June City Council Message
By: Todd Steinbrink, Contact this Council member
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Park plans, sidewalks and brick pavers: why the fuss?
Never let it be said that Montgomery isn't an exciting place to live. Thanks to the success and growth of our city, we are fortunate to be able to continually raise the bar on expectations in our little corner of Cincinnati. After all, “A luxury once enjoyed, soon becomes a necessity.”
For anyone who has recently put an addition on their home, updated a kitchen or remodeled a bath, they know it isn't necessarily a cheap proposition. But why do we do it? There are two basic reasons: We enjoy the results for ourselves, and we look forward to it making our house more valuable. I think we need to frame our thinking of the investment in our community in a similar way.
The city administration, council and the hundreds of volunteers that regularly serve our community all want to see Montgomery continue to improve its services, amenities and appearance. That’s why you have seen — and will continue to see — efforts to find new and exciting projects that are designed to “raise the bar”.
Hopefully you recently saw in the news that Montgomery was recognized for its “walk-ability”, a testament to previous planning and commitment to a ten year cycle of adding sidewalks throughout our community.
Believe it or not, there were people once upon a time who resisted, calling it an unnecessary expense. Fortunately, there were previous council members with the vision and willingness to push beyond that belief, and the results speak for themselves.
The “Parks Master Plan” has been a process that has sparked both excitement and concern over the current and proposed uses of our parks. The product of the many meetings, public discussions and well thought out concerns is a “priority list” of items that will — over time — improve the functionality and beauty, as well as expand the uses of our parks.
City Council is looking forward to hearing and sharing these recommendations and is committed to seeing some of these through over the next few years.
It is certain that some goals are longer term “great ideas” that will need serious debate as to their cost and benefit. Much like the sidewalks, this effort will slowly expand, and we will all see and benefit from the improvements as they take place in our parks.
It is a balancing act for a community to willingly commit important tax dollars to such projects as parks, sidewalks, brick pavers and flower pots. But now that we have come to enjoy these many luxuries, do we really want to give any of them up?
So if you see a new sidewalk project, or replacement of broken down pavers, ask yourself if you wouldn't do the same for your property. As proud “owners” of our city, we should all look forward to the implementation of the many small and larger projects that will continue to mark what Montgomery stands for – a beautiful, well planned community that continues to attract people to it.
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