Westside Messenger - February 23rd, 2020
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www.columbusmessenger.com<br />
By Amanda Ensinger<br />
Staff Writer<br />
The drug epidemic continues to afflict<br />
the westside and Franklin Township has<br />
seen the impact firsthand as a rash of overdoses<br />
have been reported. At a recent board<br />
meeting, officials discussed the ongoing<br />
problem.<br />
“There has been a dramatic spike in<br />
overdoses since the beginning of the<br />
month,” said Franklin Township Assistant<br />
Police Chief David Ratliff. “There must<br />
have been a bad batch because we have had<br />
multiple overdoses in the same day.”<br />
According to trustee Aryeh Alex, the situation<br />
is so bad right now that the<br />
Franklin County Coroner’s Office and prosecutor’s<br />
office have released statements<br />
cautioning drug users that there are fatal<br />
doses of heroin and cocaine spiked with<br />
fentanyl on the streets right now in an<br />
attempt to caution users.<br />
According to the coroner’s office, 10 people<br />
died of fatal overdoses in Columbus<br />
neighborhoods in the westside, south side<br />
and Linden area within 24 hours recently.<br />
Other crime issues were also discussed<br />
at the meeting, including an update on<br />
criminal activity for 2019. In 2019, township<br />
police took 7,194 dispatch runs, drove<br />
more than 62,000 miles, wrote 1,197 citations<br />
and took 294 accident reports.<br />
“We also wrote 8,378 camera citations,”<br />
Ratliff said. “Meaning this was the amount<br />
of people we cited for speeding in the township<br />
via our new traffic camera system.”<br />
The new traffic camera system cites<br />
drivers for going 10 miles per hour or more<br />
over the speed limit. One police officer<br />
operates the handheld camera during<br />
school hours and monitors for speeders.<br />
“Each speeding ticket is priced at a flat<br />
$100 fee,” said Franklin Township Police<br />
Chief Byron Smith. “This is significantly<br />
lower than the average speeding ticket in<br />
Ohio, which starts at about $140 and goes<br />
up with an increase in speed.”<br />
The township has raised several hundred<br />
thousand on the citations in 2019. Out<br />
of those funds, 59 percent went to the<br />
police department for school safety, 2 percent<br />
went to the community scholarship<br />
fund, 2 percent went to community engagement<br />
and the remaining funds went to the<br />
general fund and road department.<br />
As a result of the new ticketing system,<br />
the township has used those funds to<br />
award three $1,000 scholarships to local<br />
graduating seniors. The township also<br />
donated $1,000 to the Ohio Youth<br />
Development for the Havenwood<br />
Afterschool Youth Scholarship Program<br />
and gave $200 to Franklin Heights High<br />
School’s Special Olympics Fund.<br />
In other news, the township is considering<br />
partnering with the county and city to<br />
create a tiny homes community.<br />
“They have done these in Denver and<br />
they have been very successful,” said John<br />
Fleshman, township trustee. “If we could<br />
find a large piece of land and figure out<br />
sewer and water hookup, it could be a very<br />
successful project. We also would be the<br />
first community in<br />
Ohio to offer this.”<br />
<strong>February</strong> 23, <strong>2020</strong> - WESTSIDE MESSENGER - PAGE 3<br />
Government Focus<br />
Overdoses and speeding tickets discussed in Franklin Twp.<br />
For the project to<br />
start, the township<br />
would have to find a<br />
property that has at<br />
least 15 lots.<br />
“If we could find<br />
a property of this<br />
size, the tax revenue<br />
this could generate<br />
would be very beneficial<br />
to the township,”<br />
Fleshman said. “It would be a great<br />
investment in the community.”<br />
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