Leisure Services

Where else will you find in a community of 2.2 square miles the parks, gardens and green space found in Oakwood?

We offer four neighborhood parks, Cook Park, Fairridge Park, Orchardly Park and Shafor Park. Our natural areas include Loy Gardens, Elizabeth Gardens, Houk Stream and Centennial Park. Our recreation facilities include the Oakwood Community Center and Gardner Pool, the Dog Park at Creager Field, Irving Field, Hollinger Memorial Tennis Center, Old River Sports Complex and Mack Hummon Stadium.

Oakwood also features beautiful public gardens including Smith Gardens and Francine’s Garden. We have been a Tree City USA for 42 years as designated by the National Arbor Day Foundation and have planted over 3,300 trees through our Johnny Appleseed Street Tree Planting program. We also sponsor numerous community events including the New Resident Breakfast, the Ice Cream Social, the Family Fall Festival and the Holiday of Lights.

Financial Stewardship

Under the leadership of City Council, our outstanding city staff and the advice and counsel of our 34-member citizen Budget Review Committee, we met the challenges to our financial stability.

We completed two major infrastructure projects in 2024. The Far Hills Storm Sewer Reconstruction Project upgraded outdated infrastructure to address stormwater overflow and reduce maintenance costs. The City used $940,000 of federal American Rescue Plan funds to offset part of the $2.2 million construction cost. We also completed the Far Hills Avenue Resurfacing Project. We are grateful to the State of Ohio for its partnership on this project including their $1.2 million award which represented 80% of the project cost from the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Oakwood voters passed a 2.41-mill property tax levy in 2024. This levy replaced a 3.75-mill levy that expired in 2023 and had been in place over the past 10 years. We thank Oakwood voters for their support of our first-class city services. And, as you know, only 8.2% of your property taxes go for city services. The remainder go to Oakwood Schools, Montgomery County agencies and Wright Library.

In 2024 we raised our water rates for the first time in seven years and need to raise them again in 2025. Prior to this increase we had the 3rd lowest water rates in the area. Even with our recent increases, our water rates are still one of the lowest of any jurisdiction in the region.

Well Governed, Well Managed and Financially Strong

I would be remiss if we did not recognize former City Manager Norbert Klopsch. Norbert retired on November 1, 2024 after a 32-year career with the City as City Engineer, Director of Public Works, and for the past 22 years as our City Manager. He is and was acknowledged by his peers as an outstanding city manager. When asked “What is a key to being a successful city manager,” Norb replied, “Understand the city you serve, listen to people, and always strive to make decisions and recommendations to City Council that are in the long-term best interests of the city as a whole.”

We welcome our new City Manager to Oakwood. Katie Smiddy joined the City in October as city manager designate and began her duties as City Manager on November 1, 2024.

Ms. Smiddy comes to Oakwood from the City of Springdale, where she served as Finance Director. She previously served as the Finance Director of the City of Montgomery and CFO of Hamilton County Community Action Agency after holding various positions for over 18 years in Butler County.

She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Xavier University, a Master of Public Administration from Wright State University and an associate’s degree in water and wastewater technology from Cincinnati State. She is also a graduate of the Leading, Educating, and Developing (LEAD) Program at the University of Virginia.