These exclusive LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV videos will tell you what is being proposed
by David Miller
Loveland, Ohio – Last December it was announced that City Hall would be demolished and a new four-story building would take its place. City Hall offices were to be located on the second-floor, with retail and commercial on the first-floor. The top two-floors would be residential. City operations would temporarily move to a leased building on Cottonwood Drive when City Hall was demolished. In January, City Council was positioned to vote on the $89,000/year lease, when something went wrong, exactly what, has never been disclosed.
Loveland Magazine was quite surprised with this announcement and apparently many in the community as well. After reviewing meeting minutes from various City meeting going back several months and finding nothing about this specific plan, Loveland Magazine sent an Email to City Manager Dave Kennedy on January 26 asking if this detailed project had ever been discussed in open meetings at City Hall. This is how he responded:
?’s about new City Hall – January 26, 2017
LM: Did Council ever made a public vote on the decision to proceed?
DK: No they have not made an official public vote.
LM: Was there ever any public discussion in open session of Council or other public bodies, about the specific plan that was announced in the Straight From the Heart newsletter of December 15, 2016? I know I heard general discussions over the past year of perhaps selling City Hall, but I do not recall reading about or hearing any discussion of this specific plan.
DK: I have updated council through our council goals which includes the project. At the most recent council meeting I discussed the status of the project.
LM: If I have missed any of this and you could point to specific Council minutes, could you tell me which ones I should read?
DK: (Kennedy did not answer)
LM: I guess I am interested to have answers to these same questions if they pertain to the Planing and Zoning Commission, CIC, or the Finance Committee.
DK: We have referenced/updated the Finance Committee on the concept of the project.
DK: Could you tell me where all of the financing for this project comes from? Including legal, and cost of hiring McGill Smith Punshon Architects, or any other outside costs now attributed to planning and implementing this project, including bond counsel.
DK: That is still being formulated.
Resident Neil Oury has also recently questioned the apparent done deal and lack of transparency. Read background: “Here’s what Vice-Mayor Settle didn’t want you to know” published on March 22. Oury said he also research City Hall records going back several months and found nothing. He was also critical that an architect had been hired and drawings completed without the public knowing anything about the project.
Below is the announcement made in the City newsletter on December 15, 2016
The re-branding
Loveland Magazine was the only media outlet at the Community Improvement (CIC) meeting last Tuesday when the City Hall project was re-branded as if the December announcement had never been made. Today we are publishing the first of a series of videos from the meeting. It was quite a long meeting, so the meeting is presented in a series of shorter segments so you can view them one at at time, and go back at your leisure and not feel lost.
Apparently, the CIC has been given the task of making recommendations to City Council on the rebuilding of City Hall, although when or where that decision was made is anyone’s guess.
It will take a lot of effort on the reader’s part to view the entire discussion, but when finished you will be one of just a few in the community who know what options are under consideration and the recommendations that are going to be made to City Council.
The next CIC meeting is at 1 PM on April 24 at City Hall.
Loveland Magazine will not be summarizing the discussions. It is the public’s homework to do, and they can draw their own conclusions.
