February 17, 2011
Olentangy links operating levy, sports
SEALED WITH A KISS
By TOM SHEEHAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Paul Vernon/ThisWeek
Olentangy Liberty High School hockey player Ed Arcy kisses the trophy after the Patriots beat Dublin Coffman 3-2 to win the Blue Jackets Cup title at Dispatch Ice Haus on Sunday, Feb. 13. Arcy, a junior goaltender, made 33 saves to spark the victory. See Sports, page C1.
Olentangy Local Schools faces extensive cutbacks — including up to 124 staff positions and elimination of most busing and of all sports and other extracurricular activities — next school year if the combination operating levy-bond issue fails on May 3. Superintendent Wade Lucas told school board members at a Feb. 9 work session that such reductions would total about $11.48-million. “We had a tough, tough decision to make,” Lucas said. “We had to cut $11-million. ... What we tried to do through the entire process is to keep it fair. It’s not a pretty sight.” While Lucas expressed confidence that the three-year bond issue and 7.9-mill operating levy will be approved in the spring, he said the district has to be ready if the issue fails. Traditionally, the school board has approved a list of possible cutbacks in case a tax issue fails. The board plans to vote on Lucas’ list at its regular meeting on Feb. 23. Lucas said the main purpose of the possible cutbacks is to try to protect academic programs as much as possible. Board president Julie Wagner Feasel said the district is not using threats or scare tactics but is dealing in reality if the issue fails. “Our school district has already cut $15.7-million (since 2008),’she said. “Now you are looking at things that are near and dear to people’s hearts.” See OLENTANGY LINKS, page A7
Commissioners enter fray over police costs By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
She posed the idea during a Feb. 8 meeting of the citizens committee. Brenner said that by contracting with the sheriff’s office, the city could save about $1.5-million annually. Her suggestion brought a rapid outcry from most of the roughly 80 people attending the meeting. The audience included council members, residents and city employees. A number of attending residents objected and police chief Gary Vest said that residents would lose local control by consolidating the service. Though county officials said commissioners are not involved
Powell residents angered by a suggestion that the city police department be replaced sent ripples of concern through the Delaware County commissioners’ Feb. 14 meeting. Commissioners said they have received a number of complaints from Powell residents about the contracts that Delaware County Sheriff Walter L. Davis III’s office has with two townships, Concord and Orange. Those complaints followed a suggestion by Powell city council member Sara Marie Brenner that the city replace its police department with coverage from the See COMMISSIONERS, page A6 county sheriff.
County OKs Menards abatement in Orange By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A Menards store being proposed in Orange Township cleared a hurdle during the Delaware County commissioners meeting Feb. 10. The commissioners approved Menards’ proposed development project and offered a 50-percent tax abatement for 10 years on the assessed value of the home improvement store, pending rezoning by the township. The agreement enables the county to offer financial incentives to offset about $1-million of the estimated $5.3-million that Menards plans to spend on road improvements surrounding the 68 acre parcel. Twenty-one of these acres will be devoted to the home im-
provement store, while 19 will be for retail use and 5.5 will be for an industrial site. Menards would save about $860,000 over 10 years with the tax abatement, economic development director Gus Comstock told ThisWeek. The 162,000-square-foot store would cost $7.5 million, and would sit north of Orange Point Drive on the east side of U.S. Route 23. Construction is projected to start by August and last a year, Comstock said. He predicted that rezoning could take until summer to complete. Based on the company’s sales estimates, Menards would generate $500,000 to $600,000 per year in Delaware County sales tax, Comstock said. The county sales tax is 1.75 percent. See MENARDS, page A6
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By Eric George/ThisWeek
(Above) Gibson “Gib” Lewis, 92, was honored for his service in World War II and received a Bronze Star Medal on Saturday, Feb. 12, at Orange Township Hall. Lewis was recovering in a hospital at the end of WWII and at the time did not receive the recognition due him. (Below) U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Genoa Township) pinned the Bronze Star on Gibson.
WWII vet gets medal six decades late By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Lewis Center resident Gibson “Gib” Lewis received a Bronze Star Medal more than 60 years after earning it for his service in World War II. Lewis, 92, received the medal from U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Genoa Township), Feb. 12, at the Orange Township Hall. “I’m here to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of Mr. Lewis. It’s a wonderful story and today fortunately we can recognize those men of the ‘Greatest Generation,’ but fewer and fewer are here to celebrate with us. It is gratifying that we’re celebrating with you, your wife and family today,” Tiberi said, noting the medal and recognition were “long overdue.” “I really do appreciate it. This is one of the highlights of my life. The next one to this was our 70th wedding anniversary (celebrated with wife Helen) in September,” Lewis said. It was through Lewis’ friend and neighbor, Jack Seitzinger, that Lewis learned he was eligible for a Bronze Star. “Last year, I went to his house and he showed me his Purple Heart. I’m a retired
soldier with 21 years, and here’s a man who fought in World War II and got wounded and has the Combat Infantry Badge,” Seitzinger said. “ That’s a very significant award that you only get if you’ve actually been in battle and fought with the enemy,” he said. “I
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noted that he did not have a Bronze Star.” As a result of a study conducted in 1947, the Bronze Star Medal was awarded retroactively to soldiers who had received the Combat Infantryman Badge. See WWII VETERAN, page A2
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