March 6, 2007 - Volume 16, No. 10

a Winkler Company publication

Also featuring photos from our monthly supplement...

Oakwood home gets an award-winning kitchen

Jacks avenge last year’s loss against Stivers

Bout with Bishop Fenwick Thursday at UD Arena 5:30 pm

By King Merritt

The Oakwood boy’s basketball team continued their dream season Friday night at UD Arena. Facing the Stivers Tigers, who last year sent the Lumberjacks home early in the tournament, the Jacks had one thing on their minds - revenge. A tremendous rebounding effort by the Jacks accompanied by their stubborn defense turned into a 57-46 victory and a 19-2 record.

In front of a large crowd the Jacks took advantage of perimeter shooting by Will Merritt, hitting 3 three pointers, to take an early 19-10 lead in the after the first quarter.
The Tigers changed their defense to a “box and one” that shut down the perimeter game for the Jacks. Stivers speed and their ability to play above the rim took its toll on the Jacks, with two huge dunks by Nathan Davis and back-to-back three pointers by Terrance Morgan. Stivers went on a 12-2 run and had Oakwood on their heels most of the second quarter and at the half Stivers led 26-25.

Photo by Leon Chuck

Jon Richardson goes in for a lay-up.

The third period began with another trey by Terrance Morgan as Stivers took their largest lead of the night 29-25. With that the Jacks had had enough and went on a defensive stand. Scott Casebere ripped the ball from Stivers for three layups, a down court pass from Will Merritt to Jon Richardson, outstanding drives by leading scorer Chris Hardy and great inside defensive play by Jake Mays put the Lumberjacks back on top 41-35 to end the third period.

The fourth quarter was highlighted by the Jacks handling the press defense of Stivers. Great play by Robby Sherk taking care of the ball during the high pressure by Stivers. A very questionable call against Sherk brought the Oakwood faithful to their feet to show their “displeasure.” Hitting 12 fourth quarter free throws helped seal the win for the Lumberjacks.

Leading the scoring for Oakwood was Chris Hardy 14, Will Merritt 11, Robby Sherk 8, Scott Casebere 7, Jon Richardson 6, Will Garner 5, Tommy Lambert 4 and Jake Mays 2.

Oakwood will play Bishop Fenwick of Middletown this Thursday at UD Arena with a 5:30 start. The Jacks played Fenwick in the Tip Off Classic at UD this year and won a close game by five points. This will be a tough game for the Jacks and they need all the support the Oakwood community can muster. Let’s show our support of the Lumberjacks by wearing gold and bring the family, friends, relatives and neighbors to the game. Go Jacks!!!

City receives $6-million estate tax windfall

By Lance Winkler

Contrary to most of the public’s assumptions, the Oakwood City Council decided to table for further discussion the Sugar Camp development issue. Further exploration of the details and plans for the 36-acre residential, religious and business development will take place at the April 2 meeting of the Oakwood City Council. A vote to pass the Master Plan is also a possibility at that time.

A general overview of Sugar Camp’s historical background was presented by Deputy City Manager Jay Weiskircher followed by developer presentations and a number of experts dealing with the overall infrastructure of the future development such as water runoff, electrical, environmental and traffic patterns.

A handful of Oakwood citizens attended the meeting and asked questions and raised querulous voices at times concerning the project. Gene Burbey had questions about the new placement of electrical lines at the complex; Nancy Bain raised a number of questions dealing with water issues, trees and the environment; a number of citizens raised concerns about the impact of Sugar Camp on the schools. Tom Donnelly had concerns that a sports complex on-site would be in the interests of all concerned. Each was addressed in-turn by council-members, one of the specialists or developers.

Councilmember William Duncan announced that the city of Oakwood received a windfall estate tax distribution in February amounting to $5,921,037. According to an accompanying press release given out at the meeting, the distribution represents 75 percent of the current taxes due to Oakwood, with the remaining 25 percent to be distributed in April. In total, Oakwood’s 2007 estate tax collections as posted by the Montgomery County Auditor’s office through January 1, 2007 are $7,921,996.
This is the largest amount of estate tax that the city has ever received in a single distribution and reflects the most estate tax money that Oakwood has ever received in a single year.

“Needless to say, we are very excited about the opportunities that this revenue represents,” said Mayor Judy Cook. “We have informed our 37-citizen Budget Review Committee of the revenue and will be meeting with them some time in the next few weeks to discuss ideas for managing the funds and for possible future uses.”

During public discussion of the Sugar Camp issue and the peripheral soccer field acreage to the north of the complex recently acquired by the city, Oakwood City Manager Norbert Klopsch gave an indication that some of the money from this multi-million dollar estate tax windfall might be used to build a possible sports complex on some of the 26 acres owned by the city and announced that a group of citizens are going to be looking into such an opportunity in the near future.

Under Ohio law, City Finance Director Brad Beachdell has deposited the funds into the city’s General Fund. The funds can only be used if and when authorized through appropriation ordinances passed by the city council in open public meetings.

“We will be good stewards of these unexpected tax dollars, investing them cautiously in accordance with our conservative and time-tested city investment policy,” said Councilmember William Duncan, chair of council’s Finance Committee. “As far as spending goes, we will only consider new appropriations after receiving detailed input from our citizens and the Budget Review Committee.”

Councilmember Carlo McGinnis touched upon future plans for the Wright Brothers’ Hawthorn Hill estate. He announced that there will be a neighborhood meeting on Tuesday, March 20 at 7 p.m. at the city building to garner further suggestions and feedback regarding the plan to have regular tours of the home in the future.

The next formal meeting of the Oakwood City Council will be April 2, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.

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