By Lisa A. Bernard
Reprinted
with permission of the Journal-News
HAMILTON — Elephants and
giraffes from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens will soon be making
their way to Hamilton. Only these kind have no feeding requirements or carry
pending threats of stampedes.
The Hamilton City Council
Wednesday night approved a request from the City of Sculpture to place in Miami
Woods on New London Road a large metal piece of art depicting elephants and
giraffes.
The City of Sculpture
recently purchased the piece, called Helios Guardian, from the zoo — which is
undergoing renovations and could find no room for the large artwork, officials
have said.
City of Sculpture officials
have said they hope to have the artwork in Hamilton by fall.
In other business Wednesday
night:
The council gave its
commitment for a request from ARK, a transportation service which is a division
of Senior Services, Inc., for $17,000 from the city to help support its
services.
The city council last year
approved a $15,000 donation to the agency. The money will come from the city’s
general fund.
The rising costs of gas and
oil, combined with no increases in federal support, have put the non-profit
group in a financial squeeze, said Steve Schnabl, executive director of the
Senior Services, Inc.
In making his case to the
council, Schnabl said Hamilton residents make up nearly 50 percent of ARK’s
riders. Other communities such as Fairfield and West Chester Township already
contribute annually to the group, Schnabl said.
Municipal contributions
help draw in the program’s federal funds, which come from a Title III Older
Americans Act grant. The group is also funded by Butler County United Way.
Legislation to affirm the
$17,000 appropriation is expected to come before the council in August.
· The council heard an
update from officials with the Ohio Department of Transportation regarding work
to reconstruct the High-Main Bridge.
Ron Mosby, a public affairs
officer with ODOT, told the council that his agency has been working with
Kokosing Construction Co. to “accelerate” work in areas that the contractor is
behind due to high water on the Great Miami River and other hindrances.
Extra work to try put the
project back on schedule has cost ODOT about $125,000, Mosby said. By September
ODOT is expecting to have a better idea of how far, or if, the project is
behind schedule.
The council unanimously
approved a request from the city’s planning department to initiate a 90-day
moratorium on approving new construction, primarily in the street blocks
bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Pershing Avenue, Knightsbridge
Drive and the Great Miami River.
The move will allow city
staff to work with consultants to develop design standards for the community
that are consistent with the vision of the Neighborhood Initiative plan,
planning department officials have said.
Prior to the council
meeting a public hearing was held on the matter. No one appeared before the
council on the issue.
Contact Lisa A. Bernard at
(513) 820-2186, or e-mail her at lbernard@coxohio.com.