President Frank Perez opened the virtual meeting of the Centerville Rotary Club and welcomed everyone on Zoom. Frank Perez led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Brian Hayes led us in prayer today. Frank gave congratulations to Arnie Biondo who will be retiring from the Park District this week.

 

Frank gave a few announcements:

 

Our next Board meeting will be this Monday at 5:30 pm. All members are welcome and new members are required to attend a Board meeting within the first few months. A zoom link will be sent out on Monday morning for that meeting.

 

A few notes on covid (Frank’s wife is a physician and he’s listened in to some of her meetings!)

 

 

The golf committee has been doing a great job and our outing is looking good. Hopefully, many of our golfers will be out there on May 8^th. The committee also wanted to make a special Club Member sponsorship opportunity. Members can now be recognized as a golf sponsor, even if you’re not a golfer, if you make a donation. $25 -$150 is suggested, but any amount is welcome.

Brad Huffman shared that social media has started to ramp up. Need all club members to help in some way. We also really need everyone to form your foursome - bring golfers to the event. Sign up at the link on our Club website homepage.

 

 

 

Boyd Preston was our Sergeant at Arms this week.

Boyd Preston gave $20 for Arnie’s retirement tomorrow noting he will now have more time to devote to the club, and also to recognize Ron Hollenbeck who had great article in District newsletter about the water pump projects.

Arnie Biondo gave $10 in honor of Illinois Fighting Illini for being in the basketball tournament + $5 for Ron’s article.

Ron Hollenbeck gave $10 since he and Lori got their second COVID shot. He was also thankful for Frank’s comments about the vaccine - from his pharmaceutical career he is aware of the detailed review of vaccines that is required before approval.

Elda Gotos-Gay gave $20 as she is going to see her son and granddaughter tomorrow. Already sent supplies for what she’ll cook while there.

Kim Senft-Paras gave $10 in appreciation of Frank’s Covid info and to offer congrats to Arnie on his retirement.

Mike Weir gave $10 as he and Louise finally got their first COVID shot, after taking well over a month to schedule.

Jim Harris gave $20 in celebration of Arnie’s retirement & Ron’s article.

Carol Kennard gave $10 for Arnie’s retirement, getting to have her granddaughters overnight this past weekend, and for her husband John’s birthday today.

Brad Huffman gave $20 to congratulate Arnie and thank him for providing great parks, and $5 for Boyd who he sees using the park every day.

Chuck King gave $20 IMO (haha) Arnie’s retirement and Ron’s water pump article.

Harvey Smith gave $20 for the great work Arnie has done for the Park District and thanked him for the service he provided.

Ginger Clark gave $20 to congratulate Arnie on his retirement, and said he has done a lot for her professional career.

Frank Perez gave $20 for Ron and Arnie and noted he went out to Stubbs Park yesterday to play disc golf.

 

 

 

Arnie Biondo Introduced our speaker today, Brian Martin from the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. He thanked Brian for coming back after the last time when he had AV glitches and appreciate that he was so understanding. Brian noted he is currently the President of the Dayton Rotary Club currently, and his tenure has been completely in front of the screen.

 

Brain noted the Park District recently joined MVRPC and he is appreciative of their involvement. He then gave $20 in Happy Bucks in Arnie’s honor his good service to the region.

 

 

Brian noted that 2019 was a challenging year for the Dayton area - Memorial Day Tornado, KKK Rally, Oregon District shooting, he lost his wife and we lost John Beals (who was their Board chair). He was fortunate to remarry on his parent’s anniversary in June 2020 at Benham’s Grove to a former college friend.

 

 

MVRPC has a Board with 78 members, with 5 counties represented in the Miami Valley area, including 60 local governments. Their main focus of work includes surface transportation planning, regional planning, and environmental planning. They worked with several organizations to help secured $35 million for disaster recovery efforts after the Memorial Day tornado and they allocate $18 million annually for surface transportation projects. They also provide assistance to the members with planning services or suggest consultants.

 

 

MVRPC recently started a new Institute for Livable and Equitable Community, as they believe everyone should have access to resources to improve their quality of life. We are still faced with racial segregation that cuts the region, and income inequality remains an issue in our region. MVRPC passed a resolution following the George Floyd shooting on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. He gave some time for review and better understand behind the meaning of the resolution and issues surrounding it prior to adoption. Most  people are uncomfortable talking about racial issues, but all felt it was time to turn that around. The agency and Brian were recently recognized for their work in Diversity.

 

 

After the Memorial Day tornado, instead of each County addressing the recovery, it made more sense to involved MVRPC. 6,000 structures were affected in the region, and only around 100 are left to fix in the nearly 2 years since the tornado. MVRPC is looking at long term planning for Dayton, Harrison Twp, and Trotwood, the areas hardest hit by the tornado.

 

The Board recently voted to give money to the Montgomery County Engineers to expand Social Row Road to 5 lanes with connection to existing trails. Also more Feedwire improvements are to come in Centerville. MVRPC gives professional advice, and recently gave the Park District guidance on how to apply for grant money to extend the Iron Horse Trail.

 

 

They are best known for transportation funding including trails, but they are doing so much more. Check out the website mvrpc.org where you can sign up for the monthly newsletter.

 

 

President Frank thanked Brian for sharing information with the club and led reciting of the 4-Way Test.