Far Northwest Coalition

MAY 2013 - FNWC MINUTES

Far Northwest Coalition

Columbus, OH

 

May 29, 2013

 

The Far Northwest Coalition (FNWC) met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the Northwest Library on Hard Road.  Members present were John Murley, Gary Bruck and Rich Herner. 

 

John Blackwood of Paving The Way made a presentation to the group in attendance about road construction that will take place in the Columbus area this summer.  He disseminated a pamphlet outlining the anticipated work.  He said the biggest construction projects are in the downtown area for I-71 & I-670 and again out on the west outerbelt.  He also said the work on High Street in Worthington at I-270 will commence in August, which will culminate with the trench for High St/US 23 in the Crosswoods area. 

 

He talked a little about safety in work zones.  He said secondary accidents, those that occur after another accident has already happened, cause more personal injuries than the initial accident.  He noted that drivers should know more than one way to get to their destination with all of the construction that will be going on this year.  He said folks can go to OHGO.com to get information on the location of any traffic issues.  He said people can also contact Paving The Way by calling 645-PAVE, online at pavingtheway.org as well as on Facebook.

 

Rick Miller of Columbus Parks & Rec and Larry Rincor made a presentation concerning the City’s desire to construct a maintenance garage at the Hard Road park site.  The plan is for 2 buildings, one about 4000 sq. ft. as a maintenance building and then a 3500 sq. ft. storage shed.  The maintenance building would have 3 bays with a metal sided exterior and brick wainscoting.  The other building would just be a cold storage pole barn type of building.  The project would use about an acre and a half on the west side of the ravine in the park area. 

 

They said there would be 3-4 full time employees operating from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, plus some extra help in the summer.  Essentially, the employees would arrive at the location, pick up their equipment and then leave to go to the other park areas for maintenance duties and then return in the afternoon.  They would cover the area from I-71 to Dublin and from Hayden Run to the county line.  They currently operate out of the twin water towers on Smoky Row Road and the water department would like them out so they can utilize the space themselves.

 

The buildings would be tucked back in down a winding drive so that they would not be seen from the road, setting behind the greenery.  The site is to be 200 ft. off the road and 100 ft. from the McCord school property line.  The site will be blacktopped but all water runoff is to be handled on the site.  In addition, there will be two fuel tanks, one for gas and one for diesel, about 500 gallons each.  Again, these will be part of a self-contained system so any fuel spillage should not affect any of the adjacent areas.  There is to be no external storage; all equipment is to be stored inside and under lock and key.  They anticipate awarding a contract in September or October and beginning construction in March 2014.

 

Attorney Donald Plank then made a presentation to the group changing the zoning of the parcel located at 2204 W. Dublin-Granville Road on the northeast corner of Dublin-Granville & Linworth Road (the UDF property).  They have also purchased the empty bank building immediately to the east of the property.  The plan is to raze both buildings and put up a new one.  The current UDF structure is about 2000 sq. ft., with the new one to be approximately 4,200 sq. ft., with an outdoor patio.  The immediate problem is that the UDF is in Columbus and the vacant bank building is in Worthington, so plans will have to go thru both municipalities.  The project will have to go thru the Worthington Architectural Review Board also.  They feel that Worthington is stricter on its codes, etc. and will conform to the Worthington code for the entire project.  They have yet to file in Worthington but will be doing so shortly.    

 

Currently there are 4 gas pumps while the proposed plan calls for 14 pumps (7 islands).  The gas canopy will match the building.  For aesthetic purposes, it was suggested that the gas pumps face Linworth Road rather than Dublin-Granville Road as proposed.    They will eliminate the current curb cut on Dublin-Granville Road and move it farther to the east on the bank building property.  He said there are similar properties at Hamilton and Warner Roads and in the New Albany Rocky Fork area.

 

Stan Apseloff then made a presentation to the group concerning the proposed bike trail adjacent to Dublin-Granville Road.  He is part of a group called Safety First 161 which is in opposition to the proposed location of the bike trail on the north side of Dublin-Granville Road.  He said their major concern is the safety for both the riders and the regular automotive traffic, hence the Safety First name.  The trail is to run from Sawmill Road to Linworth Road and be a shared use path.  It is to be a 10’ wide trail set back from the roadway.

 

The group feels that a location on the south side of the road would be much safer for all parties.  He noted that there are 38 crossings of the trail on the north side of the road in that 2.2 mile stretch of highway.  They have over 130 signatures on a petition which has been submitted to City Council and the Mayor and have heard nothing back at all.  They are requesting that the FNWC vote to support their request to move the trail to the south side of Dublin-Granville Road and send a letter to City Council with that recommendation.  They feel the request is justified with a valid position that safety is the overriding concern.

 

The FNWC then had a brief discussion about the City request to put a maintenance garage on the Hard Road park site.  It was moved and seconded to support the City request for the buildings, as presented.  Motion passed.

 

It was then moved and seconded that the FNWC approve the CPD rezoning request concerning the property located at 2204 W. Dublin-Granville Road (UDF store and adjacent lot) as presented.  Motion passed.

 

There was then a motion and a second to support the group Safety First 161 in its opposition to the bike trail along Dublin-Granville Road being located on the north side of the roadway for safety concerns.  The FNWC will provide a letter to City Council expressing the safety concern based on the proposed location of the trail on the north side of the road.  Motion passed.

 

Gary Bruck then announced that he will be resigning his position as a member of the FNWC since he will be moving to Dublin.  FNWC members expressed their gratitude to Gary for his assistance and wished him well.

 

There being no more business to come before the FNWC, the meeting was adjourned.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Rich Herner

FNWC Secretary