ThisWeek Canal Winchester 3/10

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March 10, 2011

Gender Road

Strawser awarded $1.39-million contract By TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKI ThisWeek Community Newspapers Canal Winchester Village Council voted Monday, March 7, to award a contract for almost $1.4-million to Strawser Paving Co. Inc. for the first phase of Gender Road improvements. The $1,394,885 contract was the lowest of three bids received for the project. The village opened bids on March 1.

Public works director Matt Peoples said after the March 7 council meeting he was pleased with the bids. “Two were below engineer’s estimates,” he said. “We were very happy.” Peoples said there is some final paperwork that needs to be completed but he anticipates work on Gender Road will start mid-April. The two other bids were from Columbus Asphalt Paving Inc. for $1,509,801

and from Park Enterprise Construction Co. Inc. for $1,682,988. The village was awarded a $2-million Ohio Public Works Commission grant for intersection improvements at Gender Road and Winchester Boulevard and at Gender Road and Foxhill Drive. In a letter to finance director Nanisa Osborn, EMH&T engineer Steve Farst said as a “basis for determining the successful bid, consideration was given to

the contractor who could demonstrate a permanent place of business, possession of suitable equipment to complete the work, experience, positive performance on similar projects and the lowest bid.” Based on those criteria and on a review of the qualifications information as submitted, Farst said, Strawser Paving appears qualified to perform the work. Peoples said on Feb. 21 that 65 percent of the project’s cost is covered by

the OPWC grant. A village request for a loan to pay the remaining 35 percent was not approved but Canal Winchester’s portion of the project is covered in the village budget. In other business March 7, council passed two ordinances as emergencies authorizing the village to purchase two 2011 Ford F-150 extended cab trucks, See STRAWSER, page A2

Notice of city status expected from Ohio

Relay For Life

Team hopes ‘flocking’ will raise money

By TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKI ThisWeek Community Newspapers

By TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKI ThisWeek Community Newspapers A group of Canal Winchester residents participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life are hoping some purple flamingos will help in the fight against cancer. The Relay For Life is the signature fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. It is an overnight event during which teams walk around a track, with one member of each team on the track at all times, representing the theme, “Cancer never sleeps, neither do we.” Canal Winchester’s Relay For Life team, called Butterflies for Life, will be placing six painted flamingos in the yards of village residents and businesses as part of its fundraising efforts. The goal is to have people donate money to have the flamingos removed. For an extra donation, recipients can choose where the flamingos will be placed next. “Basically, we are putting them in someone’s yard with a yard sign that says what is going on,” team member Melissa Weller said. “For any donation, we will come and get them. For an extra donation, you can pick the next person getting ‘flocked.’” Organizers didn’t set a limit on monetary donations for removing the yard decorations because some people might have $5 to contribute to the cause while others may have $100, Weller said. The flamingos will be placed beginning March 13. Canal Winchester’s Relay For Life is scheduled for June 10-11.

By Eric George/ThisWeek

As a Relay For Life fundraiser, Melissa Weller, Heather Bolin, Maureen Hoenie, Angie Holzinger See TEAM, page A2 and Stacey Boumis are placing flamingos in yards throughout Canal Winchester.

Canal Winchester expects to soon hear from the state of Ohio that the village has attained city status. Finance director Nanisa Osborn said at the March 7 village council finance committee meeting that the U.S. Census Bureau has notified the state that the numbers for Ohio will be released sometime this week. “I’m not sure how fast they A closer look will come to us,” she said. “The (Ohio) Secretary Canal Winchester hired of State will no- Downes, Fishel, Hass and tify us. I antici- Kim LLP to assist with legal pate seeing matters regarding personnel something in the and the change from village next 10 days to to city status. That will two weeks, de- include updating the personpending on how nel policy manual and job fast they move descriptions and creating at the state civil service rules. level.” Council member John Bender asked what happens once Canal Winchester is notified it has attained city status. Osborn said the official change in status will take place 30 days after the notification is received from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. “We have done a lot of work,” she said. Osborn said Canal Winchester is still missing the personnel piece required of a city: The village is required to establish a personnel code and civil service commission when it becomes a city. Canal Winchester hired Downes, Fishel, Hass and Kim LLP to assist with legal matters regarding perSee NOTIFICATION, page A2

Cost of private pool parties could increase By TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKI ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Canal Winchester Village Council heard the first reading Monday, March 7, of legislation that would raise rental rates from $150 to $200 for a two-hour party at the village swimming pool. Pool party rates were increased from $100 to $150 for two hours in 2009, said community affairs director Carrie

Hoover. Rates could have been increased to $200 at that time and the village would have been competitive with other venues, she said, but village officials did not want to double the rates. Hoover said Canal Winchester’s pool parties sell out pretty quickly and the village often gets people offering to pay a higher rate to reserve a date. Before proposing the increase, other

central Ohio communities were surveyed to see how much they charge for a private pool party. “I checked online and called around to several local communities,” Hoover said. “Not all of the communities rent their pools. Some didn’t have outdoor pool rates available for this year.” According to Hoover, Groveport charges $500 per hour for residents and $650 per hour for non-residents for par-

ties of up to 362 guests to use its indoor pool. No rates were posted for the year for Groveport’s outdoor pool, she said. In Plain Township, pool rentals start at $482 for a two-hour party. Upper Arlington charges $500 for two hours for 51 to 100 people, Hoover said. Dublin’s rates start at $250 for two hours for up to 150 people but prices increase with other options, such as use of the slide,

Hoover said. “We also asked Dan (Phillips) with Columbus Pool Management his opinion since he manages other pools and is familiar with what they charge,” Hoover said. “He basically said that $150 … was low and thought $200 would still be rather competitive.” Hoover said Canal Winchester’s pool See COST, page A2

Fairfield County will repave Winchester Road By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers Fairfield County officials plan to repave a southern Violet Township roadway for the first time in more than 15 years. The Fairfield County Engineer’s Office this month said it will repave a portion of Winchester Road in Violet and Bloom townships.

The project will go to bid this spring. Work is expected to be completed this summer or fall. It will include repaving Winchester Road from its intersections with Lithopolis-Winchester Road and Amanda Northern Road. “The portion of the roadway we’re repaving is in southern Violet Township and northern Bloom Township,” said Jeff Baird, Fairfield County chief deputy engineer. “The surface on that

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stretch is getting in a deteriorated state.” According to the engineer’s office, an average of 2,965 vehicles travel daily on the portion of Winchester Road slated for repaving. Baird said the road hasn’t been paved since 1995. “We’re paving numerous roads throughout the entire county this year, and (Winchester Road) is one,” he said. “That’s one of the projects that’s going

to be bid out this spring.” County officials have yet to determine the estimated cost of repaving Winchester Road. However, money for the project will be part of the $1.11million repaving program the engineer’s office has established for 2011. “The funding comes from our county roads and bridges fund and from our motor vehicle taxes,” Baird said. Traffic will be affected by the Win-

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chester Road project, but Baird said his office doesn’t anticipate a full closure of the roadway. Therefore, detours aren’t expected, he said. “It will just be lane restrictions,” he said. “Traffic will be reduced, but traffic will be maintained throughout the repaving project.” nellis@thisweeknews.com www.ThisWeekNews.com

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