ThisWeek CW 07/21/2011
The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio had hoped for quick approval of the 2011 solid waste management plan update, but Canal Winchester City Council unanimously approved a resolution July 18 asking for a delay.
The resolution urges the SWACO board of directors to delay its vote on the revised plan, though council members did not specify how long they would like the voting deadline delayed.
“We’ve only had the plan for a brief amount of time and it’s very detailed, so we are asking that the board of SWACO delay their vote on the draft so that we have time to properly review it,” said council member Rick Deeds, the resolution sponsor.
The resolution states that in the event that the vote is not delayed, city council would oppose the update.
Regardless of what Canal Winchester does, Michael Greenberg, a contractor with GT Environmental Inc., who helped draft the update, said last week he believes SWACO will get enough affirmative votes to get the revised waste management plan approved. (See related story on this page.)
In response to a request from Canal Winchester, city law director Gene Hollins said Monday that SWACO had forwarded a “redline comparison of the June 2010 draft and the next draft from November or December.”
“It’s made it a little easier to go through, but (is) not a redline of what is actually before you now,” he said. “It appears (SWACO) is using the flow control as a sword as well as a shield in terms of how they’re serving their own needs for the operation of the landfill.”
Council member James Wynkoop questioned whether other communities had similar concerns about the plan update.
“Just like the (tipping) fee increases (approved in 2010), this is happening when most local government bodies are on summer recess,” Hollins said.
SWACO needs a 60-percent approval vote for the update. SWACO spokesman John Remy said July 19 that old population figures supplied by the Ohio Department of Development showed that if the authority got only the required approval from Franklin County commissioners and the city of Columbus, that 60-percent mark would be reached. However, he said, SWACO knows those population counts are inaccurate and Columbus’ population does not equal 60 percent of the overall population of Franklin County.
Therefore, Remy said, SWACO also needs approval from some of its smaller member communities.
“We have Columbus and county approval, as well as 29 other communities who’ve voted in favor, which gives us approximately 80 percent of the population voting in favor,” he said.
Hollins told Canal Winchester City Council Monday that SWACO would get the needed votes in favor of the updated plan.
“So basically, we’re just documenting our issues to make (SWACO) aware of them,” he said.
In other business Monday, council unanimously approved a resolution to authorize the mayor and city finance director to enter into an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation to allow the city to serve as the lead agency for Phase II of the Gender Road project.
During the service committee meeting prior to the council meeting, city engineer Steve Farst said Canal Winchester is on schedule to submit stage one plans for Phase II to ODOT by Aug. 1.
“There were a lot of issues we encountered with the environmental screening because of the federal money and now they’re looking at the design, but I think it’s moving along pretty well,” Farst said. “With respect to the planned development, we’re scheduled to submit the stage one plans by Aug. 1 for ODOT review – which covers about 60 percent of the overall plan.”
Construction services manager William Sims said Phase I of the Gender Road project is on schedule, with work currently under way on the bike path extension and installation of traffic signal wiring conduit.
“Everything will be there and working by the start of the school year,” public works director Matt Peoples said. “That is a milestone of the contract.
“Part of this was due to the congestion at the school so (Gender Road has to be completely open), and the whole Phase 1 project should be done by November,” he said.
In other construction updates, Peoples said the installation of two new raw sewage pumps and a new aerator will be completed by August, allowing for the final two raw-sewage pumps to be replaced. Stormwater that had been directed through a sewer from 1903 is being diverted around properties on Jennings Road where it has caused basement flooding due to blockages, he said.
City council unanimously approved the adoption of an official woodlands map. Council also learned that the Harvest Moon Caf, 7 N. High St., has filed an application for a D-3 permit for on-site consumption of alcohol with the Ohio Division of Liquor Control.
Also Monday, council heard first readings of an amendment to include an additional $10,500 in expenses in the 2011 city budget and of legislation to establish sign standards for the Waterloo Crossing Shopping Center.
The next city council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 1 at Town Hall, 10 N. High St.