“I know when I met with you individually to talk about my plans, my plan was to gradually walk away, but I also understood that there are a lot of projects going on, so the concept of coming back and doing it for a finite time period, I thought worked for both of us.”
A letter of agreement given to Johnson by Mayor Michelle Collins on behalf of city council extended a conditional offer of re-employment to Johnson and stipulates that he work or be paid out through June 30, 2026, “unless both parties agree mutually otherwise.”
He will be paid an annual salary of $163,083 in 2025 as part of a 6% cost-of-living adjustment.
Johnson started with Miamisburg as its city planner in 1994 and was appointed development director in 1997 and city manager in 2009.
He started his career as transportation planner for the city of Clarksville, Tennessee in 1984, then became zoning and subdivision administrator planner for Athens-Clark County, Georgia in 1991.
Johnson acknowledged his retire-rehire is happening at a time when there are numerous projects going on in Miamisburg but recalled how busy things got during his first year as city manager.
“I can remember when we built the (Austin Boulevard) interchange and Byers Road,” he said. “That was the busiest year that the city ever saw, but if you look at last year, this year, and probably the next two years, that period will eclipse that and there are a lot of activities and things that are going to be going on in the community.”
He said he expects the city’s completion of a Sycamore Trails Park revamp in 2025 to have “even a larger impact” than the recently completed Riverfront Park.
“Fortunately, most of that work has been able to be done with very little impact on the residents, whereas Riverfront Park, we were dealing with parking loss and having to deal with that, and we survived that,” Johnson said.
Pool reconstruction at Sycamore Trails Aquatic Center and the Sycamore Trails Park revamp represent an investment of more than $20 million worth of construction, he said.
“If you throw that in with Riverfront Park, that is the largest amount of park work this community, I’m sure, has ever done, and ... a lot of that is reflecting what the residents are telling us,” Johnson said.
Councilman Tom Nicholas congratulated Johnson on “a career well done,” while also acknowledging he would remain in the role through June 2026.
”We’re a busy community, and we’re glad that you’re going to be here to help us through it,” Nicholas said.
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