July 21, 2011
Henderson promoted to development post By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspaper Joe Henderson, Pickerington’s city planner since 2005, was promoted last week to serve as development services director. That means for the first time in nearly four months, Pickerington has a fulltime department director for the city’s business retention, expansion and recruitment efforts.
Henderson, 31, was promoted by city manager Bill Vance to fill a position that had been vacant since Susan Crotty was placed on administrative leave on March 22 and terminated April 4. Crotty was paid a $75,000 annual salary at the time of her dismissal; Henderson will receive a $67,500 annual salary. “I’m excited,” said Henderson, a resident of German Village in Columbus. “I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I’m ready for it.”
Vance announced Henderson’s promotion through a press release issued after the close of business on July 13. On July 14, Vance said he chose Henderson, one of 32 people who applied for the job, because of his “local knowledge, dedication and loyalty to the philosophies we’re incorporating into our development services efforts.” Vance and Violet Township director of operations Bill Yaple had discussed jointly employing township economic
development director Joy Davis to handle economic development issues for both governments. That proposal was presented June 22 to Pickerington City Council’s planning, projects and services committee, which instructed Vance to provide more details of how the arrangement would work. Last week, Vance said a joint director for the city and township remains an option for the future, but current projects being proposed to Pickerington war-
ranted filling the city’s position immediately. “Those discussions with the township became bigger in scale and that’s going to take a lot more coordination,” he said. “In the meantime, the city’s got an increasing amount of development activity. Therefore, we needed to fill this vacancy.” In making his selection, Vance pointSee HENDERSON, page A6
Planning and zoning
DOG DAYS OF SUMMER Soccer complex gets green light from commission By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers A 115,230-square-foot indoor soccer complex is set for construction on Pickerington’s north side following approvals last week from the city’s planning and zoning commission. The Pickerington Planning and Zoning Commission on July 12 voted 5-2 to approve the project’s certificate of appropriateness related to proposed architectural, landscaping, sign and lighting plans. The vote allowed Homestead Development Co. to clear one of the final hurdles standing in the way of its proposal to build a $4-million indoor soccer complex just west of Hill Road Plaza along Refugee Road. The company has been planning and negotiating with Pickerington officials for more than a year. Now, the developer only needs to secure city building permits for the project, which is expected to occur soon. “We’re obviously excited we’re finally at the end of a long and expensive process,” said Aaron Underhill, an attorney for Homestead. “While there were some trying times, in the end, we did see some support from the city and we’re happy we got it. “We want to open this in October 2012,” he said. “It will take eight to nine months to build.” As designed, the project will include four indoor soccer fields, which the developer plans to lease to local youth athletic organizations, the Pickerington Local School District and other community members. Construction is planned on 16.06 acres formerly owned by the Ebright family.
Photos by Andrea Kjerrumgaard/ThisWeek
(Above) Mariel Bruce watches Lilly (right) play with with Lukie, who was at the new Friends of Violet Township Dog Park with her family July 16. (Left) Gunner takes a break from playing fetch with his owner, Greg Grunder, to enjoy a gulp of water from the dog-sized drinking fountain at the park. The park opened July 1 after more than two years of planning and fundraising. The project was a partnership between Violet Township and residents, who raised approximately $42,000 for the park.
See SOCCER COMPLEX, page A2
Disc golf club to host camp and tournament By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers A Columbus disc golf club will host an instructional camp next month, ahead of the city’s first professional disc golf tournament. In May 2010, Pickerington opened its first public disc golf course at Simsbury Park on state Route 256, under the city water tower. The 18-hole course was designed by Paul “Beard” Jay, president of the nonprofit Columbus Flyers Disc Golf Club, who has designed or assisted in the design of numerous central Ohio disc golf courses, including ones in Grove City, Hilliard and Newark. At the time, he and city officials hoped the project would provide new recreational opportunities to people in the See DISC GOLF, page A3
First Safe Routes to Schools project set to wrap By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers The first phase of a federally assisted program to encourage safe walking and exercise among local students and residents is expected to be completed this month. Violet Township officials said recently a project to replace existing sidewalks and build new ones at Fairfield Elementary and Diley Middle schools
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should be finished by the end of July. The work represents the first phase of a local project tied to the federal government’s Safe Routes to Schools program, which provides funding to states for projects to connect neighborhoods to schools via multi-use paths. Local officials also hope it will encourage more active lifestyles among students and adults. “The current project is nearly complete and consisted of about 8,000 lineal feet of new sidewalk
in the Summerfield subdivision, near Fairfield Elementary School, and a new multi-use path around Diley Middle School,” said Greg Butcher, Violet Township engineer. “The project was started in June. “SRTS provides an opportunity to make walking and bicycling to school safer and more accessible for children, including those with disabilities, See SAFE ROUTES PROJECT, page A8
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