The eyes of law enforcement cannot be everywhere, so Canal Winchester Village Council hopes the addition of a speed monitoring device will help curb speeding in the village.
Fairfield County Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Kirk Kern provided council with extensive options regarding the purchase of a speed trailer or pole-mounted device providing feedback to drivers as they come within range of the equipment’s sensor.
"At the safety committee you asked to get some quotes on speed trailers," wrote Kern in a June 9 memo. "There are many types and different price ranges. There are the kind that mount on poles and only have a speed display and there are the speed trailers.
"I would recommend that we buy a trailer type due to the fact that they are more versatile and are easier to move from one location to another. They also have the ability to do traffic studies."
Finance Director Nanisa Osborn said the village budgeted $5,000 for purchase of the monitoring device and the cost of the equipment is between $2,800 and $7,800. Councilwoman Bobbie Mershon said the purchase would help address a speeding problem in the village.
"The negative thing about the trailer is by putting it on a street 26 feet wide, you can’t get around it," reported Mershon. "But the positives are you can do studies with the trailer. We have one (speed trailer) we share with Groveport and Madison Township, and we get it once every three weeks. I don’t think it’s consistent enough to deal with a speeding problem."
Assessments
Property owners in a reconstructed area of Diley Road will have to start paying for improvements following approval of assessment legislation during council’s June 16 meeting.
"The ordinance is to start the process to place special assessments on property on Diley Road," said Osborn, who said Canal Winchester ran the project and property owners are contributing the remaining $2.1 million of the cost, which is approximately $400,000 under the original estimate.
Once the ordinance is effective, property owners are notified and have 15 days to prepay the assessment or have it divided on their tax bill over the next 20 years. Property owners petitioned Canal Winchester in April 2006 to construct the project and assessments per acre range from $1,400 to $5,600. The total cost of the project was $5.4 million.
Roaming cats
A new tool on the village’s Web site is the ability to report problems and one brought to the attention of administrators is a preponderance of cats roaming free in the Sarwil, Old Meadows Court, and Chesterville Drive neighborhood. The animals did not appear to be strays.
Residents were notified of the problem via a letter reminding pet owners their furry friends are not allowed to run at large in public, on unenclosed lands, or on someone else’s property. Failure to comply with village code is punishable as a fourth degree misdemeanor.
