Invitation to reserve a Nexus gardening plot

The Norwood-Evanston-Xavier Urban Sustainability Community Garden, located on the fringe of Xavier's campus, is now welcoming applications for the 2011 growing season. New and experienced teams of gardeners who are residents of Evanston or Norwood are invited to apply. Plot reservations are first come, first serve. There are 10 plots available for each of the 3 communities, and applicants are encouraged to apply to work in family/friend/office teams to care for your plot. Click here for the application and more details.

Whether you reserve a plot, attend a workshop, or just enjoy your lunch at the picnic table on a sunny day, you're invited to be a part of the efforts. Hope you can come grow with us this season!

NEXUS Garden Steering Committee

Finance Committee meeting tomorrow

The Finance Committee is meeting tomorrow night, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers to discuss two agenda items: 1.) 2011 budget and 2.) Recreation pay scale ordinance.

January 2011 NFD Activities and Statistics Report

A monthly feature

A. Total of emergency responses for the month of January = 398

Medic Runs = 291
Fire Runs = 7 (Building, Brush, etc.)
Average Response Time on Runs = 3 minutes, 6 seconds (city-wide)

Number of incidents by type:
Fire Runs – 7 - (Building, Brush, etc.)
Overpressure, Explosion - 0
Rescue & Medic Unit Assists – 49 - (lock-in, extrications, traffic accidents, etc.)
Hazardous Conditions (no fire) -17 - (power lines down, arcing, spills, etc.)
Service Call - 13 - (smoke removal)
Good Intent - 7 - (odor of smoke, controlled burning)
False Alarms – 14 - (false alarms, system malfunctions, smoke detector activated, etc.)
Severe Weather - 0
Special Incident - 0

B. Fire Hydrant Activity
502 Hydrants winter strapping. Pumped as needed.

C. Bureau of Fire Safety Activities = 519
Total Inspections – 96 - (residential, schools, churches, businesses)
Total Violations – issued 195
Total Violations – corrected 153
Total Block Inspection - Unit #’s 1, 2, 3 - Rental & multi-family: 0
Referrals to Health and Building Depts. - 6
Additional Activities - 69

Xavier Montessori Enrolling Students in 6-9 Class

Xavier Montessori Lab School is enrolling students in the ages 6-9 elementary classroom. An information session and classroom observation for parents will occur Thursday, March 3rd .

Interested parents with children of appropriate age should contact Principal Lesley Kern at 513-745-3402 or via email at kernld@xavier.edu for time and location details.

Xavier Montessori is a Lab School aligned with a highly-reputable teacher education program nationally- and internationally-renowned. The school serves as a hallmark for best practices in the Montessori method of education. The school is filled with a diverse community of learners. Head Teachers have earned Masters degrees in Montessori Education, are state licensed and fully Montessori credentialed.

Xavier University, a pioneer in Montessori teacher education, is one of few schools nationwide that offers Montessori certification at undergraduate and graduate levels with initial state licensing.

Xavier Montessori helped mainstream the Montessori Method into public schools in Cincinnati and across the Midwest. It has developed work and outreach support with students, schools, and administrators in Taiwan, Korean, and China. Education delegates and school officials often tour the Lab School because of its celebrated reputation. An outcome of a Montessori education at Xavier Montessori Lab School is an increased awareness one’s own learning, community, social concerns, care of the environment, respect for one another and global cultural connections.

NCS Superintendent explains 8.61 mill 10-year levy on May ballot

Guest blog by Rob Amodio

As Superintendent of the Norwood City School District it is my responsibility to inform our community members of both the accomplishments of our staff and students as well as the state of district finances.

As a district, we are making great academic strides and are receiving wonderful praise. We have outstanding students and staff members throughout the district. This is demonstrated by countless accomplishments:

· Four of our five schools were rated “Effective” by the Ohio Department of Education. This is the highest rating that our district has ever received! While this may be a fine accomplishment, we will not rest until we are rated “Excellent”.
· Norwood High School is recognized by Cincinnati Magazine as one of the top five high schools in the region in the areas of Science, Mathematics and Technology.
· The graduating class of 2010 earned over $150,000 in scholarship awards.
· Eighty percent of the students from the class of 2010 are currently enrolled in college or serving in the Armed Forces.
· The Norwood Middle School has implemented their extremely successful Peacebuilders Program with the financial assistance of several grant opportunities. The Peacebuilders Program focuses on enhancing student academic growth through character education and peer behavior modeling.
· At Sharpsburg Elementary Mrs. Sunni Sailing was selected for the prestigious “One In A Thousand” national educator award! She was selected as a result of her tireless efforts and amazing passion for her work with the children of Sharpsburg.
· Parental and community support at View Elementary is outstanding. Each week over 30 parents and community members work with our children in the classrooms and hallways to assist our teachers and students in their learning environment.
· At Williams Elementary Mrs. Carol McMahon has implemented the Whiz Kids program. This program provides for intensive one on one mentoring and intervention for students in the areas of mathematics and reading! Whiz Kids will not only involve our teaching staff at Williams but also parental and community volunteers.

Each day our staff and students are creating an amazing educational environment and continue to add to the proud tradition of Norwood City Schools! Norwood City Schools has continued to improve even with a difficult economy. To combat the effects of the economy on our budget the Norwood City School District has cut costs:

· $1.7 million (8.0%) has been cut from the district’s budget
· Through collaboration with our employee unions, all school employees have had a base pay freeze for two years, beginning with the 2009-10 school year.
· Staff reductions included the layoff of 20 teachers and 11 support staff members.

The district has also implemented cost cutting measures that have targeted utility, health insurance, building maintenance and instructional supply costs. Just as each of our community members are doing, we are working daily to cut costs while at the same time protecting the education of our 2,201 students.

Fewer teachers results in less service but we have worked hard to minimize the damage to the education of our children. Even with the budget reductions we implemented, we still face a $1.25 million dollar budget deficit for next school year. The combination of the economy and the fact that the district has not had a new levy or tax increase since 1995, makes it impossible to make further cuts without severely damaging the education services we provide to our children.

With this known, on January 24th , the Norwood City School District Board of Education voted unanimously to place an 8.61 mill 10 year Emergency Levy on the ballot for May 3rd, 2011. Please understand that we do not take this decision lightly, it is hard to ask you for more money in these times but the cost of additional cuts has an even greater cost to our children. With passage of this levy the average home owner would pay approximately $5.00 per week for a home valued at $100,000. The Norwood City School District has not requested an increase in property taxes from the residents of Norwood since the passage of a levy in 1995. We are now in the 16th year since the district asked our residents for additional tax revenue. Failure of the levy in May will force the school district to further reduce programs and services to children by $1.718 million dollars next school year. These reductions will include:

· The layoff of an additional 39 employees including 18 teachers, 1 administrator and 20 support staff personnel as well as forcing us to close all school libraries.
· The elimination of all technology courses from the high school and middle school and
· Increased class sizes throughout the district including raising the average class sizes at our elementary schools from 22 to 27 students per class. Class sizes will range as high as 35 students per class at the high school and middle school.

These reductions will be catastrophic and damaging to the education of our children and have potentially devastating effect on our community on a whole.

We are committed to provide all of our children with extraordinary educational opportunities in a safe and challenging educational environment. The future of our community is walking the hallways of our school buildings each day. Protect “Norwood Pride” and support our children. They are counting on all of us to keep the bridge to their future strong for years to come.

Robert Amodio
Superintendent
Norwood City School District

This week at the Norwood Branch Library

Wednesday, February 23
Movers and Shakers Storytime
10 - 10:30 a.m. Ages 1-4 with adult

Preschool Storytime
10:30 - 11:00 a.m., Ages 3-6

Thursday, February 24
Wii in the Winter
4:00 - 6:00 p.m., Ages 8-14
Advance registration required.

Call for shared sacrifice on City budget cuts

Early on during last Thursday night’s Finance and Audit Committee meeting, Ward 2 Councilperson Steve Thornbury issued a plea to all City employees/unions/departments to step forward voluntarily and share the sacrifice needed to balance the 2011 budget by the March 31 deadline. The Finance Committee is proposing deep personnel cuts in most City departments, but the two largest City departments by far, fire and police, are excepted from involuntary cuts because of minimum man requirements in their contracts. According to the City Auditor’s website, these two departments combined cost $14,058,680 or 65% of last year’s total expenditures of $21,488,050, an amount that exceeded total revenues of $19,911,737 by $1,576,313. Norwood is like most other municipalities in that the cost of police and fire departments together is the largest single budget expenditure.

To put some meat on these bones for our readers, we are publishing this year’s base fire and police salaries as set forth in their current contracts. These salaries may very well be in line with comparable police and fire departments.

2011 Police Base Salaries
Patrol on Appointment - $54,158.32
Patrol upon Certification - $57,543.81
Patrol I - 1 Year Experience - $60,928.41
Patrol II - 2 Years Experience - $64,313.61
Patrol III - 3 Years Experience - $67,698.50
Sergeant - $78,530.11
Lieutenant - $83,241.85

2011 Fire Base Salaries
Fire on Appointment - $47,913.81
Fire Certified - $54,759.24
Fire Certified W/EMT-P - $57, 497.19
Fire 1 - $58,120.12
Fire 1 W/EMT-P - $61,026.29
Fire 2 - $61,603.81
Fire 2 W/EMT - $64,683.96
Fire 3 - $65,026.33
Fire 3 W/EMT - $68,277.65
Fire 4 - $68,448.40
Fire 4 W/EMT - $72,343.45
Drive/ATO - $72,343.45
Engineer - $72,343.45
Prevention Specialist - $75,119.73
Paramedic II - $75,119.73
Lieutenant - $77,666.00
Captain - $81,951.91

We’re hoping some new concessions will be announced when The Finance Committee meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers. The committee plans to present the 2011 Budget to City Council at tomorrow’s 7:30 p.m. regular meeting.

Siemen's praises NFD for timely response to fire

Mayor Williams asked us share this letter from Siemen's Energy and Automation on Forest Avenue with our readers:

February 16, 2011

Dear Mayor Williams:

On Friday, February 11th, the Norwood Fire Department responded to a significant fire at the property of Siemens Industry on Forest Avenue. The fire involved an area of the plant that allows us to test motors, a process that is crucial to our business and customer satisfaction. With the timely, professional response from the Norwood Fire Department, in conjunction with Siemens personnel, the fire was under control and suppressed in a matter of minutes without injuries.

Norwood fire inspectors and staff members are actively involved with Siemens operations through a partnership incorporating plant tours and training simulations. Without this vital information, the fire incident on Friday could have been far more damaging to the property and to the employees of Siemens in Norwood.

Please join us in extending our appreciation for their continued dedication and hard work. We thank The Norwood Fire Department - Gem of the Highlands!

Best regards,

Keith Lang
Drive Technologies
Large Drives

January 2011 report for Keep Our Property Safe Program

In January, the KOPS (Police, Building & Property Maintenance, Fire and Health Departments) visited the following eight problem properties that were selected by the Norwood Police Department as habitual offenders:

2007 Wayland Avenue
2005 Wayland Avenue
3912 Burwood Avenue
1919 Cleneay Avenue
2219 Cleneay Avenue
1924 Hudson Avenue
1938 Hudson Avenue
2152 Slane Avenue

These inspections resulted in all properties being issued orders and one of the properties being issued vacate orders.

Respectfully Submitted,

Gerry Stoker, Building Commissioner
City of Norwood

Free: Think Spring! gardening workshop next Tuesday

Guest blog by Molly Robertshaw

Think Spring! Gardening Event - Sick and tired of winter? Interested in gardening but don't know where to start? Consider attending "Think Spring!" Tuesday, February 22nd from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Cohen Building on Xavier’s campus. We'll cover potted flowers to backyard and community vegetable gardening with short presentations on seed starting, flower cultivation, and vegetable growing. There will be applications for our three area community gardens available and snacks and experts on hand. This event is sponsored by the NEXUS Steering Committee, Norwood Service League, Xavier's Center for Faith and Justice, Civic Garden Center of Cincinnati, and the Evanston Community.

X.U. dementia care seminar for professionals & caregivers

For the third year, Xavier University’s College of Social Sciences, Health and Education will offer Inter-Professional Teaming for Clients with Dementia. Nationally-recognized speaker Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, will educate caregivers, professionals and students on care for persons with dementia. Alzheimer’s is the best known type of dementia, but many people deal with other forms of the disease. Approximately 200 students and professionals have participated in each of the previous year’s seminars.

This is the first year that, in addition to the event for students and professionals, an evening community service event for family and caregivers of those with dementia will occur.

Registration is required at www.xavier.edu/OT/dementia.cfm by March 18. Both sessions will be at Schiff Conference Center at Xavier’s Cintas Center. Free parking is available in the Cintas Center C1-C5 Lots (entrance off Herald Avenue). Seminars are free of charge for Xavier University faculty, staff and students. (Registration is still required but no CEUs are provided.) Please e-mail tunningleyj@xavier.edu with questions.

Seminar for Professionals: Teaming for Success for Clients with Dementia
Thursday, March 24 from 1 to 2:40 p.m., $ 20 per person. 1.5 CEU for counselors, nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, and social workers. Skilled clinicians can now recognize and diagnose over 50 forms or causes of dementia. Each has identifying characteristics. Some are reversible or can be stabilized, whereas others are irreversible, progressive and terminal. Early detection has significant benefits. Multiple disciplines of professionals offer services for clients with dementia and their families or caregivers. Combining efforts can provide optimal services and supports to such clients. This seminar will examine the nature of dementia and the role of inter-professional teaming in helping individuals with dementia and their caregivers.

Presentation for Caregivers & Family Members: Understand the Symptoms & Make Good Choices
Thursday, March 24. 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. $5 per person/maximum of $10 per family. This session helps care providers and family members understand how their actions and responses influence the composure and independence of a person with dementia. The behavior of persons living with dementia can change from one moment to the next and can be different with each person. These variations make it seem like the person with dementia is deliberately choosing his/her behavior. This session helps caregivers understand how a different approach can lead to more positive outcomes and interactions with the dementia patient.

Teepa Snow is an occupational therapist with over 28 years of geriatric experience and a specialist in dementia care and education. She has clinical appointments with Duke University's School of Nursing and UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Medicine. Snow is widely known for her exceptional teaching and presentation style.

This week at the Norwood Branch Library

Wednesday, February 16
Movers and Shakers Storytime
10:00 - 10:30 a.m., Ages 1-4 with adult

Preschool Storytime
10:30 - 11:00 a.m., Ages 3-6

Friday, February 18
Friday Morning Book Club
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
10:30 a.m.

The Norwood Branch Library will be open on President's Day, Monday, 2/21/11.

For more information, call 369-6037.

January 2011 Earnings Tax Report

A monthly feature

Individual…………….......$91,563.47
Business……………….......$30,053.73
Withholding…………...$ 1,171,482.50
TOTAL……………….....$ 1,293,099.70

Collections thru January 2011….……….....…...........$1,293,099.70
Collections thru January 2010..............................$1,501,945.31
13.91% decrease in collections over 2010.……………($208,845.61)

Ted’s Pawn Shop: “Our customers are your neighbors”

Guest blog by J. Raphael Tincher, Esq.


February 10, 2011

Dear Citizens of Norwood:

My name is Raphael Tincher and I am an employee of Ted’s Pawn Shop. This letter is a response to the letter from the West Norwood Neighborhood Association (see 2/7/11 blog below) concerning businesses on Montgomery Road. I would like to take a moment of your time to tell you about Ted’s Pawn and our business. Ted’s Pawn has been in Norwood as a pawnshop since 1984. My family has owned the business since 1970. Several members of my family currently own homes in Norwood and have since the late 1940’s.

Ted’s Pawn is a family run business and has been since its inception. We are proud to conduct our business in Norwood. Visit our showroom and you will find it to be well maintained, modern, and clean. It contains a tremendous selection of quality pre-owned merchandise. If you have watched an episode of “Pawn Stars,” you will find out that pawnshops are very interesting places. We are members of the BBB with an A+ rating, members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, the Jewelers Security Alliance, the National Pawnbrokers Association, and the Ohio Pawnbrokers Association.

Over the years, our reputation for fair and honest dealing has grown, as has our business. Our customer base is comprised of over 6,800 individuals from the 45212 zip code (about 34% of the population of Norwood). Our customers are your neighbors.

Why are they our customers? When people need money to pay for medical bills, to pay for car repairs, auto insurance, property taxes, or their mortgage, they can turn to Ted’s for help. Ted’s offers short term loans on items of value so people in need of money can get short term non-recourse loans, without selling their valuable possessions. At Ted’s you can walk in and walk out within five minutes with a cash loan from $5 to over $10,000.

Our business is licensed by the state and complies with a host of federal, state, and local laws. Our customers are permitted at least three months to retrieve their items. In fact about 75% do come back to redeem their articles. We do not run a credit check on our customers, and there are never any credit reporting consequences.

We provide a valuable service to our customers, but also care a great deal about the City of Norwood. After all, we do work here six days a week. Did you know that when the power was knocked out to the police station during the hurricane Ike winds, we donated a power generator to the police department? We have also provided funds to pay for the painting of the Norwood SOG vehicle, to pay for the suppressors for the SOG team rifles, to provide food at the National Night Out event, and donated a camcorder for use by the vice unit. When the Norwood Fire Department needed a DVD player to view training videos, we cut through the red tape and donated a DVD/VCR combo unit so they could view old and new training videos. We also support the Firefighter Phil program.

Since the bulk of our business is loaning cash to people in need, Ted’s maintains a police presence at our store working security details. The fine officers of the Norwood Police Department were paid $42,071 for their private security work at our business in 2010. Their presence serves to make our business and neighborhood safer. Indeed, many neighbors often stop in because they know we have an officer on duty in our store.

Our business is not what you expect. What other Norwood business offers for sale a collection of pre-owned Swiss timepieces (Rolex, Omega, Tag Heuer, Cartier & more) that rivals any “fine” jeweler? What other Norwood business has a huge selection of GIA certified diamonds ranging in price from $500 to over $50,000? Does any other Norwood business boast a selection of fine art from post-impressionistic paintings to artist signed Rookwood Pottery? Ted’s carries a fine selection of musical instruments from a rare Mateki silver flute ($1,700) to a Martin D-45V acoustic guitar ($5,500). We also carry a wide range of late model televisions, gaming systems, and other electronics all of which come with warranties.

We will be moving into the Keidel Plumbing Building, which is on the corner of Montgomery and Delaware, to better serve our customers. We purchased this building as a major investment in our business and in the City of Norwood. We will take an extremely well maintained building and make it better. You can be sure that we will continue to provide the quality products and service that the citizens of Norwood have come to expect from Ted's.

Please accept this personal invitation to visit our shop, meet our family, and see our business for yourself. If you want to learn the truth about Ted’s Pawn Shop and the pawnbroking industry in Ohio, talk to a Norwood Police Officer or stop by for a visit. We are open six days a week.


J. Raphael Tincher, Esq.
Treasurer, Ohio Pawnbroker’s Association
Vice President
Ted’s Pawn Shop
4028 Forest Ave.
Norwood, Ohio 45212
513-631-2112

WNNA Prez thanks City Council and Mayor Williams

Guest blog by Lynn Ellis

I would really like to thank all those that came and supported the WNNA at the February 8 council meeting. It was good to see old and new friends there.

The WNNA is pleased with the initial response of Norwood City Council. Our thanks to John Mumper who made a motion to put the issue of Vacant Business (PUD) and possible undesirable/predatory businesses occupying these vacant properties into Community Development and to Mike Gabbard who made a second motion to put the matter into Committee of the Whole. Both expressed their concern and wanted to tackle this serious issue.

Keith Moore went to Chris Brown (law dept.) and Greg Orosz (Econ Dev consultant) and came up with a zoning initiative entitled “1121.05 Compliance with Use Regulations, which CBN has posted below. This zoning change would prohibit all the predatory/undesirable businesses WNNA cited, not just in West Norwood, but in the entire City Of Norwood. The WNNA will be watching this matter closely. The action by council was very encouraging.

I would also like to give special thanks to Mayor Tom Williams. Mayor Williams has been extremely supportive of West Norwood and the WNNA. He attended an enormous amount of WNNA meeting over the years. I know he won’t toot his own horn, but I would like to list issues we had and Mayor Williams tackled. Some of these he did when he was councilman-at-large.

1. Getting Soupies closed at Norwood Plaza
2. Closing one Bingo Hall and preventing a second
3. Denying the expansion plans of the Rent-to-Own place in the Norwood Plaza
4. Capping the number of group homes and setting into motion a ordinances that would prevent them from reopening if they closed.
5. Tearing down Muse's Food Mart, the shack across from Allison, buildings at Elm and Section/Allison, used furniture store on Section, apartments on Sherman, etc.
   
6. Beefing up police patrols through trouble spots
7. Aided WNNA with the establishment of the Substation(s)
8. Went after the Fun Factory on numerous occasions
9. Targeted troubled properties to resolve problems

Thank you. Mayor Williams, for all your help. West Norwood and the WNNA appreciate you.

Lynn Ellis
President of West Norwood Neighborhood Association

Keith Moore's response to WNNA's PUD request

At Tuesday night's Council meeting, WNNA President Lynn Ellis spoke to City Council regarding WNNA’s letter (see 2/7/11 blog below) to City officials asking for a PUD or other regulatory mechanism to prevent predatory businesses from occupying vacant commercial buildings on Montgomery Rd. Following her remarks, Ward 1 Councilperson Keith Moore responded by presenting copies of a draft ordinance we’re publishing today, along with his guest blog:


Guest Blog by Keith Moore

Several years ago, the Planning Commission, the Law Department and the Building Department were working on limiting the kinds of businesses that could open on Montgomery Road. That got bogged down in a host of details and legal questions about how it should be worded. Ted's Pawn Shop was a signal to me that it was time to get back to work on it.

Last week, I met with Chris Brown from the Law Department and Greg Orosz, who is working on an overhaul of the Zoning Code. Chris prepared a draft ordinance to ban a number of less than desirable uses. It covers not just Montgomery Road, but all of Norwood.

Changes to the Zoning Code start in the Planning Commission. Once they approve a change, it goes to Council. At Tuesday night‘s Council meeting, Council sent Chris' draft below to the Planning Commission to begin the process of putting some restrictions in place. There is more discussion needed on the draft, but I wanted to get the process started again.

The whole process of changing the Zoning Code takes some time, even when everybody agrees on everything and all the paperwork is right.

I want to be clear that a zone change won't stop the pawn shop. They are too far along in the permitting process. But it's a start and will hopefully prevent something like this in the future.

Keith Moore
Ward 1
Norwood City Council


1121.05 Compliance with Use Regulations

(a) No building or structure shall be erected, converted, enlarged, reconstructed, or structurally altered no shall any building or land be used for any purpose other than is permitted in the district in which the building or land is located.

(b) No building, structure, and land shall be used for any of the following uses:
(1.) the storage or processing of scrap metal or junk vehicles
(2.) Junk Yards
(3.) Motor vehicle wrecking
(4.) Escort services
(5.) Sexual encounter centers
(6.) Class-B Retail
(7.) Sanatorium
(8.) Special assistance shelter
(9.) Alcohol and drug rehab clinic or shelter
(10.) Transitional Housing
(11.) Adult Motel
(12.) Day-Labor Business
(13.) Non-therapeutic Massage Parlor

1111.117 Class B Retail

“Class B Retail” means non-FDIC insured financial institutions, short-term-loan establishments, pawn shops, firearms sales, dollar stores, sale of used merchandise except consignment, tattoo parlors, furniture-rental establishments; rent-to-own establishments of merchandise and equipment.

1111.101 Pawn Shop

“Pawn Shop” means any business that loans money on deposit of personal property or deals in the purchase or possession of personal property on condition of selling the property back again to the depositor, or loans or advances money on personal property by taking chattel mortgage security thereon, and takes or receives such personal property.

1111.126 Short Term Loan Establishment

“Short term loan establishment” means a business engaged in providing short-term loans of money of an original term of less than 31 days, with or without security given by the borrower or with or without a comake, guarantor, endorser or surety, to members of the general public as an element of its operation and which is not a bank or a savings and loan association. Short term loan establishments shall include businesses offering what is, or is marketed as, payday loans, signature loans, title (to vehicles, boats or other personal property, but no real estate) loans, check-cashing loans, small loans and other similar loans; but, does not include pawn shops.

Read on

Invitation to 10th Annual Date with Dad Dance tomorrow night

10th Annual Date with Dad

Thursday, February 10, 2011
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

The Date with Dad Dance will be held in Norwood High School cafeteria and is open to all pre-K-6th grade girls in the city of Norwood and their dates (Father, step-father, uncle, grandfather, big brother or other significant male.) There will be time to dance and socialize. Snacks will be provided. The event is free of charge. To reserve a spot for you and your daughter c all 924-2768 or e-mail Robison.D@norwoodschools.org.

Congrats to Rebecca Lynch for Xavier scholarship!

Rebecca Lynch of Floral Avenue, the daughter of Kimberly and Paul Lynch, has accepted a Dean's Award from Xavier University. She will graduate from Norwood High School this year, where she is senior class president and active in cheerleading and soccer. She plans to major in nursing at Xavier. All incoming freshmen are evaluated for Xavier’s Trustee and Presidential Scholarships and the Dean’s and Schawe Awards and award levels vary.

This week at the Norwood Branch Library

Wednesday, February 9
Movers and Shakers Storytime
10:00 - 10:30 a.m., Ages 1-4 with adult

Preschool Storytime
Stories, song, and a craft
10:30 - 11:00 a.m. Ages 3-6

Thursday, February 10
Brrrr Book Club for Middle Graders.
Warm up your winter afternoon with a book talk, friends, and hot cocoa.
4:00 pm., Grades 4-6

Saturday, February 12
Lego Club.
3:00 - 4:00 p.m., Ages 6-12

WNNA reconvenes, asks City officials for Montgomery Rd. PUD

After a 2-year+ hiatus, the West Norwood Neighborhood Association reconvened last week in response to residents’ concerns that predatory businesses could occupy vacant commercial properties on Montgomery Rd. Currently, the City has no legal mechanism to prevent these kinds of businesses from moving in. Newly-elected WNNA officers sent the letter below to Mayor Williams, City Council, the Building Dept. and the Law Director requesting a Planned Unit Development (click here for definition of PUD) in order to prohibit these kinds of businesses.

WNNA President Lynn Ellis will be addressing City Council about this issue at tomorrow night’s Council meeting. Anyone who supports the WNNA’s and residents’ effort to get a PUD is urged to attend the meeting and/or contact Lynn Ellis at B4IGO@AOL.com.


February 2, 2011

West Norwood Neighborhood Association has reconvened because of concerns about vacant businesses on Montgomery Rd. and surrounding areas and the effect that may have for West and South Norwood. Specifically, we are concerned about the potential for check cashing establishments, tattoo parlors, pawn shops, rent to own, massage parlors, adult book stores and other sexually oriented businesses occupying vacant buildings, buildings that are often adjacent to residences on side streets. Our opinion is that these are not and will never be an asset to any community, as they attract large numbers of people, providing opportunities for offenders and victims to cross paths, affording many opportunities for crime.

These are the questions that we have asked ourselves and would like you to consider:

-Would you want to live next to any of these types of businesses?
-Do these types of businesses revitalize or improve the quality of life in a neighborhood?
-Do these types of businesses attract quality people who will invest in their home and live here?
-Do these types of businesses enhance property values or depress them?
-Do these types of businesses hinder more beneficial development?
-Do these types of businesses attract like businesses?
-Is this the image we want for the City of Norwood?

We have talked with community members and neighbors near these vacant properties and they feel vulnerable and unprotected that, unlike other sections of the city, there is no mechanism to regulate or control what goes into these buildings. The only mechanism that we are aware of to provide this protection would be a PUD to be placed over the area spanning from Williams Avenue to Courtland Avenue down the side streets on the east and west sides of Montgomery Road for a standard city block. West Norwood Neighborhood Association was assured years ago that something would be put in place to protect these areas.

We consider this matter urgent and ask that a PUD or any other regulatory mechanism that accomplishes the same end be put in place as soon as possible. And in the meantime we ask that any applications submitted by any of these like businesses be put on hold until this matter is resolved.

Although we do understand that your time is limited due to the city’s financial difficulties and other issues, we respectfully request that you respond in writing to our organization by Thursday, February 10th.

E-mail B4Igo@aol.com


Respectfully,

West Norwood Neighborhood Association
Lynn Ellis, President
Vivian Graff, Vice President
Helen Wagner, Secretary

Norwood Health Dept. services revisited

For the benefit of readers who have commented they are not familiar with the services Norwood Health Dept. provides and/or believe City Council should eliminate the department, we’re republishing the following blog from 8/1/08 when NHD was under threat of being closed in favor of a contract with Hamilton County Public Health. Former Health Commissioner Donna Laake put together this comparison of services showing that 16 of NHD’s 23 services would either be lost entirely or significantly diminished. One service that would have been lost was the School-Linked Dental Program, which served nearly 500 Norwood students in 2007.

Immunization Clinics
While we hold formal, walk in clinics on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, the vast majority of our immunizations, including TB testing, are done on an appointment basis. We also provide a large number of adult immunizations that are prepaid by the recipient, ordered by the NHD and kept at our facility until administered per the timeline of the vaccine.

Hamilton County Public Health (HCPH) offers one a month immunization clinics in SOME of their 43 political jurisdictions for childhood immunizations only. They do not offer adult immunizations. Fees are similar to ours and folks are expected to pay for immunizations. We also do a large number of immunizations for immigrants who are in the process of becoming citizens. They are referred to us from Bethesda Care. Hamilton County Public Health (HCOH) does not offer this service to my knowledge. We also do month TB testing of residents at the Salvation Army facility. HCPH would NOT provide this service.

Blood Pressure Clinics
We conduct 2 blood pressure clinics each month - 1 here at the NHD and 1 at the Community/Senior Center.

To my knowledge, HCPH does not offer this service.

B.C.M.H.
This is a program administered through the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) that is similar to a 3rd party insurance for children with special health needs. Public health nurses act as case managers to make sure that families can navigate through the medical system to get medical appointments and equipment for their children. Health Depts. are reimbursed for their time doing home visits, telephone calls and advocacy for patients and families.

HCPH does provide this service and no change would take place other than a new nurse doing the home visits.

Home Visits
Our nurses currently assist many folks, especially the elderly, in setting up medications, assisting with health needs following hospitalization, especially when their Medicare coverage does not allow for more home visits by paid home health nurses. The nurses check blood pressures, check medications, conduct simple blood tests for diabetes, assist in coordination of physician appointments and act on referrals from hospitals and local physicians for follow up care.

HCPH does not provide this service.

Flu Clinics
Each fall, we offer flu and pneumonia vaccine for anyone who makes an appointment. We will bill Medicare and Medicaid. Others are asked to pay a modest fee (about 1/2; the cost of Walgreens, etc.) to cover the cost of the vaccine. We also provide flu shots FREE OF CHARGE FOR ANY CITY EMPLOYEE.

HCPH contracts with a private company to administer flu and pneumonia vaccine at some of their senior centers, but you must pay the $25 to $30 fee for the vaccine (similar to getting a flu shot at Krogers).

read on

Announcing: 2011 Democratic candidates for City offices

Following is the complete slate of Democratic-endorsed candidates for City offices:

Mayor: Thomas F. Williams
Council at Large: Keith D. Moore, Joseph W. Sanker, William A. Tracey
Ward 1: Sarah T. Allan
Ward 3: Joseph S. Geers
Ward 4: John Mumper

Keith Moore's list of options to cut the the deficit

Last summer, we asked Ward 1 Councilperson Keith Moore for this list of budget-cutting/revenue enhancing options he gave to City Council members in June. Some of them, particularly layoffs, are now getting serious consideration by the Finance Committee as we outlined in Monday's blog below. Do you see anything else that should be on the table?

Options To Explore to Deal With 2010-2011 Deficit
Keith Moore
6/09/2010

ISSUES TO REVISIT:

• Outsource Payroll
• Outsource Building Department
• Move E911 Com Center to County

REVENUES:

• Increase Criminal Fines
• Increase Building Permits
• Increase Rental Certificates
• Increase Food Inspections
• Increase Community Center and Park Permits
• Beefed up parking and traffic enforcement - quotas?
• Admissions tax - roller skating / bowling
• Hotel tax
• Foreclose on city liens to recoup fees

MOVING OFF GENERAL FUND:

• Make Gerry Stoker Economic Development Director - pay out of Econ Dev.

NON-MANDATORY / NON-CONTRACTUAL FUNCTIONS TO ELIMINATE / REDUCE:

• Health Department
• Recreation
• Parks and pools
• Go to 8-hour jail
• Stop paying utilities at Shea Stadium

SELL CITY PROPERTY:

• Firehouse 2
• Safety Lane
• Parks

LABOR CONTRACT RE-OPENERS:

• Investigate state’s willingness to approve bankruptcy to re-open contracts
• Furlough days
• Health Insurance: Co-pays, Deductibles, Premium contributions
• Fire minimum man: Return to fire levels before arbitrator’s award circa 2000
  
• Take fire equipment off active line / have firefighters on-call in case of large fire
• Consolidate firefighting with another jurisdiction - retain EMT service
• Police - bring in unpaid auxiliary for traffic/parking

INVESTIGATE PENALTIES FOR LATE PAYMENTS:

• PERS (Public Employees' Retirement System)
• Police/Fire Pension
• Service contracts
• Utilities
• Phones

SPCA Cincinnati’s 15th annual Adopt-A-Pet Fund show

Take a break from the winter weather and join SPCA Cincinnati for “ fund” in the sun on the 15th annual Adopt-A-Pet Fund on Saturday, February 12. The show will be live from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Local 12, WKRC-TV.

SPCA Cincinnati President & CEO Harold Dates along with many Local 12 personalities, including John Lomax, Liz Bonis, Michelle Boutilette and Jeff Creighton, as well as Chris and Janeen “Married with Microphones” from WGRR, will host the three hour “fund” raising event. The Adopt-A-Pet Fund is always full of fun, education and entertainment and this year will take viewers to the beach for fun in the sun and fun with your pet!

Students from around Greater Cincinnati will help show animals up for adoption.

Tri-state personalities will share their animal adoption stories and urge people to donate. Prominent veterinarians, trainers and others will offer expert advice on animal care. The show also highlights SPCA Cincinnati services and events during the past year.

This year’s Adopt-A-Pet Fund goal is to raise $100,000 to assist homeless animals. The show will be re-aired on the CW on Sunday, February 20 from Noon-3PM

IAMS, Local 12, PetSuites, Kroger and P&G sponsor the Adopt-A-Pet Fund.