February 20, 2011
City needs more money for street work By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The city’s streets are slowly crumbling, and money to fix them is scarce. The city has spent an average of $421,000 each of the past 10 years on resurfacing. At that rate, it would take 50 years to resurface each street once, director of engineering services Bill Fer-
rigno told city council on Feb. 14. Ferrigno said the city should be spending between $1.2-million to $1.4-million on annual resurfacing. Ferrigno said petroleum and fuel increases have increased resurfacing costs. The cost to resurface a road has increased by 93 percent, he said, from 46 cents per square foot in 2001 to 89 cents in 2011. “We are unable to maintain the integrity
of those pavements,” Ferrigno said. Ferrigno compared road repair to a leaky roof. Untouched streets would need base repairs instead of just repairs to the top portions. “(If) you don’t take care of the top surface, your cost goes higher and higher,” he said. Ferrigno told ThisWeek the city needs to pave arterial and collector streets first. They include Pennsylvania Avenue, San-
dusky Street and Executive Boulevard. He said funding includes: • Ohio Department of Transportation paying to pave state and U.S. highways about every 10 years. The city pays 20 percent of the cost. ` • An average of $450,000 per year from the state from license fees and gasoline taxes. • Local Transportation Improvement
Project matching grants from the Ohio Public Works Commission for several road projects. The Delaware County engineer provides the city up to $50,000 for those projects. Ferrigno suggested funding strategies including: • A front footage pavement mainteSee STREET WORK, page A6
Study finds zoo hotel would benefit county By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
(Above) Delaware Hayes High School seniors Bayli Friz, Taylor Franklin and Joe Kinney look at their fruit flies during biology class Monday, Feb. 14. They will compare eye color as they track genetic traits of three generations of fruit flies. The project will continue through March. (Below) Franklin tries to keep the fruit flies under the microscope.
Students study fruit fly genetics By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Junior and senior biology students at Hayes High School have been getting up close and personal with fruit flies. Peg Babson’s biology 2 class is home to thousands of flies, which students must use in a genetics experiment. The class is studying eye color over three generations of flies. Babson, who has taught for 32 years, has been doing this experiment for the last 20. She said it’s a great exercise for the class. “We can observe three generations of fruit flies here in about six weeks,” she said. Since eye color is a sex-linked trait, students have to cross pairs of flies and record the results. Groups get two vials, one with red-eyed flies and one with white-eyed flies. Initially, they have to make two parental crosses: a red-eyed female with a whiteeyed male and a white-eyed female with a tricky. The flies in the crosses must be used red-eyed male. Red eyes are the dominant before they’re 8 hours old, so students have trait. to catch the flies soon after they’ve hatched. The breeding part is where things get “It’s all a matter of timing,” Babson said.
Students have to check their fly vials first thing in the morning before classes. Senior Monica Tellez said it’s important to check the fruit flies at least three times a day to make sure no newly born flies are in the breeding tubes. She also said it’s challenging to determine the sex of the flies, which can be identified only by using a microscope. Though the females have striped abdomens, this trait doesn’t appear until the flies are older. Babson said the experiment is a way to get the students physically involved with the subject material. “It’s actually something that you can see,” she said. Anything outside the normal classroom activities is more engaging for students, Babson said. For her part, Tellez said, she enjoys projects and group work. “I love hands-on experiments because they keep my attention and I learn better when I am up and moving,” she said.
Police chief gives security report to council By SARAH SOLE
possibilities, including having trolling where firearms are car- ments and meeting management. In the event of an implied or meetings and what state law said council meetings, he said. perceived threat, Martin recomregarding firearms in public. Joe DiGenova, 3rd Ward coun- mended the police detective di“I would not advocate any sig- cil member, agreed with Martin vision review the threat. nificant changes at this point,” and said he felt secure. He wants He also recommended that a Martin said. to leave carrying guns to law en- police officer be assigned to the He said local risk had not in- forcement, DiGenova said. meeting. creased after the Arizona shootLisa Keller, 2nd Ward counIn the event of a more specifing. cil member, said she also feels ic threat, Martin recommended “If we’re not careful, some- safe at meetings. additional options including times those single events can Still, Keller suggested it would moving meetings to a more sechange our perspective,” he said. be prudent to anticipate topics cure location and checking for Meetings occur all across the that could cause people to have weapons. country, and public assemblies high levels of emotion. Windell Wheeler, vice mayor, are some of the safest places in Martin recommended a secu- said he agreed with the chief’s America, he said. rity approach covering three sce- assessment. “I feel safe here,” “Week in, week out, you re- narios: no specific threats, im- Wheeler said. During eight years main relatively safe at these plied or perceived threats, and as mayor, he requested the chief’s meetings,” Martin said. specific threats. presence only once, Wheeler While he described himself as He told council he was will- said. a Second Amendment advocate, ing to provide or facilitate addiMartin said there is merit in con- tional training on threat assessSee SAFETY, page A7
ThisWeek Community Newspapers uniformed personnel at public ried. Firearms aren’t needed at
Delaware police chief Russ Martin doesn’t think anyone would benefit from hiring an officer who would receive overtime to be stationed at city council meetings. Martin presented his threat assessment at the Feb. 14 city council meeting. Council had previously discussed whether added security was necessary in the aftermath of the Jan. 8 shooting of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others near Tucson, Ariz., said Lee Yoakum, Delaware community affairs coordinator. Council had asked the police department to research several
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A hotel at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium complex could raise about $315,100 in annual net tax revenue for the county. That’s according to Randall Gross’ economic impact study, which he presented Feb. 17 to the county commissioners. The county had awarded an $18,900 contract to Gross to conduct a zoo hotel economic impact study. Community Development Block Grant revolving loan funds paid for the project. Gross has offices in Washington, D.C. and South Africa. According to contract specifications, Gross delivered two presentations, one focusing on the present economic impact of the zoo and the other focusing on the impact of the proposed hotel. Gross based his hotel findings on the market feasibility study conducted by David Sangree of Cleveland-based Hotel and Leisure Advisors. Gross projected that a 175-room hotel would create 223 direct and 136 induced jobs, for a total of 359 jobs. Induced figures are generated throughout the economy, or what Gross described as “the
multiplier effect.” Including sales, income and bed tax, Delaware County would receive a total of about $315,100 in tax revenues. Franklin County would receive about $919,500 in tax revenues. Those figures include direct and induced amounts. If done correctly, the hotel could be an attraction in itself, Gross said. The hotel could be themed to match the zoo complex, and visitors could possibly have nighttime zoo privileges. The establishment would offer themed restaurants, retail, arcade and family entertainment and a 15,000 square-foot meeting space. Amenities including mini-golf, spa, pool and shuttle would also be available. County economic development director Gus Comstock told ThisWeek the location and funding for the hotel are still being discussed. Delaware County wants to cooperate with Franklin County on the project, he said. “It’s kind of an exciting time as we’re coming out of this recession,” he said. Comstock said the county could partner more with the zoo. “The zoo contributes to people See HOTEL, page A7
Lottery winner likely Big Walnut district resident By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Big Walnut schools income tax receipts from the fourth quarter of 2010 suggest that the anonymous June 2 Powerball winner lives in the district, district officials said. District treasurer Felicia Drummey on Feb. 14 told the school board the district recently received its income tax revenue and it was $979,556 more than anticipated. Records show the district estimated it would receive $806,753 in January, based on the past three years’ income tax receipts. “We received $1.7-million and that is much larger than we would expect to receive for that fourth-quarter of the year. It leads us to determine that we most likely received an estimated tax payment from our lottery winner, and that’s what contributed to that large fluctuation,” said Drummey. The winner would pay income taxes to the district only if he or she is a resident of the Big Walnut school district. The anonymous winner chose to take the $261.6-million winnings as a $134.2-million lump sum. Drummey said that because it was a lump-sum disbursement, the district would only see a one-time increase in tax revenue. “That one-time influx of cash is crucial to assist us with cash flow,” Drummey said, noting the district must wait until 2012 before receiving the full collection on the emergency tax levy that voters approved in November. The school district has a 0.75-percent income tax which brings in about $4.4-million annually. The amount is about one-sixth of the district’s annual $24.8-million in revenue. The school board also: • Heard superintendent Steve Mazzi say a formal presentaSee BIG WALNUT SCHOOL DISTRICT, page A2
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