Madison Messenger - May 28th, 2023

PAGE 2 - MADISON MESSENGER - May 28, 2023
London Track Shutdown
London High School’s track will be shut
down June 2-20 for reconditioning.
James L. Peart, Agent
187 West High St.
London, OH 43140
Bus: 740-852-5557
jamie.peart.bya5@statefarm.com
0901142.1
NOTICE TO
PROPERTY TAXPAYERS
• The last day to pay second-half 2022 property taxes
in Madison County is Friday, June 16, 2023.
• Payments must be made in person at the Madison
County Treasurer’s Office until 4:00 P.M. Friday,
June 16, 2023.
• Mailed payments must be postmarked by the Post
Office by midnight Friday, June 16, 2023.
• By law, second-half taxes paid after June 16, 2023,
will incur a 5% penalty for the first ten days and
after ten days a 10% penalty will incur regardless
of whether the taxpayer has received a bill.
• If you have not received a second-half 2022 property
tax bill, call the Treasurer’s Office immediately at
740-852-1936 or 1-877-454-3309.
Stacey L. McKenzie
Madison County Treasurer
MM MAY 28 & JUNE 11, 2023
MM2023261
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By Kristy Zurbrick
Madison Editor
Does the water service line coming into your home contain lead?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to know.
“The EPA is requiring all municipalities to check for lead water
pipes leading into homes. The goal is to get all lead pipes out due to
the health risk factor,” said Courtney Bricker, fiscal officer for the
village of Mount Sterling.
Mount Sterling has partnered with the Rural Community Assistance
Partnership (RCAP) to get this done. In Ohio, RCAP is operated
by the Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, a national
network of non-profit partners working to provide technical assistance,
training, resources, and support to rural communities.
RCAP has created a survey for homeowners, asking if they have
ever had their water service line replaced, if their line has ever contained
lead, and what materials make up their home’s internal
plumbing.
The survey also asks homeowners to conduct a scratch test, if
they are able, to determine if their water service line contains lead.
The instructions are included in the survey form, as is a link to an
online instructional video. Homeowners must find the water line
going from their house to the water meter inside, then use a key,
coin, or screwdriver to scratch the pipe. The appearance of the pipe
after the scratch is an indicator as to whether it contains lead. Another
indicator is magnetism; lead is not magnetic.
READING
Continued from page 1
“I thought it was a great idea because everybody loves dogs, and
it’s a great way to encourage kids to read if they might be having
troubles reading. It puts them at ease, reading to a dog instead of a
human,” said Mary Anne Wood, the library’s youth services coordinator.
Paws For Reading took a pause during the pandemic and, in that
time, Randi and Levi retired. Luckily, two other person-dog duos
stepped forward. Patt Delph and Emma, a golden retriever, from
Mechanicsburg got the program rolling again in October 2022.
Cathy Trimmer and Maggie from South Vienna
joined the team in January of this
year. The two pairs went through the same
therapy dog training.
“Maggie loves kids, she loves people, and
she loves all other dogs, too,” said Trimmer.
She and Maggie have been visiting hospitals,
nursing homes, libraries, and other
venues for the past two years.
Benjamin Humes certainly feels the love.
When asked what he likes about reading to
Maggie, he said, “That she likes me.”
During his recent reading session with
Maggie, Benjamin occasionally asked his
FIBER
Continued from page 1
www.madisonmessengernews.com
Mount Sterling looks for lead in the water
After filling out the questionnaire and the results of the scratch
test, homeowners are asked to submit their completed survey to
RCAP or drop it off at Mount Sterling Town Hall, 1 S. London St.
Residents can pick up surveys in the lobby of town hall or download
them from the village’s website. A link can be found on the right
side of the village’s home page, www.mtsterling.org.
“It’s very important that we do this,” said Tom Byrne, Mount
Sterling’s village administrator. “It’s important to the entire community
that we get rid of these lead lines coming into our homes.”
Byrne said it should take homeowners less than 30 minutes to
fill out the survey and conduct the scratch test.
“If you need help doing the scratch test, call town hall and we’ll
come over and help you with the procedure,” he added.
Village leaders would like to have surveys back from all residents
by the end of the summer. They will follow up with anyone
that doesn’t respond.
If a homeowner discovers their water service line contains lead,
they must replace it at their own cost.
The village is looking into grants to help homeowners with those
costs, Bricker said. First, though, the village must identify how
many replacements are needed.
For more information, contact Misty Vance, Mount Sterling’s
utilities clerk, at mvance@mtsterling.org or (740) 869-2040.
For more about RCAP, go to www.rcap.org/about-us/. For more
about the Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, visit
www.glcap.org.
mother, Angie Humes, who was standing nearby for, for help with
a word. Otherwise, his focus was on the book and on his furry
friend.
Angie found out about Paws For Reading through Facebook. She
decided to give it a try to boost Benjamin’s reading confidence and
skills. Benjamin will be a second-grader this fall.
“Maggie might not be able to help him sound out a word, but she
is good at listening. She makes him feel more comfortable when he
is reading,” she said.
The program has attracted not only young readers like Benjamin,
but also pre-schoolers, adults with disabilities, and adults
who are learning English as a second language.
“We’re open to any age group,” Wood said.
Both Maggie and Emma visit the library once a month. Upcoming
times and dates for Maggie are 11 a.m.-noon on June 17, July
29, and Aug. 19. Upcoming times and dates for Emma are 6-7 p.m.
June 14, July 12, and Aug. 9. Patrons can call the library to sign
up for a 10-minute reading session. Participants are asked to have
a book picked out ahead of time. Books can come from home or from
the library.
To sign up for a reading time slot, visit
https://mylondonlibrary.org or call (740) 852-9543. The library is located
at 20 E. First St., London.
community calendar
Chamber Golf Scramble
The Madison County Chamber of Commerce
is hosting their annual golf scramble
on June 16 at the National Road Golf
Course, 5135 U.S. Rte. 40, West Jefferson.
The rain date is June 23. The deadline to
register a team is June 2. For details, call
(740) 852-2250.
The project is in the design phase now.
“We’re determining the route, taking into
consideration existing utilities already in
the ground and right-of-way,” Slane said.
Once the design phase is complete, the
project will go to bid, then to construction.
A completion date for the project depends on
weather and the availability of labor and
materials. Slane expects the project to be
done in the next few years.