Kevin Marsh Uncategorized

City of Cincinnati Budget Engagement

From the City of Cincinnati Budget Office, Department of City Planning, and Office of Communications

Hello Cincinnati Neighbor,

Each biennial budget cycle, the City of Cincinnati asks for your feedback on the proposed city budget. We continue to offer new and convenient ways to stay engaged with the community and broaden our outreach. The Budget Office, The Department of City Planning, and Office of Communications have collaborated to further enhance communication and engagement strategies throughout the budget process. The main goal of this budget engagement campaign is to keep you informed and engaged throughout the entire process.

Here are the multiple opportunities to participate in the budget engagement process:

Please visit our website  (http://cincinnati-oh.gov/finance/cincinnati-budget-engagement/) where you will find all of these links and more information about  when and where the sessions and forums are taking place this summer and fall.

We welcome and greatly appreciate your feedback. Please feel free to pass the word along to your neighbors as everyone’s input is important!

Thank you,

City of Cincinnati Budget Office, Department of City Planning, and Office of Communications

Kevin Marsh Uncategorized

CliftonDeer.org Update

Recap:

The Clifton deer fertility control pilot program is a citizen response to the Cincinnati Parks’ invitation to collaborate on a non-lethal alternative to bow-hunting for reducing overabundant herds in 3 Clifton Neighborhood parks. Operating under a permit granted in 2015 by the Wildlife Division of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the program involves a three to five year study of deer migration patterns and the efficacy of sterilization for deer population management.

CliftonDeer.org, is a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization formed to sponsor, assist, and provide funding for the program.  It builds community support – financial and otherwise – to create an infrastructure of expertise and funding needed to complete the study and to secure the viability of the program on an ongoing basis.

First Year Results:

In December of 2015, project consultant Dr. Anthony DeNicola of White Buffalo, Inc. led a team of wildlife biologists, veterinarians, and volunteers (including U.C. students, Cliftonites, and U.S. Humane Society personnel) through six nights of field operations in which 41 does were sterilized and tagged and 3 incidental male fawns were tagged and released.  Detailed results of that effort are reported at 2015 Field Operations Report on the project’s website, www.cliftondeer.org.

Two important findings resulted from last Fall’s work.  First, field observations and a post-operations camera survey revealed that the deer population in the study area (bounded by Ludlow Ave., Clifton Ave., and I-75) was much larger than estimated based on the Parks’ aerial infrared population counts—roughly 100 instead of 60. Faced with unexpectedly large numbers, Dr. DeNicola focused his efforts on the mature does who would be likely to reproduce this Spring and planned to target the female fawns in 2016.  Second, despite the unexpectedly large deer population, Dr. DeNicola believes that his team sterilized approximately 86% of the adult doe population within the study area, and that this should be enough to stop herd growth and may begin reductions.

2016 Goals:

This Fall Dr. DeNicola plans to capture and sterilize the few adult does missed last year, new immigrant does, and newly matured female fawns in the study area.  He and his team will also devote extra time to training a local darter and a local veterinarian with the goal that they can eventually carry on the program with less reliance on expensive outside involvement.  Finally, he will conduct a 2-week post-operations field camera population survey.

The dates of field operations have not yet been set, but will most likely occur in December.

Funding:

With the discovery of nearly twice as many deer as originally estimated from the Parks’ surveys, and the need for more accurate counts, costs of operations this year, while 25% lower than last year, are expected to be higher than originally projected.  Funds are being requested from two national and one local foundation. If successful, these grants will cover at least 60% to 80% of this year’s operating expenses, reducing significantly the amount of fundraising that will be required. We should know the status of those grant requests within weeks.  As promised last year, no funds will be requested from CTM.

In the meantime, we invite the community to:

Kevin Marsh Uncategorized

Community Budget Request Process

Every two years the City asks Community Councils to submit up to three projects for consideration in the new biennial budget process. CTM wants to know what you are interested in our proposing for the new cycle which has a deadline in September. CTM will make a final vote at our Sept 12 Board meeting on what to submit. Please click here to read about prior projects that have occurred city wide as well as guidelines on eligible and ineligible projects.

Please click here to email CTM with your ideas, or bring them in writing to the next CTM meeting.

Kevin Marsh Uncategorized

2016 Membership Drive

Spring 2016

Dear Neighbor,

Clifton Town Meeting (CTM) is your local community council. CTM advocates on behalf of the Clifton community. Issues we have promoted in the past year include supporting the CCAC, seeking high quality public education seats for your children, removing invasive plants from Burnet Woods, more events at Clifton Plaza, reducing the speed limit on McAlpin and Ruther Avenues, more bicycling infrastructure for Clifton, and resolving the noise from the roof of Good Sam hospital. We have worked on zoning variance issues as well as providing community input into the City’s Land Development Code revisions.

CTM also sponsors many activities and festivals throughout the year for our community including: Memorial Day Parade & Cookout, Lantern Walk, CliftonFest, the House Tour, Holidays on Ludlow and more. We provide funding for beautification projects such as the flower pots & holiday decorations on Ludlow Avenue. We provide communications including the community email list, Clifton Community website and the Clifton Chronicle. We partner with the Clifton Business and Professional Assocation (CBPA) to keep the Clifton Plaza operating. To support this important community work, we need your generous support. Membership dues are tax deductible and make up the second largest source of income for CTM. If you paid membership dues sometime in 2015, thank you for your support. Memberships are based on the calendar year, and we need your support again in 2016.

Starting or renewing your membership will help us keep Clifton a vibrant, desirable, and fun place to live, work, and play. CTM also accepts donations, and you can do that at the same time you renew your membership online. You can click here to renew online.

If you wish, you can also use this Membership Form to do a mail in membership renewal.

Thank you for your support.
CTM Membership Committee

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