June 9, 2011
Strayer leaves for state development post City council salaries maintained, mayor earns delayed increase By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Canal Winchester development director Chris Strayer told city council Monday, June 6, that will resign effective June 10 to join the Ohio Department of Development as special projects manager for the strategic business investment division. “It’s a good opportunity,” Strayer said. “The special projects manager is in charge
of projects where more than $50 million in investment or 200 or more jobs are created. It’s bigger projects, higher-level stuff. “It’s a great opportunity to become involved in larger projects across the state.” Strayer has been at Canal Winchester for four years. His city salary is $65,000 annually. He declined to state his salary with the department of development. Strayer said Canal Winchester had done well, growing during a severe eco-
nomic downturn. “We’ve done a lot of work,” he said. “Look at the industrial park. We’ve done the hospital. And we’ve been through the big downturn. We have increased investment through a very bad downturn in the economy and that says a lot about Canal Winchester’s ability to grow.” Strayer said he did expect the state’s department of development to be priva-
“
It’s a good opportunity. The special projects manager is in charge of projects where more than $50 million in investment or 200 or more jobs are created. It’s bigger projects, higher-level stuff. It’s a great opportunity to become involved in larger projects across the state.
CHRIS STAYER — leaving as Canal Winchester development director
See STRAYER, page A2
”
City property tax collections to fall
FLYING HIGH
By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Eric George/ThisWeek
Brad Snyder, 10, jumps off the diving board at the Canal Winchester municipal pool, 180 Groveport Road, on June 6. The pool opened for the season on June 4.
Safety committee
Canal Pointe parcel may become preserve By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The city of Canal Winchester may dedicate about 66 acres of wooded land in the Canal Pointe industrial park as passive use recreation, preserving the wooded, swampy land that is there and saving the city from paying property taxes on it. During city council’s June 1 safe-
ty committee meeting, public works director Matt Peoples said the land was unlikely to be used for development, and making it parkland could save the city from paying property taxes. “This is a big wooded area and there is no way anything is ever going to be built on it,” Peoples said. “Not only is it wooded, it is swampy down there. We pay property taxes on it. We are
talking about making this a preservetype area, not doing anything on it.” Peoples said the city would not likely build trails, although the property could offer an interesting passive recreation opportunity. “It’s a nice nature area,” Peoples said. “We would like to dedicate it as a park.” Development director Chris Strayer said the parcel includes some po-
tentially developable land, but the expected market value is less than the cost of building an access road that would allow it to be developed. “To get there, it just doesn’t make any sense,” Strayer said. “For the cost of building a road, it does not make any sense for two building pads. For the $200,000 or the $300,000 you See CANAL POINTE, page A2
Finance director Nanisa Osborn told Canal Winchester City Council’s finance committee Monday that property valuations in Franklin County are expected to fall by an average of as much as 8 percent in the current three-year valuation cycle conducted by the county auditor. As a result, Osborn said, city revenue from property taxes is likely to fall, also. “Every three years, the value of real estate is reviewed,” Osborn said. “It is all over the state of Ohio, but counties are on different schedules, and 2011 is the year Franklin County reviews the value of all real estate.” Osborn said Franklin County Auditor Clarence Mingo had invited all municipal finance officials to a meeting last week to discuss the valuations. “They are expecting, for the first time in a number of years, that the value of residential real estate in Franklin County will go down,” she said. “Individual properties may have gone down in the past, but it was not the large stroke they are expecting it to be.” Osborn said property taxes collected by Canal Winchester are “inside millage,” a reference to constitutional authority to impose a 1-percent property tax that is allocated to various political subdivisions. Such inside millage is not subject to the provisions of House Bill 920. That state law prevents changes in valuation to properties subject to outside millage (voted property taxes in excess of the 1-percent amount) from changing how much money is collected from the voted levy. Under common circumstances of rising property values, this causes collected property tax millage to decline over time. In times of falling property values, it could cause collected millage to inSee CITY PROPERTY, page A6
Safety expo slated June 25 at Ohio Fire Academy By DAVID S. OWEN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Firefighters from all over the state will converge on The Ohio Fire Academy, 8895 E. Main St., Reynoldsburg, for the annual Fire Safety Expo & Muster on June 25. The expo is free and open to the public. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Event spokesperson Shane Cartmill said kids, families and
firefighting enthusiasts will be able to enjoy a variety of handson fire safety demonstrations. In addition, he said the expo and muster offers a chance for visitors to see the fire trucks used today as well as more than 100 antique fire trucks dating back two centuries. Cartmill said a variety of exhibits will be set up. “There are a large number of historic fire trucks
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dating back to the 19th century all the way up through to today‘s most modern equipment, the bomb squads and their robots, and arson K-9s,” Cartmill said. He said fire agencies from throughout Ohio will be represented and most will stress fire safety. Cartmill said the Fire Safety Expo & Muster, now in it’s ninth year at the academy, has drawn
up to 5,000 people. He said although the event is free, refreshments will be available for purchase, including hot dogs and hamburgers. Families are also welcome to pack a picnic lunch if they want. State Fire Marshal Larry Flowers said the event gives the academy an opportunity to showcase firefighters, fire safety, equipment and the important work 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.
they perform. “This event is about education,” Flowers said. “It’s about getting information into families’ and young people’s hands. The whole key to it is educating people about fire safety.” He said demonstrations and exhibits will be located inside and outside the Ohio Fire Academy’s See SAFETY EXPO, page A2
A closer look The expo is free and open to the public. Hours are10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Event spokesperson Shane Cartmill said kids, families and firefighting enthusiasts will be able to enjoy a variety of hands-on fire safety demonstrations.
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