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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2016
Your Community Press newspaper serving Amelia, Batavia, Batavia Township, New Richmond, Ohio Township, Pierce Township, Union Township, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Township
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Aicholtz Road water-main relief coming Jeanne Houck jhouck@communitypress.com
PHOTOS BY FORREST SELLERS/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
Batavia Township trustees listen to a representative from Fischer Homes discuss the proposed Derby Place development.
Batavia Township trustees approve new 55-acre development Forrest Sellers fsellers@communitypress.com
BATAVIA TOWNSHIP – A developrecently-approved ment on Ross Road will mean more tax dollars for the township. However, residents in the adjacent Lexington Run subdivision fear the potential impact the new development will have on their quality of life. By a vote of two-to-one, Batavia Township trustees approved a plan submitted by Fischer Homes for a 55.3-acre planned development that will contain 139 homes. Unlike the Lexington Run development, which is under a tax increment financing, or TIF, arrangement with Clermont County, the tax dollars from Derby Place can go to township entities not covered by the TIF agreement, Administrator Rex Parsons said. These would include the fire department, as well as children’s and senior services in the township, Parsons said. Residents, though, feared the potential impact of additional traffic on Ross Road and other streets. It’s adding too much traffic, said Paul Carlson, who was among a large crowd of residents, many of whom were from Lexington Run, who attended the meeting. “I think it’s important not to lose sight of what we as home
There’s good news for Union Township residents who’ve been plagued by watermain failures along Aicholtz Road. As Clermont County builds the Aicholtz Road connector, the county also is replacing water mains in the area at a cost of just over $635,000. “I’m happy to see that because, beyond the issues with the volume, on that section of (road) there’s been a lot of failure in that system over the past 10 years and the replacement of that will be really welcomed for the people that are on that line because it routinely fails,” Union Township Administrator Ken Geis said. “And it fails throughout the entire year. It’s not just a freeze-and-thaw failure. A lot of times when there’s heavy usage and that, the system fails and they’re routinely out in the road and they’re tearing up the road and replacing the pipes.” The connector will relocate and widen Aicholtz Road between Mount Carmel-Tobasco Road and Eastgate Boulevard
under Interstate 275 in Union Township. Geis said the information about the water-main replacements was relayed to him in correspondence from the Clermont County Water Resources Department, which also noted it will be working on the following wastewater projects in Union Township this year, as approved by the Clermont County Board of Commissioners: » Hall Run sewer replacement and expansion, just over $3 million. » Shayler Run upstream sewer upgrade, nearly $1.2 million. » Beechmont South sewer improvements, lift-station $300,000. » Nature Run sewer liftimprovements, station $125,000. » Aicholtz Road connector sewer replacements, $72,000. “It’s nice to see Clermont County investing in Union Township as it relates to the water system and the wastewater system,” Geis said. Want to know more about what is happening in Union Township? Follow me on Twitter @jeannehouck.
Residents attend a May 2 meeting of the Batavia Township Trustees to weigh in on a proposed new development in the area.
owners want to see,” said Shaun House, adding that he had concerns about density. Jason Wisniewski, vice president of planning and zoning for the Fischer Development Co., said Derby Place would bring in “more cars,” but he said the current roads would be able to handle the additional traffic. As part of the approval of the plan, trustees recommended looking into a possible reconfiguration or expansion of Ross Road. The trustees also recommended that a buffer between Derby Place and Lexington Run be expanded from 40 feet
to 50 feet. “I voted in favor of it because it is a good community, and I thought it mixed in well with the existing (one),” said Trustee Randy Perry, who along with Trustee James Sauls Perry Jr. voted in favor of the development. “All of the infrastructure is in place.” However, dissenting vote Trustee Bill Dowdney said he had concerns about the pro-
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See BATAVIA, Page 2A
PROVIDED
The Aicholtz Road connector will relocate and widen Aicholtz Road between Mount Carmel-Tobasco Road and Eastgate Boulevard under Interstate 275 in Union Township.
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