Mayor Zink issues State of the City column
Lead Summary
By
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By RICHARD ZINK
Mayor of Hillsboro
As I stated last year, with the economical condition of the country, we
would have to constantly monitor the budget in relation to cash flow.
Going into 2009, the city had a tight budget, however the department supervisors did what they needed to do to bring each department within budget at year end. There was some juggling of line items to make this possible.
This is nothing new, it happens every year where one line item runs short of money and a different line has money left over or had not spent the total appropriated amount.
There were some real positive things happening in 2009. The first was the
completion and open house of the new Police Department located on West Walnut Street. This took place in July. Again, the city is very appreciative for the hospitality of Sheriff Ron Ward and his staff in sharing quarters at the
Justice Center with the Hillsboro Police Department while the lengthy process was being completed.
Next, we have the completion of the new Hillsboro Fire and Rescue building, located on North East Street. This was completed in late December with the inspections being held in early January. There will be an open house held
in the next few weeks to allow the City residents the opportunity to tour the new facility. I think the citizens will be proud of the building and especially the fact that the payments on both sites will be met with funds generated from the life squad charges.
This brings up another point of improvement within the city. The resurfacing of West South Street from Oak Street to S. High (U.S. 62) and Muntz Street from South High to the five way light (Rt. 73 & 247). These projects were done by using funds and cooperation of the Ohio Department of Transportation. Since the streets are also state highways within the city, the state paid 80% of the cost while the city picked up 20%.
Another huge project that we have been working on for approximately three years is the EPA mandated upgrade to the Wastewater Treatment Plant located near Liberty Park. The bids were finally awarded in late December with the
low bid for construction and electrical totaling thirteen million, seven hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars, excluding engineering. The many hours of hard work by Kirby Ellison proved to be worthwhile. She was able to receive over seven million dollars in grant funding. The ground breaking for the Wastewater Treatment Plant was February 26, with construction beginning on March 1.
The old Police and Fire Building will be appraised very soon and City Council will need to make a decision on the future of the property. We have had inquiries on possible use of the building, but the decision will have to be based on what is best for the city.
Along the same lines, the “Modular in the street” that brought so much attention to local and national news has gone out for bid again and a high bid of $15,100.00 was received. There will also be an auction in the near future
for any item the public may have an interest in, before we close out both buildings.
As we move into 2010, the economy has not picked up, however last years earnings tax collections were down 3.13% or $105,821.30 from the year 2008. The Police and Fire unions decided not to open the contracts that were due to open and be signed by December 31, 2009. The agreement stated both unions would not ask for a wage or benefit increase through 2010.
Regardless of the false information printed in a letter to the editor regarding wages and 2,900 calls per year answered by the life squad, equaling one every 3 hours (It would be nice if you could count on emergencies to
space themselves out so the overtime would be eliminated), the big problem we are presently faced with is collection for EMS runs.
The year 2009 saw the collections received at 34%. In other words, there was over $900,000.00 billed that wasn’t collected due to the system used in the past.
City Council will be presented with some suggestions on changing the billing procedure to bring this more in line.
The Hillsboro Fire and Rescue report for 2009 shows 490 fire calls and 2,143 EMS calls for a total of 2,633 combined call for the department. This equals 7.21 calls per day which is down .48 calls per day from 2008.
Breakdown of calls per jurisdiction are as follows:
Fire EMS
Brushcreek Township 1 25
Brown County (Mutual Aid) 1 3
Clay Township 0 7
Concord Township 7 41
Dodson Township 2 9
Fairfield Township 6 1
City of Greenfield 9 2
Hamer Township 15 29
City of Hillsboro 182 1,156
Jackson Township 18 73
Village of Leesburg (Mutual Aid) 1 6
Liberty Township 80 257
Village of Lynchburg (Mutual Aid) 4 10
Marshall Township (Mutual Aid) 6 44
Village of Mowrystown (Mutual Aid) 2 2
New Market Township 32 70
Paint Township 83 291
Penn Township 7 20
Salem Township 0 3
Fire EMS
Union Township 7 13
Village of Sinking Springs 0 1
Unknown 0 3
Washington Township 21 64
City of Washington C.H. 1 0
Whiteoak Township 4 13
The Hillsboro Police Statistics are as follows:
2009 2008
Total Calls 14,908 up 449
911 Calls 206 down 18 calls
Accidents Handled 453 down 61
Offenses Investigated 1,038 up 116
Bar Calls 32 up 2
Traffic Arrests 503 down 83
Criminal Arrests 1,123 up 116
K-9 Report 74 up 74
Fatal Accidents 0
Parking Tickets 133 down 156
Home Security Checks 6,307 up 2,587
The average number of calls coming into the Police Department was 41.87 calls per day. (14,908 calls divided by 365 days = 41.87 per day). The number of calls per day was up 2.87, from 39 calls in 2008.
The Wastewater Treatment total flow that was treated amounted to 482,645 MG. The average daily flow for 2009 was 1.322 MGD. The total flow was down 23,378 MG from 2008, which was largely due to the replacement of sewer lines on the south side of the city. The overflows that the EPA had been monitoring so closely on the South Lift Station went from 7 in 2008 to 0 in 2009.
As mentioned earlier, the ground breaking for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade was February 26 at the plant site. This project is expected to take approximately 27 months to complete. At that time, the city will be in compliance with the EPA specifications, at least within the rules that stand now.
The Water and Sewer Maintenance Department repaired 35 water main breaks in 2009. This was down 22 from 2008, and included 4 one inch, 8 two inch, 1 three inch, 2 four inch, 17 six inch, 3 eight inch and 0 10 inch.
The department also installed 2 new water service taps, repaired 14 curb boxes, installed 2 new fire hydrants, repaired 11 fire hydrants, did 8 yard restorations, repaired 15 street cuts, repaired 2 two inch water main valves, installed 2 new eight inch water main valves and 2 six inch valves. The distribution system was flushed on April 29, 2009 and again on November 1st, with the assistance from the Hillsboro Fire Department. A complete water leak survey was also done in 2009 which included 147 valves, 290 hydrants and a total of 40 miles of the system.
Sewer Maintenance projects included: Enzymes installed in all lift stations to reduce grease build up on April 9th and Sept. 17, 2009. Lateral inspections, televised storm sewers for the Street Department, installation of 20 new
manhole rings and lids on Muntz and W. South Streets, to reduce inflow and infiltration into the sanitary sewer system. There was also 6,217 linear feet of new sewer main installed on W. Walnut, W. Pleasant, an alley behind W. Pleasant, the 400 Block of S. West and an area off E. Walnut and Muntz Streets.
The Water Treatment Plant pumped 259,579 million gallons in 2009, which averaged .711 million gallons per day. This was down 23,835 million gallons from 2008. The Liberty Park Reservoir contains 141 million gallons and the Selph Road Reservoir contains 93 million gallons. Based on the 2009 usage, the total 234 million gallons of water in storage at the two reservoirs would be about 40 days short of a year’s supply.
The Street Department did the usual; salted streets, fixed potholes, trimmed trees, installed bulbs in traffic lights, reworked catch basins for storm sewers, plowed snow, installed French drains on W. South Street. They also had roadways to mow, weed-eating around guard rails, installation of new solar flashing signs at the new school on St. Rt. 62 South. They replaced street signs and picked up leaves in the fall. The Street employees also do a lot of
minor maintenance on the equipment in order to hold down maintenance costs.
Taking everything into consideration, I think Hillsboro’s employees do a great job with what they have to work with. By that, I mean there is a lot to do that would improve our City, however, until the financial situations improves, these things will have to wait.
The one thing I would encourage our citizens to do is to refer your questions or concerns to our office. Don’t listen to someone that is not well informed or who might have an ax to grind or an agenda. They probably don’t have all the information or they have picked out what they want told, which is not really the whole story. Questions and concerns may be submitted to the Administration Office at 130 N. High Street or phone 393-5219. Please do not hesitate, my door is always open.
Again it is an honor to serve the citizens of Hillsboro. I may not do everything that pleases everyone, however anything I suggest to City Council is based on my past management experiences in the private sector or deals directly with the health, welfare and safety of our citizens. I hope we all have a prosperous 2010.
Again thank you for your support,
Dick Zink,
Mayor
By RICHARD ZINK
Mayor of Hillsboro
As I stated last year, with the economical condition of the country, we would have to constantly monitor the budget in relation to cash flow. Going into 2009, the city had a tight budget, however the department supervisors did what they needed to do to bring each department within budget at year end. There was some juggling of line items to make this possible.
This is nothing new, it happens every year where one line item runs short of money and a different line has money left over or had not spent the total appropriated amount. There were some real positive things happening in 2009. The first was the
completion and open house of the new Police Department located on West Walnut Street. This took place in July. Again, the city is very appreciative for the hospitality of Sheriff Ron Ward and his staff in sharing quarters at the Justice Center with the Hillsboro Police Department while the lengthy process was being completed.
Next, we have the completion of the new Hillsboro Fire and Rescue building, located on North East Street. This was completed in late December with the inspections being held in early January. There will be an open house held in the next few weeks to allow the City residents the opportunity to tour the new facility. I think the citizens will be proud of the building and especially the fact that the payments on both sites will be met with funds generated from the life squad charges.
This brings up another point of improvement within the city. The resurfacing of West South Street from Oak Street to S. High (U.S. 62) and Muntz Street from South High to the five way light (Rt. 73 & 247). These projects were done by using funds and cooperation of the Ohio Department of Transportation. Since the streets are also state highways within the city, the state paid 80% of the cost while the city picked up 20%.
Another huge project that we have been working on for approximately three years is the EPA mandated upgrade to the Wastewater Treatment Plant located near Liberty Park. The bids were finally awarded in late December with the low bid for construction and electrical totaling thirteen million, seven hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars, excluding engineering. The many hours of hard work by Kirby Ellison proved to be worthwhile. She was able to receive over seven million dollars in grant funding. The ground breaking for the Wastewater Treatment Plant was February 26, with construction beginning on March 1.
The old Police and Fire Building will be appraised very soon and City Council will need to make a decision on the future of the property. We have had inquiries on possible use of the building, but the decision will have to be based on what is best for the city. Along the same lines, the “Modular in the street” that brought so much attention to local and national news has gone out for bid again and a high bid of $15,100.00 was received. There will also be an auction in the near future for any item the public may have an interest in, before we close out both buildings.
As we move into 2010, the economy has not picked up, however last years earnings tax collections were down 3.13% or $105,821.30 from the year 2008. The Police and Fire unions decided not to open the contracts that were due to open and be signed by December 31, 2009. The agreement stated both unions would not ask for a wage or benefit increase through 2010.
Regardless of the false information printed in a letter to the editor regarding wages and 2,900 calls per year answered by the life squad, equaling one every 3 hours (It would be nice if you could count on emergencies to space themselves out so the overtime would be eliminated), the big problem we are presently faced with is collection for EMS runs.
The year 2009 saw the collections received at 34%. In other words, there was over $900,000.00 billed that wasn’t collected due to the system used in the past.
City Council will be presented with some suggestions on changing the billing procedure to bring this more in line.
The Hillsboro Fire and Rescue report for 2009 shows 490 fire calls and 2,143 EMS calls for a total of 2,633 combined call for the department. This equals 7.21 calls per day which is down .48 calls per day from 2008.
Breakdown of calls per jurisdiction are as follows:
Fire EMS
Brushcreek Township 1 25
Brown County (Mutual Aid) 1 3
Clay Township 0 7
Concord Township 7 41
Dodson Township 2 9
Fairfield Township 6 1
City of Greenfield 9 2
Hamer Township 15 29
City of Hillsboro 182 1,156
Jackson Township 18 73
Village of Leesburg (Mutual Aid) 1 6
Liberty Township 80 257
Village of Lynchburg (Mutual Aid) 4 10
Marshall Township (Mutual Aid) 6 44
Village of Mowrystown (Mutual Aid) 2 2
New Market Township 32 70
Paint Township 83 291
Penn Township 7 20
Salem Township 0 3
Fire EMS
Union Township 7 13
Village of Sinking Springs 0 1
Unknown 0 3
Washington Township 21 64
City of Washington C.H. 1 0
Whiteoak Township 4 13
The Hillsboro Police Statistics are as follows:
2009 2008
Total Calls 14,908 up 449
911 Calls 206 down 18 calls
Accidents Handled 453 down 61
Offenses Investigated 1,038 up 116
Bar Calls 32 up 2
Traffic Arrests 503 down 83
Criminal Arrests 1,123 up 116
K-9 Report 74 up 74
Fatal Accidents 0
Parking Tickets 133 down 156
Home Security Checks 6,307 up 2,587
The average number of calls coming into the Police Department was 41.87 calls per day. (14,908 calls divided by 365 days = 41.87 per day). The number of calls per day was up 2.87, from 39 calls in 2008.
The Wastewater Treatment total flow that was treated amounted to 482,645 MG. The average daily flow for 2009 was 1.322 MGD. The total flow was down 23,378 MG from 2008, which was largely due to the replacement of sewer lines on the south side of the city. The overflows that the EPA had been monitoring so closely on the South Lift Station went from 7 in 2008 to 0 in 2009.
As mentioned earlier, the ground breaking for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade was February 26 at the plant site. This project is expected to take approximately 27 months to complete. At that time, the city will be in compliance with the EPA specifications, at least within the rules that stand now.
The Water and Sewer Maintenance Department repaired 35 water main breaks in 2009. This was down 22 from 2008, and included 4 one inch, 8 two inch, 1 three inch, 2 four inch, 17 six inch, 3 eight inch and 0 10 inch.
The department also installed 2 new water service taps, repaired 14 curb boxes, installed 2 new fire hydrants, repaired 11 fire hydrants, did 8 yard restorations, repaired 15 street cuts, repaired 2 two inch water main valves, installed 2 new eight inch water main valves and 2 six inch valves. The distribution system was flushed on April 29, 2009 and again on November 1st, with the assistance from the Hillsboro Fire Department. A complete water leak survey was also done in 2009 which included 147 valves, 290 hydrants and a total of 40 miles of the system.
Sewer Maintenance projects included: Enzymes installed in all lift stations to reduce grease build up on April 9th and Sept. 17, 2009. Lateral inspections, televised storm sewers for the Street Department, installation of 20 new
manhole rings and lids on Muntz and W. South Streets, to reduce inflow and infiltration into the sanitary sewer system. There was also 6,217 linear feet of new sewer main installed on W. Walnut, W. Pleasant, an alley behind W. Pleasant, the 400 Block of S. West and an area off E. Walnut and Muntz Streets.
The Water Treatment Plant pumped 259,579 million gallons in 2009, which averaged .711 million gallons per day. This was down 23,835 million gallons from 2008. The Liberty Park Reservoir contains 141 million gallons and the Selph Road Reservoir contains 93 million gallons. Based on the 2009 usage, the total 234 million gallons of water in storage at the two reservoirs would be about 40 days short of a year’s supply.
The Street Department did the usual; salted streets, fixed potholes, trimmed trees, installed bulbs in traffic lights, reworked catch basins for storm sewers, plowed snow, installed French drains on W. South Street. They also had roadways to mow, weed-eating around guard rails, installation of new solar flashing signs at the new school on St. Rt. 62 South. They replaced street signs and picked up leaves in the fall. The Street employees also do a lot of
minor maintenance on the equipment in order to hold down maintenance costs.
Taking everything into consideration, I think Hillsboro’s employees do a great job with what they have to work with. By that, I mean there is a lot to do that would improve our City, however, until the financial situations improves, these things will have to wait.
The one thing I would encourage our citizens to do is to refer your questions or concerns to our office. Don’t listen to someone that is not well informed or who might have an ax to grind or an agenda. They probably don’t have all the information or they have picked out what they want told, which is not really the whole story. Questions and concerns may be submitted to the Administration Office at 130 N. High Street or phone 393-5219. Please do not hesitate, my door is always open.
Again it is an honor to serve the citizens of Hillsboro. I may not do everything that pleases everyone, however anything I suggest to City Council is based on my past management experiences in the private sector or deals directly with the health, welfare and safety of our citizens. I hope we all have a prosperous 2010.
Again thank you for your support,
Dick Zink,
Mayor
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