ThisWeek CW 9-3-2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/08/31/west-bixby-hendron-roads-groveport-tweaking-applications-for-opwc-grants.html

Groveport officials are hoping to make a strong case for securing Ohio Public Works Commission grants for two major road projects.

Groveport City Council voted unanimously Aug. 24 to approve legislation authorizing the city staff to submit grant applications to the OPWC; members also waived the usual three readings so the city could meet the Sept. 15 deadline.

A special public meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 8, in council chambers, 655 Blacklick St., to detail specifics, including budgets and timeframes, for the two applications prior to officially submitting them.

City Engineer Steve Farst said the applications are for work on Hendron and West Bixby roads. Both projects were submitted last year for funding but did not score high enough for OPWC approval, he said.

“The Hendron Road project is similar to what we submitted in last year’s application, but the idea is to take a hard look at what the committee will score and optimize our project for a higher score,” Farst said.

“Part of that is collaborating with other agencies and in this case, Franklin County has some authority here so we’re partnering with them on this. With the OPWC grants, there is a requirement for matching with local dollars, so partnering with other agencies, along with the grant itself, lowers the burden on our local taxpayers.”

If the Hendron Road project is approved for funding, Farst said the work is likely to include new water lines, a complete road reconstruction, curbs and gutters, new sidewalks and shared-use paths, and new street lighting.

Also last year, the city unsuccessfully sought OPWC funding for the middle section of the three-phase West Bixby Road project, which in total stretches from Old Groveport Road to state Route 317. This year, the city intends to submit an application for the western portion of the project, which will essentially just be for new pavement.

“The pavement on that end of West Bixby Road is in really terrible shape, lots of potholes and other issues,” Farst said. “So our intent is to take advantage of these OPWC funds if we can. This is the 30th year of the grant program and it keeps getting more popular and competitive.”

Groveport officials won’t find out until December whether one or both projects have been awarded grant funding, but Farst said he is hopeful that staff has come up with the right combination of project factors for approval this year.

ThisWeek CW 9/3/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/08/31/canal-winchester-officials-hope-better-water-will-flow-from-system-upgrades.html

With upgrades to the city’s water treatment facility nearly finished, Canal Winchester officials are looking ahead to system tweaks that will improve water quality and to ramping up construction of a new Public Works facility.

City construction manager Bill Sims told city council members at the Aug. 17 services and safety committee meeting that the major structural improvements at the water treatment facility were complete, with only electronic system management work left.

“The water plant work is continuing but is mostly complete, the salt barn has been done for a while now and the sludge building is just being finished,” Sims said. “We just need to get the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system completed and a few other things on the punch list.

“The Public Works facility demolition is just about to happen and I think everybody is pretty excited about the new building getting underway.”

Water reclamation manager Steve Smith said he and technology coordinator Rick Brown have been working to set up and test the SCADA system that “will control the plant.”

City water manager Joe Taylor said that in addition to the SCADA system, a newly installed pressure switch, which was required as part of the system upgrade, will act as an extra backup against system failures in the future that would affect city water services.

“We installed a pressure switch to monitor system distribution, which will act as extra backup against issues in the future,” Taylor said.

“We’ve also installed a new phosphate system, which is now up and going, and we think we should see some improvements to water during the fall flushing and then see a lot more improvement by the spring flushing.”

Several residents have complained about discoloration and odors in their water that city officials believe is related to phosphates. Councilwoman Bobbie Mershon has also experienced water issues and asked why it took eight years to install this system.

“When we looked at the system, they put in a coupon rack. It’s a little metal tab that they put in an iron, plastic and copper pipe and they monitor the amount of the iron that comes off of that,” Taylor said. “They’ll track that data and see how it is coating the pipe, so this test will let us know if the phosphate system is helping.

“I think back in 2007 when we started the new water plant up and running, we didn’t want to rush to judgment as to whether there was still a problem or not, because it takes some years to figure that out and then figure out what works best with your system to correct the problem,” he said.

Public Works Director Matt Peoples said the city has been working on the issue during those eight years, and upgrades to lines, adding a new aeration system and abating lime issues have all addressed specific problems along the way, leading to what he hopes is a final clearing of the water.

“We count on customer complaints to help troubleshoot, but those have been somewhat inconsistent, so over time, we were trying to figure out if there was a line problem versus a system problem,” Peoples said. “So many different things went into this, and we wanted to make sure due diligence was done.

“Never once have we violated EPA standards and all water quality parameters have been met. Of course, if you see stains or red water, you’re not going to want to drink it even if we know it’s safe.”

The fall hydrant flushing will take place September through October, at which point officials believe residents with water issues will begin to see an improvement.

ThisWeek CW 08/27/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/08/24/metro-parks-seeks-change-in-citys-hunting-zones.html

Central Ohio Metro Parks officials have asked the city of Groveport to amend its current map of hunting and trapping zones to show that such activities are prohibited at Three Creeks Metro Park.

At the Aug. 10 Groveport City Council meeting, the city staff introduced legislation to prohibit hunting and trapping at Three Creeks. According to a November 2011 Metro Parks rules and regulation document, the parks system only allows hunting and trapping at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park.

City Administrator Marsha Hall said the current hunting and trapping zone map includes areas where other regulations and rules may take precedence, such as state licensing and hunting seasons, or other city or park regulations.

“If you look at the map itself, there are areas within the city in which hunting is permitted; land that is undeveloped and (where hunting is) permitted by the owner,” Hall said. “Some of the land is public property, like the golf course.”

However, she said, even though The Links at Groveport golf course shows up as a permitted area on the map, additional permissions are still required prior to doing any hunting or trapping. Any land not designated as a permitted area on the hunting and trapping zone map is automatically considered closed to hunting unless the property owner asks the city to amend the map.

“Hunting is permitted by the city only during hunting season while the golf course is closed,” she said. “The person must apply for a hunting permit and is then provided with a copy of the map.”

Council was scheduled to hear a second reading of the proposed ordinance at its Aug. 24 meeting, afterThisWeek‘s press deadline.

ThisWeek CW 08/27/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/08/24/council-oks-purchase-of-hanners-park-from-brewdog.html

Canal Winchester City Council voted unanimously last week to approve the purchase of Roger Hanners Recreational Fields and Park from BrewDog for $400,000.

Legislation was presented at council’s Aug. 17 meeting to purchase the approximately 10-acre park from BrewDog as part of the deal bringing the Scottish brewer to Canal Winchester.

Development Director Lucas Haire explained that until now, the Roger Hanners Recreational Fields and Park were part of a long-term lease deal with TS Trim, the previous property owner, who sold 51 acres at the corner of Gender and Groveport roads to BrewDog for its U.S. headquarters.

“This would be an opportunity for the city to purchase the park and guarantee it remains a park into the future,” Haire said.

“Currently, the city has been leasing the property and due to the sale of the property from TS Trim to BrewDog, we now have the chance to buy it and protect it in the long-term.”

When asked about the $400,000 price, Haire said BrewDog paid $36,750 per acre for the undeveloped land, which is why he believes the price to the city makes sense given the park is already developed.

“This already built out as we want it with ball fields and park facilities,” he said.

The funds for the purchase were appropriated out of the general fund, but Haire said the money will be paid back over time using tax-increment financing funds in coming years as BrewDog and other area properties are developed.

The TIF derives payments from future taxes on private property improvements; the funds are then specifically earmarked for public infrastructure projects — in this case, the purchase of the park.

BrewDog meeting

Haire said the city will host a town hall-style meeting about BrewDog’s plans from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, at the Frances Steube Community Center, 22 S. Trine St.

Officials for the city and BrewDog will be on hand to collect community feedback and answer questions.

ThisWeek CW 08/27/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/08/24/phase-4-improvements-city-eyes-new-try-for-gender-road-funding.html

Canal Winchester officials are trying to decide whether to try again to obtain state funding to help pay for phase 4 of Gender Road improvements.

Public Works Director Matt Peoples said last week the staff is still reviewing information to figure out if it would be worth spending money on the engineering needed in order to have the project ready to apply for Ohio Public Works Commission funding.

The city unsuccessfully sought a $1.6-million OPWC grant/loan package last year to expand the intersection at Gender and Groveport roads. Peoples said city officials don’t want to apply again if the results will be the same.

The deadline to submit the grant application is Sept. 15.

Peoples said at Canal Winchester City Council’s Aug. 3 meeting that he thought updated traffic counts and a slightly scaled-down design would make the application more likely to be accepted.

The new plan, which is still in draft form, was developed by city engineering contractor Adam Voris and the company EMH&T. It could potentially include two turn lanes from eastbound Groveport Road onto northbound Gender Road.

From westbound Groveport Road, the draft shows a dedicated right-turn lane onto northbound Gender Road and a single dedicated left-turn lane onto southbound Gender Road.

Since the inception of this project, the city has acquired enough rights of way on the north side of the intersection that any necessary widening would happen there, leaving the setbacks and rights of way on the south side of the intersection in place.

The current plans indicate a bike path north of the intersection would need to be moved farther north and would be extended west as the first stage of connecting the Canal Winchester bike paths to the Walnut Creek Metro Park system and to Groveport.

Peoples said more than 11,000 vehicles go through the intersection during the morning and afternoon rush hours. He said the changes would help alleviate traffic backups that now affect both Gender and Groveport roads.

“We’ve had a lot of public comment on this plan before, so we have been calling the residents to talk with them about the plan and modifications to it,” Peoples said. “As long as we can show we’re not impacting any resident property, I think that addresses a large portion of the issues. We don’t want the traffic to get worse because then it’ll find another place to go, which creates a bigger problem.”

Peoples said a new church project and the BrewDog facility are both being taken into consideration with this plan, as is the location of the Madison Township fire station on Gender Road, which may require an additional traffic signal.