2024 In Review | Government

• By YS News Staff
• Published: December 30, 2024

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Village Government

January

• At Village Council’s first meeting of the year, Trish Gustafson was sworn in to serve a two-year term, succeeding Marianne MacQueen who chose not to run for reelection and stepped down from Council after serving ten years. Having received the first and second highest number of votes in the last election, Council members Carmen Brown and Gavin DeVore Leonard were also sworn in to serve four-year terms.

• Council approved legislation that authorized then-Interim Village Manager Johnnie Burns to enter into a lease agreement with the YS Community Foundation to occupy the Village-owned building at 201 S. Walnut St.

• Council agreed to enter into a contract with village resident and commercial realtor Allison Moody to market and list for sale the Center for Business and Education — which has been for sale for over 10 years.

• Burns was authorized to execute a $375,000 settlement with JNT Excavating, LLC, an area company that defaulted last summer on their contracts to work on a water main extension project, as well as to build out a galvanized water line project.

• For the first time since the Village purchased the Lawson Place Apartments in November 2021, Council members voted affirmatively to formally evict a tenant.

February

• Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

• Burns was sworn in to permanently fill the Village Manager role. Burns’ appointment came after nearly six months of serving in an interim capacity following former Village Manager Josue Salmeron’s resignation last fall 2023. Burns, a Xenia resident, is the Village’s 11th full-time manager; he has been with the Village since 2014, when he was hired as electric superintendent.

Following Tuesday’s Village Council regular meeting, on Tuesday, Feb. 20, Johnnie Burns was officially sworn in as Yellow Springs’ 11th full-time village manager. Since last August, when previous manager Josué Salmerón resigned, Burns has been acting as the interim manager, while at the same time, carrying out his duties as public works director — a position he’s held since 2018. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)

March

• With unanimous consent from Council members, the Village was able to purchase new street light poles for Xenia Avenue between Limestone and Davis streets.

• Council recognized the mutual aid agreement of the American Municipal Power system, which connected the Village with crews from Piqua, Tipp City and Wapakoneta — all of whom quickly responded to the downing of several electric poles and lines around town during a Feb. 28 storm.

• YS Police Chief Paige Burge provided Council members with some cursory data and police procedures regarding noise complaints made in 2023; there were 104 in total.

April

• At the behest of Council and Planning Commission, Village Planning and Zoning Administrator Meg Leatherman gave a presentation on inclusionary zoning and housing, and recommended some changes that would pave the way for more diverse housing options in Yellow Springs.

• Council turned its attention to the Village’s municipal broadband pilot program, which since early 2022, has given over 100 homes and businesses a local Wi-Fi option. Also in April, Burns requested approval to partner with Altafiber, Inc. — formerly Cincinnati Bell — to continue to build out the local broadband network.

• Council approved a resolution to grant $7,963 in waived tap fees for the first building phase of The Cascades — a planned 32-unit senior housing project that broke ground in September.

• Manager Burns reported that the April 8 total solar eclipse was “one of the best events ever” he’d been a part of in Yellow Springs. On the 100 porta-potties and handwashing stations placed throughout the village on April 8, the Village spent $10,000.

May

• Council voted to amend the Village zoning code such that some new residential and commercial developments are required to include bicycle parking options. 

• In an end-of-2023 report Police Chief Burge provided Council, she noted that for the first time since she assumed leadership of the local police force in 2021, her department was fully staffed. At the time, it was composed of 19 employees: seven dispatchers, one community outreach specialist, one property manager and 10 officers.

• Council approved a resolution to renew the building lease for John Bryan Community Pottery.

• Burns announced the receipt of a $1.7 million grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation to connect the sidewalk on Yellow Springs-Fairfield Road from Ridgecrest Drive to the Little Miami Scenic Trail. The project is slated for completion in 2028.

• Council agreed to permanently move its meetings from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of each month.

• Village crews erected rapid flashing beacons at three intersections near downtown Yellow Springs.

Village native and 2011 YSHS graduate Elyse Giardullo filled a new Village position: project lead. Giardullo’s first job in her new role is to compile a strategic plan for the Village — a forward-facing roadmap for local decision-makers to use for years to come. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)

June

• Village native Elyse Giardullo was hired as the Village project lead. In the coming years, her work will generate local data analytics, research and more that will help the village manager, Council members and others to make better, future-oriented decisions. She also plans to lead efforts to create a long-term strategic plan for the Village.

• Village Council agreed to pay $49,088.97 to the Miami Valley Educational Computer Association to cover the costs of the municipal broadband pilot project.

• Several Village utility workers headed west to Navajo Nation to participate in the “Light Up Navajo” mutual aid initiative to connect Native American residents living without power to an electrical grid for the first time.

July

• Council members offered their support for the municipal efforts to replace all 1,780 residential water meters in Yellow Springs, and replace them all with new meters that can be read remotely.

• Crews began work on draining, cleaning and painting the second municipal water tower at Gaunt Park — the final phase of the two-year plan. Both water towers lost their iconic yellow bands and are now blue.

• Council granted $40,000 to the Yellow Springs Development Corporation, or YSDC, for the purpose of contributing to funding a part-time director position for the organization. To date, YSDC has yet to fill the vacant position.

• The Village entered into a contract with Filmore Construction to expand the parking lot at the Village-owned Lawson Place Apartments.

Village crew members — superintendent Ben Sparks, foreman Tanner Bussey, lineman Lane Dykeman, apprentice lineman Alex Kraus and groundman Lucas Valley — spent a week earlier this summer electrifying homes on the Navajo reservation. (Submitted photo)

August

• Council members voted unanimously to modify the Village’s Utility Round-Up Program upon hearing of the fund’s $3,680 deficit. To correct that, Council placed a limitation on the number of times per year residents may request assistance with their utility bills. Whereas previously local residents could ask for $400 to cover utility costs twice over 12 months, residents can now only request that amount once per year.

• Council approved a resolution to fund the Village Electric Crew’s participation in the Light Up Navajo Nation Project for 2025 in an amount not to exceed $20,000.

• Council approved an emergency ordinance that transferred $900,000 from the Village’s electric operating fund to the electric capital improvement fund — money that came from a sale of some of the Village’s renewable energy credits from 2021–2022.

September

• Planning Commission members approved a phase two final plat application from DDC Management;, a conditional use application from Ruetschle Architects on behalf of the Village School District; as well as a zoning map amendment to rezone 3.612 acres of school district-owned land.

• Council approved a resolution that supported the passage of Issue 1 in the general November election, and endorsed the Citizens Not Politicians campaign.

• On Sept. 25, Village Council and the Yellow Springs Board of Education held a joint meeting in the gymnasium at Mills Lawn Elementary to discuss the low-income housing tax credit project.

• Public Works, Miami Township Fire-Rescue and local citizens worked for several days in late September to restore power to those local residents affected by Hurricane Helene remnant weather.

Officer Doug Andrus retired in October after serving in Yellow Springs for 17 years. (Submitted photo by Ben Guenther)

October

• Council voted to follow Planning Commission’s earlier recommendation to rezone the 3.6 acres of school district-owned land from low-density residential to high-density residential.

• Council approved the final plat plan for the 90-home Spring Meadows subdivision. Construction is ongoing.

• Council voted to amend a section of the Village Code, “Sale and Reinvestment of Renewable Energy Credits,” such that the energy credit policy is subject to review upon the advice of the village manager.

• Council granted $113,000 from the Green Space Fund to Tecumseh Land Trust for the purpose of conserving farmland outside of the Village’s Urban Service Boundary. The land in question is the 184-acre farmland owned by the Welch family — farmland that was listed for sale in December.

• Police Officer Doug Andrus retired after serving in Yellow Springs for 17 years.

November

• The Village installed three permanent speed humps — two on Yellow Springs-Fairfield Road and one on Limestone Street — in the latest attempt to slow traffic within and coming into Yellow Springs.

• The Yellow Springs Active Transportation Committee partnered with the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission to host a “walking audit” of downtown Yellow Springs.

• Continuing a 130-year-old tradition, Village crews distributed flour and sugar to approximately 80 local widows and widowers.

December

• Amid ample holiday cheer, the Village tree was lit on Dec. 7.

• Village Council approved the 2025 budget of $18,102,489. Within that budget is more than $5.2 million in appropriations for the general fund, 39% of which — over $2 million — is for public safety, which is the largest yearly budget the local police department has ever had. Despite significant public pushback, Council voted to exclude a request for $180,000 from Home, Inc. for assistance in building the second phase of The Cascades project.

Village Finance Director Michelle Robsinson stated that the 2025 budget is “mostly balanced.”

As the News reported this spring, Kauser was originally hired by the Township as a consultant in May after trustees came to an impasse when trying to determine whether or not MTFR could afford to reclassify three firefighter/EMTs as full-time, pensioned employees. (Photo courtesy of Lew Griffin Insurance)

Miami Township

Silliman retires; GunderKline starts

After serving Miami Township for 24 years,  longtime Fiscal Officer Margaret Silliman gave her final fiscal report Monday, March 18, and was celebrated with a party and copious thanks from her fellow Township employees. Her successor, Jeanna GunderKline, who was elected in fall of 2023, was sworn in the following month.

Millage reduced on fire station levy

In March, Miami Township Trustees reported that local millage rates for a 2.4-mill levy passed in 2017 to fund the construction of the current fire station have been reduced over the last two years. The $5.75 million price tag for the fire station, and associated millage rate, was based on the Greene County auditor’s expectation of a 5.8% interest rate.

However, the Township received a loan for the building from the U.S. Department of Agriculture with a fixed interest rate of 3%, which effectively lowered the total cost of the build and reduced tax revenue for the levy to 1 mill.

Full-time approved; consultant hired

Beginning in April this year, the Miami Township Trustees and Miami Township Fire-Rescue, or MTFR, faced a question that fire-rescue agencies in small communities across the state are continuously considering: What’s the best way to balance operations costs with the need for adequate shift staffing and long-term employee retention?

The question was precipitated by a resolution proposed by Chief Dennis Powell to reclassify three part-time employees as full-time, qualifying them for retirement pensions. Powell made the case that reclassifying the employees would be within the Township’s budget by reducing the amount of overtime paid by MTFR, as full-time staff must meet a higher baseline of hours before they enter overtime pay. At the same time, he put forth that additional retirement pensions would be an incentive to keep employees on MTFR’s roster.

Trustees worried that, because Ohio law requires local governments to contribute 24% of a full-time firefighter’s salary to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, reclassifying three employees could exhaust the Township’s budget.

In May, the Township contracted with Fred Kauser, a 40-year firefighter and organizational consultant with a Ph.D. in workforce development and education to make recommendations on Chief Powell’s proposed resolution. Kauser’s investigation concluded that it would cost the Township about $27,000 in additional pension funds annually to reclassify three employees as full-time, but that about $20,000 in annual overtime pay would be eliminated. The trustees unanimously voted to approve Powell’s proposed resolution as a result of Kauser’s investigation.

In October, the Trustees voted to contract with Kauser for approximately one year to continue studying and reporting on the current organizational practices of both the Township and MTFR and ways to improve those practices moving forward, including staffing models and budget planning.

Trustees approve funding for TLT

In August, the Trustees voted to commit $113,000 to Tecumseh Land Trust, or TLT, for the possible conservation of farmland on the western edge of Miami Township. TLT was eyeing land along Dayton Yellow-Springs Road, outside the village’s urban service boundary, that is likely to come up for auction in the coming year. The land has been identified by TLT and the Village as a priority for conservation against future development.

2024 Election

Republicans sweep, Issue 1 fails

Donald Trump was elected the next President of the United States at the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Meanwhile, at the state level, Republican candidate Bernie Moreno prevailed over three-term Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in the race for U.S. Senate. In electing Moreno, Ohio flipped its seat, giving Republicans an edge over control of the U.S. Senate.

Republicans also swept the state race for Ohio Supreme Court seats, with the wins of Joe Deters, Megan Shanahan and Dan Hawkins bringing the state’s Supreme Court to a 6–1 Republican majority.

Area races were also taken by Republican candidates: Yellow Springs resident Krista Magaw’s race for Ohio House, 73rd District — which encompasses all of Clinton County, eastern Greene County and a southern portion of Clark County — was lost to Republican newcomer Levi Dean. Democratic candidate Dan McGregor, who ran for the State Senate in the 10th District, lost to Republican Kyle Koehler. Amy Cox’s bid for 10th District U.S. Representative was lost to incumbent Mike Turner.

Ohio voters rejected the anti-gerrymandering Issue 1; the proposed constitutional amendment would have created a citizen-led redistricting committee, removing lawmakers from the process.

—Lauren “Chuck” Shows and Reilly Dixon

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