June 9, 2011
Referendum to target Liberty rezoning By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Some Liberty Township residents have filed a referendum on the township trustees’ decision to rezone land at the southwest corner of Home Road and state Route 315 for a 148-house development. The rezoning changed 216 acres from farm residential to planned residential.
Trustees discussed the referendum petition at their June 6 meeting. The property’s address is 7547 state Route 315. The referendum seeks to overturn the trustees’decision. If it is certified by the Delaware County Board of Elections, voters in the unincorporated portion of Liberty Township would decide the issue in November.
Some neighbors of the proposed development object to it for a number of reasons. In particular, they wanted oneacre lots for each house, as the township’s farm-residential zoning requires. The development plans show most of the homes on one-third acre lots and some on one-acre lots. The plan also includes 103.4 acres of greenspace. The proposed development would clus-
ter homes together and 47.8 percent of the land would be greenspace, developer Charles Driscoll has said. Many of those objecting to the rezoning live on or near Woodland Hall Drive. Against objections from the developer’s lawyer, the township rejected a plan to connect two streets from the proposed development to Woodland Hall Drive.
Neighbors opposed the streets, saying they would bring too much traffic to their neighborhood. Trustee Robert Mann said it was a “major accomplishment” for the trustees to convince the Delaware County Engineer’s Office to remove the access roads from the development’s plans. See LIBERTY, page A2
Genoa Twp. OKs two-year firefighter pact
OHIO FAIR
By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Lisa Rice/ThisWeek
Freedom Trail Elementary School fourth-graders presented their Ohio Fair projects on Friday, June 3. About 96 students participated. (Above) Fourthgrader Megan McCollum talks about Dublin-based restaurant chain, Wendy’s, at the Ohio Fair as (left) Duncan Wendel gives a presentation on the Cincinnati Reds. The projects were the culminating event of the students’ social studies curriculum. “Students (were) given the opportunity to research an influential person, event, place, company or animal that has had an impact on the state of Ohio,” said teacher Desiree Gillman. “Students then chose from a variety of projects to display at their table on the day of the Ohio Fair.” This is the second year the school has held the Ohio Fair.
Libraries set summer reading kick-off By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Summer reading programs are no longer just for children. The Delaware County District Library is now offering the program for adults, prizes included. “We’re having our first adult summer reading program,” said Shea Alltmont. “We had more people asking for (the program) because their children or grandchildren were participating, and they wanted to do it, too. Why should kids have all the fun?” Readers can participate in one of four groups: babies, kids, teens and adults. The theme for the program is “One World, Many Stories,” and includes passports for each age group that get stamped as participants complete their reading. The programs begin the weekend of June 11 and run through Aug. 6. The kick-off at the Orange branch, 7171
Gooding Blvd., is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 11. The events at Delaware and Powell branches will be held 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at 84 E. Winter St., Delaware, and 460 S. Liberty St., Powell, respectively. As they move through their summer reading, participants can earn prizes along the way. To complete a passport, babies, kids and teens must read a total of 12 hours. They can collect a prize after reading in six-hour and 12-hour increments, said Alltmont. Prizes will include T-shirts, books and various ageappropriate items. “The kids bring in their passports for stamps as they read. These are incentives to keep the kids reading,” Alltmont said. To complete a passport, adults must read three books throughout the summer. They can write online reviews of the books they read.
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Should readers need ideas on what to read, librarians have various reading lists available. Summer reading programs are fun, help children polish their reading skills while on break from school, and encourage reading as an enjoyable leisure activity, Alltmont said. More than 3,400 children participated in the 2010 program, she said. The weekend includes special performances by: • Tom Sparough, the Space Painter, whose show includes juggling and comedy. He “paints space” with colorful scarves, balls, and sometimes watermelon, Alltmont said. • Ron Remy, who performs magic, juggling, and ventriloquism. Visit www.delaware.lib.oh.us for performance times. For more information on these programs, services, or locations, visit the DCDLibrary website or contact Alltmont at salltmont@ delawarelibrary.org or (740) 362-3861. Marley is a five-yearold mixed breed dog currently up for adoption at Citizens For Human Action. For information on adopting Marley, visit CHA’s website: chaanimalshelter.org. Watch a video of Marley at ThisWeek NEWS.com.
Genoa Township trustees on June 2 approved a two-year contract with the firefighters union. The contract includes base pay increases of 2 percent each year for 2011 and 2012. That increase is down from the previous twoyear contracts, which granted a 5-percent base pay increase per year. The new contract will expire Dec. 31, 2012. The percentage of increases for step increases for firefighters remained the same as the last contract, township administrator Paul Wise told ThisWeek. Those annual increases are about 8 percent per year. The employee monthly contribution to health insurance of $60 for family coverage and $30 for single coverage remains the same. Employees will contribute to
the deductible: $400 for family coverage and $200 for single. The deductibles total $4,000 for family coverage and $2,000 for single. The township pays the remainder of the deductible. In 2012, the employee will not contribute to the deductible. Firefighters must pass an agility test to retain their jobs. That requirement was part of the previous contract. The new contract includes a 1-percent bonus pay increase per year for passing the agility test. The fire department has 22 fulltime employees under contract and 18 part-time employees not under contract, Fire Chief Gary Honeycutt told ThisWeek. The township’s police union also is under a new contract that was reached in April by binding arbitration. It has the same base pay and insurance provisions as See GENOA, page A7
Donations to bring back city events By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A number of Powell events will return this summer, thanks to the effort of local service clubs and several businesses. Many of Powell’s traditional events were cut for 2011 during the city’s budget discussions. Members of the Powell Sertoma, Rotary Club of Olentangy and Kiwanis Club of Powell stepped in to keep scheduled community events such as the “Lollipops!” children’s concert series, Memorial Day Parade and ceremony, Touch a Truck and the Powell Festival. They were aided by donations from three area businesses, Costco, Giant Eagle and Recreations Outlet. “We got together because almost all these (city) events, especially the Memorial Day parade, were ended because of budget cuts,” said Larry Coolidge of Powell Sertoma. “We decided to approach the city and the city came up with a dollar figure to keep them going.” The revived programs started
in April with the Arbor Day celebration and continue until the Veterans Day ceremony in November, said Steve Ussery of Olentangy Rotary Club. When Ussery moved to Powell in 1979, the city had few such events. Since then, Powell has improved at staging events that build communities, he said. “As the neighborhoods have changed and people moved in, they’ve added more and more events and all of them give a good sense of community and are the types of things that residents expect and deserve. And a service club is here to do local things as well as international things,” Ussery said. “There are a lot of kids that come out to the events and enjoy them. It would have been a tragedy not to be able to put them on.” The Kiawani Club’s defining statement is, “We are dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time,” said Lynn Hanna Stoycheff of the Kiwanis Club of Powell. “The idea is we want to make Powell better See CITY EVENTS, page A2
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