MIDDLETOWN
“We are truly in the largest resurgence that Middletown has seen in the past 30 years,” said Middletown City Manager Doug Adkins. “We’re heading to places that we haven’t seen in a long time. There is currently three-quarters of a billion dollars in new construction either recently completed or underway in the city of Middletown. It’s astonishing what’s going on here.”
Among the many projects noted by Adkins were the $600 million NTE Energy power plant is under construction and nearing completion in 2018; the newly completed $36 million AK Steel Research and Innovation Center; the $30 million Kettering Health Network emergency/outpatient facility; $90 million in new construction by the Middletown City Schools; the new $16 million 600,000 square-foot distribution facility; 23 new businesses opening downtown; and a new BMW motorcycle dealership that will be located in the former senior citizens center in downtown Middletown which Adkins says will be “a destination location.”
Adkins said the city has focused its efforts in public safety with the addition of 12 more firefighters through a federal SAFER grant; the Heroin Response Team that has helped 250 addicts to get into treatment programs; a 40 percent increase over the previous year in drug arrests; and increased police outreach efforts in the community.
MONROE
Filling in for Monroe City Manager Bill Brock, Assistant City Manager Kacey Waggaman said “2018 will be a year of planning and prioritization.”
Waggaman shared the many events during the city’s bicentennial celebration this fall as well as other accomplishments in 2017 such as starting the community paramedicine program and establishing safety town for young children.
In addition, she said Monroe’s continued residential and business growth has resulted in the filling of the business park three to four years ahead of schedule with the announcement of an Amazon distribution center to be opened there. Earlier this year, Monroe was recognized as being the fastest growing community in Butler County and has an estimated population of 14,000.
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Waggaman also noted that voter approval of the safety services levy in November will enable the city to continue the employment of seven firefighters hired through a federal SAFER grant which is about to expire. That levy, a 0.50 percent increase in the city’s earnings tax, will also enable the city to begin planning a new police facility as well as other park and capital improvements at the newly acquired Americana amusement park site.
She also said Monroe will begin work on its portion of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail bike path which goes through the Americana site. Also part of the Americana site will be a new Butler Tech facility and the entrance boulevard construction project is expected to be put out for bid in January. As for the Americana site, Waggaman said a number of the buildings have deteriorated over the years and have been vandalized. However, she said council is committed to preserving the history of the former amusement park.
“There’s quite a bit of work to do out there and it’s not the safest place to walk through,” she said. “We have 12 acres of concrete to remove and we’re trying too save as much of the structures as we can.”
TRENTON
Trenton City Manager John Jones noted the city continues to grow and is second to Monroe in population growth in Butler County.
Jones said the city’s amphitheatre project, something that was suggested 10 years ago, will be completed in January.
Other projects include a new fire station that will be built in the summer of 2018, thanks to the passage of a tax levy by residents; a new roof installed at the city building; new water service installed with the help of Ohio Public Works Commission funding; the completion of a new police dispatching center; the future opening of Couch’s RV’s in the Trenton Business Park in the summer of 2018; passage of a tax levy for police services; construction of a roundabout; extending roads for new housing; its largest employer Magnode Corp. is expanding a building and rehabilitating another building; a new O’Reilly Auto Parts store is currently under construction; Domino’s Pizza is building a new store at a new location down the road from the old store; and the planned paving of the western portion of State Street.
Another joint project in the works is with the Edgewood City Schools and St. Clair Twp. to install sidewalks to the new schools which have been built in the past few years.
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