June 30, 2011
Economic development
14 apply for top department post By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Fourteen people have submitted applications to be Canal Winchester’s fifth economic development director. The city extended the original June 14 deadline to June 21 in an effort to attract more candidates, but received no additional resumes by the later date. Nancy Stir, the city’s part-time human resources officer, has extensive human
he had accepted a post with the Ohio Department of Development, which is A closer look undergoing a privatization process promoted by Gov. John Kasich. Finance director Nanisa Osborne said The position opened up in the past month when Chris Strayer announced she had expected the city to draw a larghe had accepted a post with the Ohio Department of Development, which er pool of applicants than it would as a is undergoing a privatization process promoted by Gov. John Kasich. village, because cities have greater development powers under Ohio law. resources experience with the state and cants (for state jobs),” she said. “This will be a little different,” Osis used to dealing with greater numbers. The position opened up in the past born said. “For one thing, some people “We would have 200 to 500 appli- month when Chris Strayer announced who do this kind of work do not want
to work for a village because development in a city has different tools. That was not necessarily true for us, because even though we were a village, we were a charter community, but that was a nuance that a lot of people did not necessarily understand.” Osborn and Strayer said the city has enjoyed respectable development even during down economic times. See 14 APPLY, page A2
City, schools partner to build tennis courts
JUST PEACHY
By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
right. I’m just worried that someone else would want to do this around a different (era) building, using this as a precedent, and I wouldn’t agree with that.” According to commissioner Patrick Lynch, the building was originally occupied by the Midland (South Central) Power Co., which had signs along the roofline of the building and aluminum accents along the soffit of the building and windows and doorframes. “This commission’s duty is to determine what’s appropriate,” Lynch said. “I don’t think we’re setting a
Canal Winchester plans to have at least two new public tennis courts built by the end of the year, ending years of difficulties for the high school in fielding a tennis team. The Canal Winchester Local School District and the city are partnering on the project. The city plans to spend a maximum of $80,000 on construction of the courts, which will be built just north of the high school on Washington Street on land donated by the school board. Over the past decade, the city and schools have discussed the community’s desire for tennis courts that would be available for both high school athletics and community use, according to Mayor Michael Ebert and school board President Debra Waites. In recent years, when enough students were able to form a high school tennis team, the district had to borrow Groveport Madison High School’s tennis courts for practice and matches. “The desire for tennis courts was one of the issues brought up in the community survey,” Ebert said. “This has been a back-and-forth discussion for years now and with the recent financial issues, it would be difficult, or impossible, for the schools to afford building these alone. “Likewise, (the city) just didn’t have a good location or the money to buy a good location, so this was a win-win partnership for us both,” he said. Waites agreed, saying that the school district is very excited for the project to get started. “Tennis courts have been discussed for over 10 years here, so with the school able to donate the land and the city able to pay for all of the construction and maintenance — well, it’s a win-win situation for us,” Waites said. “The students will have use of the courts during the school day and for tennis team practices and matches, while the public will be able to use them the rest of the time.” The tennis courts will be built on the old school bus corral, just north of the high school on Washington Street. According to Ebert, the space should be economically advantageous due to the current site grading and foundation, which he said should
See RENOVATION, page A3
See TENNIS COURTS, page A2
Eric George/ThisWeek
Michela Hershberger, 16, serves Parris Hampton, center, and his children, Imani and Miquela, both 10, at a roadside peach stand in Canal Winchester on June 27.
Commission approves renovation plans By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Canal Winchester Landmarks Commission spent much of its time June 27 discussing the kinds of building materials that can be used in renovation and maintenance projects in the city’s preservation and historic districts. Members approved a request from John Stedman, who plans to move Village Wines and Bistro from its current location on West Waterloo Street to 10 S. High St. downtown. He requested approval of an outdoor patio area in the front of the building, patio fenc-
ing, plantings to screen patrons from street noise and two new exterior doors — one for patio access and another as an emergency egress for the dining room. “Our goal was to stick with stainless steel wire fencing, to stick with the style of the building,” Stedman said. Commissioner Will Bennett quoted a passage from the district guidelines that says all front yard fences must be either wood picket or wrought iron. Planning commission member Bruce Jarvis said the mid-century building on South High Street isn’t considered historically significant, al-
though it is intact as it was originally designed. “It’s fairly intact and was built as a modern, mid-century style building, but it never fit the character of the village,” Jarvis said. “I don’t feel there is anything architecturally significant that these plans would destroy or lose for future generations. “The Preservation Area guidelines require maintaining styles, but this is an exception from the beginning because of the era it was built, so doing something industrial around it is only fitting, due to the context of this property,” he said. “If you put a Victorianera fence around it, that wouldn’t look
State Route 256
Innovative traffic control system earns engineering award By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers A traffic light system designed to ease traffic congestion on state Route 256 has earned Pickerington a 2011 Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Ohio (ACEC). The statewide, nonprofit engineering association recognized the city for installing a $338,000 Adaptive Control System (ACS), which uses monitors at eight intersections on Route 256 — from Stonecreek Drive north to Diley Road — to measure traffic volume and de-
termine when traffic signals should change. A closer look The project was completed in early 2009. A traffic light system designed to In April, it earned Pickerington city ease traffic congestion on state engineer Greg Bachman an invitation Route 256 has earned Pickeringto a Federal Highway Administration ton a 2011 Engineering Excel(FHWA) conference in Anaheim, Calif., lence Award from the American that focused on improving traffic flow Council of Engineering Companies in hotspots throughout the country. of Ohio (ACEC). The ACEC award was presented on June 23. “From ACEC, last year the city re- an even higher status award.” ceived an ‘Outstanding Achievement According to information provided Award’ for the Diley Road project,” by the city last November, an average Bachman said. “The award this year is of 134 crashes per year occurred on
Route 256 between state Route 204 and Refugee Road from 2003 to 2007. At that time, Bachman said the majority of the crashes were due to congestion on the city’s most heavily traveled thoroughfare. For years, the Route 256 corridor in Pickerington has been on the Ohio Department of Transportation’s “Hot Spot” list of the 100 worst corridors in the state for traffic accidents. City officials acknowledge problems still persist within the state Route 256 corridor, but say the ACS system has helped traffic, and in granting the award, the ACEC concurred.
DIRECTORY News: (740) 888-6100 editorial@thisweeknews.com Sports: (740) 888-6054 sports@thisweeknews.com Retail ads: (740) 888-6000 www.thisweeknews.com/advertise Classified: (740) 888-5003 classified@thisweeknews.com Customer Service: 1-888-837-4342
Many of the remaining traffic congestion problems, Bachman said, are tied to the fact that the Ohio Department of Transportation-controlled intersections at Route 256 and Interstate 70, as well as at Route 256 and Route 204Tussing Road aren’t currently connected to Pickerington’s ACS system. City officials hope that will soon change; ODOT is investigating its intersections and comparing them to those on the city’s ACS system. “ODOT is performing their study,” Bachman said. “ODOT will decide (if it will connect to the system) based on the results of their study.”
Arts, eats and fun in central Ohio The 2011 Special Olympics Ohio Summer Games were held June 24-26 at various locations in the Columbus area. To view a multimedia presentation on opening day, visit ThisWeekNEWS.com.
Click on Social Scene at ThisWeekNEWS.com