1. Township residents voted in favor of a new fire levy
Voters in November approved a new fire levy in the township that has quadrupled in size over the past two decades. The vote on the 3.5-mill additional levy was 57 percent for to 43 percent against.
The trustees debated for 18 months on when and for how much to ask. With the approval, the owner of a $100,000 home will pay $122 more annually — or a total of $300 when two existing levies are included.
RELATED: Liberty Twp. voters approve new fire levy
Fire/EMS calls for service projected for 2017 represent a 54 percent increase since 2010. Emergency medical runs alone have increased by more than 500 runs compared to 2010. With the increase in services since 2010, the township has not received any additional property tax revenue. The township does not receive any additional tax revenue with the addition of new homes or increased property values once the levy is approved. That means that if the population doubles, there would be no additional revenue for services.
2. Longtime fire chief retired, and new chief is on board
Ethan Klussman, a former battalion chief with the Kettering Fire Department, was only the second full-time fire chief hired to serve the township after fire chief Paul Stumpf retired.
Stumpf served the township for 45 years, first when the department was all volunteer and then as its chief.
After Stumpf announced his retirement, trustees enlisted the aid of the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association to screen candidates. Only 19 people applied in the first round, and the trustees interviewed three. They extended an offer to one person, but that person backed out.
MORE: Liberty Twp. hires new fire chief
Trustees then decided to handle the hiring process in-house. The township received applications from 28 men for the job.
Klussman, who is earning $108,000 annually, was a firefighter/paramedic for 16 years when he made captain in the Kettering Fire Department in 2012. He was named the department’s battalion chief in July.
3. Trustees agreed to totally ban medical marijuana businesses
After placing a temporary ban on the new state-sanctioned businesses, the Liberty Twp. trustees issued a permanent ban in early December.
The ban is on the cultivation, processing and dispensing medical marijuana. However, the trustees said they may reconsider the retail sales after they research the issue further.
RELATED: Liberty Twp. issues ban on medical pot businesses
Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed into law last year a bill that legalizes marijuana for medicinal uses, including cancer, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder or chronic pain. It allows multiple forms of medical marijuana to be sold, such as edibles, oils, patches and vaporizing, but smoking the plant is not allowed. Neither are home-grow operations.
Bryan Behrmann, the township’s director of planning and zoning, recommended the ban — which can be undone at a later date — be placed now because there are still too many unknowns.
“It was our recommendation that since the moratorium is expiring in March that we ban it at this point in time until we figure out how we want to address it long-term,” Behrmann said. “There is still some interest to take a look at it and potentially allow it in some form.”
4. Liberty Twp. makes bid to get Amazon to locate second headquarters here
Liberty Twp. is making efforts to snag Amazon’s second North American headquarters, and with it the potential for thousands of new jobs, a lower tax base and an economic impact expected to ripple throughout the region for decades to come. The request for the township to put in a bid for the Amazon HQ2 project came early this fall at the behest of REDI Cincinnati as part of a regional pitch that also involved larger communities like Cincinnati and Newport, Ky.
RELATED: Liberty Twp. officials: Here’s why our bid for Amazon HQ is no joke
Liberty Twp. officials, citing a non-disclosure agreement, said they cannot discuss the proposed location for such a project and any incentives offered, Trustee Tom Farrell told the Journal-News. However, documents detailing Amazon’s wants show that incentives are important, but not the only criteria, according to Farrell.
“Future growth, sustainability and that family-oriented workforce is the future that Amazon desires … and I believe Liberty can offer that future and others aren’t going to be able to,” Farrell said. “I truly believe you don’t become No. 1 by only worrying about incentives. How many companies come into a place with a 10-year tax incentive and then they leave after 10 years to get another tax incentive? That’s not Amazon. That’s not Liberty.”
5. Liberty Twp. shows its commitment to creating a pedestrian-friendly community
Someday soon people may be able to walk from Lakota East High School and Cincinnati Children’s Liberty Campus to to and from Liberty Center on a pedestrian bridge over Ohio 129.
Liberty Twp. trustees have commissioned a $20,000 design and engineering study to get a better cost estimate on the first part of a broader plan to make the township more pedestrian friendly.
MORE: Liberty and West Chester township trustees debate walkability plan
The township has been meeting with stakeholders, like the hospital and owners of the mixed-use center, hoping to forge financing partnerships for a broad plan to build several pedestrian bridges and a tunnel between commercial areas that are currently separated by highways.
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