January 31, 2010 Update from Dave Berger

Greetings, Ladies and Gents!

Today’s bright sunshine is terrific, despite the cold temperatures. I hope to find a little time for some exercise with Smokey in Faurot Park, and hope too that your Sunday is pleasant and enjoyable as we prepare for the coming week’s endeavors.

Lima’s Future with High Speed Rail

As you may be aware, this past Thursday, announcements were made around the country for the first federal commitments to building the initial sections of our nation’s high speed passenger rail systems. I and many others have been hoping that the planned route through Lima would be among those first commitments. I drove to Columbus and joined in the celebration at the Statehouse as Governor Strickland and others announced the commitment to the 3 C corridor (i.e., Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati).

For details, please click on the following link: http://209.51.133.155/cms/index.php/news_releases/more/ohio_rail_routes_win_600_million_in_federal_funds/

Though the route through Lima was not among those announced, several things should be kept in mind:

- This really was the FIRST set of commitments, which, of course, implies that there will be future ones as well. Lima is a part of the Ohio Hub Plan and there are 7 major corridors in that plan, and only 1 corridor is now funded. Our job is to continue to work vigorously to see that the entire Ohio Hub Plan is built.

- Thursday’s announcement included a commitment to the Chicago to Detroit route. This will include improvements through Porter, Indiana and as such will help to solve the N. Indiana bottleneck that does impact all routes to the east, including ours. So there is an indirect benefit for us in Lima and Ohio.

- Active support matters! As I joined in the celebration at the Statehouse it was clear that community and political support was essential to obtaining the federal commitment. We must continue to build active support from our 4^th Congressional District and the Ohio and Indiana communities along the proposed route. The build out of these high speed regional systems is a nationally competitive process, and those who compete well as a team with all of their community and leadership assets will be the winners!

There is an insightful article in Wired magazine illustrating these regional systems. Check it out by clicking on the following link: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/01/ff_fasttrack/

So, rather than being discouraged that we were not among the first, let’s remain energized and committed to assuring that Lima truly has a future with our nation’s high speed passenger rail system!

Chamber of Commerce’s 2010 Forecast Breakfast remarks

Friday morning, bright and early, the Lima Chamber of Commerce held its annual Forecast Breakfast. I was invited to deliver a 3-4 minute prognostication, which is reprinted below. Feel free to share with others.

2010 will be very, very busy for the City of Lima. Years of planning and engineering are coming to a head on multiple projects.

Through the sustained efforts of the Community Development staff, the city was able to secure $1.7 million in Neighborhood Stabilization funds. Beginning last fall, we identified a list of approximately 250 dilapidated houses and are aggressively pursuing their demolition. Efforts in our first target area on S. Pine are well underway, and similar efforts will now spread to other areas in the city in 2010, all this work being done to clear pockets of blight for long-term redevelopment.

Our west side reservoir project–at $28 million, the single biggest capital expenditure in the history of the City–has made good progress and will continue to come up out of the ground this year. Work on the Auglaize river pump station and 3 miles of connecting pipeline is progressing. The excavation for the 5 billion gallon reservoir itself will begin anew once the spring thaw has taken place. This new water resource will make us drought-proof while providing opportunities for economic and industrial growth.

We also have $10 million in equipment upgrades underway at the wastewater treatment facility and are expecting to ramp up a new $12 million activated carbon filter project for drinking water treatment in coming weeks. This project is required under federal regulations to be on line in 2012, but we are hoping to take advantage of the current bidding environment by moving the project aggressively ahead for a ground breaking yet this summer. This filtering process will make our great Lima water even better.

We have finished the detailed design and engineering for the Vine Street underpass, and the project is heading for bidding in March. The project now totals more than $15 million and is funded largely through a combination of stimulus funding and the city’s gas tax and license tag fees. City staff, outside engineers and consultants have been burning the midnight oil in order to meet the deadlines for this project! This underpass has been designed to be aesthetically pleasing, and will not be just a concrete canyon..

Other stimulus projects involving two storm water projects on the west and north sides have been bid, as is a sewer lining project. These total $900,000 in stimulus funding.

As you may be aware, after nearly 3 years of collaboration with Downtown Lima and other stakeholders, the city has prepared specifications for the renewal of the downtown streetscape. Additionally, we succeeded in securing a grant of $1.2 million for funding 80% of the project. By putting together a package for matching funds, we are hoping to avoid assessments to the property owners and yet to be under construction in Lima’s downtown this summer.

Last fall, the bids came in too high for the JRS project on S. Main. We are now out to bid again, expecting that new bids will be more competitive. This project is expected to cost roughly $1.2 million. In all there are a dozen Public Works projects, including the rebuilding of University Boulevard, that will be underway this year at costs totalling $14 million.

In summary, the city of Lima has roughly $65 million in capital construction projects moving ahead in 2010. Truly, an unprecedented year that will create jobs and will make long term investments in our community’s infrastructure, improving our quality of life and increasing our economic development prospects.

The Automotive Communities Program of the Center for Automotive Research

For about 5 years now, I have chaired the Lima Automotive Task Force and we have been engaged in promoting the region’s automotive industrial base. As a part of these efforts, we are members of the Automotive Communities Program and information about Lima is currently highlighted at their website. Please visit by clicking on the following link: http://acp.cargroup.org/

Take care. And be well.

Dave

David & Linda Berger

1211 Lakewood Avenue

Lima, Ohio 45805

419-228-7498

dberger@wcoil.com