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Groveport mulls new sewer plan
(by Rick Palsgrove, Southeast Editor - April 28, 2009)
A new option has emerged regarding the much discussed proposed west Groveport Road sewer project.
In March, Law Director Kevin Shannon stated Marc and Roger Studley of Access Storage, located on Groveport Road, indicated they may be willing to pursue financing, with the cooperation of First Baptist Church of Groveport, the extension of the sewer line to their property and further west to the First Baptist Church. The idea would be for the financers then to recapture the costs of construction from properties affected by the sewer line extension.
"We want to make sure we're covered to get our investment back," Marc Studley told Groveport Village Council.
Studley believes the sewer line is vital for the future development of the west Groveport Road area.
Shannon said the existing legal codes pertaining to such a proposal needed to be updated to reflect modern expenses and time limitations. With that in mind, at its April 27 meeting, council heard the first reading of an ordinance that would update the existing 35-year-old codes for sewer extension reimbursement. The legislation revises the code by replacing the outdated $7 inside the village limits per foot reimbursement charge and $8 outside the village limits charge with a new formula based on total frontage served times the frontage of the connecting parcel served, excluding engineering fees.
In his written report to council, Shannon wrote, "Obviously the cost of construction has dramatically increased in the the last 35 years...(this) establishes a formula where developers may recapture the cost they incur when constructing an extension to the sanitary sewer system when that extension benefits parcels other than their own."
The proposed, 2,100 foot, approximately $840,000 sanitary sewer line would include properties along Groveport Road extending west from Greenpointe Drive to the First Baptist Church of Groveport property and would serve an area encompassing 240 acres.
Kessler Street project
Work on the Kessler Street reconstruction project in Groveport is expected to begin the week of May 4. Shelly Company's $557,500 bid for the project came in $200,000 below the engineer's estimate.
"That's a tremendously good price," said EMH&T engineer Steve Farst.
The project will include streetlights, a sidewalk on one side of the street, curb and gutters, storm drains, hydrant adjustments, and new mailboxes.
Work is expected to be completed by Aug. 14.
Village and township to hold talks
Groveport Village Councilman Shawn Cleary and Village Administrator Steve Morris were named to a joint Groveport and Madison Township committee that will discuss communications between the two government entities.
Madison Township Administrator Larry Flowers and a yet to be named township trustee will also be on the committee.
Cleary said he wants to address what he sees as discrepancies in the funding of the village/township senior transportation program. The village pays $237,000 per year into the program's operations while the township funds $17,000 for fuel.
"I don't want to take anything away from the senior transportation program," said Cleary. "I just want to see a more even distribution of funding for it. There's got to be a better plan."
Administrator residency extension
At the request of Mayor Lance Westcamp, council unanimously voted to grant Morris a three month extension regarding the Village Charter's requirement that the administrator be a resident of the village. Westcamp said Morris' extension request was based on personal family reasons.
Though he voted in favor of the extension, Councilman Ed Rarey did express his concern that only one of the village's department heads and administrators is a village resident.
"Some of them live 20 to 22 miles away (from Groveport)," said Rarey. "This could be problem during an emergency. I hope the village administrator would locate into the village soon."
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