summer-fall 2008 voice of the mill creek newsletter, mill creek watershed council

8/9/2019 Summer-Fall 2008 Voice of the Mill Creek Newsletter, Mill Creek Watershed Council

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Thirteenth Year Summer/Fall 2008Page 1

N E W S L E T T E R E D I T O R : T A R A M A D D O C K , P H . D .

MILL CREEKAND AMBERLEY VILLAGEPARTNERON RAIN GARDEN

The Mill Creek Watershed Council and Amberley Village received a $5,000 mini-

grant from the Hamilton County Storm Water District (HCSWD) for partial funding of

the rain garden currently under construction at Ridge Road and Section Road in Amberley

Village. The rain garden is a storm water management demonstration project that will

improve water quality and reduce flooding potential from storm water runoff that flows

into Amberley Creek on the south side of Section

Road. The Village and Cincinnati Zoo and

Botanical Garden both received mini-grants from

the HCSWD program, which was created to

promote education about storm water

management and pollution prevention. This

initiative is part of a larger effort by the EPA to

protect waterways from contaminated storm water

runoff, a major source of pollution in 40% of the

water resources that failed to meet water quality

standards in the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory.

The rain garden concept was first proposed two years ago by the Beautification

Committee, chaired by Vice-Mayor Merrie Stillpass. In seeking the mini-grant, the Village

partnered with the non-profit Mill Creek Watershed Council of Communities, which

Stillpass said provided invaluable assistance with the application process, and JF New fordesign oversight. Steve Rasfeld, Amberleys Public Works Supervisor, worked closely with

Diantha Decker of the Council to choose plants and oversee construction of the rain

garden. Rain gardens are becoming an increasingly popular and effective technique in the

effort to control the quality and flow rate of runoff resulting from rainstorms and snow

melt. They combine the use of native plants with extensive root systems that permit water

to seep deeper into the ground, filtering out pollutants, slowing the water rate and reducing

flooding. We hope residents will visit the rain garden and read the signs and other

educational materials that explain its function. This is also an excellent opportunity for

students, landscapers, and people from other communities to learn the techniques and

principles of rain garden storm water management and apply them in problem areas

throughout Greater Cincinnati and beyond, Stillpass said.

(This article originally appeared in the Summer 2008 edition of Amberley Village NewsPhotos and story courtesy of Tracy McMullen.)

BOARDOFTRUSTEES

OFFICERS

MaryLynn Lodor, Chair

Christine Thompson, Vice-Chair

Mark Policinski, Treasurer

TRUSTEES

Frank Birkenhauer

Melanie Brokaw

Jack Cameron

John Dowlin, Emeritus

Richard Ellison

Robert Harrison

John Hunter

Bruce Koehler

Bob Lentz

Anne Lyon

Melanie McNulty

Dr. Michael Miller

Cecil Osborn

Tony Parrott

Kevin Reynolds

Kimberley York

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORTara Maddock, Ph.D.

One North Commerce Park Drive

Suite 124

Cincinnati, Ohio 45215

513.563.8800 (phone)

513.563.8810 (fax)

[email protected]

(email)

www.millcreekwatershed.org

In This Issue:

2008 Carp Diem 5K, Page 2

Vote for a Clean Ohio, Page 2

Coney Island Rain Garden, Pg. 2

Celebrate the Creek, Page 3

Springdale Rain Gardens, Page 3

Water Resources Grant, Page 4

VOICEICEOFFTHEHE MMILLLL CCREEKEEK


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Summer/Fall 2008P age 2

JOIN US FORTHE 4TH ANNUAL CARP DIEM

5K RUN/WALKON SUNDAY, SEPT. 28

Seize the day at the 4th annual Carp Diem 5K Run/Walk at the Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum. Walk or

run with your family and friends or simply enjoy the beautiful and historic grounds of Spring Grove, formed in 1845 by the

Cincinnati Horticultural Society. All proceeds go to our organization and help support our ongoing efforts to improve the Mill

Creek Watershed, its communities, and the more than 450,000 watershed residents.

This fun event takes place on Sunday, September 28. Registration to walk or run begins at 7:30 a.m. with the

race/walk starting at 9:00 a.m. Individuals and teams may register. For additional details and advance registration, visit

www.millcreekwatershed.org or call 513-563-8800.

The crowd of Carp Diem runners ready at the

start line last year.CDS Participants Gary Heitkamp, John Eisen-mann (President), and his wife, Pat, enjoy the

2007 Carp Diem.

VOTE TO PROTECTOHIOS RESOURCES

On November 4, voters in our community and all

across Ohio will have the opportunity to vote to protect

and preserve Ohio's quality of life through the renewal of

the existing Clean Ohio Fund by voting Yes on Issue 2. It

will ensure quality of life for all Ohioans by preserving

natural areas and farmland and protecting waterways. It

will also help clean up polluted industrial sites, helping to

stimulate economic development in urban areas creating

high-quality jobs and investment.

Clean Ohio won't raise taxes. It will be paid with state

bonds and existing state revenue. Passage of Clean Ohio

will allow Ohio to receive matching federal funds, which

may be used by communities like ours for projects to pro-tect and preserve the environment.

Please join us in supporting Clean Ohio on November

4. Vote for Clean Ohio! For more information visit

www.cleanohio.org.

US BANKSPONSORS CONEYISLAND RAIN GARDEN

Pictured at right: On April

8th, 20 employees of US

Banks development Net-

work Board, along with

the Council and Green

City Resources joined

forces to install Coney

Island's first rain garden.

Pictured at left: This

rain garden, whichis next to MoonlighGardens, was cre-ated as a functionaldemonstration forthe Spring FlowerShow. Roof runofffrom MoonlightGardens is directedto the garden andfiltered on site.


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Summer/Fall 2008Page 3

720 East Pete Rose Way, Suite 420

Cincinnati, OH 45202

Phone: 513.621.6300

Fax: 513.621.9325

TDD: 513.621.7063

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.oki.org

CELEBRATETHE CREEK!

Mill Creek Watershed Council of Communities

Presents our Member Appreciation Event

Wednesday, September 105:30 8:30 p.m.

Cincinnati Zoo andBotanical Garden in the

Harold C. Schott

Education Center

MCWCC Members $10

Non-Members $25

Registration information available atwww.millcreekwatershed.org or contact

Amy Ostigny at 513.403.0301 [email protected].

Deadline to register is September 5!

SPRINGDALE CAPTURESSTORMWATERAND PROVIDES

BUTTERFLY HABITATBY LESLIE COHEN, PROGRAM MANAGER, MCWCC

Parking lots dont seem to go along with water quality,

beautiful flowers and butterflies. But that is exactly what tworain gardens installed by the City of Springdale are designedto docapture stormwater runoff and provide habitat for

beneficial wildlife including monarch butterflies, bees andhummingbirds.

Cecil Osborn, a Mill Creek Watershed Council board mem-ber and City Administrator for Springdale approached the Coun-cil last fall for technical assistance and to host a training work-shop in conjunction with the rain garden installation.

The Mill Creek Watershed Council and Springdale (withsponsorship from CDS & Associates) held two rain gardenworkshops. One on Friday, May 16 for a technical audienceand the second on Saturday, May 17 for master gardenersand residents. A total of thirty-two participants attended the

workshops at Springdales Municipal Building. The Fridayworkshop concluded with workshop participants planting oneof the rain gardens. (Saturdays workshop was unable toplant due to wet soil conditions).

The workshops included presentations by Steve Foltz(Cincinnati Zoo); Tara Maddock, Leslie Cohen and DianthaDecker (Mill Creek Watershed Council); Brian Bohl

(Hamilton CountySoil and Water Con-servation District);Michelle Iannicca(CDS Engineers) andLeland Reilich(Every Last Drop).This is exactly thetype of project andpublic education thatthe Watershed Coun-

cil was created to accomplish, improving the Mill Creek throughinnovative public and private partnerships said Tara Maddock,Executive Director of the Mill Creek Watershed Council.

The two rain gardens are located at Peach and ChurchStreets, just one block east of Springfield Pike/Route 4. ThePeach Street rain garden is 666 square feet and will filter andretain nearly 6500 gallons of stormwater runoff during a oneinch rainfall event. The Church Street rain garden measures894 square feet and will treat 9700 gallons of runoff. Jeff Agri-cola, Springdales Interim Public Works Superintendent, andhis staff were key to the success of the rain garden project .Jeff and his staff were great to work with. They oversaw theexcavation of the gardens, addition of the sand/soil/compostmix, and tilled the soil for planting said Diantha Decker,Program Assistant with the Mill Creek Watershed Councilwho managed the project.

While you may recognize many of the plants in the raingardens, you may not know that they are all local geno-type na-tive plants supplied from Keystone Flora, a local nursery special-izing in native plants of southwest Ohio. Design assistance wasprovided by Diana Boyd (also of Keystone Flora). The gardens have

been certified by the Monarch Waystation program for providingbutterfly habitat. Thats not too bad for a new parking lot.


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One North Commerce Park Drive

Suite 124

Cincinnati, Ohio 45215www.millcreekwatershed.org

NON PROFIT ORG

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

CINCINNATI, OH

PERMIT NO. 5535

Our Mission: The MillCreek Watershed

Council of Communi-ties enables Mill Creek

communities to pro-tect and enhance the

value of the Mill Creek,its tributaries, and

watershed. Throughcollaborative action,the Council strives tomake the Mill Creek

area a more desirableplace to live, work

and play.

Ohios Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program recently

awarded a $1.7 million grant to the Mill Creek Watershed Council

of Communities (MCWCC) to restore a part of the Upper Mill

Creek.

The 28-acre site, owned by the City of

Sharonville, has been identified as a critical

area for restoration and flood control, said

Sharonville Mayor Virgil Lovitt. The site is

located where the Main Stem and East

Forkof the Mill Creek come together. The

City is excited about the reality of this site

being used to reduce flooding along the

Mill Creek, added Lovitt.

According to Ohio EPA reports, the Mill

Creek currently does not meet water quality

standards. The straightening of the stream, orchannelization over time, has made it difficult

for desired aquatic life to live.

The MCWCC will use the $1.7 million

to naturally restore the area by decreasing

the waters velocity and changing the

stream into a meandering pattern.

As a result, the project will improve

water quality, reduce flooding, prevent

erosion, provide a recreational area with trails and provide a wild-

life habitat, said MCWCC Executive Director Dr. Tara Maddock.

Butler County Department of Environmental Services

(BCDES) and Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati

(MSD) are major sponsors of the project, with assistance from OKI

Regional Council of Governments and City of Sharonville. This

project is a result of years of planning and collaboration among

local governments and land owners to improve

the health of the Mill Creek, said MCWCC

Chair MaryLynn Lodor, also of Butler County

DES. Sharonville will be entering into a land

conservation easement to protect the project in

the future. The project is scheduled for design

and construction in 2009.

While the grant provides the funds for the

stream improvements, there are additional

plans to add a wetland and other beneficial,

natural features. The MCWCC is actively

seeking additional grantors who might be inter-

ested in providing moneys to reconstruct awetland that was once on the property.

There are several benefits a wetland could

provide to the site and we are actively seeking

additional partners to help make the wetland

possible, said Tara Maddock, of MCWCC.

The MCWCC enables Mill Creek commu-

nities to protect and enhance the value of the

Mill Creek, its tributaries, and watershed. The

MCWCC is a non-profit corporation representing all 36 political

jurisdictions in the Mill Creek watershed of which BCDES, the

City of Sharonville, the MSD of Greater Cincinnati and OKI are all

a part.

GRANT AWARDED TO IMPROVE MILL CREEKWATERCONCERNS


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Mill Creek WatershedCouncil of Communities

Presents

~Celebrate the Creek~

Please join Mill Creek Watershed Council of Communities at the Cincinnati Zfor a happy hour highlighting the Mill Creeks potential to be an asset to ocommunities.

Networking and socializing with colleagues from local corporationsmunicipalities, county & city agencies, engineering/ architecture/landscape architecture firms, master gardeners, and nonprofitorganizations

Enjoy an evening in the garden (a rain garden of course!) withappetizers and refreshments at the Silver LEED certified SchottEducation Center

Learn about the Councils projects in flood reduction, streamrestoration, storm water management, and public outreach (includinwhats all the buzz about Green Infrastructure?)

Well show our appreciation for our fantastic members and gettogether with old friends and new

DATE Wednesday, September 10, 2008

TIME 5:30 pm 8:30 pm; 6:15 pm Awards & Recognition

LOCATION

Cincinnati Zoo Harold C. Schott Education Center (enter on Erkenbrecher Ave3400 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45220 (513) 281-4700Ample on-site parking is available.

EVENT SPONSORS

COST &REGISTRATION LINKS MCWCC Members $10 Non-Members $25Deadline to register is September 5, 2008

CONTACT

INFORMATION

Questions? Please contact Amy Ostigny at (513) [email protected] note: Please honor your reservation thank you!

OFFICERSMaryLynn Lodor, Chair
http://www.mcgillsmithpunshon.com/index.html


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Your Membership Makes A Difference!

Join the Mill Creek Watershed Council of Communities

The Mill Creek Watershed Council of Communities is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Through collaborative actionand balancing environmental protection with economic development needs, the Council enables 36 Mill Creekcommunities to enhance the value of the Mill Creek, its tributaries and watershed. Our water quality and communityprograms are successful due to your continued support. With your help, we will continue to make even greater strides toimprove the Mill Creek and surrounding communities.

For more information about ongoing programs and resources, please visit our website www.millcreekwatershed.org orcontact Tara Maddock, Ph.D., Executive Director, of the Council at 513.563.8800 with any questions.

Thank you for your interest and support!

Annual Membership Categories

Suggested Levels (Please Circle Appropriate Level)

INDIVIDUAL/ ORGANIZATION SMALL GOVERNMENT CORPORATIONFAMILY (NON-PROFIT) BUSINESS

$35 $100 $200 $500 $500

TWO WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE:1. 2008MEMBERSHIPIF YOU HAVE NOT JOINED FOR 2008 PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTION NOW.2008 Mill Creek Watershed Council of Communities membership of $__________ is included.

Check box if you would like a receipt for your tax-deductible contribution.

2. 2009COMMITMENT - PLEASE CONSIDER MCWCC IN YOUR 2009 BUDGET PLANNINGI/We would like to pledge $_________ in 2009 to the Mill Creek Watershed Council.

I/We would like to speak with someone further about a Corporate or Community SponsorshipOpportunity with the Mill Creek Watershed Council of Communities.Check box if you would like to receive an invoice for your 2009 pledge.

First Name Last Name

Title/Position

Organization Name

Address

City State Zip Code

Phone Fax

Email Website

Online Donations now available at:http://www.millcreekwatershed.org/donate

Pay by Check:Complete Form and return with your check payable to:

Mill Creek Watershed Council of CommunitiesOne North Commerce Park Drive, Suite 124

Cincinnati, OH 45215

summer-fall 2008 voice of the mill creek newsletter, mill creek watershed council

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