50¢
Primarily serving Pataskala and surrounding areas
July 31, 2011
New Licking Heights superintendent
Wagner to focus on academic performance By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Philip H. Wagner was named the new superintendent of the Licking Heights Local School District at a special meeting July 24. He will start Aug. 1. He succeeds Thomas Tucker, who will become superintendent of Worthington City Schools in August after three years at Licking Heights.
Wagner earned $125,000 annually as assistant superintendent of Beachwood City Schools, overseeing the district’s curriculum, technology and human-resources departments. He will earn slightly less, $122,500, as superintendent of Licking Heights. “Salaries are based on the region and I think the board was fair to me based on how superintendent salaries are aligned in the area,” Wagner said. As part of his contract, Licking
Heights will pay the standard 14-percent contribution, as well as the 10 percent usually paid by the employee, to the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. BePhilip H. cause of the arrangeWagner ment, the district will also pay STRS an additional 2.4 percent, which means 26.4 percent of the
$122,500 will be paid to STRS for retirement benefits. Wagner also will pay 25 percent of his health insurance, which is consistent with what other district employees pay. In the past, the district paid 100 percent of the superintendent’s medical benefits, but Wagner opted to forgo that benefit. Wagner said he would prioritize elevating the district’s academic performance.
“The board has been very clear that they want to make the district a top-tier rated district, and I think they found my background in Beachwood, Hudson and Solon to be attractive,” Wagner said. Enrollment at Beachwood, a suburb east of Cleveland, is about half the enrollment at Licking Heights, but the perpupil expenditures are significantly higher, both because of property values and See SUPERINTENDENT, page A2
Pataskala
Wards and boundaries commission concludes work Aug. 4 By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Pataskala wards and boundaries commission will complete its charter duty Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. in council chambers when it holds a final meeting to redraw Pataskala’s four wards based on population changes documented by the 2010 census. “The work is done and the boundaries are approved,” said commission chair Pete Nix. “We will provide a map and a detailed written description of the wards.” The main charge of the commission is to equalize the populations of each ward, so that representation on council reflects a balanced portion of the city’s total population. “The core of the wards is the same,” Nix said. “We were able to keep all the neighborhoods and developments in the same ward without splitting neighborhoods. The biggest change is we had to move a sizeable chunk of Ward 2 into other wards to keep them substantially equal. The second ward grew much faster than the other wards.” The difficulty is that achieving precise equality requires drawing complex boundaries that do not appear logical and break up neighborhoods. To alleviate the problem, the wards are drawn with some variation, so that small inequalities in population result in more coherent boundaries. Under the Pataskala city charter, city council is not required to act on the commission’s work, but Nix said the commission would make a presentation to council in August. See WARDS AND BOUNDARIES, page A2
Conservation district levy to appear on Nov. 8 ballot County voters in November will decide a 0.1-mill operating levy request by the Licking County Soil and Water Conservation District. County commissioners passed a resolution July 28 to place the five-year levy on the Nov. 8 ballot. Conservation district officials anticipate the levy would generate about $370,000 per year. It would cost property owners $3.06 per year for every $100,000 of assessed valuation, according to the county auditor’s office. Officials say the levy is necessary to support the conservation district’s programs and services, which have been reduced because of See LEVY, page A2
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Pataskala Mayor Steve Butcher on July 27 stains the walkway of the bridge connecting Pataskala Ridge to Mill Street. Volunteers recently completed five weeks of work on the bridge, which included painting and removal of graffiti on the walkway.
Volunteers complete bridge-painting work By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Mayor Steve Butcher and student volunteers from the Full Armor of God Baptist Church in Reynoldsburg recently completed five weeks of work on the bridge connecting Pataskala Ridge to Mill Street. The work included some incidental sidewalk work at the farmers market and several sessions of bridge painting to remove accumulated graffiti on the walkway. Pataskala Ridge residents Shawn and Tasha O’Neill said they use the bridge almost every day with their daughter, Riley, and son, Drew. “We probably use it once or twice a day in the summer, spring and fall,” Tasha O’Neill said. “We use it to access the school playground. We walk to McDonald’s sometimes for a treat.” Shawn O’Neill said the bridge was convenient to access the annual street fair.
Butcher said the walkway is used by many residents. “This trail is used a lot,” Butcher said. “I’ve been surprised how many people have been on the trail while we are doing this.” The work has made a difference, Tasha O’Neill said. “Our first impression was, wow, someone’s painting, it looks so nice,” she said. “It makes it look clean and fresh and cared for.” Volunteers from the church completed the work as part of an ongoing volunteer effort organized by the city. “Some of the kids are so young I thought it would create some issues,” Butcher said. “But the truth is, even if they go home a mess, it doesn’t make a difference whether you are 6 or 60 doing this. They only work an hour at a time, and we’ve had probably 16 at a time for five weeks. All the cost to the city is just the stain.”
Some graffiti was bad enough that a few adult volunteers went in first to remove the worst of it. “They were all covered in graffiti, with foul words and dirty drawings,” Butcher said. “The wood on the bridge was the same. Some of the adults came down and painted out some of the things so the kids would not be exposed to it.” Butcher said fighting graffiti is a constant battle. “The only way you can combat it is as soon as it happens you have to get in there and clean it up,” Butcher said. In past years, volunteer groups have painted city fire hydrants and performed other maintenance projects. Volunteers also maintain streams. “We use clubs like the Rotary to clean up logjams,” Butcher said. “We had two major logjams that required heavy bulldozers to clear them up. Now, as soon as we get a jam starting, we come in and clean it out.” www.ThisWeekNews.com
Licking County
Planning commission looking to fill two positions By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Licking County Planning Commission has announced its intention to hire a planning director and environmental director, with applications due Aug. 12. The positions currently are held by Jerry Brems and Jim Mickey, respectively, both of whom are retiring by September. “The planning commission is responsible for county subdivision regulations and coordinating the devel-
You have a hole in your house.
opment of comprehensive plans with townships,” said commission chair Chet Geiger. “Townships are responsible for zoning, but zoning is supposed to be done in conjunction with a comprehensive plan. Many times, one gets in front of the other. The commission is not responsible for developing plans, but they do go out and help them work on developing the plans.” County commissioner Tim Bubb said the planning director should be able to do long-term planning, rather than day-to-day details.
“They have to be both a good manager and a visionary,” Bubb said. “The key is to look long term. A shortterm issue, such as splitting a lot, is important when you are building a house, but when you look at roads you need to look at the next generation. “There was a day when Sawmill Road was a country road and state Route 256 was a path. Well, look at them today. If you make good decisions now on road access, where you put interchanges and how you plan, roads today that are barely used have
the potential 20 years from now of being the next Sawmill Road. Good decisions now will save us later from nightmares that cost a lot of money.” The planning director also participates in LCATS, the Licking County Area Transportation Study, the body responsible for prioritizing transportation funding in the county, Geiger said. “Transportation is an additional duty, but it’s an important role,” Geiger said.
And don’t even know it. Learn how to plug it with an energy assessment or audit from AEP Ohio. Call 877-856-2454 to sign up today.
See POSITIONS, page A2