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February 17, 2011

Fired worker seeks reinstatement By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspaper A former Pickerington building inspection administrator fired after pornography allegedly was found on his work computer is appealing the termination and asking to be reinstated to his job. An attorney for former Pickerington employee Paul Lane told a three-judge panel of Ohio’s Fifth District Court of

Appeals on Feb. 10 his client should be permitted to challenge his November 2009 firing before Pickerington’s Personnel Appeals Board. A decision from the court is expected within 60 days. The ruling will determine if Lane’s case can go before Pickerington’s Personnel Appeals Board, at which time he would seek reinstatement and back pay, his attorney said.

“If you give this guy his day in court, he can refute things,” attorney Michael Moses said. “If you don’t give the guy his day in court, you’re stuck with the city’s allegations.” During an approximately 40-minute hearing before the Fifth District Court of Appeals held Feb. 10 in Delaware, Ohio, Aaron Granger, an attorney for Pickerington, said Lane can’t appeal his termination to the city’s Personnel Ap-

peals Board because he was a department director. As such, Granger said, Lane was an “unclassified” employee and could be fired for any reason. He said the personnel appeals board doesn’t have jurisdiction over unclassified employees. “If he’s unclassified, he has no right to a hearing,” Granger said. “I think that’s clear.” Lane was fired Nov. 5, 2009 by Pick-

erington Police Chief Mike Taylor, who was serving as acting city manager at the time. Lane, a 10-year employee of the city, received a $63,068 annual salary. According to a termination memo, Taylor stated Lane was dismissed for “prohibited use of the Internet and viewing and retaining of pornographic materials on a city computer,” as well as See FIRED WORKER, page A2

Council OKs new law for ‘nuisance’ properties

August levy may cost PLSD more than $50K By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers An August levy likely will cost the Pickerington Local School District more than $50,000. Over the next three months, the PLSD Board of Education will seek to determine how much it will ask voters to pony up for its planned Aug. 2 levy. In the meantime, it appears the special election will cost the district up to $55,500, according to the Fairfield County Board of Elections. Brian Schwartze, deputy director of the board of elections, last week said the district will pay $1,200 to $1,500 per voting precinct to finance the special election. There are expected to be 37 voting precincts in the district by Aug. 2. Schwartze said the total price tag could decrease slightly if other entities also seek an August election, but this likely wouldn’t result in a significant reduction in cost. The filing deadline for the election is May 4. “In general, it probably would go down if someone else files for a special election in August, but it wouldn’t go down that much,” Schwartze said. The district, as opposed to a levy campaign committee, would finance the election, PLSD treasurer Dan Griscom said. He said the estimated $44,400 to $55,500 the district might be required to pay for the election will come from the general fund budget for the 2011-12 school year. “We do have money in the general fund for that,” Griscom said. “We have not yet finalized the budget for the coming year, but it would be coming out of next year’s budget. It would be money that would be set aside for this purpose.” Pickerington likely would have spent more than $55,500 to place a levy on the ballot this spring had the school board gone through with initial plans to put a 9.5-mill levy before voters on May 3. That’s because no other issues will be on that ballot, and there will be 39 voting precincts in the school district for the earlier levy. “You have to bear the costs to put a levy on,” Griscom said. “It would not make sense to not put a levy on because we’re concerned about costs. “(Financing the levy) is the only option we have in order to get a levy passed.” Board members voted 3-2 on Jan. 31 to move forward with that levy, which would have cost homeowners in the district an additional $290.94 in annual taxes per $100,000 home valuation. However, “no” votes by board President Lisa Reade and member Cathy Olshefski prevented the matter from having the supermajority of votes it needed to be placed on the May ballot. The previously proposed levy would have generated approximately $10.14-million in new revenue for the district, had it passed, but Reade and Olshefski said they’d prefer to wait for an August

By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers

By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek

Hawaiian luau (Above) Eight-year-old Madison Crosby dances with her father, Nate, during the second annual Sycamore Creek Father Daughter Dance on Feb. 11. (Left) Six-year-old Kailyn Smith looks at the crowd as she competes in the hula-hoop contest. The dance is sponsored by the school’s PTO and this year’s theme was a Hawaiian luau.

Pickerington will initiate a new effort next month to ensure that foreclosed properties in the city don’t become eyesores. On Feb. 1, Pickerington City Council unanimously approved legislation to manage and address “nuisance” vacant land and buildings within the city. The measure, which takes effect at the beginning of March, will require banks to register properties for which they’ve inherited maintenance responsibilities because those homes or parcels have gone into foreclosure. The goal, according to city officials, is to ensure those properties are maintained and don’t become blighted. In addition to improving the aesthetics of the city, officials hope the new ordinance will help maintain or increase local property values and make Pickerington more appealing to prospective developers and other investors. “We have, like most places right now, a large number of vacant properties,” Pickerington City Councilwoman Cristie Hammond said. “This ordinance, hopefully, will clarify (who owns a property) and keep those properties in repair.” The new ordinance stipulates properties shall be kept free of weeds, overgrown brush, dead vegetation, building materials, trash and other debris. It also requires owners to rid their properties of graffiti. Pools and spas will be required to be kept in “working order” so water remains free and clear of pollutants and debris. Owners also must keep their properties secure so they are not accessible to unauthorized persons. Failure to satisfy the conditions of the new ordinance could result in a bank or other owner being issued a code enforcement violation. Penalties would include fines of up to $250 and up to 30 days in jail for each offense. Because Pickerington currently doesn’t have a property ownership registry, city manager Bill Vance said city officials currently don’t know the precise number of foreclosed homes or otherwise vacant properties in the city. See COUNCIL, page A2

See AUGUST LEVY, page A3

Pickerington launches new economic development website By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers The city of Pickerington recently launched a new website to guide and spur local economic development. On Feb. 7, the Pickerington Development Services Department unveiled a new website at www.pickeringtondevelopment.com.

The site, which the city established for $4,000 with the help of beckhamXMO, seeks to promote Pickerington as a viable place to locate or expand a business, and provides help to developers planning a commercial or residential project in the city. “A website geared toward the needs of businesses and site selectors is an important part of our marketing and out-

reach plan for economic development,” said Susan Crotty, Pickerington’s development services director. “We wanted to provide site selectors and businesses looking to locate (in Pickerington) with one place where they can find comprehensive information on the business environment and development opportunities in Pickerington.” The city is hoping the site will gar-

ner attention from development site selection consultants, real estate professionals, developers and businesses looking for new locations. It seeks to showcase the city’s assets by pointing out, among other things, that 74 percent of all adults living in Pickerington are employed in management, professional, sales and office occupations. The site also touts Pickerington’s prox-