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Primarily serving Pataskala and surrounding areas
April 10, 2011
Pataskala council wants faster meetings Rule change approved April 4 allows members to vote on ‘consent agenda’ at once By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Pataskala City Council changed its rules April 4 to allow “consent agendas” as a way to speed up its meetings. Without consent agendas, every resolution and motion must be voted on individually, with the mayor calling for a motion, a second and discussion and
then a roll call vote, even if no one makes any comment. Under a consent agenda, all such motions and resolutions could be handled in a single vote. Law director Rufus Hurst said the process could shorten meetings dramatically. “My presumption is the mayor would just take us through (the agenda) as he
ordinarily does,” Hurst said. “If there are items to discuss, fine. If not, we don’t need to beat it up. If it’s good to go, we could just adjourn.” Any council member can ask that any particular item be removed from the consent agenda and put on the regular agenda for discussion and a vote. “If any member says he would like (an item) removed from the consent
agenda, it is gone immediately and appears on the regular agenda,” Hurst said. “It does not require a second, it does not require a vote. It’s automatic.” Council member Dan Hayes exercised the first objection under the new procedure, asking that a resolution about the closed city pool be put on the regular agenda for discussion.
Jeni Ashbrook, chair of the parks and recreation advisory board, said the board needed to know if council would support allowing a private business to operate the pool. “We do have some interest from outside organizations, but we need some kind of direction as to whether that is a See FASTER MEETINGS, page A5
County auditor’s office
LEARNING, WITH A CHANCE OF FUN
More than 700 propertytax appeals submitted By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Josh Poland, a WBNS-10TV meterologist and reporter, talked about his job to students at Liberty Christian Academy in Pataskala on April 5. Poland is a 1999 graduate of the school.
County college fair to feature 80 schools By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers A countywide college fair will be held Wednesday, April 13, at Granville High School, from 6 to 8 p.m. Amber Gilsdorf, an organizer of the fair and guidance counselor at Granville High School, said more than 14 school districts had participated in organizing the event, which is expected to draw colleges from around the United States. “We are expecting more than 80 colleges and universities from around the country,” Gilsdorf said. “We have schools from Alabama, Texas,Arizona, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois — we really have a good mix of institutions.”
High schools from Knox and Muskingum counties are also expected to participate, Gilsdorf said. Such fairs provide a rare opportunity for parents and students to see many schools and make direct comparisons. “It’s an open-session format, meaning the students and their parents can come any time during the two hours,” Gilsdorf said. “They can talk to different representatives from the colleges about programs, admission criteria, financial aid, questions about campus. It’s a way to see a lot of colleges in a short time period.” Gilsdorf said that students’ approaches to applying for college are evolving.
More than 700 Licking County residents met the March 31 deadline for property-tax valuation appeals to have their property values for 2010 readjusted. County auditor Michael Smith said the number was down from last year’s record of 965 people seeking to have the auditor adjust their 2009 property taxes, but still large, with 718 people having filed requests by the deadline. “We’ve tried to do a better job promoting the idea that a property owner has the right to file an appeal,” Smith said. “If we have 718 appeals this year, and a similar county has 200 when that county is similar in parcel count and population, why is that?” The appeals are often successful. More than 80 percent of last year’s applicants received a reduction in property values. In many cases the revaluation is granted without a hearing, if the paperwork is sufficiently documented. Of the more than 900 applicants last year, only about 300 went to a full hearing, said deputy auditor Gary Baker. On average, the reduction in property values countywide was about 4 percent to 5 percent, but the value of reassessed properties could change significantly more, in many cases reaching $350 or so in annual property tax savings, Smith said. See TAX APPEALS, page A4
Pataskala picks new insurance carrier to provide health coverage
If you go What: Licking County College Fair When: April 13, 6 to 8 p.m. Where: Granville High School, 248 New Burg St., Granville Representatives from more than 80 colleges will present information to students and parents about admissions and the college experience. For information, visit www.granville.k12.oh.us/collegefair or www.facebook.com/LCountyCollegeFair.
By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
See COLLEGE FAIR, page A4
Central Ohio legislators divided over S.B. 5 THISWEEK STAFF REPORT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Central Ohio legislators were divided on Senate Bill 5, the historic legislation backed by Gov. John Kasich that redefines collective bargaining for Ohio’s public employees.
The bill signed last week by Kasich becomes law on June 30. Opponents of the legislation have vowed to mount a campaign to place the issue before voters as a referendum on the November ballot. To do so, they must collect more than 230,000 valid signatures by the end of June. If they’re successful, the
bill won’t take effect until after the election, according to Rob Nichols, Kasich’s public information officer. S.B. 5 prohibits public workers from striking, restricts the number of issues that may be discussed in collective bargaining, institutes performance-based pay raises instead
of basing raises on longevity, drops the percentage of workers needed to decertify a union from more than 50 percent to 30 percent, and caps employers’ payment of their workers’ health insurance at 85 percent. Recent amendments institute a See CENTRAL OHIO, page A2
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The Pataskala City Council finance committee adopted a health-care plan for the year, beginning May 1. The plan represents a 5.4-percent increase in the city’s current costs of about $510,000 annually, or about $27,700. Finance director Jason Carr said Pataskala had asked four different companies to provide bids, in addition to the current carrier, Medical Mutual of Ohio. See INSURANCE CARRIER, page A5
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