletins, school announcements or civic association newsletters. There is also a jpg clip which can be used to post a message in social media. We appreciate any help you are able to provide to help us get the word out.

Insights Lecture Series on Mill Creek

Go to this link Insights Lecture Series | Cincinnati Museum Center to register for a free program about the Mill Creek including history and future plans!

COMMUNITY ART CLASSES

There are a number of art classes starting this April, taught at the Springfield Township Community Arts Center!!! Many of these programs are being offered for the first time! Don’t miss out on these fun programs!

Art & Wine Wednesday – April 6th
http://www.theartsconnect.us/142/Art-Wine-Wednesdays

Drawing Classes – Thursdays, April 7-May 12
http://www.theartsconnect.us/189/Drawing

Illustration & Character Drawing– Tuesdays, April 5-May 10
http://www.theartsconnect.us/207/Character-Drawing-and-Illustration

Printmaking – April 27
http://www.theartsconnect.us/204/Printmaking-Wood-Relief

Stained Glass Flowers – April 20 & May 18th
http://www.theartsconnect.us/201/Ladies-Craft-Night

Watercolors – Wednesdays, April 6 – May 11
http://www.theartsconnect.us/182/Watercolors



Kimberlee Flamm
Projects, Events & Communications Coordinator
Arts & Enrichment Council Chair
Springfield Township Administration
9150 Winton Road
Cincinnati, OH 45231

Finneytown Neighborhood Alert

Finneytown peeps, be on the lookout for a white vehicle with a white male driver (wearing a red and black jacket). He stole packages off of my neighbors front porch on Eastgate.   We have to watch out for each other and get this guy arrested. 

Watch in HD, it looks a little better.

Carol Schubert Passed Away ....

It saddens me to announce yet another wonderful human being who has passed away from cancer.  Bob and Carol Schubert raised their family here in Viewplace. Carol will be remembered for her volunteer services at church, YMCA, and child advocacy work.  Her granddaughter, Katie, was a playmate to my daughter for many years crossing through the backyards to visit each other.  As instructed, the girls were required to call once they reached their destination so Carol and I had many times to talk on the phone about the neighborhood.  We extend our deepest condolences, sympathy, and love to Bob and her big family.

Springfield Township Winterfest Celebration

Enjoy the  19 annual tradition of Springfield Township’s Winterfest ! D oors open at 12:30p.m. Enjoy a Madcap Puppet Show, part icipate in crafts and sing carols on e hay ride. Free photos with Santa, facepain ting and games for kids will top off the afternoo n. Concessions will be available for pur ase. Free Admission! Split the Pot, dona tions & concessions support Art sConnect

More event details at www.TheArt sConnect.us/winterfe st 522-1410

Details here ...

FCA Candidates Night Trustees 2015

FCA Candidate's Night School Board 2015 Candidates Night

Message to Chief Browder about bottleneck...

Chief Browder:

Hello, I am Jeff Dean, a resident on View Place Drive since 1991 and past president of the View Place Civic Association. I am also a 1973 graduage of Finneytown High School. On August 14th, there was a traffic bottleneck on View Place Dr. that lasted from 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm whereby residents could not get into or out of the neighborhood from either direction. This type of thing happens all too often. I had a conversation on the phone with one of your officers shortly thereafter.The officer was polite and listened to me, however, I am not happy with the content of any of his answers or statements. I will describe below. Know that none of my questions/ statements are about the performance of the officer on traffic duty, that is not the issue. The issue is what to do about this situation and how serious it is.

1) The officer said that we should communicate with St. X about this. My response is that we have communicated to X about this over the years and nothing has ever gotten better. When we moved in here in 1991, things were not nearly as bad. They have gradually gotten worse over the last 15 or so years. They have gotten worse with regard to traffic, noise, and St.X's overall performance as a nieghbor. I won't go into the supporting details for that statement here in this email. We did in fact communicate to them this time, and there has been no response so far.

2) The officer said that St. X parents have to come into View Place Dr. to drop off or pick up their kids (turning from North Bend Road on to View Place and heading north toward an entrance to St.X on the left) because St.X and your department have decided that all of St. X's driveways on North Bend need to be used for going out of X. My response is that there are two driveways for X alone off of North Bend, and one even has a double yellow line indicating going in and out. Logic tells me that the parents should be able to use these driveways for looping in and then out.
I have included a picture of the problem on View Place Drive. As you can see, both lanes are stopped. They were stopped for about a half an hour. In the picture, you can see that the last vehicle in the right lane is waiting to turn into the entrance to X that I described earlier, on the left. No way they can get in. This is for two reasons, one being the general bottleneck, and two being that two busses are parked in front of the building waiting to pick up kids (you can't see that in the photo, but it is easily verifyable.That would occur to the left of the photo) . This brings me to the most problematic of your officer's statements:

3) I said that I was concerned that an emergency vehicle cannot get into the neighborhood in this situation. The officer said that oh yes they can, that I would be amazed at how fast they could get a firetruck or EMS in. I say this is false statement. First, look at the picture. What you can't see, but what you can see for yourself if you go there is that there is not room on the left. Between the oak trees and the street, and between the oak trees and downslope, there is not enough room. There is no room on the right. Too many power poles and the like. And remember, the other thing the photo does not show is that North Bend Road is also plugged up in both directions!!  You might be able to get an emergency vehicle in, but within a decent respone time???  Doubtful.   And I am not downplaying the significance of the inconvenience to all of us either. Like I said before, when we moved in here it was not this bad.

4) Look at the photo again and note where Wellesley Drive is to the right. The last car on the left is a bit behind where Wellesley starts. Once or twice during the football season, the owner of an empty lot at the corner of Wellesley and View Place rents out the space for parking during the games. This causes the exact same problem of the bottleneck going both ways. I have complained about this in the past to the Township, to no avail. To their credit, they did stop people from parking on our neighborhood streets, and this has been a great help.But again, the emergency vehicle problem exists. Here is the response from your officer, and it is my favorite - "you can't stop people from making money". With that logic, why do you stop people from making money fixing cars in their front yard?  Because its ugly and its against the zoning code. I think that parking activity is also against the zoning code. So is their illegal drainage pipe and driveway that they put in to allow the cars to come in. I know they don't have a building permit for it, because it does meet any standard that I know of, and I am a civil engineer.

I am copying the president of the Finneytown Civic Association, just for his information. I am not asking for any action from the FCA at this time. I am also copying our current president of Viewplacenews.

I would like to hear your response to this before I send to the administrators or the fire department. You should also know that this bottleneck caused an accident involving St.X kids or parents on the day being discussed here.

I would also like to point out two more problems with the set up on North Bend. I can tell you, and Joe and Donna, spread the word, that I will come to the court appearance of anyone who gets a speeding ticket through the zone. That is because you have two problems. One is that the flashing lights for east bound traffic are located right at the curve in the road, so that a driver cannot see it until the last second. It is also partially obstructed by tree leaves. THe second is that there is no flashing light on View Place. If somebody exits View Place and turns right, and it is near the end of the period that kids are coming/leaving and therefore not much traffic, there is no way for that driver to know that the school zone is in effect.
Jeff Dean
7491 View Place Dr.

In loving memory of Sue Hummer...

Information about Sue Hummer's memorial mass at St. Vivian's Church is here.  I got to know Sue through the PTA  and neighborhood association soon after my daughter received the "Big Heart Award."  This award is given to a middle school student  to honor Sue and Dan's daughter, Stephanie.

I will remember Sue for living a faith-filled and purpose driven life. She was an example for all us.

In loving memory of our dear friend, child advocate, and neighbor...

I learned that Sue Hummer, our dear friend and neighbor, passed away peacefully in her home. Our deepest condolences to Dan, her sons and  their family, and all her friends.

Sue will be remembered for many things, by many people, but I will remember her faith and devotion  to serving God, her husband Dan, her family, and her community.  Whether it was passing time at the gas pump or running into each other in the neighborhood or meetings, I will remember her face lighting up when she talked about the Big Heart Award,  her niece's Thanksgiving meal, her sons and their new families, and other events that filled her day.  She lived her life with purpose and devotion.  She had a way for fixing things in our  neighborhood and at school.  She also took to the time to comfort people in their time of need.

My deepest condolences to Dan and her big family, and  her many friends who loved and cherished her being, her light, courage, and her faith.


May her sweet light shine in the darkness,
My her memory unfold as prayers for the living, and 
May her grace, courage, and faith continue to fill the silence.

Our prayers go out to Dan, family, and friends...

McFarlin vs. Hufford?

It's important that we get the right information in regard to the upcoming election so please look over the following links to learn about the candidates.  Here is a tape from "Dan Hurley's Newsmakers" Sunday program.

Whether You're Seeing Red or Green Signs ....

It's election time and someone is trying to get our attention. Please take the time to read up on the candidates and issues. Remember the Finneytown Civic Association is sponsoring "Meet the Candidate Night."


SUNDAY October 18, 2015 from 7-9 PM













Newsmakers, September 27, 2015 - Local 12 WKRC-TV Cincinnati - Newsmakers

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH ALERT

Please report any and all suspicious activity or people  to the Springfield Township police.  If you see someone walking around your neighbor's property and you're not sure they're home, use the neighborhood directory to call. If they don't respond or you don't have a number, call 911 and give them a description of what you see.  If you hear dogs barking or unusual sounds, call the police. A patrol car will be dispatched to check things out. It may be a contractor giving estimates for something or it may be a person posing as a contractor while another person is burglarizing the home. In any event, Rob Browden, the new Chief of Police, encourages us all to give them a call and they'll come check it out. 

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure...

Springfield Twp Police Begin Open Forum Meetings With Religious, Academic & Civic Community Leaders

Maintaining a strong relationship with residents has always been a priority of Springfield Township. Its Police Department especially prides itself on the trust and confidence earned through fair and just police practices.

Recent national incidents involving police relations have put the trust of many police departments in question. To ensure this does not take place in Springfield Township, Trustee Gwen McFarlin asked the Police Department to be out front of the issue by initiating a series of open dialogue forums to candidly discuss police relations in the Township. “We currently have the trust of the community. I want to keep that trust by providing a safe place to talk, inform and learn from one another,” explains McFarlin. “I think it’s important to communicate with our residents, well before a need may ever be necessary.”

To date, two forums have been hosted with civic, educational and religious leaders in the community; one in May and a second in September. There is one overriding goal of the gatherings; to provide a forum for proactive, continual dialogue whereby individuals can learn from one another. After several meetings, it is hoped that confidence in Springfield Township’s Police Department will continue to grow and a coalition of church, school and civic leaders would be available to assist if a crisis were to arise. After attending the September meeting, Carole Dunn, representing the Hollydale Civic Association stated, “I’m proud of Springfield Township and the Police Department. These meetings are important because it promotes unity between the public and police.”

“The components of the forums have been consistent,” explains McFarlin. “We begin with a topic, provide a short presentation, then open the floor for candid discussion.” The first forum included time for community leaders to experience a police simulation-training device. The simulation device allowed the participant to virtually walk in an officer’s shoes and be confronted by a wide array of real-life situations. The device responds uniquely to the vocal commands given by the participant. According to Dick Alexander, former Senior Pastor of Life Springs Church, this activity was eye opening, “We all understand police officers have to make quick decisions. But the simulation brought a stunning realization of the split-second life and death decisions officers must make, and a magnified appreciation of the extreme difficulty of their jobs."

Open dialogue in the May forum addressed perspectives on national events and the Township’s police department philosophy. The meeting also shared perspectives of a few police officers. The September forum allowed for a conversation addressing the use of body cameras. Chief Browder understands the value of these conversations, “It’s a mutually beneficial effort. The forums have resulted in a better understanding of what officers face on a day-to-day basis and they also provide us with valuable context as to how actions are perceived”.

Officers asked participants to provide a list of topics they would like to discuss most and how often dialogue should take place. Leaders all expressed a desire to continue the forums on an ongoing basis, involving topics such as police training, the impact of drugs, youth violence and intervention, gun violence, understanding economic disparity and mental health.

“I am encouraged by the response of our community leaders to continue the conversation and look forward to bringing the program to the community with leadership involvement in the near future,” explains McFarlin. “It was important to gain the feedback of our community leaders first. It provides us with a baseline and a source of partnership when we do bring this forum to the community,” explains McFarlin.

   

Dog Nuisance and Break In...

Officer Emily Smith offered a program about neighborhood safety in View Place when the Brown-Allen home was broken into a few years ago.

She talked about dog nuisance complaints.  Mainly dogs being chained up outside, fenced in, or left indoors all day while the owners were at work.  Naturally, dogs bark for many reason, but mainly they are seeking attention when they are bored and lonely.  Since the barking is a nuisance and disturbance, it can be reported and an owner can be fined.  However, we want to avoid this unless the owner is not cooperating or listening to your concerns.

Office Smith suggested to dog owners to find a humane way to keep their dogs from becoming stressed out while owners are at work.   For example, leave fresh water in their bowls, fresh food, toys, and make sure they are given them plenty of exercise and loving care when you return.  Make sure your dog is on a leash when walking them throughout the neighborhood otherwise you will be fined.   Just by exercising your dog, it  will cut down on the nuisance barking when they are lonely for their owner. 

Another thing Officer Smith suggested was informing the township police about vacations or extended leave from your  home. Always provide an emergency contact number to a neighbor and police for back up.  Notifying your neighbors or asking one to look after the house for suspicious activity was another suggestion.    All residents should call 911 in the event they see any suspicious activity or people in our neighborhood.  For example, if you see moving trucks or people you can't recognize  removing items from a home, contact the officers anyway.  They  would rather be wrong 100 times checking something out rather than finding a home was being broken into.

Remember, we are a neighborhood here in View Place. Get to know your neighbors. If something is going on like nuisance barking,  small children playing without adult  supervision, or gutters falling down, it's okay to drop over and say, "I'm concerned about....."   If they don't respond or take it personal, use the Quick Links complaint form online.    

Let's all try to first give our neighbors the benefit. Most are very considerate and try to look for solutions if there are issues like break-ins, fulling down gutters,  and barking dogs.  So try and  work together to resolve issues.  If your dog is barking, be considerate. Don't yell or be nasty to neighbors who are only trying to bring something to your attention.  Many neighbors are dealing with serious medical  treatments and some are working all  night at a hospital.  It's inconsiderate and disrespectful for neighbors to go away and not care about their own dog's nuisance barking.

Another thing to remember, if somebody breaks into your home, please contact the Springfield Township 911 immediately. If you find out your neighbor's home was broken into, please offer some form of sympathy and support. Report suspicious activity in our neighborhood by calling 911 for emergencies or 522 1412 for non emergencies.  Also use the quicklinks page to report when a home is falling into disrepair if the neighbor ignores a request to take pride in their property and community.

Springfield Township Fire Department Open House, 10/10/15

Annual Fire Department Open House, October 10th

In observance of National Fire Prevention Week, the Springfield Township Fire Department will open its doors to the public for an exciting open house event Saturday, October 10, 2015 from noon to 4:00 p.m. Families are invited to participate in fire prevention & awareness activities at the main station located at 9150 Winton Road.

The event's main purpose is to educate families on fire safety. The Open House will feature educational booths, fire station tours, live burn demonstrations, a helicopter landing and many hands-on activities. Kids will learn more about creating a fire escape plan with reenactments in the Fire Safe House and they can also meet many of the firefighters and EMS professionals that work to keep residents safe in Springfield Township.

Bring your cameras!

Schedule of Activities:
12 PM: Open House, Welcome
12:15 PM: Fire Extinguisher Demonstration
12:30 - 3:00 PM: Tours of the Fire Station (Every 30 Min) 
1:15 PM: Kitchen Fire Demonstration
2:30 PM: University Aircare Arrives, Subject to delay
3:15 PM: University Aircare Departs
3:30 PM: Living Room Fire Demonstration
4:00 PM: Open House Ends

Springfield Township Blood Drive

October 14, 2015 02:00 PM Springfield Township Fire Dept Blood Drive The Springfield Township Fire Department is hosting its 10th annual blood drive in partnership with Hoxworth on Wednesday, October 14th. The drive will take place...… Read on Date Oct 14 — Oct 14 Time 2:00 PM - 8:00 PM Location Springfield Township Fire Station 9150 Winton Road Cincinnati, OH 45231 Cost

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FINNEYTOWN CIVIC ASSOCIATION MEETING UPDATES

MONDAY September 28, 2015 from 7-9 PM

Springfield Township Senior/Community Center
The Grove
9158 Winton Road

Agenda to be Announced

FFinneytown School's superintendent Tyrone Olverson will speak about expanding AP CLASSES, recent staff retirements/changes, new staff, and new connections to the schools (with new Communications staff person, Krista Ramsey).

INFO: Joe Gorman President 325-5202
Check out our Facebook page

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Candidates Night

WEDNESDAY October 21, 2015 from 7-9 PM

Springfield Township Senior/Community Center
The Grove
9158 Winton Road

We have invited the Trustee candidates (Hubbard and McFarlin), the school board candidates, and will have League of Women's Voter's info on the State issues. This is an excellent chance to see and hear the candidates in a civil proceeding. God Bless America - get out and vote!

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Join Nextdoor.com for
community connections
It’s a private social network for you, your neighbors and your community.

https:/finneytownoh.nextdoor.com/

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Constitution & Bylaws

The revised constitution and bylaws were approved at the September meeting. Follow the link to see a