Today we continue WYSO’s City Mayor Series with West Carrollton Mayor Rick Barnhart.
He described the city as “land-locked” but says there are several initiatives underway to develop available land for commercial, residential, and recreational use.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Rick Barnhart: I actually started with West Carrollton in 1982 as a police officer and then went up through the ranks and was the chief until 2013 when I retired, and in 2013 I got elected to be on city council. So I started with city council in 2014 and then got elected mayor last year. So I've been a mayor about just over a year.
Jerry Kenney: Are those qualities and experience you gained as a police officer, have you carried those through with your your work on the commission and in the mayor's seat?
Barnhart: Absolutely. I mean it's all working with people, knowing what's going on in the city and what people want from the city. So being a policeman, you hear a lot of good stuff about city. You see the stuff that maybe needs to be fixed, and that carries on into being a councilman and the mayor.
Kenney: Well, speaking of speaking of what residents want in a city. We did some social media outreach and had some comments about West Carrollton and a lot of what people had to say were across the board from city to city. And one thing that people are concerned about is development. People are worried about losing the aesthetics of their small towns. They're worried about overdevelopment and just kind of the overall look and feel and quality of life. So let me ask you how you approach that in West Carrollton.
Barnhart: West Carrollton we've been landlocked for a lot of years. We are looking to grow from within. We're not looking to change our aesthetics in the downtown area, but the I-75 interchange, we are developing our river district. So that's going to change that whole look of that area from the old Roberds Plaza area into a new district. So it's going to be residential, business restaurants, etc.... So it's going to be a great new look as you enter into West Carrollton from 75.
Kenney: That kind of mixed-use quality is something that really appeals to residents within a city.
Barnhart: Absolutely. It's good for our residents and it's good for the region. You know, we look at bringing a lot of people from around our region into the city, which brings tax dollars into the city, and then it gives our citizens places to go.
Kenney: And the question from one of your residents was 5 to 10 years, what's ahead? I imagine a lot of that is going to be taken up with the riverfront effort.
Barnhart: Absolutely. The river district is a 5-to-10-year project. You know, with the mixed use, we're looking at putting in some high-end condos across from it. So, you know, everything takes time. Along with that, we are also working on our whitewater rafting. It's a unique water activity that will be unique to this area, a regional draw. So that one is also going to take five years or so to get it going. We're looking at $26 plus million dollars in investment into the dam. Same thing. So we got to make the dam safer so that we can get this thing rolling. You know, we're working with the state, the county and federal dollars and city dollars. So we got that one, and then we also have our western lakes. We just acquired some western lakes that we're working on that'll be farther down the road once we get these two projects going. And that'll be some more recreational purposes for our citizens in the region.
Kenney: You mentioned earlier that West Carrollton has been landlocked, and so I'd like to know how you strike a balance of development with the esthetics and offering people parks and recreation and also building the foundations for a strong economic business community.
Barnhart: Well, we've always had great recreational places in West Carrollton. You know, the city has numerous parks, a city pool. We have a dedicated dog park, butterfly park. So, you know, we've always had areas for our citizens to go and enjoy ourselves and for people to come in business-wise. We've always been a great industrial-based community. You know, for years we had the paper mills. Now we've just transitioned over to different types of industry. So we're still continuing to grow from within. We just can't grow outward.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: West Carrollton seeks to transform water treatment plant into adventure park, campground
And one of thing that we've put into place in the past is we're continuing our Summer Events Series. This series has been a great hit with our citizens. We're going to continue to have the Balloon Glow, which brought thousands into the city, was a great, major event that everybody enjoyed. We're looking to have our drone show again, maybe a little more expanded, which was amazing, if you hadn't come to see it. But along with that, we also have our concerts in our park there. We haven't finalized those yet, but just kind of keep track on our Facebook page and our newsletters as they come out, but we look to have another great event season.
Kenney: Any other projects that you're looking for in the next 5 to 10 years?
Barnhart: Sure. Along with our development, we're also upgrading our water treatment plant in our wastewater treatment. We're getting those so that they will maintain, but they'll be able to handle all of our new infrastructure that we're bringing in so that we are up on all the new codes so we're good to go with the state also.
Kenney: Another concern residents had was the increasing amount of rentals with large companies buying up residential properties and then turning them into rentals. Is that a problem that you've looked at here in West Carrollton?
Barnhart: Well, we've always had a lot of rentals in West Carrollton. You know, probably 55% of our city is multifamily housing. But I understand they're talking about houses being bought up and that's happening all over the place.
We have always had a rental inspection program that we put in many years ago so that they have to register them with the county. And then our inspectors go to the houses, and they inspect to make sure they're up to code for these rental people when they come in. And then we do that on an annual basis. So is it a concern? A little bit, yeah. But it's one of those that really, we can't keep it from happening. So we try to control it from within. So with this, we understand residential for us is very important. You know, we've basically been a bedroom community for a lot of years. So we understand the concern with this, but it is important to us that we maintain our residential districts and that people are comfortable and want to be here in our city.
Kenney: Our final question from residents that we reached out to was about marijuana dispensaries, either recreational or medical, and they're curious as to why the city of West Carrollton chose to block dispensaries when it was approved statewide. What comments do you have on that?
Barnhart: Sure, and it was. It was voted on by the public and they determined that it should be here in Ohio and West Carrollton is not against dispensaries of any kind. We did put on a temporary moratorium just so that we can see how the guidelines are going to be sent down by the state. We don't want to approve something put it in a district where the state comes back later this year and says they can't be there. So we just want to let them hone what the regulations for these are going to be and then we will take a look at it again and see if it's economically feasible for the city and if it's safe for our city. But we're not against it.
Kenney: And just looking to the future, finally for West Carrollton, what do you see there?
Barnhart: Well, the school district is in process of building all new schools. So you're going to see our whole school environment change. They're building some great facilities. And by 2026, every one of the schools here in the West Carrollton School District should be brand new.
Kenney: That's a big undertaking.
Barnhart: Absolutely. It's a huge project. Thankfully, the state contributed a good amount of the money. But it's great for our community, brings more life into our school district, and I think it's good for our citizens to see that our school district's flourishing and moving forward.
