WestChesterBuzz.com

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday. This week, we have decided to list all the top stories from April.

WestChesterBuzz.com also recently added a new video page last week. To view West Chester and Liberty Township related videos, visit westchesterbuzz.com/videos.

Lakota East makes lip dub – Lakota East High School is one step closer to having the attention of Ellen DeGeneres. On April 18, the school and all of its 2,700 students filmed a “lip dub” video to raise awareness and funds for the Center for Spina Bifida Care at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. In the video, students performed as lip singers to five popular songs from artists, including Black Eyed Peas, One Direction and Smash Mouth. Once edited they hope to get the attention of Ellen DeGeneres, who they hope can bring their efforts to raise awareness for Spina Bifida to the national stage.

Nerf Wars have everyone talking – Local television reporters and radio talk show hosts were all talking about Lakota high schools in April. It wasn’t because of anything that was taking place at school, but rather after. A spring tradition of Nerf Wars is now underway and it involves possible reckless driving and nudity.

West Chester Hospital tax status case watched closely – Butler County and the cash-strapped Lakota Local School District stand to lose a combined $43 million over the next 18 years if West Chester Hospital’s charitable tax status is upheld, Sheila McLaughlin of The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. County commissioners are appealing the case to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals, saying the county failed to receive a hearing on the matter. School officials are keeping an eye on it.

Liberty Township retail project has new look – A Columbus developer returned to Butler County in late April with a slightly revised plan for the $300 million shopping destination spot it wants to build in Liberty Township, Sheila McLaughlin reported for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Yaromir Steiner, founder and chief executive officer of Steiner + Associates, is counting on $35 million from the county and township to make improvements around the 100-acre site, at Liberty Way west of Interstate 75.

Katelyn Markham’s body found – During the past 20 months, any time an unidentified body surfaced in Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky, Fairfield investigators probed whether the remains were Katelyn Markham’s, said Fairfield Police Chief Mike Dickey. But the investigation shifts into new territory, Dickey said, now that Indiana State Police have verified that the remains found along a Franklin County creek belong to the Markham, who vanished in August 2011. She would have been 23 years old today.

Summer’s Homearama being delayed until July – The director of the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati confirmed in late April that due to unforeseen construction delays, that this summer’s Homearama at Carriage Hill in Liberty Township is being pushed back to July. It will be the latest summer Homearama, which will now take place July 13-28, in the 50-year history of the home showcase, according HBA executive director Dan Dressman. The event was previously scheduled to take place June 8-23.

Bridgewater Falls is back on the block – Fairfield Township’s upscale shopping center, Bridgewater Falls, is for sale. And this time it’s for a positive reason, Cindi Andrews reported for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Blue Ash-based Phillips Edison bought Bridgewater Falls out of foreclosure in 2010. It boosted occupancy to 97 percent and is now testing the possibility of cashing in on its investment.

Local runner shares what happened at Boston Marathon – Just before the first explosion went off, Maureen Heintz of West Chester was only a few hundreds away from the finish line, having her picture taken and enjoying her first Boston Marathon. “She was probably just 200 yards from the blast when the first one went off. She said could feel the concussion of it and the buses were shaking where she was standing,” her husband, Paul Heintz said. After returning to their West Chester home at 2 a.m. Tuesday, Paul Heintz spoke about what it was like to be in Boston on Monday. See below for first part of audio interview. For the second and third parts of the interview, click on the link above.

Posted in: Events, News, School events, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Amelia Murphy, Boston Marathon, Boston Marathon bombing, Boston Marathon bombs, Boston Marathon Cincinnati runners, Boston Marathon local runners, Boston Marathon West Chester runners, Caroline McKinney, Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres, Ellen DeGeneres Lakota East, Ellen DeGeneres Lakota East lib dub, Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen DeGeneres Show Lakota East, Ellen DeGeneres Show Lakota East lip dub, Ellen Lakota East, Ellen Lakota East lip dub, I-75, Interstate 75, Joe Hinson, John Boehner, John Boehner Boston Marathon, Lakota East, Lakota East lip dub, Liberty Town Square, Liberty Township business news, Liberty Way, Liberty Way Interchange, Liberty Way project, Libertytown LLC, Mojo Running, Mojo Running Olde West Chester, Mojo Running West Chester, National Honor Society, National Honor Society Lakota East, Steiner + Associates

Sheila McLaughlin reports:

Butler County commissioners and Liberty Township trustees gave an overwhelming warm reception Thursday to their first glimpse of the updated Liberty Center mega-retail project and committed to work out details of $35 million in public financing.

The $300 million project by Steiner + Associates and Bucksbaum Retail Properties is pegged for an October 2015 opening on 100 acres at southbound Interstate 75 and Liberty Way in Liberty Township.

Touted as the Easton of the northern Cincinnati area, the complex will include a 200,000-square-foot Dillard’s store, and about 370,000 square feet of specialty retail shops and restaurants, a 1,200-seat dine-in restaurant, luxury apartments and a hotel.

Yaromir Steiner, founder and chief executive officer of the Columbus-based development company, said he also plans to build a chapel in a public square for non-denominational services, weddings and small concerts.

Posted in: Business, Government, News |

Tags: Tags: Caroline McKinney, I-75, Interstate 75, Joe Hinson, Liberty Town Square, Liberty Township business news, Liberty Way, Liberty Way Interchange, Liberty Way project, Libertytown LLC, Steiner + Associates

Sheila McLaughlin reports:

A Columbus developer will return to Butler County Thursday with a slightly revised plan for the $300 million shopping destination spot it wants to build in Liberty Township.

Yaromir Steiner, founder and chief executive officer of Steiner + Associates, hopes it’s not a deal breaker. He’s counting on $35 million from the county and township to make improvements around the 100-acre site, at Liberty Way west of Interstate 75. Otherwise, he said he can’t obtain the rest of the private financing he already has lined up.

The $300 million mixed-use project was first proposed to have two 100,000-square-foot department stores with a mix of specialty retail shops, a hotel, a dine-in cinema, restaurants, office space and high-end apartments.

Much of that proposal remains the same, with one major exception: A single department store instead of two. Dillard’s has signed on to build a store twice the original size.

The project’s name has also changed. Liberty Town Square is now Liberty Center.

“It will be shocking to me if this deal craters. So many cities would kill for a project like this,” Steiner said in an interview Monday in his Columbus office where he gave The Enquirer an exclusive look at the project.

Steiner + Associates had proposed the project years earlier, but put it on hold in 2008 when the economy tanked.

Barring any financial glitches, Phase I of the project would begin in October 2013. Steiner, who is partnering with Bucksbaum Retail Properties in Chicago, said he hopes to break ground in October or November of this year, if the county and township provide their financial support.

A “major” retailer that Steiner isn’t ready to disclose will occupy anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 square feet of the retail space that once was reserved for a second 100,000 square-foot department store. Steiner said he has five candidates for that space.

“Is the second one a department store in the sense that they will have departments in the store like the traditional perfume counter? No. It’s going to be something different. We think the difference will be a strength,” Steiner said. (more…)

Posted in: Business, Government, News |

Tags: Tags: Caroline McKinney, I-75, Interstate 75, Joe Hinson, Liberty Town Square, Liberty Township business news, Liberty Way, Liberty Way Interchange, Liberty Way project, Libertytown LLC, Steiner + Associates

Sue Kiesewetter reports:

Declining federal and state dollars won’t deter Liberty Township officials from balancing their budget this year.

With revenues estimated at $19.7 million and expenses projected at $19.8 million, officials are confident that through careful spending they won’t have to dip into reserves to balance this year’s budget.

“We won’t spend everything that we budgeted,” said Caroline McKinney, economic development director and spokeswoman. “All projects and capital expenses will be thoroughly analyzed and we will look for other financing opportunities. Our best intention is to have a balanced budget.”

Trustees adopted the 2013 budget that includes appropriations of nearly $1.9 million in the general fund – used for the day-to-day operations of the township – along with $5.3 million in the fire fund; $327,400 in the ambulance fund; and $2.3 million in the police fund.

For the second year trustees removed money to purchase a new engine truck to replace a 1999 vehicle. Trustees also scaled back dollars requested for a new staff vehicle for the fire department.

“We need to scale back,’’ said Trustee Pat Hiltman. “We have to think differently. There’s a need and a want. We need to cut our costs down.”

Hiltman said a full review of the fire department should be done early in 2013, including an examination of staffing to see if any positions can be reduced. He suggested nine full-time positions – one per shift, per fire station.

About 44 percent of the township’s revenues come from levies or emergency services billing but 51 percent of next year’s expenses will come from that department.

Money has been set aside to replace wood chips at Dudley, Liberty and Fort Liberty parks; add a shelter at Dudley Park; along with replacing a merry-go-round and slide at the Reserves Park.

Another $10,000 has been earmarked to complete the first phase of a path around Wilhelmina Park.

Money is also included for a Millikin Road and Hawthorne Hills hike and bicycle connection, phase two of the redesign of the Ohio 129 and Ohio 747 entrance and exit ramp planting beds, which will reduce maintenance with the planting of grass and evergreens.

The township will look for grant opportunities to fund park and other projects, McKinney said.

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: board of trustees, Caroline McKinney, Liberty Township board of trustees, Liberty Township board of trustees meeting, Liberty Township trustee, Liberty Township Trustee Pat Hiltman, Liberty Township trustees, Pat Hiltman

‘Game changer’ development coming to Liberty Twp.

WestChesterBuzz.com will count down the area’s top 12 stories of 2012 this month, concluding with West Chester’s most discussed topic of the year on Sunday, Dec. 30.

UPDATE: Development is expected to break ground in the spring of 2013 and be open during the spring of 2015

STORY POSTED SEPT. 7, 2012
By Sheila McLaughlin

The real estate brokers and businesses are calling Caroline McKinney at the township’s economic development offices, already scoping out the possibilities on the surrounding acres.

They’re eagerly awaiting Liberty Town Square, the $300 million retail, office, entertainment and residential project – the largest development to hit Butler County.

“People are hovering around to see when dirt starts flying,” McKinney said. “It’s a catalyst effect.”

The opening has been pushed back to spring 2015 from fall of 2014, she said.

But when it does open, this mega-mixed-used project could put this Greater Cincinnati suburban community of about 37,000 residents on the map as the next hot spot for commercial development along Interstate 75 because of its regional draw.

Joe Hinson, president of the West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance, calls the mega-mixed-use project “a game changer.”

Developer Steiner + Associates has promised the project will mirror its popular Easton Town Center in Columbus and The Greene in Beavercreek.

Locally, there’s nothing like Liberty Town Square, although Steiner’s involvement in the area is nothing new. The Columbus company developed Newport on the Levee, which sparked a rebirth in the Northern Kentucky river city about a decade ago.

“We’re going to see businesses now really start to look at Liberty as an opportunity. In the past, it’s been pretty much a bedroom community,” Hinson said. “When you’ve got the power of I-75 and you’ve got the access also going east to west and north-south, it just becomes a game changer.”

Both township and chamber officials are looking for businesses to relocate to or settle in Liberty Township because of the amenities Liberty Town Square will offer – a place to live, a place to have fun, a place to entertain clients.

Steiner, which shelved a more ambitious plan at $500 million in 2008 when the economy tanked, expects to break ground on Liberty Town Square sometime during the first quarter of 2013 on 64 acres at Liberty Way and I-75.

The first phase of the one-million-square-foot development will include two department stores, a cinema, specialty retail, 100,000 square feet of office space and 150 luxury apartments. Steiner has not yet announced the retailers that will fill the department store spots.

Steiner will be submitting its final development plan for the site in mid-October, while Butler County and township officials continue to refine agreements with developer because the two governments are supporting the project with a combined $35 million in infrastructure improvements. (more…)

Posted in: Business, Government, News |

Tags: Tags: Caroline McKinney, I-75, Interstate 75, Joe Hinson, Liberty Town Square, Liberty Township business news, Liberty Way, Liberty Way Interchange, Liberty Way project, Libertytown LLC, Steiner + Associates, West Chester top 12 stories of 2012, West Chester top stories of 2012

Sheila McLaughlin reports:

The real estate brokers and businesses are calling Caroline McKinney at the township’s economic development offices, already scoping out the possibilities on the surrounding acres.

They’re eagerly awaiting Liberty Town Square, the $300 million retail, office, entertainment and residential project – the largest development to hit Butler County.

“People are hovering around to see when dirt starts flying,” McKinney said. “It’s a catalyst effect.”

The opening has been pushed back to spring 2015 from fall of 2014, she said.

But when it does open, this mega-mixed-used project could put this Greater Cincinnati suburban community of about 37,000 residents on the map as the next hot spot for commercial development along Interstate 75 because of its regional draw.

Joe Hinson, president of the West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance, calls the mega-mixed-use project “a game changer.”

Developer Steiner + Associates has promised the project will mirror its popular Easton Town Center in Columbus and The Greene in Beavercreek.

Locally, there’s nothing like Liberty Town Square, although Steiner’s involvement in the area is nothing new. The Columbus company developed Newport on the Levee, which sparked a rebirth in the Northern Kentucky river city about a decade ago.

“We’re going to see businesses now really start to look at Liberty as an opportunity. In the past, it’s been pretty much a bedroom community,” Hinson said. “When you’ve got the power of I-75 and you’ve got the access also going east to west and north-south, it just becomes a game changer.”

Both township and chamber officials are looking for businesses to relocate to or settle in Liberty Township because of the amenities Liberty Town Square will offer – a place to live, a place to have fun, a place to entertain clients.

Steiner, which shelved a more ambitious plan at $500 million in 2008 when the economy tanked, expects to break ground on Liberty Town Square sometime during the first quarter of 2013 on 64 acres at Liberty Way and I-75.

The first phase of the one-million-square-foot development will include two department stores, a cinema, specialty retail, 100,000 square feet of office space and 150 luxury apartments. Steiner has not yet announced the retailers that will fill the department store spots.

Steiner will be submitting its final development plan for the site in mid-October, while Butler County and township officials continue to refine agreements with developer because the two governments are supporting the project with a combined $35 million in infrastructure improvements. (more…)

Posted in: Business, Government, News |

Tags: Tags: Caroline McKinney, I-75, Interstate 75, Joe Hinson, Liberty Town Square, Liberty Township business news, Liberty Way, Liberty Way Interchange, Liberty Way project, Libertytown LLC, Steiner + Associates

Below is the full article written by Sue Kiesewetter for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Trustee Pat Hiltman has one word to describe Liberty Township’s proposed 2012 budget: austere.

“That’s the theme for 2012 – and (it will) carry forward,” Hiltman said.

Total revenues in the 2012 budget are estimated at $19.6 million, which includes $10.6 million for operations – lower than 2011’s estimated operating revenue.

Administrator Dina Minneci said she expects local government dollars from the state to decline in 2012 and be gone by 2013. Those dollars had averaged $650,000 over the past five years.

Projected expenses for 2012 are $20.4 million, about $1 million higher than the 2011 estimated expenses. Contributing to that increase include health insurance increases, a newly established $14,000 payment to the Butler County Emergency Management Agency, contract provisions and large capital expenses including some postponed from this year.

Despite the dismal outlook for 2012, no layoffs or service reductions are planned for the year, said Caroline McKinney, township spokeswoman and economic development director.

“We absolutely have to squeeze every nickel and dime,’’ said trustee David Kern.

Carryover and reserve funds will make up the difference between revenues and expenses.
Trustees are expected to approve a final budget at a special meeting called for 8 a.m. Dec. 30 at administrative offices.

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: Butler County Emergency Management Agency, Caroline McKinney, Liberty Township Administrator, Liberty Township Administrator Dina Minneci, Liberty Township spokesperson Caroline McKinney, Liberty Township trustee, Liberty Township Trustee David Kern, Liberty Township Trustee Pat Hiltman, Liberty Township trustees, Pat Hiltman

Liberty Township children, who visit all nine township parks this summer, will receive a prize through participation in the revamped Parks Passport program.

“It’s a great activity for parents, grandparents or other caregivers to do with children this summer and it gets kids outdoors interacting with nature,’’ said Rick Plummer, services director and liaison to the Parks Committee.

Along with new signage at each of the parks, visitors will find an icon representing something showcased at the site, said Caroline McKinney, township spokeswoman.

“It was an idea that came from the parks committee to add a little something different to highlight the parks,’’ McKinney said.

For example, a soccer ball at Liberty Park represents the sports field there. Other icons for the parks include a turtle, playground, butterfly, bicyclist, tree, American flag, mallard and wetlands.

To participate children pick up a passport and park brochure at the township administrative offices, 6400 Princeton Road. The brochure lists the parks, their addresses and features at each park. (more…)

Posted in: Events, Recreational events |

Tags: Tags: Caroline McKinney, Liberty Township Park Passport program, Liberty Township Parks, Rick Plummer

Randy Terry and his brothers have begun to market a vision for a housing development located at Millikin and Princeton-Glendale roads in Liberty Township. According to Cincinnati.com, the group plans to name the new community Carriage Hill.

Here is a portion of an article written by Cincinnati.com reporter Sheila McLaughlin:

It’s a concept Liberty Township officials say they’ve never seen before in this growing Butler County community.

“It’s a neighborhood unlike anything we have in Greater Cincinnati,” said Caroline McKinney, township economic-development director. “It’s a gorgeous piece of property. They want to keep their homes there, so it is of great interest to them that it is developed correctly. They are not just handing it over for somebody to come in and see how many homes they can stick in this acreage.”

The plan is to build 450 custom and semi-custom single-family homes and 250 maintenance-free patio homes and villas in four distinct neighborhoods with an eye on preserving the woods, ponds, creeks and other natural elements of the land.

Price tags range from $300,000 to $900,000, with the first phase of construction beginning on 17 lots off Millikin Road in the former Winding Creek subdivision, which the Terrys purchased after it failed.

Paths for walking and cycling will run through the development and connect to Liberty Township’s network of hiking and biking trails. A dog park, children’s campground, and pocket parks are among the plans. Eighty acres will be open space.

The centerpiece of the community is a restored 1882 carriage house that was moved from Port Union Road in 2000. The 5,000-square-foot structure with 17,000 cobblestones as its floor was used as a barley storage barn for the Windisch-Mulhauser Brewing Company in Cincinnati during the city’s beer brewing heyday.

For more on the housing development plan, visit McLaughlin’s story “Marketing a vision for a community.”

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: Caroline McKinney, Carriage Hill, housing, housing development, housing development plan, Randy Terry