PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, September 30, 2020

STATE OF THE CITY

OPENING COMMENTS
Welcome to the State of the City Address for Trotwood, Ohio. I am Mayor Mary McDonald and I’m
excited to review with you several events that have impacted our community over the last year,
including several topics that continue to make Trotwood a city of Growth and Progress. I would first
like to acknowledge the other Trotwood City Council members: Vice Mayor Tyna Brown,
Councilmember Ron Vaughn, Councilmember Rhonda Finley, Councilmember Bettye Gales,
Councilmember Robert Kelley, and Councilmember Yvette Page.

PANDEMIC
In past years, the State of the City Address has been delivered in person, and although this pandemic
known as COVID-19 did not begin until March 2020, I would be amiss to not discuss the impact it is
having on our daily operations. This video is just one example of how things have changed over the last
few months as we deal with this public health crisis.
I know many of you are wondering what will happen to the momentum our great city was experiencing
before Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced his "Stay at Home" Order effective March 23, 2020.
While our world and realities have been turned upside down, one thing I know for certain from past
experience is that our community is resilient and faithful and I am confident we will conquer COVID-19
so long as we:

 Stand together;
 Work together;
 Protect each other;
 Remember we are all in this together, and most of all;
 Know that “No weapon formed against us will prosper”;
 We will stand victoriously like David did when he faced the giant, Goliath.

Our first mission is to protect our citizens and employees; therefore, the city of Trotwood reopened its
offices on June 1, 2020, but only under the following COVID-19 controlled measures:

 The government center offices are open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
 Visitors must make an appointment prior to arrival and are limited to the lobby only.
 Appointments between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. are reserved for those 60 years of age or older,
or those with compromised health conditions.
 Visitors must maintain a minimum distance of six (6) feet apart.
 There is a limit of five (5) visitors in the Government Center lobby due to limited space.
 Hand sanitizing stations are in the lobby of each city office.
 All visitors to any city office will be requested to wear face masks. Employees are abiding by this
practice as well.

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Remember, utility bills can be paid online or placed in the drop box located outside of the Government
Center. Also, we have arranged for all of our public meetings to be held virtually until further notice.
Please visit www.trotwood.org for details on how to watch a specific meeting.

DISASTER AND RESPONSE

Our community is well positioned for long-term recovery and rebuilding in the aftermath of the 2019
Memorial Day tornado, a historic F-4 tornado that caused substantial property and personal damage. A
total of 1,100 properties in Trotwood were impacted by the tornado, affecting 750 apartment units. Over
200 of the impacted properties suffered major damage or were destroyed.
There are currently 52 new residential houses being built in the Wolf Creek Run subdivision by D.R.
Horton, the largest builder by volume in the United States since 2002. This represents over 10 million
dollars in new, private capital investment in our community.
Westbrook Village Apartments are well on the way to being fully reopened soon. The owner, Daniel J.
Penn, has invested over 5 million dollars in rebuilding the multi-family units. We truly appreciate Mr.
Penn’s commitment to providing affordable housing in our community.
Tornado resistant homes are being built in the Sycamore Woods neighborhood by G.F. Bailey, a
developer in the Dayton area. These homes will be a compatible addition to Sycamore Woods.
We are also excited to see the progress made by our Westbrook Village and Shiloh Gardens
neighborhoods. The rebuilding has started and they are making great progress as they work towards
completion.
My office spearheaded the Trotwood Disaster Relief Fund to help our affected residents purchase
essential items beyond their basic needs. Many of you made contributions to the relief fund and we
want you to know what a blessing you are to our community. Your generosity assisted in the recovery
efforts and we cannot thank you enough for your support.
In order to incentivize and galvanize the rebuilding process for our community, I am proud to announce
that the city has initiated a tax abatement incentive package for those who rebuild, renovate, or construct
new residential structures. The tax incentive will offer a four-year abatement as follows:

 100% in year one;

 75% in year two;
 50% in year three, and
 50% in year four.
Please note, the abatement is on the improvements made and will not eliminate all tax liabilities;
however even so, this incentive package will provide financial relief for many impacted homeowners in
our city.
City Council and I are committed to implementing economic development policies that promote growth
and well-being in our community. This is another important part of our success story as we rebuild from
the Memorial Day tornado.

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TROTWOOD COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION

Prior to the “Stay at Home” Order, we were moving at mock speed and making great strides in rebuilding
and I know our tenacity, fortitude, and grit will allow us to continue moving forward. The Trotwood
Community Improvement Corporation continues to impact the community through converting once
vacant properties into productive tax paying use. To date, this program has caused the return of
approximately $83,000 in annual taxes paid to Montgomery County and the associated tax subdivisions.
Furthermore, through the renovation of 62 properties, this program has induced just over 2 million
dollars in renovation investments into Trotwood's housing stock, thus returning housing values to a
stable point in many of Trotwood's neighborhoods.
* "Jobs Created": Using the conservative ratio of $100,000 of investment = 1 construction job (as used
by organizations like the Finance Fund and Enterprise Community Partners), this program has
induced 20 Jobs based on the amount of construction investment.
Trotwood will continue to demolish vacant and abandoned housing that is left over from the great
recession. The removal of these properties is part of a comprehensive strategy to eliminate blight, while
encouraging neighborhood investment and increasing property values.

FINANCIAL OUTLOOK
As we exited the fourth quarter of 2019, America’s Real Gross Domestic Product held steady at 2.1%.
This was great news for our economy because business investment and consumer spending were up.
This allows Trotwood to continue creating an environment to attract new business investment that is
sustainable for our future.
As a result of the 2019 Memorial Day tornado and the COVID-19 pandemic, our local economy now
faces significant financial challenges because of unemployment, income tax LOSS, and decreased
property tax revenues. The national unemployment rate is at an all-time high of 14.7% and the State of
Ohio has made cuts to its bi-annual budget, which filters down to the local level. We estimate a
combined loss of $400,000 in revenue from the city’s general operating fund.
However, we continue to maintain a balanced budget without deficit spending. Our general fund
unencumbered reserve continues to grow and now stands at roughly 2.4 million dollars. When we came
into office four years ago, there was approximately $473,000 in our unencumbered general fund
reserve. In addition, Moody’s Investor Service had downgraded the city’s credit rating and documented
the city as having a “Negative Outlook”. Today, the negative outlook has been removed and through
sound fiscal management, we have grown our reserves by 520%. Coming into office, our goal was to
achieve a three-month cash reserve in five years; however, we achieved our goal in three years. We
are extremely proud of our efforts to be fiscally responsible with our tax dollars.
In times like this, sound fiscal policies like ours pay off as we will be able to absorb some of the loss in
income and continue to position ourselves for growth as the economy rebounds from this recession.

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
I am pleased to tell you that since we came into office, the City of Trotwood has recognized over 300
new, living wage jobs, retrofitted over 1.25 million square feet of commercial space, and generated over
3.5 million dollars in capital improvements.
We saw the construction of a brand new 13,000 square feet state-of-the-art library at the northwest
corner of East Main Street and McGregor Drive. Libraries create strategic value in communities and are
places where one can learn about the past, the present, and imagine their future. The library officially
opened on March 13, 2020.
Not only do we have a new library, the Western Division Municipal Court will be building a new
courthouse in Trotwood. The new courthouse will be approximately 15,000 square feet and be located
at the northeast corner of East Main Street and McGregor Drive. The courthouse will service the cities
of Trotwood and Brookville; the townships of Clay, Jackson, Jefferson, and Perry; and the villages of
New Lebanon, Phillipsburg, Farmersville, and Verona. The groundbreaking was scheduled for spring
2020, but due to the impact of COVID-19, Montgomery County has moved the project to 2021.
We are also extremely excited to welcome Goodwill Easter Seals to our community. They will be
building a 12,000 square foot facility along East Main Street, west of the new library, which will provide
the following:

 Specialized services for seniors and their caregivers,

 Behavioral Health Services,
 Employment programs for persons with disabilities,
 Free Car Seat Program, and
 Digital Skills Training.

The groundbreaking for this new facility is scheduled for spring 2021. Like the courthouse, this project
was originally slated to break ground in spring 2020; however, due to COVID-19 this project was also
pushed back.
As you can see, East Main Street is being revitalized and bringing energy to a historic area of our
community. Furthermore, the city’s East Main Street Business District Façade project will help upgrade
the streetscape, revitalize and rejuvenate the aesthetics, and help our businesses update their
appearances. We applied for and was awarded a $60,000 Community Development Block Grant to help
with this initiative.
Premier Energy has finalized their move into Trotwood’s industrial park. The company will initially
employ roughly 50 employees representing a 2.3 million dollar payroll. They will be situated next door
to Stratacache, a soon to be billion dollar company that came to Trotwood during our first year in office.
We are very excited about Premier Energy choosing the City of Trotwood and we welcome them to our
community.
I am pleased to announce Man-Sea Metal Incorporated made the decision to locate in the City of
Trotwood in the former Wolohan Lumber building located at 4799 Salem Avenue. This building sat

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vacant for decades but will now be occupied with a thriving, sustainable business. Furthermore, Man-
Sea Metal is a made-to-order metal roof manufacturing company with a wide variety of metal panel
options and colors, allowing people to create their dream homes. They are currently located in Kentucky
and Illinois and will be a great community partner. Welcome Man-Sea Metal to Ohio. Trotwood is very
excited!
We also hope to build our new amphitheater in John Wolf Park that was slated to be built this year, but
slowed down due to COVID-19. Our plans are to start construction in spring of 2021. Thank you to
Sister Joan DeChristopher for blessing our wonderful city with a $10,000 donation to kick start this
project.
As you can see, we have momentum and are moving forward with attractive living wage jobs in our
community.

HEALTH INITIATIVES
It is important to talk about the efforts the city has made toward making sure our residents have access
to healthy foods. We know this is a public health issue that is plaguing communities across the country.
As a result of having poor access to super markets and healthy foods, we are forced to depend on
convenience stores that offer high calorie and sodium processed foods that directly correlate to high
obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. Therefore, we have been
fighting and advocating for access to healthy foods. We are very proud to announce Gordon Foods
Service plans to expand its wholesale grocery model to include retail options that will offer more fresh
produce, vegetables, baked goods, meats, and fresh in-store rotisserie and roasted chicken.
The grocer’s expansion is in response to growing demands in the area for access to fresh and healthy
foods. Gordon Foods Service anticipates making significant upgrades internally and externally to its
current location at 5380 Salem Avenue to accommodate the retail portion of the business. They have
been working with the city’s planning and economic development department to coordinate a new left
turn break from State Route 49 into the current location.
The grocer will also offer on-line ordering with in-store pick-up service. We thank Gordon Foods Service
for choosing Trotwood, being committed to our community, and making such a substantial capital
investment of over 2 million dollars in upgrades.
This is an exciting business expansion for our community and is expected to continue into fiscal year
2021. The project was slowed down due to COVID-19, but will gain momentum again in 2021.

INFRASTRUCTURE
We continue to work hard on improving the city’s aging infrastructure. We know that we have 50 year
old waterlines and deteriorating roadways and streets. Therefore, we have taken an aggressive
approach to making improvements. In 2019, the city upgraded its sanitary sewer line along Wolf Creek,
which included 1,685 feet of sanitary sewer line upgrades at a cost of $975,000. We also upgraded
3,730 feet of waterline along Olive Road from the intersection of Main Street to Bradfield Place for a
total project cost of approximately $566,000.

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We were excited to resurface 2.1 miles of Shiloh Springs Road between Olive Road and Oaks Road at
a cost of $343,000. This is a major thoroughfare in the city and had to be addressed. Furthermore, the
city implemented a traffic pattern/signal change at the intersection of Shiloh Springs Road and Basore
Road to improve safety for motorist commuting in the city. This project cost $40,000 and enabled the
city to install new signage, turn arrows to change the traffic signal head, and re-stripe the Shiloh Springs
Road approach to the intersection.
We understand 68% of our neighborhood streets are rated either fair or poor and we are working on a
strategy to address this issue. We plan to hold several community forums in the near future as
everyone’s support and input will be necessary to make these needed improvements. This year, we are
investing almost one million dollars in resurfacing neighborhood streets and we’re ecstatic about
improving our roadways.

STRATEGIC PLAN
We are pleased with the impact the Trotwood Community and Cultural Arts Center (TCCAC) is having
in the community as being a place to celebrate the arts. We are excited about Central State University
having a satellite office in our center and providing community-based outreach and educational
programs. We thank Central State University for being committed to Trotwood.
I want to focus on the importance of partnering with our school district to help strengthen our public
education system so that it prepares every student to reach their full potential. I know I cannot do this
work alone. However, together with staff, families, our faith-based community, nonprofit organizations,
local businesses and the city, we can work to ensure a better future for our city’s youth and ultimately,
a better future for our city.
I understand so much of maintaining healthy, vibrant neighborhoods, or the revitalization of
neighborhoods, is based on the confidence residents have in their schools. This is why I know our City
Council and the Trotwood-Madison Board of Education is firm in its commitment to continuous
improvement as each body understands the impact of quality schools on our city. I am, and will remain,
committed to partnering with the Trotwood-Madison City School District.

SAFETY SERVICES
Last year, the Trotwood Police Department responded to over 33,000 calls for service. Our police
department has received the Accreditation with Excellence Award for three years, along with the
Meritorious Award, a designation for having been accredited for 15 consecutive years, from the
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, or CALEA. These awards are symbolic
for demonstrating a firm commitment to meet and exceed compliance with a comprehensive set of
established standards. They also successfully completed the Gold Standard Assessment, awarded by
a CALEA Assessment Team, for being compliant in its policies, organizational procedures, and
community relations.
Our police department is also compliant with the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Boards
Uniform Standards. This Advisory Board was formed in 2015 to create uniform minimum standards for
Ohio’s law enforcement agencies covering use of force, including deadly force, and hiring and

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recruitment. Our police department was one of the first to complete all of the requirements for this
initiative and we are very proud of them for upholding the highest standards in the law enforcement
profession.
As of today, 79% of all of Ohio’s law enforcement officers work for an agency that has voluntarily
complied with these standards or is in the process of certification. Governor DeWine directed the Ohio
Department of Public Safety’s Office of Criminal Justice Services, which oversees the certification
process, to reach out to every agency that is not certified in these standards and assist them in moving
toward certification. The Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board 2020 Public Report,
which lists the certification status of all law enforcement agencies in the state, is available at
www.publicsafety.ohio.gov.
The Trotwood Fire and Rescue Department is comprised of 18 full-time firefighter/paramedics and up
to 40 part-time personnel. In 2019, the department responded to over 6,780 calls for service;
approximately a 4.5% increase in call volume compared to 2018. These professional men and women
completed over 3,500 hours of training to ensure their knowledge and skills reflect excellent customer
service, as well as the ability to respond to trends in patient care and handle any epidemics in our
region. The department also provides education to our community. They conducted 70 events for fire
prevention education, while also performing community service to our citizens. They also installed 114
smoke detectors and 40 carbon monoxide detectors at no charge. These services reflect the Fire and
Rescue Department’s mission of providing dynamic, professional fire and EMS services through
emergency operations, education, and prevention to the people who live, work, and visit the evolving
community.
Trotwood has some of the best first responders in the region and nation. Our first responders, including
our Public Works department, did an outstanding job during the 2019 Memorial Day tornado. They have
been recognized by federal, state, and local officials for their response and preparedness and I want to
say thank you again for putting their lives on the line for us every day.

CONCLUSION
Trotwood is in the middle of a revolutionary revitalization, which makes it a great place to live, raise a
family, work, and do business. My hope is that you will choose our wonderful city and make it your
home.
Every year, we plan an annual family reunion festival the third weekend of September. Unfortunately
due to COVID-19, we had to cancel this event for 2020; however, mark your calendar because we are
already planning for an exciting family reunion weekend in 2021.
Finally, I want you to know that your local government is focused on building a community of trust and
love, creating an environment where all our residents feel safe and good about our wonderful city called
“Trotwood.”
May God bless our city and its citizens. We are all family and remember, my door is always open.

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