There is $50,000 in the budget for the Asphalt Rejuvenation Program. Residents impacted by the work will receive a postcard with additional information.

Notices for the 2017 Sidewalk, Curb and Driveway Apron Project were delivered last week to the residents who are responsible for repairing the sidewalks. Residents have the option to the do the work themselves, or they can have the city’s contractor complete the work.

The focus of the 2017 concrete street repair is at the north end of Ridgeway Road. The old steel street light poles along Ridgeway Road will be replaced as well.

The leaf mulch program, where the leaves collected in Oakwood last fall were processed and turned into mulch, will begin on April 15 and continue through May 13. Mulch picked up at the public works yard is available at no cost to Oakwood citizens. For those who want mulch delivered, the city offers 3 cubic yards for $90 and 6 cubic yards for $130.

The 2017 Vectren project is scheduled to take place over the summer when school is out of session. The work occur in the Smith School vicinity. This is a continuation of a multi-year project to replace all of the underground gas distribution lines in Oakwood. Oakwood residents personally affected by the work will receive detailed information from Vectren. Although this is not a city of Oakwood project, Public Works Inspector/Foreman Tom Long will be overseeing the project and helping with any resident needs that may arise.

Mr. Klopsch encouraged citizens to continue recycling as much as possible, and reminded residents that recyclables can be co-mingled together in the same container. The city pays $18 less per ton to dispose of co-mingled recyclable materials than for regular landfill trash. Oakwood citizens can also utilize the monthly debris drop-off at the Public Works Center on the first Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. – noon, and dumpster containers are available 24/7 at Creager Field.

Mayor Duncan asked Mr. Klopsch to relay their appreciation to Mr. Long for his excellent work in assisting with the Vectren Projects.

Mrs. Hilton commended Mr. Klopsch for his excellent communication to City Council in keeping them informed of all city business. She shared that Dayton History at Carillon Park has a nice display of the 1913 Flood and of WWI.

Mayor Duncan shared that Tuesday, May 2 is Election Day. The Wright Library will have a property tax renewal issue on the ballot that will not increase taxes. Also, he believes the Oakwood School District has a school renewal levy on the ballot, which he fully supports. There is information on the city’s website about all of the businesses in Oakwood. The city will work to maintain this list as businesses change. Mayor Duncan shared that he spoke with Mr. Richard Graeter of Graeter’s Ice Cream and he indicated that Graeter’s plans on staying in Oakwood for the foreseeable future, although sales in the Oakwood store have not been as high as the Beavercreek and Centerville stores. Mayor Duncan encouraged people to visit the Oakwood Graeter’s to enjoy some ice cream. In this month’s Oakwood Life magazine, Vice Mayor Byington wrote an article titled, “Say Hello To Your Oakwood Neighbors – Beth & Steve Byington”. It is the most incredible history of Vice Mayor Byington and his wife that Mayor Duncan has read, until he got to the end of the article and realized it was fiction. Mayor Duncan asked that the article be incorporated into the minutes.

“Say Hello To Your Oakwood Neighbors – Beth & Steve Byington by Steven Byington”

Born into the Byington Novelty Piñata Empire, Steve grew up in the lap of luxury. He and his sisters split time between family homes in San Antonio, Mexico City, and Zihuantanejo, and were educated in the finest private schools that pesos could buy. Beth, on the other hand, came from a very modest hardscrabble upbringing, with parents who sharecropped a small piece of land on the east side of Long Island. It was this "digging in the dirt" childhood that would ultimately lead to her lifelong interest in archeology.

Though being groomed to take over the family piñata business, Steve traveled to Ireland right after college to work as a sheep wrangler in the rolling hills of County Kerry, but was soon fired for not knowing a single thing about sheep wrangling. Fortunately, he quickly got hired at O'Connor's Pub, where, conversely, he did have a great deal of experience. It was here that he met Beth, who at the time had been excavating artifacts from an ancient Celtic burial site as part of her archeology doctorate from the University of Kilkenny. After a whirlwind courtship and several hundred pints of Guinness, they quickly fell in love and were soon married in a beautiful Druid wedding ceremony on the Cliffs of Moher.

Homesickness eventually overtook them, and it wasn't long before they made their way back across the pond to the United States. It was then that the couple