Southeast Messenger - March 8th, 2020

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PAGE 2 - SOUTHEAST MESSENGER - March 8, 2020 Cruiser eatre Company Groveport Madison High School’s Cruiser Theatre Company’s 2019-20 performance season: The Addams Family” - April 2, 3, 4, 5. All shows at Groveport Madison High School, 4475 S. Hamilton Road. Visit www.cruisertheatre.weebly.com for information. Groveport earns financial award The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the city of Groveport for its comprehensive annual financial report. It is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting. PROTECTING YOU SINCE 1972 Malek & Malek ATTORNEYS AT LAW WORK INJURIES WORKERS’ COMPENSATION SAFETY VIOLATIONS WRONGFUL DEATH PERSONAL INJURY SLIP & FALL INJURY DOG BITE INJURY Douglas, Ed, Jim and Kip Malek Ben Churchhill “Hablamos Español” FREE Initial Consultation www.maleklawfirm.com 614-444-7440 1227 S. High St., Columbus, OH 43206 By Ris Twigg Staff Writer Obetz Village Council approved an emergency ordinance amendment to clarify the village’s tax filing position for the 2019 tax year during the Feb. 24 meeting. Obetz Village Administrator Rod Davisson said earlier this year he heard from a worker who informed Davisson that the village’s codified ordinance stated all residents must file income taxes with the village, which alerted him to the codified error. “Most places require you to do it. We just don’t,” Davisson said. ”But when we adopted our income tax ordinance we accidentally left it in there. When the state came out with its income tax language, we missed the filing requirements. This is fixing our current ordinance, which is an adaptation of the state.” Now the majority of workers in Obetz will not have to file income taxes with the village. If the ordinance didn’t pass, Davisson said every person living or working in Obetz would have had to file with the village. Council also passed an ordinance allowing the director of finance to make payment on a year-long contract the village of Obetz has with MLG Capital Consulting, Inc., a group that’s working on a project in the southwest part of town. “We signed a year-long contract with them, but we funded it for six months. The six months expired in December. I forgot about it, so they worked in January,” Davisson said. Alum Creek Drive and Bixby Road Alum Creek Drive at Bixby Road is getting a facelift – for safety reasons. Safety improvements to the intersection were discussed by council and at a public meeting held on Feb. 25 by the Franklin County Engineer’s office. Currently, folks traveling on Bixby Road can cross Alum Creek Drive – a roadway that’s heavily traveled by semi-trucks at speeds of up to 60 mph or more – to get to the other side of Bixby. But Alum Creek Drive is four lanes wide, with hardly a space wide enough for one car to fit in the median. Many drivers end up with the head and tail ends of their vehicles poking out into incoming traffic on both sides. This has caused at least one fatality and several wrecks at this one intersection alone, Davisson said. “The traffic on Alum Creek is almost as heavy as HOMES Continued from page 1 Foley said the impact of additional students from the development on Groveport Madison Schools would be minimal. “Sixty percent of residents in these developments are usually empty-nesters over age 50,” said Foley, who added this development might only have seven to 10 school age children as residents. In the report to the city, Redwood USA LLC CEO David Conwill said, “We offer a condominium atmosphere with the feel of a single family home and without association fees or property taxes to worry about.” More homes for Hickory Grove Maronda Homes has requested amending the zoning on about 9.1 acres located west of Ebright Road and east of Shellbark Street from planned low density residential to suburban residential. If approved by council, the change would allow for www.columbusmessenger.com Obetz addresses tax filing; update on Alum Creek Drive/Bixby Road the traffic on I-270,” Davisson said. “They’re going to hard-barrier Alum Creek Drive so people cannot cross.” For the residents living on Bixby Road, this means adding an additional detour to get home by traveling up Alum Creek Drive to Groveport Road, and then getting back on Bixby. “(The safety improvements) are not our call. We don’t control Alum Creek. It’s purely the county engineer, ” Davisson said. When the 43-acres of e-commerce development is built at the corner of Bixby Road and Alum Creek Drive, Obetz plans to pave a road through the development that connects Bixby Road to Toy Road. This will allow residents living on Bixby Road to access and travel on a safe, signalized intersection to get home and not have to make a major detour, Davisson said. “We really don’t want people to get hurt. This crossing is lights-out dangerous,” he said. For information on the Alum Creek Drive at Bixby Road Safety Improvement Project, contact Ted Beidler, a mobility engineer for Franklin County, at 614-525-6157 or tbeidler@franklincountyengineer.org. Bixby Grove Council approved the final plat for the Bixby Grove subdivision, which involves approximately 37 lots on the south side of the subdivision. Part of the approval requires the homebuilders upgrade the playground, put in landscaping, fix street lighting and complete sidewalks in the development within one year. “According to the ordinance, should they not be able to complete these conditions within the year, then we will not be issuing them building permits,” said Obetz Community Services Director Stacey Boumis. “So it gives them adequate time to get those completed.” About Obetz Village Council The Obetz Council is made up of six elected officials who are elected at-large and serving staggered fouryear terms under the rules of the Charter of the Village of Obetz. Council meets the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 4175 Alum Creek Drive, Obetz, to review and pass legislation and hear concerns from the residents. If the meeting date occurs on a holiday, the regular meeting is held on the next Tuesday following the holiday. Call (614) 491-1080. the construction of 30 detached, single family residences as an extension to the existing Hickory Grove development. The streets Shagbark Place and Butternut Lane would be extended into the proposed development with Butternut Lane connecting with Ebright Road. “This addition would finish out the development,” said Councilman Ed Dildine. When asked by Planning and Zoning Board member Pat Pickett at the March 2 planning and zoning meeting about how much of an impact the added development would have on Groveport Madison Schools, EMH&T Engineer Kyle Shreves, who was representing Maronda Homes, said, “That’s beyond me.” Council will consider the two zoning requests and proposed projects at its upcoming meetings.
www.columbusmessenger.com March 8, 2020 - SOUTHEAST MESSENGER - PAGE 3 Groveport plans to revise heavy truck parking law By Rick Palsgrove Southeast Editor private property, such as driveways. The law does not allow trucks weighing zoning code aspect of the situation was “just missed.“ Council attempted to pass the revised zoning code legislation as an emergency Groveport City Council is trying to plug 10,000 pounds or more to be parked on residential city streets between 7 p.m. and 7 revise the zoning code to fix the matter. 24 meeting, but came up short on the vote. Council is considering legislation to after its first reading during council’s Feb. a hole in the city’s zoning code regarding the parking of heavy trucks in town. a.m. Restricted heavy vehicles may be present when work or deliveries are being done truck parking legislation, “Not more than legislation, but the vote was 4-1 with Under the proposed zoning code heavy Five votes are needed to approve emergency Council heavily debated and researched the heavy truck parking legislation as long as the vehicles are not parked for 12 one truck limited to being a two-axle, sixtired pick-up, panel, or light truck, used sixth council member, Scott Lockett, was Councilman Shawn Cleary opposing it. (The throughout 2019 and, when first enacted, it hours or more. prohibited the parking of trucks weighing However, earlier this year Groveport strictly for commercial purposes with a out of town and not present at the meeting.) 10,000 pounds or more on city streets and Law Director Kevin Shannon noted the gross vehicle weight not exceeding 19,500 Cleary told his fellow council members driveways. city’s zoning code was not changed when pounds shall be allowed per one dwelling.” he opposes the legislation because it But last Oct. 28, council approved a the heavy truck parking law was enacted. The proposed revision also states the means, “I can park a bucket truck in my change that revised the ordinance to prohibit heavy trucks from being parked on “The zoning code conflicts with the vehicle cannot be parked on the front yard driveway. Is this what you want?” heavy truck parking traffic law,” said of any dwelling and can only be parked on Council will consider the second reading the city’s residential streets and alleys, but Shannon. “We have to be consistent.” the dwelling’s paved driveway or on a of the legislation at its March 9 meeting. did not restrict them from being parked on Councilman Ed Dildine said that the paved surface on the side or rear yard. Hamilton Township police levy up for renewal By Ris Twigg Staff Writer The Hamilton Township police levy is up for renewal on the March 17 ballot. This year’s levy is a five-year renewal of the previous one and will cost property owners $103.38 per $100,000 of property valuation each year during the five-year period. “What the residents are currently paying per $100,000 of evaluation is $100.98. So it’s going to cost them $2.40 more per year or less than a penny a day,” said Howard Hahn, chairman of the Hamilton Township trustees. Currently, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office provides police services to the township. Around 9,000 people live within the township’s boundaries and are served by the sheriff’s office, according to Hahn. Hahn said, if the levy fails, the township’s police services would dramatically drop. “We wouldn’t have the money to provide police services to the township,” he said. The current model for police services in Hamilton Township has a 24-hour car patrolling the area seven days a week, plus an additional 16-hour car patrolling five days a week. If the police levy doesn’t pass, these services would decrease to just one car a week patrolling for limited hours. That car wouldn’t be dedicated to serving only the 9,000 residents living in Hamilton Township, but rather the entire southeast portion of Franklin County. Hahn said the potential decrease in funding could ultimately take away some of the extra services provided by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, including extra police at school zones, targeted enforcement areas and more. It would also lead to delayed officer response times and more reliance on outside entities for services, among other things, he said. “Anything that we ask the sheriff’s department to, you know, step it up on, then they do it,” Hahn said. “But if we don’t have that contract, if we don’t have the extra cars, then we would not be able to provide that stuff.”
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