Send Holiday Wishes to a Soldier

In May, the City of Westerville officially adopted the 684th Medical Unit of the Ohio National Guard, a unit that had once operated out of the Armory in Uptown Westerville. On Sept. 11, the Company held its Call-to-Duty Ceremony at Westerville North High School for a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, their mission is to provide area medical support to injured, sick or wounded soldiers. In recognition of their first holiday away from home and their families during deployment, the City will be collecting holiday cards and greetings from the community.

Please address a holiday card to Soldier, 684 Medical Unit, Ohio National Guard and submit at City Hall (Westerville Municipal Building, 21 S. State St.). Collection boxes are available on the first floor of City Hall and at the Westerville Public Library.

Winter Weather Reminders

Winter weather will soon be upon us, and the season’s wintry mix of rain, snow and ice on our roads requires extra caution when traveling.

Snow Emergency:

If more than three inches fall, a snow emergency automatically goes into effect and cars parked on streets must be moved or they will be towed. Updates to snow emergency declarations will be posted to the City website and to the City’s Facebook page and Twitter account. However, a snow emergency may occur in the middle of the night, and updates may be delayed. In that case, please be mindful of the weather forecast for our region and park your car off the street if more than three inches is expected overnight.

Snow Removal Priorities:

Emergency travel for fire, emergency medical and police personnel is the first snow removal priority, not clearing every city street. This is why arterial and secondary streets are cleared first. The second priority is to clear streets around schools and to facilitate traffic moving in and out of the city, which also impacts first- and second-tier roads. The third priority is to clear subdivisions.

The top two priorities illustrate why main roads are salted and/or plowed before subdivisions are cleared. If subdivisions were cleared first, emergency vehicles would still have no access to homes because the main roads would not be cleared.

It is much easier to ensure that main streets are cleared for emergency use and then designate salt and plow trucks to assist emergency vehicles into particular subdivisions as situations arise.

! Holiday Tree Disposal Information

Holiday trees can be disposed of as part of the normal yard waste collection (Monday). In order for holiday trees to be collected, they need to be placed at the curb with other yard waste. All decorations, lights, etc., must be removed from the tree, and the tree cannot be placed in any bags. For more information call (614) 901-6740.

Slow and Go:

Patience is a virtue when traveling in snowstorms. Allow more time to travel in this type of weather, and avoid following salt and plow trucks too closely. Also, for your safety and that of oncoming drivers, do not attempt to pass these vehicles.

Snow Shoveling Tips:

Residents and businesses are reminded that they are responsible for clearing their walkways. The Service Department recommends shoveling snow away from the street so that snow is less likely to get pushed back onto the driveway or sidewalk by a passing snow plow. If snow must be shoveled out to the road, it should be piled to the right side of the driveway (on two-way streets). This allows snow plows to reach the snow pile after it passes the driveway.

Spot a pothole?

As part of the winter weather routine, potholes are expected to occur as a result of weather and snow removal. City crews will promptly fix them once aware of and/or alerted to their locations. Because the City has more than 180 miles of roads to manage, you may become aware of a pothole before our crews spot them. If you notice a pothole as you drive throughout Westerville, please report it by calling (614) 901-6740.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection

35,133

Number in pounds of items collected for disposal at the Sept 3 Household Hazardous Waste Collection hosted by the Westerville Department of Public Service.