Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners: May 22, 2025

The meeting was held, as it is normally, at the Todd B. Portune Center for County Government, 138 E. Court St., in downtown Cincinnati. Room 603, the usual meeting site, was full of spectators and presenters, two of the three commissioners, an assistant county prosecutor, county administrator, assistant commission clerk and chief clerk. The meeting, scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., began at 11:09 a.m. with silent prayer and Pledge of Allegiance. It adjourned at 12:31 p.m. when the commissioners went into executive session to discuss the sale or acquisition of property.

Commissioners present

• Denise Driehaus, president
• Alicia Reece
• Stephanie Summerow Dumas (excused)
• Jeff Aluotto, county administrator
• Patrick Dressing, assistant prosecuting attorney 

Presentations

The county commissioners on Thursday proclaimed May as Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Month throughout Hamilton County and recognized three area business leaders for their work in honoring the theme for 2025, “A legacy for their work in honoring the theme for 2025, “A Legacy of Leadership and Resilience.” The board proclaimed May 22, 2025, as Bimal Patel Day in Hamilton County; May 23, 2025, as Hideki Haranda Day, and May 24, 2025, as Jay Bedi Day.

Bedi, an entrepreneur and hospitality professional with more than 25 years of experience, founded LDI Hospitality. He is the former CEO of Elements Event Centre & Limousine Services.

Harada, owner of Sen by Kiki inside Findlay Market, has garnered national attention, Harada recently opened Daruma on Court Street, a Japanese convenience store, and re-opened his nationally acclaimed restaurant Kiki in Clifton. He opened Kaze, his first restaurant in Cincinnati, in 2012.

Patel began his career working in restaurants and then began running seven hotels for an independent hotel company in Lexington, Kentucky. That experience inspired him to open Rolling Hills Hospitality in 2005. Rolling Hills, which started with a contract to manage a single hotel and has grown 20 years later to control more than 15 hotels with several more in the pipeline in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. Patel also serves on Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Board of Directors, joining the Cincinnati Branch board of the Bank in 2024. 

Public Comments

Both commenters spoke in favor of Item 4, the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) project to install an anaerobic digester at the Little Miami Wastewater Treatment Plant in the city’s East End, but cautioned that PFAS – forever chemicals – and other contaminants could find their way into the facility through sludge treated there.

Comments/Motions

Reece:

         * Asked the administration for a report about the pollen levels in the county and tips Hamilton County Public Health can pass along to the public.

            * Called attention to Hamilton County Military and Veterans Appreciation Day, scheduled for Aug. 23 at Sawyer Point. The event is to offer displays, music, food, fireworks, and mobile units to help veterans sign up for benefits on the spot. She asked the administration to add a link to the registration from the 513 Relief Bus website.

            * Challenged Generocity 513 to show what it is doing to alleviate the homeless issue. She expressed concern about the number of homeless she has continued to see from the Courthouse to the Kroger store and no sign of anyone from Generocity 513, which is supposed to offer services (housing, counseling, etc.). County Administrator Jeff Aluotto said there is a difference between providing services and moving people out of the area. Reece said the county has given the organization $125,000 and wants it or someone to create a pilot program to deal with homelessness in the Courthouse area..

Driehaus:

·   Met with members of Congress who represent Southwest Ohio to remind them about the amount of federal money that comes to the county.

Aluotto introduced two by-leaves, which the commissioners approved unanimously:

         * BL-1: To support the issuance of $35 million in Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds by the Port Authority focused on affordable housing in Colerain Township. The Port, not the county, will assume the debt, Aluotto said.

         * BL-2: To authorize the execution of a 10-year, $5.22 million contract with Cincinnati Animal CARE for Animal Services.

Regular Agenda

The agenda featured 23 items:

ITEM 1: The board approved a resolution authorizing spending $59,917 to hire a local company to perform underwater inspections of six bridges in the county for 2025. The county has no divers to do the work, so AECOM Technical Services, Inc., will be hired.

ITEM 2. Pulled

ITEM 3. The board approved a resolution amending the 2025 Capital Improvement Program to proceed on a project with the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati to build household sewage treatment systems (HSTS) for two single-family properties in the 6300 block of Upper Road, along Cleves Warsaw Pike in Delhi Township, and eliminate two other single-family properties at the same addresses. The HSTSs that serve the properties now are “actively creating nuisance conditions,” according to county Public Health.

A citizen petition in 2010 triggered the project, which originally included four parcels on Upper Road. An additional property was later incorporated into the project when owners asked for a sewer lateral in 2017. Risks and costs associated with the topography and potential hillside instability prompted MSD to continue with a smaller project at the two parcels, which will save MSD money, reduce project risk and address nuisance conditions.

There will be no increase to the total capital budget for 2025, according to MSD. The project is to be completed in January 2026.

ITEM 4. The board approved a resolution to spend $167, 898,122 amending the 2025 CIP to add the MSD’s Little Miami Wastewater Treatment Plant Solids Disposal Odor Control project and OK a revised sewerage plan for the facility on Wilmer Avenue in Cincinnati’s East End neighborhood. The project is to upgrade solids handling at the plant, which now is limited to landfilling its wastewater solids – not a sustainable solids management option that leaves MSD vulnerable to increases in landfill tip fees, according to MSD. The project also is needed because the plant’s solids handling system is reaching the end of its useful life and lacks adequate odor control, contributing to odor complaints, MSD said.

According to the plan. MSD will install an anaerobic digester system to transform wastewater solids into biogas and biosolids, install systems to beneficially use the biogas onsite and upgrade the solids processing facilities.

Ryan Welsh, representing MSD, responded to the concerns of the people who spoke during the public comment period, saying MSD agrees that it is important to keep PFAS solids out of the food chain. He noted that MSD will be monitoring what is coming into and flowing out of the facility the next three years. Whether the sludge the facility is and will be handling is contaminated depends on what people flush, put into washing machines and put down their drains, Welsh said.

The $167,898,122 is needed to continue and complete the work to meet the Internal Revenue Code expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (MSD is pursuing an investment tax credit for the project, which has a total estimated cost of $216,624,894).

Consent Agenda

Items 5 and 6: The board accepted the county auditor’s statement of transactions, as well as the actions taken by the county administrator, for April 2025.

Item 7: Pulled from the agenda

Item 8: The board adopted a $442,123 budget adjustment for state grants involving county municipal court ($114,000) and federal grants involving environmental services ($328,000).

Item 9: The board accepted, for the record, $3,377,703 in bid awards and contracts the purchasing department OK’d or executed for April 2025

Item 10: The board OK’d a recommendation to spend $1,200,000 with Motorola Solutions, Inc., for new microwave radio network transmitters and receivers for the county’s emergency communications center.

Item 11: The board OK’d its $1,081.586 award for the Community Alternative Sentencing Center, an agreement between Talbert House, Inc., and county municipal probation department.

Item 12: Reece questioned this resolution approving spending $398,159.46 to install and replace access systems and cameras at Paycor Stadium. She wanted to know how many more projects will be coming before the commission between May 22 and June 30 in light of ongoing lease negotiations with the Bengals. She wanted to know whether the access and camera upgrades needed to be done immediately. She also wanted to know what was discussed in several meetings between the county and the Bengals in April. Aluotto said the expenditure in Item 12 was part of the 2024 budget and not among the upgrades commissioners recently agreed to making.

Item 13: The board authorized spending $15,000, on behalf of county environmental services solid waste management district, as part of an agreement with the Cincinnati Board of Health

Item 14: The board authorized spending $14,790 on behalf of the county solid waste management district, as part of an agreement with Xavier Jesuit Academy.

Item 15: The board authorized spending $866,500, on behalf of county jobs and family services, as part of an agreement with Gordrell Enterprises LLC for group home services. Gordrell does business as ASUR Counseling and Treatment.

Item 16: The board authorized  the spending of $25,000 for the county administrator to enter an agreement with CincySmiles Foundation.

Item 17: The board authorized the spending of $100,000 for the county administrator to enter an agreement with Found House-Interfaith Housing Network.

Item 18: The board authorized  the spending of $100,000 for the county administrator to enter into an agreement with the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati on its new shelter.

Item 19: The board received, for the record, the sheriff’s office filing no objection to five liquor permit applications from Hawkstone Associates Inc. for one gas station in Delhi Township, and four gas stations in Green Township.

Item 20: The board OK’d two coroner’s employees to travel at Long Beach, California, and two to Columbus, Ohio, at county expense.

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcincinnati.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

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