ThisWeek Marysville 2/20/11 by Dispatch Magazines/The Columbus Dispatch

February 20, 2011

City opens search for administrator By LIN RICE ThisWeek Community Newspapers

The process has begun to find a new Marysville city administrator, according to Mayor Chris Schmenk. City leaders have been discussing who to select for Marysville’s top appointed administrative position since Jillian Froment accepted a job with the state earlier this month. Froment’s last day working for Marysville was Feb. 11.

Schmenk said the city hopes to find the new administrator within the next 60 days. “I think things are going fine. We have Chris Schmenk a great staff in place and they know what they’re doing, so things are continuing to be set in motion,” Schmenk said. Marysville has been advertising the

County grape growers branch out

opening in several regional and national municipal publications, Schmenk said. A few applications have trickled in already, she said, and a deadline of March 31 has been set to receive all applications. Marysville’s city administrator serves as the chief administrative officer for city government, and oversees day-today operations, according to the recently

A closer look The city administrator serves as the chief administrative officer for city government, and oversees day-to-day operations, according to the recently updated job description. The position directs the work of city staff in support of the mayor and council; the administrator must also have indepth knowledge of city finance, public service and safety service activities. The annual salary is listed at $90,000 to $115,000, with a benefits package that includes an 8.5-percent OPERS city pickup.

See CITY OPENS, page A2

LIBRARY HELP

By LIN RICE ThisWeek Community Newspapers

The business of growing grapes and making wine is branching out in Union County. Nearly a dozen farm and land owners from Union and surrounding counties put their heads together last week to discuss strategies for promoting winemaking in the county. Coordinator and Plain City-based Eldchrist Winery owner Chris Eldredge said the Feb. 15 meeting was held to judge the interest of local farmers in the enterprise. “We had 11 attendees, with the majority of folks being fairly new growers who have agreed to provide Eldchrist with grapes sometime in the future,” he said. “Some of the growers represent brand new farms, and won’t be productive until about 2013, but a few are already online, with farms represented from Fredericktown, a vineyard in Richwood, another Plain City farm, and others from West Jefferson and even the Grove City area.” Eldredge said the goal of the meeting was to coordinate county and area grape growers, to pitch the idea of cooperation in making this sort of industry thrive in Union County. “We wanted to see what the other growers are thinking, and to start a dialogue about best practices in terms of jointly ordering vineyard supplies, along with discussing techniques for managing vineyards,” he said. “We also started talking about the individual varieties of grapes, seeing what people are currently planting.” For the past year, the Eldchrist Winery has been working with the Union and Madison County chambers of commerce to find land owners interested in planting vineyards on their property. The Ohio Department of Agriculture has established a grant program for grape growers beginning this year – in 2010 Eldchrist Winery was awarded $2,000 through the Vineyard Expansion Assistance Program to plant the business’s first acre of grapes. “Six of the eight vineyards represented at the meeting had also qualified and were awarded grant money for the planting season in 2011,” Eldredge said. “Each one got a minimum of $2,000 from the state to establish at least one acre of additional grape vines.” See GRAPE GROWERS, page A2

By Chris Parker/ThisWeek

Madison Krumm helps her brother, Charles, with the computer in the Marysville Public Library, 231 S. Plum St., Thursday, Feb. 17.

Blowin’ in the wind

Turbines aren’t in city’s immediate future By LIN RICE ThisWeek Community Newspapers

The idea of electricity-producing wind turbines has been on the minds of Marysville officials lately, but it could take time for the city to have the the capability to take a serious look at the energy alternative. Marysville’s planning commission first requested more information on the idea about a year ago, said city planner Greg DeLong. Logan-UnionChampaign (LUCRPC) Regional Planning Commission director Jenny Snapp delivered a presentation to Marysville Planning Commission members at the time, DeLong said, and since then she has been presenting similar information all over the state.

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We have found a few (cities) with regulations for windmills, but some of those are like Cleveland — not very similar to Marysville. Right now we’re just gathering all the information we can.

GREG DELONG — city planner

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The hard part about defining standards in Marysville for wind energy, however, is a lack of precedent in other cities. DeLong said that most areas in Ohio and other states that

have language on their books regulating windmills are either counties or townships — not cities. A city faces different needs and restrictions than other types of municipalities, he said. “We have found a few (cities) with regulations for windmills, but some of those are like Cleveland — not very similar to Marysville,” DeLong said. “Right now we’re just gathering all the information we can.” According to information prepared by the LUCRPC, Ohio ranks fifth in the nation in energy consumption, with 86 percent of the state’s energy derived from coal. Less than 1 percent of Ohio’s energy comes from alternative sources. This will need to change in the future, however. SB 221, signed by then-Gov. Ted Strickland in 2008, implemented Alterna-

tive Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS). These require that by 2025, 25 percent of electricity sold in Ohio must come from alternative technology, with at least half of that being from renewable sources. State agencies could also play into the process of building such energy sources in Marysville and Union County at large, DeLong said. Any plant generating more than five megawatts (mw) of power must be approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB). Those larger turbines are under jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Currently, 555 wind turbines have been approved by the OPSB in Ohio. See WIND TURBINES, page A2

Marysville considers dropping fees for false alarms By LIN RICE ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Marysville’s fire department is taking a new look at how it charges residents and businesses that cause excessive false alarms. The city’s administration introduced legislation before city council last week that would streamline Marysville’s policy for automated alarm systems, as well as remove the fees charged for excessive false alarms. Fire chief Gary Johnson said that the speed in which technology has advanced plays a large part in the legis-

A closer look Marysville’s current code defines ‘excessive false alarms’ as at least three instances in a consecutive 12-month period. The law currently charges the alarm system’s owner $50 for the fourth false alarm, $100 for the fifth, $250 for the sixth and $500 for the seventh false alarm in one year’s time.

lation. “There have been a lot of changes in the alarm industry in the last 10 years, since our ordinance was enacted,” Johnson said. “Also the fire code changed, giving us more enforcement

options, so we’re eliminating the set fee structure for false alarms.” Marysville’s current code defines ‘excessive false alarms’ as at least three instances in a consecutive 12-month period. The law currently charges the

alarm system’s owner $50 for the fourth false alarm, $100 for the fifth, $250 for the sixth and $500 for the seventh false alarm in one year’s time. Johnson said doing away with the fee structure would allow the fire department to work on a case-by-case basis with the community. “We’re also beefing up the requirements on the alarm installers, to push more accountability on the business that installs the alarms,” he said. “The important thing to get across is that we’re updating the city ordinance to make it more user-friendly, as well as to keep it up to date with changes in