Cygnus

Everything back to normal from my employer's network.

Dominiating AM radio today... City manager: I didn't need to share parking lease memo with Cincinnati City Council Some council members upset, want special session By: Kevin Osborne, WCPO Digital Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. is defending his decision to withhold from City Council a highly critical memo of a 30-year lease of parking meters and garages, which has angered some council members. Although council is currently on its summer break, two members have said they will ask for a special session soon to discuss Dohoney’s action. As WCPO Digital first reported Sunday , city administrators received the memo June 20 from Walker Parking Consultants. The memo stated operating expenses and management fees included in the city’s controversial lease are excessive.The report remained undisclosed to City Council and to the public until sources began discussing its existence. Cont New parking lease documents show talks between city, port by Jane Prendergast New documents and emails between officials of the city and the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority show some of the back-and-forth that went on behind the scenes before and after the city and port signed the deal.parking meter The city actually signed it twice, according to one email. Once without the 75-day vetting period added by the port, then again on a new document with that time period included. Cont

If you're looking for a podcast filled with complete misinformation, check out Darryl Parks' 02/09/13 10AM hour. It had absolutely everything! Streetcar: route is Government Square to Findlay Market; won't go to The Banks/stadiums (e.g. 2M+ at GABP); won't go to Casino; won't go to any of the hotels (e.g. The Westin); only five "cars" were ordered so delays will be 10, 15, 20 minutes as there will only be two (total) streetcars, each being two cars tied together with the fifth car being a back-up; route to Uptown was canceled as streetcars can't make it up hills Calls from the suburbs and two from Indiana, one of which the guy stated the people who voted for this (Mayor & Council members) are clearly getting kick-backs into their retirement and the FBI should be investigating. And it was all capped off with Tom Luken calling in saying the bids (this was prior to them being released) were sealed so that the city could work deals with the contractors and then the fix would be in.

Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati parking may come with heavy price tag Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati is expected to release information about parking rates in the next few weeks, but if they are at all similar to the parking rates at the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland, patrons will have to pay anywhere from $10 to $40 for parking. The $400 million casino will house a 2,500-space parking garage, which will be operational when the casino opens on March 4. Representatives of Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati suggest that the parking operations may be similar to Cleveland's Horseshoe Casino. Parking at the Cleveland casino can be validated only if a patron spends $25 in the gift shop, plays one hour of poker or uses their reward card member status after gambling for 30 minutes. Cont

A Duke Energy representative will be on Scott Sloan's 700WLW show at 10:06 AM.

Waiting with bated breath... From @BarryHorstman's Twitter feed: High construction bids create another rocky patch for Cincinnati streetcar project. Coming in Thursday's Cincy Enquirer. @CinciEnquirer

Forty-five pages of light reading: Cincinnati-Streetcar-Bid-Tabulation.pdf

One tenant to go at Tower Place Mall Tower Place Mall, Cincinnati’s all-but-deserted downtown shopping mall, is down to its last tenant. I reported last week that I Love Cincinnati Shoppe was holding out for a relocation deal. Not sure what it got, but owner Dan Werling said Tuesday he’s moving this week to a spot in the Carew Tower arcade. That’s maybe a couple hundred feet away, on the same second-story level. Werling said because he needs exposure to tourists and hotels, “I’m limited in where I can go. A block up the street and nobody’s going to find me. It’s not like I can go to Tri-County Mall or Kenwood Towne Centre. When you go to Florida, the souvenir shops are on the beach.” He’ll be moving into vacant space next to Smoothie King, which is right next to the skywalk over Fifth Street. Cont

Looking forward to the Michael Moore episode. The Director of Transportation and Engineering Michael Moore...

Fort Washington Investment Advisors is in 303 Broadway and I believe Lafayette Life Insurance is in the tower.

John Cranley on during Scott Sloan's 9 o'clock hour with this "breaking news": "The streetcar bids were due on Friday and they were advertised to be read and publically available on Friday. And the city arbitrarily decided to keep those bids secret, after they were released on Friday. Which, you know, I smell a rat. I bet you, that we will, well we gotta see what they say. You would have to believe that there is a good chance that the bids are coming in far, far higher and more expensive than what they been trying to sell to the public on."

From @BarryHorstman's Twitter feed: 3 companies submit bids to build Cincy streetcar project, according to City Hall. Firm picked to build cars also gets OK. @CinciEnquirer

Cincinnati Parks Facebook Page just posted this: PNC Bank announces a $450k grant to Smale Riverfront Park for the Grow Up Great Adventure Playground!

Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati plans complimentary shuttle service with partner hotels With less than a month to go until the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati opens, management took another step forward Wednesday in the final preparations for the grand opening. The casino will partner with seven downtown hotels to offer a complimentary shuttle service to and from the $400-million facility, which will operate from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to a statement released by Rock Gaming LLC and Caesars Entertainment Corporation. The Cincinnatian Hotel, the 21c Museum Hotel Cincinnati, Garfield Suites Hotel, Hyatt Regency Cincinnati, Residence Inn Marriott Cincinnati, SpringHill Suites Cincinnati and The Westin Cincinnati have all partnered with the casino. Cont

Barry has been busy today...

My issue was resolved by having my work's IP address removed from Project Honey Pot's blacklist. Not sure how it made it there...

Listening to the streaming of today's County Commission meeting and Monzel mentioned he'd be at tomorrow's groundbreaking of a 4 story, 280,000 sq ft building with 5000 ft of parking (???) and 35,000 sq ft of retail. Was unable to "rewind" to clarify what was said. I'd also expect today's City Council meeting to have mentions of the groundbreaking.

^^ Exactly. Installing rail, catenary poles, and shelter could begin at the same time as the OTR loop.

I'm not a fan of fire escapes, especially when they are on the building's facade. 21c removed the Metropole's fire escape on Gano St. Does anyone know if this was as a result of stairs being added or fire suppression system being installed. Or perhaps both?

I was having this exact discussion with a mutual friend this past weekend. I would think that all construction south of Third Street (maybe even 4th Street?) could be completed with very little fuss. Granted this is a very small portion of the route, but it would send a clear message to downtown/ballpark visitors that the project is indeed underway.

Not to derail this thread with non-streetcar news/discussion, but I found the end of this rant, and it's anonymous comment, to be hilarious. The pot calling the kettle black. COAST: Rob Richardson's obsession with Smitherman continues ... "COAST has a few words of advice for Richardson: Move on. It's over. The NAACP election has been decided. Chill out. You lost. Deal with it. End the bitterness." 1 comment: Anonymous January 28, 2013 at 8:41 AM COAST's obsession with Streetcar continues Here are a few words of advice for COAST: Move on. It's over. The Mayor, two City Council, and two ballot initiatives have been decided. Chill out. You lost. Deal with it. End the bitterness.

^Here is the post: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,333.msg654792.html#msg654792 (Enquirer link is dead)

If I recall correctly, I-71 from downtown to the lateral was last resurfaced during the summer of 99.

Been meaning to post this since the groundbreaking late last year: The Ohio Alleycat Resource & Spay/Neuter Clinic (OAR) on Orlando Place in Madisonville was finally able to raise enough money to construct a new building for the shelter portion of their operations. The Joanie Bernard Home for Cats is a much needed upgrade and will also allow OAR to remodel it's current building to expand the Spay/Neuter Clinic. Check out the new building's design as well as construction update photos here: http://www.thejoaniebernardhomeforcats.org/