ThisWeek Dublin Villager 5/19

Page 1

May 19, 2011

Budget discussion

District to parents: Get involved in talks By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Coffman High School hosted a packed house last week as Dublin City Schools officials and local legislators met to discuss state funding. The message from Superintendent David Axner and treasurer Stephen Osborne to the parents and community members gathered was clear: Get involved

and contact your local legislator about the budget. The district held the May 11 meeting to educate residents on how the state budget could affect funding Stephen for Dublin City Osborne Schools. Local legislators also were invited to give their take

on the two-year state budget (see relatMay told the crowd. ed story below). House Bill 66 was The major problem the district has with approved in 2005 and the budget that recently was passed by called for the elimithe Ohio House of Representatives and nation of the TPPT, moved on to the Ohio Senate was the which taxes businesssudden loss in tangible-personal-propes on inventory and erty-tax reimbursements. equipment. School Lynn May “As recently as 10 years ago, local districts were to be businesses contributed 40 percent of our held harmless by the state through 2013, revenue,” school board president Lynn with the reimbursements slowly phased

out by 2020. The two-year state budget proposed by Gov. John Kasich, however, starts the phase-out next year. The Dublin school district receives $10 million annually in TPPT reimbursements, accounting for about 8 percent of its total revenue, Osborne said. The district initially expected to lose See DISTRICT, page A2

Legislators weigh in on budget, effect on schools By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers

By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek

Not unlike the residents they represent, local legislators hold various opinions on the proposed two-year state budget and its possible effects on Dublin City Schools. During the May 11 public forum at Coffman High School, state representatives and senators discussed the budget that is set to cut $13.7 million in state funding to Dublin City Schools. The cut would be spread over the next two years; the district expects to lose $6.1 million next year and $7.6 million in 2013.

According to its five-year forecast, the district was expected to take in $162 million for the 201112 fiscal year and $164 million in the following year. Expenditures were set at $172 million for the next fiscal year and $182 for 2012-13. Superintendent David Axner has said the state funding cuts could mean larger class sizes and a reduction in David Axner programs. Before the legislators spoke, See LEGISLATORS, page A2

Artist Andrea Myers and her husband, Adam Roelle, install her riverbox titled, “Fissures and Fractures,” inside Homestead Park on May 16. With this and two other other installations, there are now 10 riverboxes in the Dublin Art Council’s public-art Ripple Effect program. Myer’s riverbox is the first to be installed away from the Scioto River, but it sits near a body of water that flows into Hayden Run, which empties into the Scioto.

Mixed-use historic development Three works added to Riverbox collection seeks council input By JENNIFER NOBLIT

ThisWeek Community Newspapers

With more than 6,000 visits logged to riverboxes around Dublin last year, three more will be unveiled this weekend. The Dublin Arts Council has added three public art pieces to its collection of riverboxes that take visitors on a tour of Dublin’s parks through letterboxing or geocaching. The riverbox project began in 2007 as part of the DAC’s “Ripple Effect: Artistic Impact of the Scioto River” and makes participants use maps or GPS coordinates along with clues to find riverboxes placed in Dublin’s riverfront parks. The three added to the DAC’s collection, however, have to do with tributaries to the Scioto River in Washington Township parks.

About the riverboxes

By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers

The Dublin Arts Council commissioned innovative and environmentally sensitive artists in 2007 to create riverboxes, public artworks that contain a unique, artistmade stamp, journal and information for Dublin residents and visitors to discover in parks along the banks of the Scioto River, according to the DAC’s website. The selected artists created their riverboxes in response to artistic, environmental and historical information provided about the six river access sites in Dublin.

The new riverboxes were placed in Homestead and Kaltenbach parks. According to DAC executive director David Guion, the parks both have tributaries that feed into the Scioto River via Hayden Run Falls. Janet Cooper, the DAC’s marketing and

public-relations manager, said the three additions mean 10 riverboxes have been placed around Dublin and Washington Township for hunting. One of the riverboxes placed earlier this See THREE WORKS, page A7

The mixed-used development as proposed has 22,830 square feet of office space, 5,680 square feet of retail, 6,000 square feet of restaurant space with a 1,500square-foot patio, 31 residential condominiums and 126 parking spaces. A three-story building with space for a restaurant, office, retail and residential is planned for the southern three parcels between Bridge Street and Wing Hill. The building would be connected to a four-story building between Wing Hill and North Street and would

A mixed-used development proposed to span six parcels along North Riverview Street in Historic Dublin drew excitement and concern from city council members. A concept plan for the Riverview development that includes retail, office, commercial and residential space in two buildings went before council last week to gauge opinion. The concept plan has gone before the architectural review board and the planning and zoning commission for preliminary review. See COUNCIL INPUT, page A2

Clean diesel test gets state attention By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers

By Jennifer Noblit/ThisWeek

Pete Hamer, of High Performance Clean Diesel creator EcoChem, shows a comparison of fuel emissions from Dublin City School buses.

A month into testing a new environmentfriendly fuel, Dublin has seen favorable results. Through a partnership with Washington Township, Dublin City Schools and central Ohio farmers co-op Marion Oil, Dublin is testing a highperformance clean diesel fuel that claims to boost mileage and decrease emissions. The city last week invited Ohio Environmental Protection Agency director Scott Nally and others to check out the testing of the fuel created by Dublin Entrepreneurial Center business EcoChem Alternative Fuels. EcoChem approached Dublin about a year ago regarding testing the fuel on the city’s fleet, said Michelle Crandall, Dublin’s director of administrative services. Dublin will use it in city

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The Bogey is back

By Chris Parker/ThisWeek

Executive chef Chris Hamilton, operations manager Greg Bertison and general manager Chris Parker stand in the newly remodel bar of The Bogey Bar and Grill. The Bogey has slated its grand opening for June 13 but will be open for the Memorial Tournament. See story, page A3.

See CLEAN DIESEL, page A6

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