March 24, 2011
Police dispatcher agreement approved By MARLA K. KUHLMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers Gahanna City Council on March 21 approved legislation to authorize the mayor to enter into a negotiated labor agreement between the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association Dispatcher Unit and the city. Human resources director Kristen Treadway said 10 police dispatcher positions are covered by the contract that’s effective from the first pay period after Jan. 1, 2010, and remains in effect through Dec. 31, 2012. The city went to a fact-finding process in February 2010, after it couldn’t come
Athletes to pay $200 to play
to a satisfactory resolution with the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association Dispatchers regarding their collectivebargaining contract that expired Dec. 31, Kristen 2009. Treadway Following a disappointing result, Treadway said, council rejected the findings, and Gahanna moved on to binding conciliation in June 2010. Gahanna recently received a 126page report, with the conciliator awarding the city’s wage package and the
union’s insurance package, Treadway said. According to the agreement, the wage package included no increase in 2010, a 1.5-percent increase in 2011 and a 2percent increase in 2012. The health insurance package includes the city paying monthly premiums for single and family coverage, except for the employee contribution that was 7 percent in 2010, 8 percent for single and family plans in 2011 and 9 percent in 2012 for single and family. Each dispatcher also receives a onetime payment of $500 each year, Treadway said. In other action, council introduced
legislation to authorize the director of public safety to enter into a contract with McMillen Paving for the 2011 street improvement program. The bid opening was held March 11. McMillen Paving was the low bidder at $192,416, which was under the engineer’s estimate of $198,000. The funds for the program were allocated in the 2011 annual appropriation. According to assistant city engineer Mike Andrako, the typical lifespan of residential street pavement is about 25 years, therefore it is necessary to resurface, on average, about 4 percent of the streets each year.
See COUNCIL, page A5
City, school officials weigh in on impact of Kasich plan
PICTURE PERFECT
By JARROD ULREY ThisWeek Community Newspapers Since the failure of Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools’ 6.8-mill operating levy in November, coaches and athletics administrators throughout the district have been preparing for what seemed to be the inevitable repercussion. The way Gahanna athletics director Justin Sanford sees it, the overall hit that middle and high school athletics took earlier this month could have been much worse. Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, high school athletes must pay participation fees of $200 per sport; middle school athletes will have to pay $100 per sport. “Obviously, nobody wants it,” Sanford said. “We started working on this back in the fall in preparation for the November levy, and when that was unsuccessful, we were fortunate that our administration was willing to look at $200.” In addition to the pay-to-participate fees that were approved March 10, the school board approved $6-million in personnel cuts, including the elimination of 32 teachers. More than $1-million is being cut from the building/administration budgets for utilities, supplies, field trips, technology and classroom materials, as well. “(The pay-to-participate fees) should be a savings of about $200,000 for the district,” Sanford said. “That’s a signif-
The work this year will consist of resurfacing Dark Star Avenue from Arcaro Drive to Venetian Way, Lincolnshire Road from Agler Road to Palace Lane and Town Street from Shepard Street to Shull Avenue, as well as repairs to the Helmbright Drive-Caroway Boulevard intersection. In addition, curb ramps will be upgraded at Lincolnshire Road at Knights Avenue and Lincolnshire Road at Fairholme Road. In other discussion, councilman Andre Porter officially announced that he would resign from his seat effective
By MARLA K. KUHLMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Stephanie Rush has her picture taken with her artwork on display at the Gahanna branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library on March 15. Selected artwork by students from Gahanna Lincoln High School was on display throughout the library. The “Experience the Arts” event is funded by the Gahanna-Jefferson Education Foundation.
The city of Gahanna and Gahanna-Jefferson school leaders are crunching numbers to see how Gov. John Kasich’s proposed budget would affect their financial bottom lines. Under Kasich’s proposed budget, which must be passed by June 30, Gahanna’s Local Government Fund (LGF) would be cut by 25 percent in the first year and another 25 percent in the second year. Gahanna public-information manager Brian Hoyt said the city would realize the impact of the LGF reduction midyear because the city’s budget is based on a calendar year from January to December, whereas the state’s fiscal budget is from July to June. Gahanna initially projected receiving about $1.3-million from the LGF, but Angel Kasich’s proposal would reduce this Mumma year’s revenues by $123,000 to about $1.2 million. The 2011 LGF had accounted for 6 percent of Gahanna’s projected revenue, but that would be reduced to 5.5 percent if the budget is approved. “Like most municipalities, the city of Gahanna has been anticipating some reduction in local government funding,” said Angel Mumma, city finance director. “However, it comes on the heels of a time where this city is dealing with reductions in other main sources of revenue, such as income-tax receipts and interest earnings. “We have been implementing service level and personnel reductions over the past few years to help offset the declining revenue. This additional reduction in revenue will obviously impact the services that we can provide to our
See PAY, page A2
See BUDGET, page A5
Commission poised to make Meadowbrooke decision By MARLA K. KUHLMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
After months of deliberation and workshops, the Gahanna Planning Commission was scheduled to vote March 23 on a proposal to increase the density of the proposed Meadowbrooke subdivision on Havens Corner Road. Several related pieces of legislation have been examined at length with the original request for Meadowbrooke, including a variance to allow an increase in overall residential density from nine to 15 lots; zoning 4.7 acres as residential overlay district/single-family and dedicating 1.297 acres of parkland. Since that proposal, the number of proposed lots has been decreased to 14. During a March 16 workshop, David
A closer look Several related pieces of legislation have been examined at length with the original request for Meadowbrooke, including a variance to allow an increase in overall residential density from nine to 15 lots; zoning 4.7 acres as residential overlay district/single-family and dedicating 1.297 acres of parkland.
Hodge, representing developer Brookewood Construction, said the southeast corner of the proposal originally had served as access for four lots, and that was reduced by one lot. “With that configuration change, lot 8
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shifted to the west and also allowed the preservation of some evergreen trees,” he said. “With lot 1, there was an issue what direction it should face. We committed to a buffer screen so it wouldn’t be visible from Havens Corner Road.” The developer also has been working with the Franklin County Engineer’s Office to resolve stormwater issues. “One of the big things that happened with storm water was that we couldn’t reach an agreement with (property owner) (Rod) Wilcox,” Hodge said. “We won’t be redirecting water flow. There are a dozen ways to skin the stormwater cat.” Hodge said the developer is promising that any stormwater plan would be approved by Franklin Soil & Water Conservation District, as well as Gahanna’s engineer.
“We talked to Franklin County about trees to help mitigate what goes into the (Clotts)-Souder ditch,” he said. Jim Watkins, representing Watcon Consulting Engineers, said they’re considering a green design for Meadowbrooke, with right-of-way rain gardens and pervious clay pavers for streets, or possibly the aprons to lot driveways. “We’re shifting more into a green design than a conventional design,” he said. “We can do it without increasing flow to the (Clotts)-Souder ditch.” Commissioner Joe Keehner expressed concerns over the slope on the south side of the development. “Call it a rain garden if you like, but you’re just slowing down water runoff,” he said. “To me, putting units on the south side is problematic with the slope.”
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Watkins said water retention-detention could be done in a variety of ways and said he would come up with a good plan for the development. Jim Endsley said he has 25 years of experience working with drainage issues. He said a green plan would maximize the amount of water staying on the property and it should result in less runoff than is there now. “I think it’s a good concept and should satisfy the majority of people around,” he said. The commission also had asked Brookewood to hire a professional appraiser, considering all of the debate concerning the effect the proposed subdivision would have on the value of the surSee COMMISSION, page A2
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