June 9, 2011
Council divided on lumberyard park By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A green, grassy lawn might be in the future for the old lumberyard site behind Grove City Hall. Grove City Council members on June 6 voted 3-2 to spend $80,500 from the general fund to create a temporary park.
Mayor Richard “Ike” Stage told council he might veto the ordinance. Council members Melissa Albright and Gregory Grinch voted against the project. The ordinance was introduced on May 16 by council member Steve Bennett. He originally proposed spending $110,000. A 3-2 vote from the same council members on June 6 reduced the
amount, delaying some of the improvements until later. Grinch and Albright have voted against turning the property into a park for several months, beginning with a vote in March to obtain a cost estimate. Each has said the timing isn’t right for moving forward because the city has issued a request for proposals. That could
lead to a developer starting a project in the lumberyard or town center. “We have a (request for proposals) out there,” Albright said June 6. “I don’t want to spend a lot of money there when we’ve got an RFP that in 10 days is going to come back with some answers.” Grinch agreed the ordinance seemed premature.
“We’ve spent thousands of dollars on research. ... That property is destined for commercial development. It hasn’t happened to date, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future,” he said. “Why can’t we wait even 30 days to see if there’s an RFP?” See COUNCIL, page A2
Turn lanes changed on 270, U.S.62 exit ramp
SUPPORTING THEIR TEAM
By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Their faces showing disappointment but their applause expressing appreciation, Grove City High School’s baseball fans give the team a hand after a 7-2 loss to Lakota East in the Division I state semi-final at Huntington Park on June 2. See Sports, page B1.
City ready to tackle mosquitoes By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A wet spring plus warm weather are priming the Grove City area for an influx of mosquitoes. City service director Les Spring is confident the city’s new contract with Franklin County Public Health will help control the insects.
City council in March voted to contract with the county and Vector Disease Control International LLC for mosquito management services. Until this year, the city has been doing its own mosquito control, Spring said. “What we’ve been doing is what communities used to do, which was a weekly fogging program,” he said.
“What you do, basically, is try to kill the adult mosquito that is active and flying. That’s the shotgun approach.” The new program offered by Vector and the Franklin County Health Department is more comprehensive. “They pretreat storm drains and standing water,” Spring said. “They try to get to the root of the problem
and keep the larvae from hatching.” Workers try to educate property owners and ask them to remove tires and another sources of standing water on private property. That’s something Grove City has neither the manpower nor the expertise to tackle, Spring said. See MOSQUITOES, page A2
Grove City Food Pantry moves into new location By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A closer look
It hasn’t moved far, but as of Friday, June 3, the Grove City Food Pantry and Emergency Ser- An enthusiastic crowd gathered at the old parsonage of the Grove City United vices has a new home. An enthusiastic crowd gathered at the old par- Methodist Church, 2710 Columbus St., to sonage of the Grove City United Methodist Church, celebrate the grand opening of the organi2710 Columbus St., to celebrate the grand open- zation’s new building. The new site, which ing of the charitable organization’s new building. covers about 1,700 square feet, not only The food pantry had been housed in a 12-foot has plenty of storage space but also has by 60-foot room in the church basement. The new three offices and a meeting room upstairs. site, which covers about 1,700 square feet, not only has plenty of storage space but also has three Mayor Richard “Ike” Stage presented the food offices and a meeting room upstairs. pantry with a proclamation commending the or-
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ganization’s work for the community and helped cut the ribbon. State Rep. Cheryl Grossman (RGrove City) also congratulated the members of the local ministerial association, which started the pantry 31 years ago. The pantry now serves up to 12 families a day — a total of 2,463 households in 2010 — said Don Swogger, food pantry president. The pantry has a new sign, on the building facing Columbus Street. “With the sign up now, I think numbers will really increase, and I thank God for that,” Swogger said. See FOOD PANTRY, page A2 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.
The Ohio Department of Transportation and Grove City have taken a step toward improving traffic flow at the intersection of Interstate 270 and U.S. Route 62. ODOT workers restriped the center lane of the westbound I-270 exit ramp at U.S Route 62 between 11 p.m. Thursday, June 2, and 5 a.m. Friday, June 3, ODOT spokeswoman Nancy Burton said. The original plan was to start work the week of May 23, “but we weren’t having much luck, with all the rain,” Burton said. “(It was a) safety improvement that was relatively easy to do. We could make those safety A closer look changes ourselves rather The modifications allow than having to westbound drivers to turn contract that left from the center lane, out.” which had been designated The modifi- as a through lane, increascations allow ing the number of left-turn westbound driv- lanes to two. Additional ers to turn left signal modifications comfrom the center pleted the change. lane, which had been designated as a through lane, increasing the number of left-turn lanes to two. Traffic signal modifications completed the change. Burton said an extra turn lane improves safety at the intersection. “There were a number of vehicles at certain times of day that were backing up or waiting in line to make a left onto 62,” she said. “That’s just not safe when you have vehicles that are completely stopped and you have interstate traffic. … By restriping and timing or coordinating the traffic signal, it’s our hope that it provides more space for vehicles” to decrease the possibility of cars being at a standstill on the interstate. Burton said the cost of the restriping was minimal because it came out of ODOT’s general fund. Only one or two employees — traffic controllers — were paid overtime. Others were third-shift ODOT workers. The only equipment needed was already on hand, she said. Grove City Mayor Richard “Ike” Stage said the city has wanted to make changes to the traffic flow for about two years. “I think it’s going to help some, coupled with the improvements at Home Road and (U.S. Route) 62,” Stage said of the newly completed restriping. “It’s all working together to get the congestion ironed out.” The construction at Home Road and Route 62 should be completed within the next few months, Stage said. For up-to-date information on ODOT construction projects and traffic information,visit www.BuckeyeTraffic.org or call (740) 833-8268.
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