August 11, 2011
City’s ‘wish list’ totals $71M in projects Peoples: Budget constraints mean not all items on updated CIP will be funded By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Canal Winchester’s capital improvements “wish list” totals $71 million in planned projects over the next five years, but only some of them will be completed due to budget concerns. The largest project includes $1.5 million in w ater line and roadw ay im-
provements, to be paid for out of local funds and grant money from the Ohio Public Works Commission — if the grant is awarded to the city. “The CIP (capital improvements program) update process occurs annually prior to submitting our grant applications to the Ohio Public Works Commission,” Public Works director Matt Peoples said. “Our first run for Ohio
EPA funding for the ‘tank town’ water line replacement doesn’t look like it is going to be approved, so we’ve updated the plan to reflect that and will submit our application to the Ohio Public Works Commission for grant money through them.” “Tank town” is the area east of High Street and north of the railroad tracks where an elevated water tower once
stood. The updated CIP includes active projects, anticipated needs and desired upgrades, according to Peoples. “We’ve updated the CIP quite a bit for some of the things that are in the budget,” he said. “The five-year plan now takes us out to 2016 and you’ll see in there that the High Street o verpass and Winchester Boulevard extension
have been around since the 2006 update, but we’re still not budgeting for them.” The High Street overpass and Winchester Boulevard extension have a combined estimated expense of $35.5 million. A new municipal building project which has been on the CIP since 2008, with an estimated expense of $6 million, See WISH LIST, page A2
Planning commission
BLUES AND RIBFEST
Old Town code changes headed to city council By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Photos by Chris Parker/ThisWeek
(Above) Visitors walk down Main Street during the second annual Canal Winchester Blues and Ribfest Aug. 5. (Below left) Dave Dowden tears into some ribs. (Below right) Rob Thompson performs during the annual event.
Changes to the Old Town area guidelines continued to dominate the discussion at both the Old Town Committee and the CanalWinchester Planning and Zoning Commission meetings Aug. 8. In the end, the planning and zoning commission voted unanimously to send the proposed changes to city council, which will vote on them after a public hearing. A date for that hearing has not yet been set. The proposal would amend the code to have applications regarding the Old Town area heard directly by the Landmarks Commission rather than dividing them among the Old Town Committee, Landmarks and planning and zoning. The intent of the changes is to mo ve the description of the Landmarks Commission into an appropriate part of the code,to reorganize guidelines for the historic district and the preservation area (to be renamed a preserv ation district) into two separate sets of guidelines and to give all Old Town area reviews over to the Landmarks Commission. See OLD TOWN CODE, page A2
Pot bust
Man enters not guilty plea to charges By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
No one is drought-proof. A drought is always just a season away and that can kill a town; but our current groundwater supply should be sufficient for several years to come.” Enforcement of the policy includes two warnings prior to having the water shut off, a $200 fee or, ultimately, a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge. “We follow up on complaints about water use during the day and we try to put out reminders along with information about water conservation in city communications a few times a year,” Peoples said.
A Canal Winchester man charged with cultivation of marijuana pleaded not guilty during an Aug. 8 arraignment in F airfield County Municipal Court. Leon Endicott, 71, was arrested Aug. 3 after authorities acting on a tip raided his prop- Leon Endicott erty at 7210 Amanda-Northern Road and reported finding $1 million worth of marijuana.. He posted $10,000 bail and was released from the Fairfield County jail a day later. The charge against Endicott is a second-degree felony, according to court documents. Initial reports from the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office indicated it was a first-degree felony. A search of a b uilding and semi trailer on Endicott’s land by the Street Crimes Reduction and Apprehension Program (SCRAP) turned up 300
See WATER, page A2
See NOT GUILTY PLEA, page A2
Water conservation rules remain in effect By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Canal Winchester officials want residents to remember the city’s water conservation policy during the hot, dry summer months, even though a treatment plant that came online in 2007 has alleviated any immediate threats to water availability. The city continues to enforce its policy during the summer to ensure water remains available in the event of an emergency. “When we originally implemented the water conservation policy in 2006, it was before the water plant was ex-
panded and we were at the limit of our capacity at the current plant,” Public Works director Matt Peoples said. “We need water in our towers for emergencies like a fire or water main break, so at that time, it was an absolute necessity to implement the policy to keep the city from running out of water.” The policy limits lawn watering to a Tuesday-through-Sunday schedule of 6 p.m. to 10 a.m.,with no watering allowed on Mondays. A provision also allows the city’s water superintendent to declare a water emergency due to a special condition, such as drought or water system failure where water use may be further restricted.
A closer look The water policy limits lawn watering to a Tuesday-throughSunday schedule of 6 p.m. to 10 a.m., with no watering allowed on Mondays.
“When we’re having 95 degree-plus days in the middle of the day , it just doesn’t make sense to be out there watering the grass because the evaporation rate is so high,” Peoples said. “We don’t have an infinite supply of water.