Mayor Ben Baker
I’m very proud of the progress the City of Dayton made during the 2023 calendar year, and I can say with confidence that we have an even more prosperous year ahead in 2024. The City has several exciting projects this coming year that will improve the viability of and livability of Dayton, including several infrastructure and development projects. My administration is proud to serve our community and we will continue our diligent work to create an environment in which our businesses thrive, families succeed, and visitors are welcomed to our community. The City of Dayton has the energy, vision, and creativity to propel us to a bright future. Please join me and our entire City Council in celebrating this year’s past successes and reviewing our upcoming goals and objectives.
— Mayor Ben Baker
City Council and the Dayton Community:
It is my great pleasure tonight to present my third City of Dayton State of the City address, which conveys our city government’s current state of affairs. This address kicks off a new calendar year and marks the midpoint in the City’s budget year, both of which are important indicators of the City’s trajectory.
Public Infrastructure Improvements
2023 was THE YEAR for infrastructure projects!
Two different projects – both of which were more than 10 years in the making — finally came to fruition in 2023: the Berry Street Connector and the Sixth Avenue bump-out and streetscape projects.
Last month, the City dedicated the Berry Street Connector, an extremely important project for the City. This new connection provides our police officers, firefighters, EMTs with much quicker access to residents living in homes on Manhattan Boulevard, cutting their response time by as much as four minutes for some emergency runs. If someone needs medical attention, this ramp is literally life saving.
It also provides a direct connection to our downtown business district, making it easier for these residents and visitors using our trail systems along the Ohio River to patronize our downtown restaurants, coffee shops, taverns, and retail outlets while providing Dayton residents who live south of the floodwall with an easier, more direct route to the river and our trail system there.
Thirteen curb extensions – also known as “bump-outs” – were constructed this past summer and fall along Sixth Avenue between McKinney Street and Berry Avenue. Bump-outs are designed to increase pedestrian safety — particularly for children walking to and from school — reduce traffic congestion, and create a more livable, walkable community.
Duke Energy installed pedestrian light poles on these bump-outs, and the city plans to install street furniture and landscaping on the bump-outs this coming year.
Repaving projects
The city worked with KYTC to hold off paving Route 8, which was originally scheduled to be done in 2022, until after the bump-out project was completed last year. After paving Mary Ingles highway from the floodwall to Fort Thomas is 2022, KYTC finished paving Route 8 from the Mary Ingles Highway through Bellevue and into Newport.
The City also repaved Second Avenue in the city’s industrial park and sections of Berry Avenue after the connector project was completed in December.
Traffic garden
Tri-State Trails partnered with the City of Dayton to obtain a $25,000 grant to create a new “traffic garden” in Gil Lynn Park. A traffic garden is a miniature version of a roadway for kids with roundabouts, railroad crossings, bus stops, and bike lines. The purpose of this project is to teach children about traffic safety early in life an important step in preventing future crashes and pedestrian incidents. Huge shoutout to Caitlyn Sparks for her vision and drive on this project!
2024 Infrastructure Projects
Notable infrastructure projects planned for 2024 include construction of both Phase II and Phase III of the Riverfront Commons river’s-edge trail project. This year, the city was able to obtain an additional $760,000 in federal funds to complete Phase II, which was delayed because of bids for construction of this phase came in significantly higher than what was budgeted.
These projects will be put out for construction bids out this winter, and we are hopeful that they will be built this year, which will complete the city’s trail project along the river’s edge. The city also will be seeking another federal grant to improve the upper trail on top of the floodwall and connect the river’s edge trail.
The city also will be seeking construction bids for the second and final phase of the sidewalk project along Dayton Pike, which connect the recently completed sidewalk on the west side of this road from Chateau Ridge to Fort Thomas.
Residential and Economic Development
We have seen tremendous residential development in our City in recent years. Over the past 9 years, nearly 500 new residential properties – that’s single-family homes, condos, and apartments – have been constructed along Manhattan Boulevard. This year, we expect that another 300 residential units to go online, including the 265-unit Velo Apartments next to the marina. Apartments are already available for lease in this brand-new complex.
Last year, five new homes with panoramic views of the Cincinnati skyline were completed in the Red Knot development area on 10th Avenue between and O’Fallon Avenue and Walnut Street, and construction of another home is currently underway there.
In addition, many older single-family and multi-family homes throughout our community are being rehabbed at rate never seen before in our city. The Campbell County Planning and Zoning Department recently informed us that it had issued building permits with a construction value of nearly 15 million dollars in our city last year. The City of Dayton is a “hot” market in the region right now for real-estate investors and homeowners.
Finally, what may the most exciting development project of all, the rehabilitation of the Burton Building — also known as the Raymee Building – started this past year at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Berry Street. Orleans Development Company has spent about 2 million dollars for the purchase and renovation of this four-story, 138-year-old brick building with commercial space on the first floor and 10 loft-style apartments on the upper floors. The apartments and commercial space are available for lease.
Another important economic development initiative implemented this summer was the Rope Walk Entertainment District. In this district — which is Sixth Avenue from O’Fallon Ave to Main Street — patrons of Dayton businesses can legally carry alcoholic beverages in pre-approved cups into this district and other businesses. This district complements the second year of the city’s Final Friday events, which provide free musical entertainment in Monument Park every final Friday of the month in the summer and fall.
Code Enforcement
In 2023, the City implemented the Residential Rental Property Inspection and Safety Program to inspect all its residential rental property in the City to ensure that these properties are safe and sanitary and comply with all local and state building and property-maintenance regulations. To date, more 700 of these properties have been inspected, which is more than one-half of the residential rental units in the city. We are on track to have all residential rental properties in the city inspected by the end of this year.
We continue to emphasize code enforcement as primary tool to address blighted properties in the city. This past year, the City established our fourth “Top 10 List” of vacant and abandoned properties after our previous success addressing these properties in our first three lists. Many of the properties on these lists have been renovated, sold to third parties, or demolished by the city or third parties.
The city is in the process of updating its historic preservation guidelines. These guidelines have been reviewed and approved by the Board of Architectural Review and the City Council has forwarded them to the City Planning Commission for its review and recommendation. These guidelines are expected to come before the City Council for final approval in the coming months
The City works hard for our residents and our business owners. The City of Dayton is in an excellent position to move our businesses, our residents, and our community forward.
2023 was a momentous year for the City of Dayton Kentucky. Big projects were started, big projects were completed.
Together, with the help of our community members, the sky is the limit for future success.
We look forward to working with the entire Dayton community over the next 12 months and beyond to continue the progress we have started in our city.
To quote Randy Bachman and the 1974 #1 hit for Bachman Turner Orchestra, Baby, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
God Bless You and your family, and may God continue to bless the City of Dayton KY.
Thank you.