Monroe spending up to $25K to boost planning for new facility

In his staff report, City Manager Bill Brock said the proposal will cover the analysis of the needs identified in the Master Plan previously completed by Kleingers and Associates.

He said the analysis will assist the city to identify the highest needs of the department and recommend a conceptual floor and site plan that will assist in prioritizing those areas that can be expanded. The analysis will also provide general cost estimates for phasing of the work to assist in the budgeting of capital improvements for the department’s future needs and growth.

At council’s Public Works Committee meeting on May 28, Brock said there is 35 acres for sale behind the existing building on Holman Avenue, but he said the city would only be interested in a portion of it. Brock said the asking price for the entire 35 acres is $875,000 and the portion the city could benefit from is approximately 7 acres for $175,000.

The committee and Brock agreed both amounts were too much and that Brock would look into another 35 acres

Brock told the committee that after the police moves into its new facility, the Public Works and Development departments would moved into that space at the city building and that the remodeled public works building will be used as space for engineering.

Also on Tuesday, council approved an ordinance that will regulate how advertising circulars can be delivered in the city that will penalize the person delivering the circulars as well as the organization providing them. That ordinance goes into effect on July 11.

The ordinance is modeled after those adopted in Vandalia, Huber Heights and Englewood, according to Law Director Phil Callahan.

Vice Mayor Dan Clark expressed concerns in late April about the number of emails and complaints council had received about the advertising circulars delievered to driveways. At the time, Brock said he discussed this with Callahan and said it could be considered littering but would require a police officer to catch them in order to cite the violator into court.

Clark and other council members said its become a problem when these unsolicited written materials are delivered to driveways but end up in the streets or in the storm sewers, clogging the drains.

While he is not opposed to advertising, Clark believes residents “are significantly annoyed” with this issue.

“The reason for this ordinance is not to discourage advertising and I know that its constitutionally protected,” he said. “This is focusing on the distribution.”

Councilman Todd Hickman said “people are tired of picking these up on Monday and put them in the trash. This should fix it as far as litter on streets and driveways.”

The new unsolicited written materials ordinance specifies where these items can be placed:

The first offense is a minor misdemeanor. However, any following offense will be charged as a third degree misdemeanor if the defendant has previously been convicted individually or under organizational liability.

The ordinance also provides a separate offense to be committed each day during or on which a violation or noncompliance occurs or continues. The penalty will depend on the defendant’s status as an individual and/or organization.

Newspaper companies are among those that deliver advertising publications in this way.

“Many residents find these free coupons and advertisements to be valuable, and some of the largest retail businesses, who are also large employers in our local communities, depend on this cost-effective way to get their weekly advertising flyers to consumers near their stores,” said a spokesperson from Cox Media Group Ohio, the parent company of the Journal-News.

“But we also realize that some people may want to opt out of delivery of these inserts, so we make it easy. On every package we deliver, you will find the following message: If you would like to stop delivery, visit SundayValuesOhio.com and provide your address or call 877-267-0018,” the spokesperson said.