ThisWeek CW 12/22/2011
Canal Winchester’s Tank Town neighborhood is on track to receive $2.3 million worth of roadway and water line improvements next year, thanks to a loan-grant combination from the Ohio Public Works Commission.
The OPWC awarded Canal Winchester a $1.1-million grant with a $150,000 match that was accompanied by a no-interest loan of $1.17-million.
Tank Town is the area east of High Street and north of the railroad tracks where an elevated water tower once stood.
Public Works director Matt Peoples said Water, Beaty and Kramer streets and Jennings Drive are slated to receive both water line and roadway improvements; other streets in Tank Town will receive only water line improvements.
“Most of the water lines through this area are pre-1950, which we only know about because we have a map from 1952 that we’ve found to be reliable,” Peoples told Canal Winchester City Council in announcing the funding Monday night. “These updates will enhance flow and water quality to the area.”
Peoples said the financing for the project is more favorable than initially anticipated.
“We were expecting to have about a $300,000 local match required if we were awarded through the OPWC, but they found some more money and awarded an extra 10 percent, which brought our local match down to about $150,000,” he said. “Everything that we’ve run into so far has just fallen together perfectly.”
According to Peoples, the city applied for Ohio Environmental Protection Agency loans to allow for the water supply line work to be completed in case the OPWC funding did not come through.
“We’ve known for a couple of weeks now that we were granted the Ohio EPA funding also, so we could’ve gotten the water lines done either way, but to get the roads done at the same time is great,” Peoples said.
Council member Steve Donahue said residents along Water Street have requested curbs and gutters to help with drainage.
The funding includes money for engineering plans for proper roadway drainage, but according to Peoples, that doesn’t necessarily mean building curbs and gutters.
“In Winchester Village, a lot of those houses have drainage problems. There’s only one outlet that goes to the state Route 33 ditch, so we’ve addressed some of the drainage issues already and helped the road drainage quite a bit,” he said. “To install curb and gutters, though, we’d have to lower the street bed.
“At places like Highland and Water Street, the storm sewer is only about 1.5 feet below the road.”
Peoples said the final comments are being submitted for the city’s 2012 street capital improvement plan, which will be completed by the beginning of January, with bids being solicited shortly there after.
The next Canal Winchester City Council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 3, at Town Hall, 10 N. High St.