A successful year for the city of Piqua

From programs to development 2012 was productive, rewarding Bethany J. Royer Piqua Daily Call Originally published Dec. 30, 20 2 P!"#$ % $nyone &ith a 'e& (ear)s resolution list they &ant to see to *ruition +ay &ant to ta,e so+e tips *ro+ City -anager .ary /u**. 01here)s 2ust a lot o* things, all the citi3en and e+ployee engage+ent &ere tre+endously i+portant,0 said /u** &hen as,ed about &hat e4ent or pro2ect stood out *or hi+ against a substantial list o* goals he set out to achie4e, and +et, during his *irst year as city +anager *or the city o* Piqua. !t &as this ti+e last year, a*ter *or+er city +anager 5red 6nderle retired, that /u** ca+e into the co++unity &ith a+bitious endea4ors *or 20 2. 1hose included a host o* progra+s, econo+ic de4elop+ent and branding pro2ects, and city operation changes, that all began &ith the 'ational Citi3en 7ur4ey. Conducted rando+ly, the sur4ey co+pares co++unities nation&ide by ran, o* deli4ery o* ser4ices &ith questions such as ho& one rates Piqua as a place to li4e. 1he idea behind the sur4ey &as to see not only &here the city stood in ter+s o* resident opinions but to help establish a 8%year 7trategic Plan. 09e can build o** that and use that in*or+ation to dri4e so+e o* the things that &e are doing,0 said /u** o* the sur4ey that &ill be per*or+ed e4ery three years as a gauge to see, 09here &e are, and the priorities and e+phasis o* &here &e are going to be.0 $long &ith the a*ore+entioned branding pro2ect currently in the &or,s, /u** touched% base on the ultra high%speed *iber optic pro2ect *or the ne& year, stating, 0!t)s going to lead us into a lot o* ne& things.0 $nd spo,e on a nu+ber o* citi3en engage+ent goals such as the success*ul go4ern+ent acade+y that has so *ar seen t&o classes &ith nearly 80 graduates. $ll o* &ho+ &ere gi4en a unique behind%the%scenes loo, into nu+erous city depart+ents under the &ing o* De4elop+ent Progra+ -anager Bill :ut3. 0!t pro4ed to be pretty success*ul,0 said /u** o* the acade+y classes that &ill be e;panded to ad2ust so+e o* the dual courses into single seg+ents, &ith the ne;t class to begin in -arch. $s ne& city +anager, /u** also ushered in se4eral ne& city%&ide progra+s that included !'<O:<6 =!nterested 'eighbors <olunteering <aluable 6nergy> and the $dopt%a% Progra+ *or par,s, trails, streets, landscaped areas, playgrounds and +ore. 9hile creating .!<6 =.enerosity, !n4ol4e+ent and <olunteeris+ by 6+ployees> and P6R*or- =Piqua 6+ployees Reaching *or -ore>. $long &ith the i+ple+entation o* the <olunteer Par, Ranger progra+ that has recei4ed donations *ro+ area businesses to purchase equip+ent and supplies *or those participants &ho &ill patrol the city)s popular bi,e?&al,ing paths

and trails. 1raining &ill ta,e place o4er the &inter, &ith spring being the *irst ti+e o* in4ol4e+ent *or an esti+ated 20 ne& recruits, according to /u**. /u**)s arri4al also coincided &ith +any large, in%the%&or,s pro2ects such as the +assi4e underta,ing o* studying, debating and discussing &hether or not to build a ne& &ater treat+ent plant. $ +a2or decision that &as +ade o4er the su++er to build ne& and one that is currently in the design phase that should ta,e until the end o* 20 3. 1he city +anager also sa& co+pletion o* the ne& po&er syste+ building on CR%28$. $n o**icial ribbon cutting cere+ony &as held on Dec. 3, &ith a nu+ber o* indi4iduals in attendance, including 7enator Bill Beagle, Representati4e Richard $da+s, city leaders and e+ployees, and the Piqua $rea Cha+ber o* Co++erce Board o* Directors. 1here &as also the +uch%anticipated Piqua -e+orial /ospital that ca+e tu+bling do&n *or &hat &ill e4entually be ho+e to a ne& school ca+pus, and the beginnings o* a Ri4er*ront pro2ect at the *or+er po&er building that, should grant applications pro4e success*ul, &ill see its e4entual de+olition. 1he $sh 7treet corridor &as another large pro2ect that required @ +onths o* &or,, &ith the 9ayne 7treet streetscaping co+pleted at the end o* 'o4e+ber. 1here &as also a nu+ber o* special e4ents *ro+ the popular 1aste o* the $rts, Christ+as on the .reen, and the Bro&n Bag 7eries, to ne&ly i+ple+ented Co++ission Co**ees and Co++issioner Brea,*asts. 'ot to be *orgotten is the e4entual inclusion o* a +edical clinic *or city e+ployees that &ill tie%in &ith the city o* 1roy and the county. 1he in%house clinic &ill see an annual sa4ings bet&een AB00C to AD00C in health insurance costs and &hen established, &ill be *ree to e+ployees and their dependents through a third party. 9ith ne& health care +easures i+ple+ented or planned, the city o* Piqua &as recogni3ed as the 20 2 /ealthiest 6+ployer by the Dayton Business Journal. 1hey also recei4ed recognition as 1ree City #7$, a distinction the city has en2oyed *or D years, &as recogni3ed as a state +odel *or the Ohio 6P$ 9atershed Protection Plan, and the 20 2 $+erican .raphic Design $&ard *or their Pla3a 7a4e the Date -ailer, to na+e but a *e&. 7e4eral other distinctions and a&ards are currently under de4elop+ent *or the ne& year. 1he city also tac,led a nu+ber o* operational progra+s and plans, *ro+ de4elop+ent o* their ne& *inancial so*t&are to the creation o* a &aste&ater treat+ent and collection +aster plan, a restructuring o* the Public 9or,s depart+ent, success*ul union negotiations, and the acquire+ent o* a &eed har4ester. 1he latter one o* nu+erous ite+s

brought to success in than,s to grants and generous donations. 7uch as the 9al+art 5oundation ha4ing donated to&ard the annual Pic, it #p and Clean it #p Day, &hile a ne& s,ate par, &as brought to area youth than,s to the generous *unds and e;e+plier de4oted ti+e put in to see its co+pletion by Rich Donnelly. 1his holiday season also sa& a nu+ber o* businesses and indi4iduals donate to&ards Christ+as lighting. /o&e4er, it +ay be the 8%year 7trategic Plan co+pleted in 'o4e+ber that &ill pro4e to be the city)s, and the city +anager)s, greatest legacy &ith categories o* quality o* li*e, public sa*ety and security, in*rastructure, gro&th and de4elop+ent, ad+inistration, *inancial stability, citi3en and co++unity relations. $long &ith a nu+ber o* secondary strategic goals o* eli+inating city north 4ersus south perceptions, utili3ation o* 4acant lots, encourage+ent o* citi3en in4ol4e+ent and +uch +ore. 0$s you can see there)s been a lot o* things happening this past year and &e ha4e +ade so+e good progress,0 said /u** on the o4erall co+pletion and i+ple+entation o* pro2ects *or 20 2. 0! loo, *or 20 3 to be 2ust as acti4e and in4ol4ed in a lot o* ne& things.0 5or the +ost part, the year has seen a great deal o* i+pro4e+ents, success, and progress &ith only a *e& short*alls, +ost notably the *ailure o* the Public 7a*ety !nco+e :e4y on the 'o4e+ber ballot. 01hat)s the big question +ar, *or 20 3 is &hat yet is the state going to doE0 said /u** a*ter the city)s request o* a .28 percent increase *or the *ire and police depart+ents due to state *unding reductions that a**ect the general *und *ailed at the ti+e o* the inter4ie&. Passage o* the le4y &ould ha4e generated A +illion *or annual operating, personnel and capital costs, to help o**set the A3 +illion being ta,en *ro+ the general *und. $n a+ount beyond dedicated ta; dollars *or the sa*ety budget that had already seen a reduction in police sta** by 2.8 percent since 20 0, *ire by F.D percent, &ith capital needs delayed and reduced o4er the last *i4e years. /o&e4er, 2ust be*ore Christ+as, the Piqua 5ire Depart+ent recei4ed a *ederal grant o* +ore than A +illion that &ill pro4ide additional sta**ing. 7o+ething the depart+ent has been in need a*ter being under%+anned *or se4eral years. #.7. 7en. 7herrod Bro&n =D%O/> announced the A ,03B,02@ grant be*ore the holidays. 7tating the grant &ill assist the Piqua 5ire Depart+ent &ith sta**ing and &as a&arded by the #.7. Depar+ent o* /o+eland 7ecurity)s 5ederal 6+ergency -anage+ent $gency 7$56R grant progra+. On another note &ere issues regarding neighboring 1roy and their recent issues o* e+ployee the*t and ho& the city o* Piqua &or,s to ,eep such inappropriate transgressions *ro+ happening here. 09e ha4e a lot o* chec,s and balances in place, *ro+ ethics training to purchasing

policies,0 said /u**. 0!t)s not to say that things can)t happen, i* they &ant to do so+ething, they)ll *igure out a &ay but generally it is caught.0 6+phasising the critical nature o* abiding by policies, honesty and integrity, /u** hopes that such things &on)t happen but there)s ne4er a guarantee. 0!t)s un*ortunate that people thin, they can get a&ay &ith it,0 continued /u**. 0(ou 2ust try to educate and encourage people to be pro*essional.0