1 1 TRUSTEES MEETING 2 JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP 3 * * * 4 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 5 * * * 6 DATE OF HEARING: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 Beginning at 6:58 o'clock p.m. 7 PLACE OF HEARING: One Business Park Drive 8 Dayton, Ohio 45427 9 TRUSTEE BOARD: Brice Sims Angela Jones 10 Jerry Walker (absent) Allen Elijah 11 ALSO PRESENT: Robert Bradley 12 * * * 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2 1 MR. SIMS: I'd like to call the 2 meeting to order. Pledge allegiance to the flag. 3 (Thereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance 4 was recited.) 5 MR. SIMS: We're going to have to 6 appoint Robert. Jerry's not here. We're going 7 to appoint you. Roll call. 8 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Sims. 9 MR. SIMS: Yes. 10 MR. BRADLEY: Ms. Jones. 11 MS. JONES: Yes. 12 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Elijah. 13 MR. ELIJAH: Present. 14 MR. SIMS: Approval of minutes for 15 the meetings held on July 6, July 26, August 30, 16 2004. Get a motion on that? 17 MR. ELIJAH: So moved. 18 MS. JONES: Second. 19 MR. BRADLEY: It's been properly 20 moved and seconded for the acceptance of the 21 minutes of July 6, July 26 and August 30. 22 Mr. Elijah? 23 MR. ELIJAH: I move for the 24 approval. 25 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Sims? 3 1 MR. SIMS: Yes. 2 MR. BRADLEY: Ms. Jones? 3 MS. JONES: Yes. 4 MR. SIMS: Clerk's business, 5 communications. 6 MR. BRADLEY: There are none that 7 I'm aware of. 8 MR. SIMS: Old business. 9 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Elijah? 10 Ms. Jones? 11 MS. JONES: No. 12 MR. SIMS: New business. 13 Mr. Elijah? 14 MR. BRADLEY: We have four 15 resolutions for consideration; 04-18, 16 establishing a fund for Jefferson Township Days; 17 04-19, accepting cemetery from Miami Cemetery 18 Association; 04-20, assessments for demolition on 19 West Third Street; 04-21, adoption of the 20 National Incident Management System. 21 04-18 is the establishing of special 22 funds for Jefferson Township Days. We're advised 23 that that will be the appropriate thing to do, to 24 establish a fund in our accounting system for 25 expenditures made for Jefferson Township Days and 4 1 that's what Resolution 04-18 does. 2 MR. SIMS: Could I have a motion on 3 that resolution? 4 MR. ELIJAH: I vote for the 5 acceptance of Resolution 04-18. 6 MS. JONES: Second. 7 MR. BRADLEY: It's been properly 8 moved and seconded, 04-18, establishing a special 9 fund for Jefferson Township Days. Mr. Elijah? 10 MR. ELIJAH: Yes. 11 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Sims? 12 MR. SIMS: Yes. 13 MR. BRADLEY: And Ms. Jones? 14 MS. JONES: Yes. 15 MR. BRADLEY: 04-19, accepting 16 cemetery from Miami Cemetery Association. We 17 were contacted back in July that the cemetery -- 18 Miami Cemetery Association, that's the cemetery 19 at State Route 4 and Infirmary, can no longer 20 operate and manage the cemetery under Section 21 517.27 of the Ohio Revised Code. Cemeteries can 22 transfer the ownership and maintenance and upkeep 23 of those cemeteries to townships, and that's 24 their desire and this is what this resolution 25 does. 5 1 MR. ELIJAH: I have a question. Is 2 the cemetery active? 3 MR. BRADLEY: I had conversation 4 with our attorney and assistant chairman of the 5 association. There are available lots, but once 6 the transfer takes place we will not be accepting 7 any more bodies for interment. Mainly, the 8 township's responsibility would be the 9 maintenance and upkeep, cutting the grass and 10 keeping the place relatively clean. 11 MR. SIMS: I'd like to ask a 12 question on that. 13 MR. BRADLEY: Sure. 14 MR. SIMS: If this cemetery is 15 ours -- when you have people coming out there 16 putting flowers and everything on the cemetery -- 17 what is that -- what day is that? 18 MR. ELIJAH: Memorial Day. 19 MR. SIMS: Are we going to have 20 somebody out there to tell them where the graves 21 are? 22 MR. BRADLEY: No. We will be giving 23 a roster of -- I don't want to say who's placed 24 where, but who's buried in certain locations. 25 But our only responsibility will be upkeep and 6 1 maintenance. 2 MR. SIMS: I'm saying, if we have to 3 do all of that, we've got a problem. 4 MR. BRADLEY: Well, we have four 5 cemeteries now, all of which are inactive except 6 the one on Forney Road. For the past ten years 7 there's been two burials. 8 MR. SIMS: Okay. Now, in a 9 situation like this, Mr. Bradley, that means 10 we're going to have to put more in our budget on 11 cemeteries. 12 MR. BRADLEY: Speaking with 13 Mr. Thompson, he indicated that there may be a 14 need for a special lawn mower, some sort, to be 15 able to maneuver through the grave sites and 16 headstones. We briefly talked about it, but I 17 haven't got to a specific cost. 18 MR. SIMS: Could you get back with 19 us because, actually, we need to have that in a 20 budget item, you know, next year when we get 21 ready to budget because that is very important. 22 Okay. 23 MS. JONES: My understanding is that 24 the Ohio Revised Code says that we have to do 25 this. 7 1 MR. SIMS: We have to have money to 2 do this is what I'm saying, like a budget for 3 particular things. Okay. We get a motion? 4 Mr. Elijah -- or did you make a motion? 5 MR. ELIJAH: I don't think there was 6 a motion on the table. 7 MR. SIMS: Can we make a motion to 8 accept the cemetery? 9 MR. ELIJAH: So moved. 10 MS. JONES: I second the motion. 11 And, Mr. Bradley, get us the additional cost 12 information. 13 MR. BRADLEY: Ms. Jones? 14 MS. JONES: Yes. 15 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Elijah? 16 MR. ELIJAH: Yes. 17 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Sims? 18 MR. SIMS: Yes. 19 MR. BRADLEY: Resolution 04-20, 20 assessments for demolition on West Third Street. 21 During the West Third Street Project we 22 identified five structures that needed to be 23 demolished. Two were in Trotwood and three were 24 in Jefferson Township. We used community 25 development block grant dollars for that purpose. 8 1 MR. SIMS: So you have identified 2 everything; right? 3 MR. BRADLEY: The demolitions have 4 occurred. 5 MR. SIMS: Okay. Need a motion on 6 that. 7 MS. JONES: I make a motion for 8 Resolution 04-20. 9 MR. ELIJAH: I will second that 10 motion. 11 MR. BRADLEY: It's been properly 12 moved and seconded to adopt Resolution 04-20, 13 assessments for demolition on West Third Street. 14 Your final resolution for consideration, 04-21, 15 adoption of the National Incident Management 16 System. This is a fallout from our homeland 17 security federal legislation. In your package 18 you will see correspondence from Governor Bob 19 Taft indicating that all jurisdictions within the 20 state need to adopt this protocol in order to 21 receive and be eligible for grants and that to 22 come from Federal Emergency Management 23 Administration. 24 MR. SIMS: Okay. Could I have a 25 motion on that? 9 1 MR. ELIJAH: I move for the 2 acceptance of Resolution 04-21, the adoption of 3 the National Incident Management System. 4 MS. JONES: I second the motion. 5 MR. SIMS: Roll call. 6 MR. ROBERTS: It's been properly 7 moved and seconded to adopt 04-21, the adoption 8 of the National Incident Management System. 9 Mr. Elijah? 10 MR. ELIJAH: Yes. 11 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Sims? 12 MR. SIMS: Yes. 13 MR. BRADLEY: And Ms. Jones? 14 MS. JONES: Yes. 15 MR. SIMS: Department reports. 16 MR. BRADLEY: They have been 17 attached to your document and the documents that 18 citizens have. 19 MR. SIMS: Could we have a motion to 20 accept the department report? Do we need a 21 motion on that? 22 MR. BRADLEY: Not really. 23 MR. SIMS: Okay. Trustees' report. 24 Mr. Allen Elijah. 25 MR. ELIJAH: Just by way of general 10 1 information, we attended the National Township 2 Association meeting in Washington D.C., and one 3 of the things that we like to do when we're there 4 is to get into the Rayberg Building which is 5 where Congress is. We stopped in to visit our 6 congressmen. We also met with our senators and 7 we had an opportunity, a rather unique 8 opportunity, to meet with the USDA. And as 9 you're aware, the U.S. Department of Agriculture 10 funded for the township the building of this 11 facility that we're in, for the fire station and 12 the administration building. 13 One of the things that we've found 14 it helpful to do, that when you are able to place 15 a name with a face and a face with a township, 16 you kind of make the relationship stronger as you 17 seek to get additional assistance from those 18 organizations. We further had the opportunity -- 19 and Mr. Sims was instrumental in this. We had 20 the opportunity to meet the Secretary of 21 Agriculture, Miss Ann Veneman, at the National 22 Township Association. She was a keynote speaker. 23 As you're aware, the Secretary of 24 Agriculture is a cabinet level position. That it 25 turns out, she was in Dayton today. There will 11 1 probably be some things on this evening's news, 2 either 22 or 2 -- I couldn't tell whose 3 microphone that was on the podium -- because 4 Dayton was named a Preserve America City by the 5 first lady of the U.S., and Miss Veneman 6 presented the award to Mayor McLin. 7 At that particular time I had an 8 opportunity to -- I don't want to say corner 9 again -- but I spoke with her and reminded her 10 that we had met in Washington D.C., and she 11 remembered the fact that Mr. Sims had gotten up 12 and announced that Jefferson Township was very 13 grateful for the assistance that the Secretary's 14 department was able to provide to us. And I 15 indicated to her that we were going to follow up 16 with her in writing that -- thanks and do an open 17 letter to the community. 18 And, again, it was another 19 opportunity for us to put a name with a face at 20 that level. And should they desire to spend some 21 more money, we'd be happy to help them do that in 22 order to enhance what's going on in the township. 23 And I think we made some more enrows today in 24 that respect. We broke through that fall of 25 recognition and she remembered a lot of that, so 12 1 that was very, very helpful. 2 The other thing that we were able to 3 do -- and a lot of the sessions that were held -- 4 there were sessions relative to grant writing, 5 wastewater treatment, and ways to enhance revenue 6 generation. And we brought all that information 7 back, and right now it's kind of stacked in my 8 living room. But, again, we made a lot of 9 contacts and I think we're going to be able to 10 share that information not only with the school 11 board but with the water authority and other 12 organizations here in the township for purposes 13 of moving the township forward. 14 So I think that the trip was very, 15 very beneficial again this year. I don't know. 16 Mr. Sims, do you have anything to add? 17 Ms. Jones? 18 MS. JONES: No. 19 MR. SIMS: I'm going to be honest 20 with you. You know, Allen, I brag about you all 21 the time, but this is the first time that I've 22 been to Washington that we have done a whole lot 23 to benefit this township. We was on every 24 corner, every seminar, and the rate we was going 25 I was thinking that we should have got a couple 13 1 grants. But the thing about it, it was a very 2 fruitful meeting. 3 Mr. Elijah was saying that we had 4 this big meeting. We always have a meeting at 5 9:00 o'clock in the morning. Everybody came 6 there. So I decided to get up thanking the 7 Secretary of Agriculture for doing what she did 8 for us, and then and I took a picture with her. 9 She was so happy to take a picture because -- 10 actually, at the time -- you got black farmers. 11 They're getting ready to -- they got a lawsuit 12 against the Secretary of Agriculture, 40 billion 13 dollars, class action. 14 So I think what they're trying to do 15 is help us all. She's saying I want to prove 16 that my department is not prejudice. She did a 17 lot for us. I talked to her. I'm telling you, 18 it was nice. Allen did a heck of a job. And we 19 was in different seminars and everything. And it 20 was the best meeting that I've had since I've 21 been in Washington D.C. 22 The other thing, they had Jefferson 23 Crown Point Days and it rained that whole 24 weekend. All right. They messed up all our 25 picnic grounds and everything and we were trying 14 1 to probably get that back to stuff -- you know, 2 trying to get it back -- the park back, but I 3 think that, Mr. Bradley, what we need to do -- I 4 don't know when the cycle's coming up for grants 5 for parks, do you? 6 MR. BRADLEY: February. 7 MR. SIMS: Could we start working on 8 that because, actually, we're going to need some 9 park facilities, a lot of things we need. So I 10 think the last one you worked on, maybe we could 11 put it on the same thing. I think you got the 12 last one; is that right? 13 MR. BRADLEY: Uh-huh. 14 MR. SIMS: All right. That's all I 15 have. Risk management activities. 16 MR. BRADLEY: None during August. 17 MR. SIMS: Okay. Comments by 18 citizens. Try to make it three minutes. 19 MR. BRADLEY: I have five requests 20 by citizens. Rose Slaughter, 5257 Dayton-Liberty 21 Road, resolution to support the Jefferson 22 Township schools, funds to support Braxton 23 Fisher. 24 MS. SLAUGHTER: Hello. I see there 25 are resolutions for consideration and I'm just 15 1 asking that you consider the resolution for 2 Jefferson Township school district. We have a 3 levy and -- 9.5 mill levy that's going on the 4 ballot in November. 5 MR. SIMS: Rose, we've got a letter 6 coming to you. 7 MS. SLAUGHTER: So will that be 8 acknowledged for us? 9 MR. SIMS: Yes. 10 MS. SLAUGHTER: Thank you. 11 Appreciate that very much. Braxton Fisher. I 12 had given information to Ms. Jones in regards to 13 Braxton Fisher, who was one of our students who 14 was one of the participants in track championship 15 for the state. He's been selected to represent 16 the school and community in December in Hawaii 17 and he's in need of funds to do this. I was just 18 asking if there's any way possible -- 19 MR. SIMS: We're working on that 20 too. 21 MS. JONES: I need clarification. 22 So when he goes to Hawaii, he is representing 23 Jefferson Township High School? 24 MS. SLAUGHTER: State region 25 national track, field and cross country Olympics. 16 1 MS. JONES: Thank you. 2 MR. BRADLEY: Next we have a Mark 3 Curtis of 1430 Infirmary Road, and he wants to 4 speak on target shooting. 5 MR. CURTIS: Yes. I'm concerned 6 about the neighbors in the community that have 7 been target shooting. And as far as I know, 8 there are no ordinances against target shooting 9 in Jefferson Township. And I would like to know 10 if we could do something to prevent this, try to 11 come up with some kind of ordinance to prevent 12 target shooting. Especially -- this is somewhat 13 of a dense populated area. 14 MS. JONES: I'm sorry. The address? 15 MR. CURTIS: In between Derby and 16 Dayton-Liberty. 17 MS. JONES: They're just standing 18 out and shooting? 19 MR. CURTIS: Out in the back yard 20 shooting up against a tree and shooting at a 21 target. There's actually two residences in the 22 community that I know of that are doing it. 23 MS. JONES: So they set up a little 24 thing in the back yard and target shoot? 25 MR. ELIJAH: That's residential? 17 1 MR. CURTIS: Yes. They're shooting 2 in the direction of the houses back at Liscum and 3 Kimmel Lane. 4 MS. JONES: Back in Liscum and 5 Kimmel Lane? BB guns? 6 MR. CURTIS: Shotguns, rifles, 7 pistols, semiautomatic. 8 MS. JONES: I know we're having 9 issues right now and I want to speak to you after 10 the meeting. Kids with BB guns on the street -- 11 right now it's just like rampant. But if you 12 would remain after the meeting for a little bit, 13 I do have a couple of things to talk to you 14 about. 15 MR. BRADLEY: If I may have -- I 16 spoke to a gentleman on the phone and talked to 17 Captain Schroder as well. What I've done is ask 18 an opinion from our prosecuting attorney on 19 what -- how shooting can be controlled and is it 20 prohibited in the township. And he's going to 21 get me an opinion within the next couple days or 22 so. 23 MS. JONES: So we're receiving a 24 written opinion? 25 MR. BRADLEY: And I hate to quote 18 1 the law. I think there's an issue with a 2 thousand yards or a hundred yards or something, 3 check into the revised code, it's side on those 4 issues. So that's why I've asked the attorney to 5 provide us an opinion. 6 MR. SIMS: We've all been on top of 7 that. So what we're trying to do is trying to 8 get something in concrete so we'll know what's 9 happening. And by the way, you can just wait 10 right after the meeting. We've got the captain 11 here right now and you can talk to him but we 12 understand. So Mable called me one night. She 13 was talking -- we need to do something. So I 14 called her back and we're going to try to do 15 something about it. 16 MR. CURTIS: Okay. 17 MR. SIMS: By the way, make sure you 18 stay after the meeting. 19 MR. BRADLEY: Next I have Mr. Ron 20 Green, 1212 Infirmary Road. He wants to speak 21 about audit results and why were we audited. 22 MR. GREEN: That's a question -- 23 when I came down here a couple of times and I 24 seen all these people in here -- 25 MR. SIMS: We used to get audited 19 1 every two years. That's with all townships. 2 MR. GREEN: So it's automated? Does 3 it cost you anything? 4 MR. SIMS: Yeah. It always costs 5 us. 6 MR. GREEN: How did you come out? 7 MR. SIMS: They'll come back and 8 tell us if we're doing anything wrong. And when 9 they come back, I'll tell you if we're doing 10 anything wrong. But everything -- they don't 11 tell you until they get all the particulars and 12 everything. 13 MR. GREEN: Okay. 14 MR. BRADLEY: Next I have Miss Betty 15 Green of 1212 Infirmary Road, and she would also 16 like to speak to shooting in the neighborhood. 17 MS. GREEN: I have the same concern 18 that my neighbor does. I'm at 1212 and I hear 19 it, and somebody's going to get hurt. And I 20 think I talked to you about it, Bradley, earlier. 21 MS. JONES: I'm sorry. Are they 22 children? 23 MS. GREEN: No. These are adults 24 that's doing all this shooting, especially on 25 Sunday -- Saturday and Sunday. 20 1 MR. ELIJAH: Are they new in the 2 neighborhood? 3 MS. GREEN: They just moved into the 4 neighborhood. 5 MR. SIMS: They're new? 6 MS. GREEN: Yeah, they're new. But 7 somebody on the next street is going to get shot 8 because they're shooting in their yard. 9 MR. SIMS: We're going to try to do 10 as much as we can to get that taken care of, 11 Betty. 12 MS. GREEN: I think the police has 13 been down there. I don't know what they're 14 telling these people. 15 MR. SIMS: Betty, maybe you need to 16 stay and talk to the captain. What we're trying 17 to do is get something from the prosecutor. 18 MR. ELIJAH: It still doesn't seem 19 like it's appropriate to discharge a firearm in a 20 residential area. 21 MS. JONES: What we have to do is 22 get the written opinion. 23 MR. ELIJAH: I'm thinking bullets 24 don't know feet. 25 MR. BRADLEY: I have Miss Barbara 21 1 Harris of CDC. She resides at -- she has 2 property at 4730 Ericson Drive. She'd like to 3 address the cable building for CDC site office 4 along with Jefferson Township -- is it festive 5 days committee? Miss Harris. 6 MS. HARRIS: I just wanted to -- I 7 just wanted to find out a little information. We 8 were at our meeting Saturday, second Saturday of 9 this month, question came up, had we heard 10 anything about the cable building, whether or not 11 it's going to be -- how much, where. Is there 12 anything that we can do to assist the trustees? 13 And, also, we discussed, you know, we'd like 14 to -- the trustees to look at the comprehensive 15 plan that you have for the business part. We 16 want to do whatever we can, run around, we'll do 17 whatever, survey, marketing, whatever. 18 We also talked with the state of 19 Ohio on that also on trying to do some marketing 20 for the township, surveys, see what kind of 21 business will be attracted out here. So the 22 cable building is, you know, a place that we 23 could use for our site office to work out of. 24 And, like I said to Brice earlier, we are getting 25 donations and they're like setting in different 22 1 places. Companies has given us furniture or 2 equipment to use. I have three computers riding 3 around with me every day in the trunk of my car, 4 which is not good. So we'd like to get some 5 information on that and whether or not we can use 6 the cable building. 7 MR. ELIJAH: Does the CDC still own 8 the property up on West Third Street? 9 MS. HARRIS: No. We sold that 10 property. 11 MR. ELIJAH: That's been sold? 12 MS. HARRIS: Yes. 13 MR. SIMS: Barbara, you said last 14 time about a $12,000 grant. How's that coming 15 out? 16 MS. HARRIS: We're ready to send off 17 for it. That was the purpose of sending you the 18 e-mail. Wanted to meet with you and sit down and 19 show you the plan that we had discussed with the 20 state of Ohio. They're also going to send us 21 technical assistance to work with that also, but 22 we have to get your approval of support. 23 MR. SIMS: Okay. We need to sit 24 down. And trustees haven't really got involved. 25 And we need to sit down and find out exactly what 23 1 we're going to do with it. You know, a lot of 2 people saying different things. And I can 3 understand how you feel. But the thing about it 4 is, we're trying to get our budget together. You 5 know, until we get our budget together, there's 6 nothing we can do. But we'll probably try to do 7 something for the cable. 8 I know Ms. Jones mentioned to me -- 9 I think she said she wanted to use it for 10 community service. Mr. Allen -- Mr. Elijah, he 11 hasn't voiced his opinion. But we need to get 12 together on that because we don't like something 13 just to stay there and deteriorate. So we'll 14 probably get back with you as soon as we can to 15 make some kind of decision on what we're going to 16 do. 17 MS. HARRIS: Because some of the 18 activities we thought about was community 19 services and centers and things. We had actually 20 talked with Mr. Norris at the school of possibly 21 bringing a media center in there for some of the 22 juniors and seniors. We've gone through so many 23 ideas on it, but we can't make anything -- any 24 decisions on it if we're not going to be able to 25 get the building. 24 1 MR. ELIJAH: I think a lot of that 2 centers around funding. The last time the 3 building was used we were left with an expense 4 and it couldn't cover -- they couldn't cover 5 general operating expenses for the building. 6 MS. HARRIS: There's funding we've 7 identified for it. 8 MR. ELIJAH: I'd be happy to review 9 the proposal. I think we can begin to talk 10 something serious at that point. 11 MR. SIMS: You need to do that as 12 soon as possible. 13 MR. ELIJAH: When do you want to 14 meet? We just need to go over your -- 15 MS. HARRIS: When? I can't even get 16 you guys on the phone. 17 MS. JONES: The other thing, 18 Barbara, there are other issues with the building 19 because the building has set, again, for an 20 extensive amount of time. There are concerns 21 about the mold in the building and a couple of 22 other things in the building, so we would have to 23 then put out expenses again to go out and to see 24 where all the problems are in that building 25 before someone used that building that -- you 25 1 know, we could take care of that molding. 2 MS. HARRIS: We're willing to 3 work -- not on income but on the cost of that, 4 you know. We just need to sit down and throw our 5 heads together. 6 MR. ELIJAH: So you'll submit 7 something to Mr. Bradley then? 8 MS. HARRIS: Immediately. I'll call 9 him tomorrow. 10 MR. ELIJAH: I think you need to 11 submit what you're talking about in way of income 12 to cover expenses. 13 MS. HARRIS: Okay. All right. 14 MR. ELIJAH: That, to me, is more 15 pressing. We can talk in terms of programming. 16 That becomes less problematic. And the 17 environmental concern with black mold is another 18 discussion that we would need to look into. 19 MS. JONES: I would say that that's 20 the board's responsibility for liability reasons 21 that we bring someone in to see what the issues 22 are in that building before -- 23 MS. HARRIS: All right. Thank you. 24 MR. SIMS: You'll meet with 25 Mr. Bradley? 26 1 MR. BRADLEY: Finally, Miss Cookie 2 Taylor of 152 Holland Avenue, Crown Point Days. 3 How do I get in touch with the committee? Two, 4 upkeep of vacant and other lots in the 5 neighborhood. And finally, three, is there any 6 proposals for more housing development? 7 MS. TAYLOR: Well, those are my 8 questions. I know you hit on Crown Point Days 9 being really a bust this year, and I was kind of 10 disappointed in it. And we don't control the 11 weather so -- but other things that I thought 12 could have been done. For instance, like, they 13 only supplied meat and bread. You know, even I 14 know we're not that -- it doesn't take a whole 15 lot to get people involved. You know, I don't 16 know if the committee had sent out a message if 17 one person -- if every person who came brought a 18 side dish, you know. Would have been something 19 that would have been nice to contribute to it. 20 And plus, I mean, I don't know who 21 the committee is, which I'd like to be on that 22 committee because I think there's a lot of things 23 that could -- we could do to attract other 24 people, you know, more people to Crown Point and 25 make it really a good celebration. And I didn't 27 1 know, you know, some of the things that you 2 mentioned for the development of the park. 3 MR. SIMS: Yeah. 4 MS. TAYLOR: And I have some ideas 5 about that too. So, you know, I really wanted to 6 be involved in the neighborhood. It's a 7 neighborhood that I grew up in and moved away and 8 came back to, and I'd just like it to be as good 9 as, you know, as any other neighborhood, upscale 10 neighborhood. You know, Oakwood has nice places 11 for their people to come, and I'd like that to 12 happen for us too. We used to be known for the 13 bad things that happen in Crown Point. So let's 14 be known for the good things that come out of 15 Crown Point now. And plus the -- try to get 16 these three minutes. 17 MR. SIMS: Just take your time. 18 MS. TAYLOR: I know that there are a 19 lot of lots. Especially, there's one next to 20 where I live at. I have a brand new house, cost 21 a lot of money, and yet the property next to me 22 is not maintained. It needs -- there are other 23 properties in the neighborhood. I think it 24 finally -- one of the -- couple of the properties 25 finally got cut that were owned by a realty 28 1 company. But, you know, it doesn't take a lot to 2 do that. I mean, I've even offered to cut part 3 of it myself to maintain it so that it is a nice 4 place in the neighborhood. But what can we do to 5 get on those people to maintain their lots? 6 They're not -- you know, do they need to sell it, 7 do something with it, you know, because we want a 8 nice neighborhood to live in? 9 MR. SIMS: I was over there one day. 10 I saw you. I didn't know you lived there. I 11 looked around and I said, that's Cookie. 12 MS. TAYLOR: You always see me in 13 the yard. 14 MR. SIMS: That's why I was over 15 there because I was -- gone over some lots that 16 need to be cut. I was concerned about what 17 Mr. Crawford -- he's the president of your 18 neighborhood club. Are you a member of the -- 19 MS. TAYLOR: No. I haven't been 20 able to make their meeting. I know he told me 21 about when they meet. It seemed like every time 22 I planned to meet there's something that comes 23 up. 24 MR. SIMS: I was over there because 25 of their club. I had about eight lots they 29 1 wanted me to look at. When I saw you, I said, 2 that's her. That's Cookie. You've got a 3 beautiful home by the way. We're going to try to 4 do all we can to try to get the lots cut. I 5 don't -- we've got some housing going in the 6 Drexel area. I think it's 41 houses. We're not 7 going to do no more houses unless we get funds to 8 do them. So we're going to try to do everything 9 we can to keep that area up, you know. And if 10 you see me, you'll know that I'm over there 11 trying to, you know, help out. 12 MS. TAYLOR: I ran into three snakes 13 in my yard already just from coming -- 14 MR. SIMS: You won't see me over 15 there anyway. I'm just kidding you. 16 MS. TAYLOR: I'm thinking about 17 trying to find somebody to do my lawn. 18 MR. SIMS: I'm just kidding with 19 you. 20 MS. JONES: You asked what could you 21 do? That was your question? The one thing that 22 you can do is call up to the township. We've 23 been working really hard since the new houses 24 have gone up over there to try to maintain those 25 lots and stuff and keep the tires and things up. 30 1 So there's been a lot of pressure with some of 2 the -- the old residents or the -- who have 3 history there. And then the lots are usually 4 owned by people who have been there or owned the 5 lots for a long time. What's good about the new 6 housing area -- and we've been telling people, 7 other neighbors to the new houses, is that they 8 have rules and regulations to maintain those 9 houses. And so what they have to do -- if the 10 lawn isn't cut, they get letters saying that the 11 lawn has to be cut within five to seven days. So 12 the company who's managing the homes has really 13 been a big help to us. That's something 14 additional we don't have to do. 15 But then the homeowners that are 16 there now -- if you call up here and tell us like 17 addresses or where the lots are next to -- it's a 18 lot of pressure for our road department because 19 they're the ones that have to mow the lots and 20 clean the lots up if we can't get the property 21 owners to do it. How our zoning works is for you 22 to call and complain about areas that need to be 23 serviced or mowed, and then we will send 24 something to the property owner. If it 25 continues, you know, then we can take care of it 31 1 and then it goes to their tax bill. And 2 sometimes that pressure's enough for people to 3 make the changes. 4 But I'm glad you're here and you're 5 doing that. If you look right over on some of 6 the other streets too, I'm really pleased with 7 that area over there. It's nice, it's quiet, and 8 the kids were really utilizing the park, which 9 we're trying to get some things for kids to do 10 out there. We're having lots of issues for these 11 teenagers not having anything to do. Call us 12 and -- not just on your street but any street 13 over in the area that you see there's a problem. 14 Don't get discouraged if we don't get to it right 15 away because there's a process that we have to go 16 through and one is contacting property owners. 17 And we appreciate the help. Zoning has to also 18 come from the community, bring the issues to us. 19 MS. TAYLOR: Let me ask one real 20 quick one. I see that also from the county jail 21 and so forth there are cleanup crews from there. 22 Is there a possibility that we can get some of 23 that help to helping in cleaning up our 24 neighborhood? 25 MS. JONES: Our sheriff department 32 1 is shaking his head yes. We do it once a year. 2 But, hopefully, we can talk to the department and 3 get it a couple of times a year. So, yeah, we 4 can do that. 5 MR. SIMS: Maybe we can get the 6 MonDay Program to do that. 7 MS. TAYLOR: I work for the MonDay 8 program, so I can put in a good word. 9 MS. JONES: We can work on seeing 10 if we can do that maybe twice a year, a couple of 11 times a year. We probably would need to identify 12 certain areas for him but sure. We just got 13 commitment here. 14 MR. SIMS: Okay. That's good. 15 We're going to meet in the conference room. 16 Mr. Green, Betty, you're going to meet with the 17 sheriff. We'll be in the conference room if 18 anybody wants to be in the meeting with us. I'd 19 like to say that -- happy to see Kevin. He's 20 here. He's one of the outstanding community 21 leaders. And I want you to stand up because he 22 said he's going to start coming to all kinds of 23 meetings. Just tell them your name. 24 MR. YOUNG: My name's Oscar Young. 25 I recently moved out of the township a couple of 33 1 years back. I've been attending the meetings to 2 see if I have the time to work it into my 3 schedule to become more actively involved in the 4 township. 5 MR. SIMS: I appreciate you, Cookie, 6 coming too. All right. If there's any -- I make 7 a motion to -- do we have anything else? 8 MR. ELIJAH: I second. 9 MR. SIMS: That was awful fast, 10 Allen. I thought this was a good meeting. 11 MS. JONES: We do need to amend the 12 agenda before adjournment if you would. 13 MR. BRADLEY: Yes. This would be 14 approval of the financials for the preceding 15 month. That's an oversight on my part. I 16 deleted it from the agenda. 17 MR. SIMS: Okay. 18 MR. BRADLEY: Is there a motion? 19 MR. SIMS: I make a motion. 20 MS. JONES: I second the motion. 21 MR. BRADLEY: It's been properly 22 moved and seconded for the addition of the 23 agenda, approval for the financials of the month 24 of August. Mr. Elijah? 25 MR. ELIJAH: Yes. 34 1 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Sims? 2 MR. SIMS: Yes. 3 MR. BRADLEY: Ms. Jones? 4 MS. JONES: Yes. 5 MR. ELIJAH: I move for adjournment. 6 MS. JONES: I second. 7 MR. BRADLEY: It's been properly 8 moved and seconded for adjournment. Mr. Sims? 9 MR. SIMS: Yes. 10 MR. BRADLEY: Mr. Elijah? 11 MR. ELIJAH: So moved. 12 MR. BRADLEY: Ms. Jones? 13 MS. JONES: Yes. 14 (Thereupon, the meeting was 15 concluded at 7:39 o'clock p.m.) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 35 1 STATE OF OHIO ) 2 COUNTY OF MONTGOMERY ) SS: CERTIFICATE 3 I, Stacey L. Kimmel, a Notary Public 4 within and for the State of Ohio, duly 5 commissioned and qualified, 6 DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the above-named 7 meeting was reduced to writing by me 8 stenographically in the presence of the parties 9 and thereafter reduced to typewriting. 10 I FURTHER CERTIFY that I am not a 11 relative or Attorney of either party nor in any 12 manner interested in the event of this action. 13 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set 14 my hand and seal of office at Dayton, Ohio, on 15 this _ _ _ day of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, 2004. 16 17 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ STACEY L. KIMMEL 18 NOTARY PUBLIC, STATE OF OHIO My commission expires 6-10-2006 19 20 21 22 23 24 25