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Hawthorn Hill bill becomes law
President signs legislation at White House ceremony;
Wright brothers’ great-grandniece witnesses bill signing
Photo courtesy of Congressman Michael Turner’s office
Congressman Michael R. Turner (R-OH-3) and Amanda Wright Lane, the Wright Brothers’ great-grandniece, in front of the East Wing of the White House following the afternoon’s signing ceremony.
Congressman Mike Turner (R-Ohio-3) today attended the White House ceremony where he witnessed President Barack Obama sign into law legislation authored by Turner to include Hawthorn Hill and the Wright Factory buildings under the protection of the National Park Service. Congressman Turner’s legislation was part of an omnibus land package that was stalled in the Senate in the previous session of Congress and received final Congressional passage last week. Amanda Wright Lane, the Wright Brothers’ great grandniece, joined Congressman Turner for the ceremony held in the White House East Room.
“Adding Hawthorn Hill and the Wright Factory buildings to the Dayton Aviation National Heritage Historic Park is a significant milestone for the community,” Congressman Turner said. “These historic landmarks will be protected by the National Park Service for the enjoyment of residents and visitors for years to come.”
“I thank Congressman Turner for his hard work to preserve Dayton’s aviation heritage,” said Amanda Wright Lane, the Wright Brothers’ great-grandniece. “His advocacy in pressing this legislation will make certain the historic achievements of my great-granduncles will forever live in the Dayton community.”
Hawthorn Hill was designed by Wilbur and Orville Wright and was the home of the Wright family until 1948. Adding the Oakwood residence to the National Park Service will ensure that this architectural landmark remains available for public appreciation.
The Wright Company Factory buildings in west Dayton are the first American facilities specifically designed and built for the manufacture of airplanes. The Wright Company operated at the site from 1910-1916 and produced 13 different models of airplanes.
In addition to including the two local landmarks as part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park, Congressman Turner’s legislation authorizes grants for local community organizations such as Dayton History to help with operating costs.
City issues RFP for recreational facilities plan The issuance of the Request for Proposal was originally published last week as a legal advertisement in the Dayton Daily News. Asst. City Manager Jay Weiskircher says that the city hopes to have “a firm in place sometime in mid-May.” The last time a Request for Proposals was issued in accordance with the city’s recreational facilities was in the 1980s but this recent request is the first master plan of its kind. The estimated budget for the assessment and implementation of the plan will not be known until the selection of a single firm’s proposal on April 17. The fund that the expenses of the Comprehensive Master Plan will be taken from has not yet been released. Proposals for the Comprehensive Athletic and Recreation Space Master Plan are being accepted until 5 p.m. on April 17. At that time, the city will select at least two firms’ proposals, which will then be reviewed for approval. |
Oakwood’s new Dispatch Center a step above
There have been a number of glitches involved with the new Regional Dispatch Center that began operations last Thursday and that serves nineteen police departments and twelve fire departments in the Miami Valley area. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office continues to work with AT&T to resolve issues pertaining to 911 calls coming into the Regional Dispatch Center. As of 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, emergency 911 calls that are normally handled by the Regional Dispatch Center are being handled by the back-up dispatch center at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Non-emergency calls are still being taken at the Regional Dispatch Center.
On the other hand, Oakwood and a handful of other safety departments have chosen to go it alone and in so doing, are continuing to enjoy smoothly-running operations
even as they put their own systems through the testing phase.
The Oakwood Dispatch Center is finalizing the new upgrades to make it as up-to-date as any system in the Miami Valley. It is currently “beta testing” the new system and soon the “mobile-testing” phase will begin, with the entire system undergoing the final testing and installation phase “by the last weeks of April,” according to Oakwood Safety Director Alex Bebris.
“I still think it was a good decision,” said Chief Bebris concerning the decision to keep the Oakwood Dispatch Center located at 30 Park Avenue. His confidence is borne out by a response time of three minutes for emergency and EMT calls and five minutes for fire crews, the best response time in the region.
There are a number of unique innovations in the Oakwood system that set it apart from many of its safety department brethren. First, the computer server hard drive has a storage capacity of one terabyte (1000 gigabytes). The storage capacity is so large that the safety department will be sharing the computer’s processing capacity and memory (but not files and vice versa) with the finance department.
Another novel choice was to opt out of the standard 800 mhz antenna and use a straight data storage card instead. This allows both audio and video recording and digital storage capability. This in-turn allows for a print-on-demand record keeping system, one of the first in the area. “For a computer project, it’s working pretty well,” Bebris said.
According to Chief Bebris, the safety department receives an average of 40,000 calls a year, the majority of which are administrative. In other words, the dispatchers on duty answers all calls that come into the station. This allows a great amount of flexibility and familiarity with emergency procedures.
A special section celebrating those chummy, loveable Including… Only $15 per photo Email (preferred) photo and information to: Snail Mail photo, info & check to: Hand-deliver photo, info & check to:
Deadline for entries – Wednesday, April 8 |
March 31, 2009
Volume 18, No. 13
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