Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Lebanon city councilman quits
McKenzie letter cites no reason
BY CINDI ANDREWS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — A city councilman unexpectedly resigned in a letter to council Tuesday night.
Joe McKenzie, who was appointed in June 1998 to complete three years of an unexpired term, gave no reason in the letter. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Council members expressed disappointment Tuesday. “I know we've had a lot of controversy on this council ... but I'm very sad that he's decided to leave,” said Councilwoman Amy Brewer.
Said colleague Ron Pandorf: “He wanted this job. Even though he has differences of opinions with people, he should still fulfill his responsibilities.”
Mr. McKenzie has been a vocal critic of telecommunica tions spending and of City Manager James Patrick.
Council will take requests to fill the term, which expires in November 2001, for the next two weeks.
In other action at Tuesday's council meeting, a developer got the OK to build 458 houses in southern Lebanon after three months of wrangling over a possible retail area, lot sizes and, most recently, landscaping.
Council voted 6-0 to approve rezoning 207 acres along Deerfield Road, clearing the way for Great Traditions Land & Development Co. to begin building Countryside. The developer answered concerns about the number of trees it would have, estimating 2,320 new trees would be planted and 1,800 existing trees would be kept.
“I think you've gotten the point that trees are important to this community,” said Councilman James Reinhard.
Countryside will have six neighborhoods, with houses ranging from $150,000 to $400,000. The rezoning will allow Great Traditions to make some of the lots smaller than usual in exchange for setting land aside for a 6-acre park and other community green space.
Neighbors, who had worried about the additional traffic and strain on the schools, are mostly resigned to the development, said Phil Post, a longtime Deerfield Road resident.
“I don't know anything you could really do about it,” Mr. Post said. “And I think what's going in there now could be an advantage over what they could have done.”
Also Tuesday, council approved digital cable rates for the city-owned telecommunications system. The digital package will cost $23.98 and give subscribers 60 channels more than regular cable. The digital-plus package, to cost $29.98, will offer almost 200 channels.
The vote enables the city to start offering digital service Monday, telecommunications director Jim Baldwin said. More than 300 residents have signed up for it, he said.
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