ThisWeek CW 09/24/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/09/21/drug-take-back-day-other-fall-events-scheduled.html

Canal Winchester and Groveport will both host drug take-back events Saturday, Sept. 26, as part of the 10th annual National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Canal Winchester’s Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Diley Ridge Medical Center parking lot, 7911 Diley Road.

Groveport’s Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will also run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Groveport Police Department, 5690 Clyde Moore Drive.

These events are free and anonymous, and according to Groveport Police Chief Ralph Portier, “no questions asked.”

Only pills or patches can be accepted; no needle-based or liquid-based medications can be turned in.

“This will be a drive-through-type setting where all you need to do is drop any unwanted prescription drugs and continue on your way,” Canal Winchester Mayor Michael Ebert said. “We’d like to thank our partners and volunteers who help make this event possible, and to once again thank Diley Ridge Medical Center for allowing us to use their property as a drop-off location.”

Hydrant flushing

Canal Winchester has several other fall cleanup events planned over the next few weeks.

The city started flushing hydrants Monday, Sept. 21, and will continue that work through Oct. 16 to help clear sediment out of mainline pipes and verify that all the hydrants are operational.

The Division of Water urges residents to avoid using washing machines or dishwashers when hydrants are being flushed on their streets, and run cold water through the faucets for a few minutes if they notice any discoloration or sediment after the flushing.

Leaf pickups

Canal Winchester will start its annual leaf pickup Oct. 5 and continue through Dec. 4.

Leaf piles must be placed along the street and should contain leaves only because sticks, grass trimmings and other yard waste can damage the leaf-collection equipment.

Tire sweep

Finally, the city’s stormwater department will hold its eighth annual Tire Sweep and Creek Cleanup along Walnut Creek from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Oct. 17. City staff members will work with volunteers to remove tires from a stretch of Walnut Creek from Gender Road to Lithopolis Road, including the Walnut Woods Metro Park.

Those interested in helping should meet at the Metro Parks office at 6723 Lithopolis Road at 8 a.m. Parking is available at Winchester Trail Elementary School on Gender Road or Walnut Creek Park at the end of Parkview Drive; from there, volunteers can walk along the creek toward the Metro Parks office.

For additional information, about the event, call Metro Parks Manager Mindi McConnell at 614-836-2683 or Canal Winchester Urban Forester Dick Miller at 614-834-5110. Miller may also be contacted via email at dmiller@canalwinchesterohio.gov.

ThisWeek CW 09/24/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/09/21/new-groveport-madison-high-school-board-oks-51-4m-maximum-price-for-project.html

The numbers are in and Groveport Madison Local school district officials have approved a $51,428,964 guaranteed maximum price for a new high school.

School board members voted unanimously Sept. 9 to approve a reconciliation between the cost a VSWC architect estimated when the initial schematic design was done and the estimate for completing the work devised by Smoot Construction, the construction manager for the project.

Superintendent Bruce Hoover said there had been a gap of more than $12 million before the reconciliation was completed. This gap represented the difference between what the architect had designed and believed would fit within the district’s projected budget and how much more the construction manager believed it would actually cost to complete, Hoover said.

“Ultimately, the approved reconciliation shows a positive cash flow of $71,237 with a number of alternative items still included in the schematic design,” he said.

The district is anticipating that a second submission of project costs will be provided to the board by mid-October as part of the detailed design phase.

“These are important steps to keep the high school project moving forward and to prevent costly delays in the construction of the facility,” Hoover said.

Besides the approval of the guaranteed maximum price for the new high school, board members unanimously approved $24,000 for VSWC architects to evaluate costs associated with relocating the bus facility to a recently acquired building at 4400 Marketing Place, which is also slated to house district administrative offices and Cruiser Academy.

Changes are occurring already as trees are being removed from in front of existing buildings to allow utilities to be relocated and temporary modular classrooms to be installed.

Hoover said some of the trees that were removed had been planted in honor of former students, but the district would inventory all the associated plaques and the trees will be replaced with specimens of similar size and variety.

“We want this new site to be beautiful,” Hoover said. “Part of our goal is a facility that’s ‘green’ in energy efficiency and appearance.”

To that end, he said the district plans to plant between 75 and 175 new trees and up to 300 new bushes as part of the project.

ThisWeek CW 09/24/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/09/21/five-year-deal-offers-slightly-lower-trash-rates.html

Groveport residents will see a slight decrease in their monthly trash bills starting Jan. 1, thanks to a new five-year contract with Local Waste Services Ltd. approved by city council Sept. 14.

The new contract will reduce the monthly fee for service currently being provided by Local Waste from $14.28 to $14.17. Local Waste was the lowest of three bidders; the others were Republic Services and Rumpke of Ohio.

A consortium of 10 central Ohio municipalities participated in this year’s bid process, organized and administered through the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio. Besides Groveport, the other consortium members include Upper Arlington, Whitehall, Brice, Obetz, Clinton Township, Madison Township, Pleasant Township, Sharon Township and Truro Township.

City Administrator Marsha Hall presented council with the bids and said Groveport could either accept the one from Local Waste or go back and seek bids on its own.

“If you don’t want to go with the Local Waste option, you’ll have to opt out of this bid and we’ll have to have our own bid process,” Hall said. “That would probably come in at a higher cost because we’re benefiting from the larger resident base with the consortium.”

According to Hall’s report, Local Waste submitted a number of options:

* Retain current services, including Local Waste doing the billing, for $14.17 a month.

* Retain current services, without billing, for $14 a month.

* Use new automated pickup, which includes special disposal containers, for $16.50 a month for a five-year contract.

By retaining current services, Hall said the city could choose either a three-year contract with two renewals, both of which had price escalations up to $14.37 a month; or a five-year contract with monthly rates remaining at $14.17 rate for all five years.

The bid from Republic Services was for $40 a month for 2016-18, $41 a month for 2019 and $42 a month in 2020.

Rumpke of Ohio’s bid was for $19.90 monthly for 2016-18, $20.61 a month for 2019 and $21.33 a month in 2020.

“One thing I can say is that they take what you put out there and I think that helps in terms of keeping the city clean,” Councilman Shawn Cleary said. “And if you take advantage of the recycling they offer, you end up with very little trash.”

Councilman Ed Dildine agreed, saying that he didn’t believe he’d heard anyone complain about or have problems with Local Waste.

ThisWeek CW 09/17/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/09/14/largest-crowd-yet-attends-annual-labor-day-festival.html

according to Mayor Michael Ebert.

He estimated this year’s attendance at more than 40,000.

The festival, held Sept. 5-7, drew record crowds Saturday and Sunday evenings, due in part to this year’s headline entertainers, Bon Journey and Hotel California, he said.

“We had the largest crowds on Saturday and Sunday evenings we have ever had that I can recall,” Ebert said. “And our daytime crowds were steady, but the heat may have kept some people away.”

Attendees packed High Street for the Sunday night performance by Hotel California. The band is billed as the only Eagles cover band recognized by the Eagles themselves, and the city had to book the band almost two years ago.

“The entire festival committee was really looking forward to feedback on our entertainment lineup for this year and based on what we heard, I think we hit a home run,” Ebert said.

Each year, the Labor Day Festival kicks off with the Peggy Wood Scholarship Pageant in the Oley Speaks Auditorium. This year’s winners included:

* Miss Canal Winchester, Kailin Clymer; First Attendant, Joelle Zuberi; Second Attendant, Mckenzie Kiser

* Miss Congeniality, Joelle Zuberi

* Junior Miss Canal Winchester, Anna Ratliff; First Attendant, Rachel Connors; Second Attendant, Avery Nack

* Little Miss Canal Winchester, Britton Whitworth; First Attendant, Grace Brinker; Second Attendant, Skyler Benson

* Tiny Miss Canal Winchester, Isabella Busey; First Attendant, Justice Chetwood; Second Attendant, Julia Paini

This year’s car show drew more than 170 participants.

“There were lots of fantastic-looking vehicles and a wide variety of makes and models,” Ebert said. “My choice this year (for the Mayor’s Choice award) was a yellow 1965 Plymouth Satellite — it was sweet!”

He said the festival drew the most sponsors this year than in recent memory “and we want throw out a ‘thank you’ to all the vendors who saw through the changes we made to the layout. From what we heard, for several it turned out to be their best year, also.”

ThisWeek CW 09/17/2015

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2015/09/14/apple-butter-day-volunteers-needed-to-help-cook-signature-treat.html

The weather hasn’t felt very fall-like yet, but that won’t stop the apple butter from being cooked in time for this year’s 42nd annual Groveport Apple Butter Day.

This year’s festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 10 at Heritage Park, 551 Wirt Road — but first, the apple butter needs to be made, and organizer Carla Cramer is hoping to find several more volunteers to help with that on Oct. 3.

“We will need help making the apple butter,” Cramer said. “On Oct. 3, we will be starting the fires at the log house around 6 a.m. and will be there until we jar the apple butter, usually around 1 p.m.

“People are needed to take turns stirring the apple butter and helping with the canning,” she said. “Please spread the word to your neighbors and friends. This is a community effort!”

Cramer invites organizations to get involved in the effort as well, but said no apple butter will be sold or distributed until Apple Butter Day.

Anyone interested in volunteering to make the apple butter should call Cramer at 614-580-9099.

The festival itself will again include 1800s-era craft demonstrations, numerous stands featuring handmade crafts, food concessions, vintage tractors, a hayride and several old-fashioned games and festival favorites such as pony rides, face painting and a petting zoo.

KidSpace will host the Groveport Senior Citizens bean dinner and a spelling bee for students in fourth and fifth grades will be held on the main stage.

“We pride ourselves on the fact that all of our entertainment is free, including the kids’ activities,” Cramer said.

This year’s festival will feature a celebration of the 200th birthday of Groveport’s historic log cabin. Visitors will be able to walk through it and view the typical lifestyle of a family from the mid-1800s.

This year’s quilt exhibit will take place at Town Hall and once again, a quilt will be raffled off. Raffle tickets are available now at Town Hall, or may be purchased on Apple Butter Day.

“We encourage you to stop by Town Hall to see quilts from past Apple Butter Day festivals,” Cramer said. “All previous raffle winners were contacted and we have 14 quilts on display. They will be there through October and the quilt that will be raffled this year is there also.”

The first Apple Butter Day was organized in 1974 by a group of people “who just wanted to have an activity to foster community togetherness and fun,” Cramer said.

“We’re happy to continue that tradition. These events are wonderful opportunities to participate in the community spirit that only a small town can provide.”