Springdale mayor outlines growth, development and new services in 2025 State of the City

Mayor Lawrence Hawkins III used Springdale’s 2025 State of the City address to highlight growth goals, recent redevelopment projects and a series of service and capital improvements city departments plan to deliver this year.

The mayor said the evening’s theme is “connection,” and said the city’s vision is “to connect with all 11,000 residents and to foster a strong sense of community,” noting a two- to three-year goal to grow the population to about 13,000.

Why it matters: officials presented multiple near-term projects that involve grants, private investment and changes to city operations that could affect residents’ daily experience — from road alignments and a multimodal path to new apartments, expanded industrial employers and community events that rely on public-private partnerships.

Parks and recreation: Charlie Wilson, director of Parks and Recreation, described facility upgrades and programming. He said the department manages roughly 20 acres of parkland, six pocket parks and a 72,000-square-foot community center. Wilson said a private donor gave “about $600,000 to update two of our parks, Underwood Park and Cameron,” and that upgrades there included new playground equipment, picnic shelters and a walking-path connection to Grandin. He also announced a new PretzelFest event in August, produced with Deach/Costco, featuring food, music and a drone light show.

Public works and capital projects: Chris Miller, assistant public works director, said the city maintains about 39 lane miles in a five-square-mile service area and operates urban forestry, stormwater and fleet services. Miller reported last year’s curbside numbers: roughly 3,900 tons of solid waste collected and 61 tons of recycling. He described near-term capital work including the Northland Boulevard project (expected to continue about a year and a half) and plans for a lane reduction and 11-foot multimodal bike path on East Kemper Road. Heritage Hill sidewalk grinding (phase one under way) and a planned intersection realignment at Kemper Road and Northland Boulevard were also highlighted.

Public safety and emergency services: Fire Chief Anthony Stanley outlined department staffing and community programs. He said the fire department handled 4,696 calls in 2024 and described programs including life-safety inspections, a child recognition program called “Blazing Vikings,” car-seat fitting and a residential Knox Box option for medically vulnerable residents. Stanley emphasized daily equipment checks and in-house training to control costs and maintain readiness.

Police Chief Tom Butler said the police department’s calls for service rose from about 18,000 in 2023 to just over 21,000 in 2024; citations issued increased from roughly 1,600 to 2,600. He reported 740 motor-vehicle accidents in 2024, 708 of them non‑injury, and an increase in fatal crashes from one to four year over year. Butler described detective work and technology upgrades — including a drone unit now used for searches and a LiveScan/handheld identification program — and said the department is fully staffed after prior shortages. He noted the department earned national accreditation and continues work with federal partners, mentioning a new DEA task force assignment.

Health and community services: Health Commissioner Matthew Clayton emphasized the department’s immunization program, saying, “If someone is uninsured, underinsured or insured through Medicaid, they can come to us and get free vaccines.” Clayton described a move to an electronic records system (eClinicalWorks) that he said cost “less than $10,000 a year” and has more than doubled clinic throughput. He also described partnerships to expand prenatal and maternal services, a mental-health resources fair planned for June, the Healthy Harvest mobile market for fresh food access and regular blood pressure clinics.

Building, housing and community development: Melissa Hayes, chief building official, said her eight-person department issued 537 permits in 2024, handled 33 planning commission cases and 11 board of zoning appeals matters, and processed about 2,368 rental-property reviews. She described the city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)-funded home repair reimbursement program and said approximately $30,000 remains available this cycle for qualifying exterior-repair reimbursements.

Economic development and redevelopment: Andy Kuchta, economic development director, summarized a five-year trend the administration framed as strong: roughly $80 million to $90 million in private investment per year since 2020. Kuchta reviewed completed and planned residential projects that convert vacant office and hotel sites into housing: the conversion of two vacant office buildings (“the Row on Merchant”) plus 97 townhomes (buildings largely 60 units each); Mill House’s 216-unit project on the former Sheraton site (about $40 million); and a planned 305-unit, $52 million project on 17 acres of former Showcase Cinema parking (referred to as the cinema apartments). He said these new residential communities have stayed above 90% occupancy and generally report household incomes higher than Springdale’s overall average.

Kuchta also noted industrial and retail growth: Enable Injections is leasing half of a new building in Springdale Commerce Park and plans to employ about 254 people with an estimated $19 million in payroll; Deach is expanding a Costco building used for Pretzel production and plans multiple production lines; Slick City Action Parks is locating in a former retail space; and Wawa and other businesses continue to develop in the city. He said Tri County Mall’s owners have applied for a brownfield demolition grant (more than $2 million) and are in talks with a master developer to phase large-scale mixed-use redevelopment.

Administration and other initiatives: City Administrator Brian Newell and Assistant City Administrator Stephanie Morgan highlighted grants and branding work. Newell said the city received about $1.3 million in energy-efficiency grants that will fund upgrades at the community center, sports courts, fields and municipal buildings and noted Springdale received $500,000 from a statewide $1 million-per-county award. The city also received an OKI EV-charging grant to install six to nine public charging stations. The administration launched a new .gov domain (springdaleohio.gov) and a branding partnership with the University of Cincinnati that produced a new city identity package.

Event and outreach details: Parks and Rec is scheduling PretzelFest on Aug. 2 with music, vendors, a children’s zone and a drone show at about 9:30 p.m.; parks staff also announced an Easter egg “golden egg” daily hunt April 1–20 on the community-center loop. Health and fire departments continue recurring community services: blood-pressure clinics, smoke-detector installs through the Red Cross, CPR training, and October’s annual fire department open house.

What was not decided: the address reported many plans, grant applications and partnerships in progress; specific council motions, detailed incentive terms and precise construction timelines were not provided in the presentation. Where council action was mentioned, details were not specified in the address.

Ending: City leaders closed by encouraging residents to use the city website and available programs to stay connected and to attend council meetings on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.