Far Northwest Coalition

1999 BOND PACKAGE /FNWC REQUESTS

December 12, 1998

The Columbus City Council
90 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215

Council Members and City Staff:

The Far Northwest Coalition (FNWC) has identified a number of areas for expenditures in our northwest area or general needs for residents citywide.

1. Temporary spot widening of Hard Road adding a turn lane from roughly Stanburn Road to Hathaway Court.

We requested this last year. Thanks for a job well done on this during 1998 !!!

2. Traffic Calming

Traffic calming efforts on Sutter Parkway and Olde Sawmill Boulevard appear to be reasonably successful at a cost of $80,000. Sawbury Boulevard in the Far Northwest area is ranked #17 by Traffic Calming Engineer Steven Tweed.

There are many other areas in our neck of the woods that need this type of calming treatment as well. It is our understanding that an increase above last year’s $250,000 has been requested by Engineering and Construction for these purposes.

It is unreasonable for residents to wait for decades for these treatments. The City of Columbus either needs to use stop signs to control speeds as Bexley, Dublin and the townships do or provide sufficient funding to protect the adults and children whose safety is imperiled by exorbitant speeding in residential areas.

We realize the police cannot be everywhere, but the City needs to do the most prudent thing possible. Therefore, our hope is the traffic calming budget will continue to increase for the public’s safety.

3. Construction and Signalization of Intersections / Major Roadway Improvements

Lights have been approved by the Traffic Commission for the following intersections:
· Hard Road at Stanburn Road; Completed in 1998 with the interim widening. Thanks again !!!
· Sawmill Place at Bent Tree Boulevard (This was requested last year and it is not completed. The four way stop stopgap is working reasonably well); and
· Snouffer Road at Caine Road. Completed in 1998

New requests for signalization include:
· Sawmill Road at Summitview Road – Franklin County either has jurisdiction or passed it along to Columbus during 1998.
· McVey Boulevard at SR 161 (W. Dublin-Granville Rd.).

Re-construction / widening of the following intersections / roadways are requested:
· Billingsley Road and Smoky Row intersection improvements must be underway by April 1999 to receive Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) funding.
· Billingsley Road at Sawmill Road – This intersection frequently makes the top 20 accident list for the City. With the reconstruction of the I-270 Sawmill interchange, additional intersection capacity can be planned and completed in the near future.
· Additional Sawmill Road 6-2 capacity from Billingsley to SR 161 per the Columbus Thoroughfare Plan also needs to be planned and completed in the near future.
· Hard Road, SR 161 and Smoky Row are three important arteries needing major widening. Former Public Service Director, Thomas B. Merritt, gave us a timetable about a year ago. We would like an update for all phases of each project.
· Please add what years Snouffer Road is projected for construction. It is listed as a top priority "very important project" in the Northwest Plan.

4. Retrofitting the Billingsley Road Stormwater Basin

This was requested for last year’s budget by FNWC.
A Federal grant of $35,000 has been passed along to the State of Ohio then made available to the City Of Columbus. At a minimum, the City must match the $35,000. Failure to get the project under construction by June 1999 should result in losing the federal grant. The idea of the project is to design the basin to filter stormwater contaminants which eventually wash into the Olentangy or Scioto Rivers.

Parks and Recreation has looked into adding some parklike amenities in this area of the city where 27 acres serves over 40,000 residents. The cost of these items has not been determined nor has the landscaping needs as depicted in architectural and engineering renderings.

5. Parks Funding – Acquisition and Improvements

Acquisition of parkland is urgent in the far northwest. The area is well under-parked with only 27 acres. The area should have more than 200 acres, but there is a scarce 250 acres of vacant acreage left. Time is of the essence.

With the recent passing of John "Jack" Antrim, the City of Columbus needs to make every effort to acquire as much of the Hard Road property as possible from the heirs. Developers are already said to be stalking it or negotiating its purchase.

In addition, the City of Columbus needs to pursue properties adjacent to the Summitview Road (Demetrioux) property whereby City Council has passed a resolution to purchase.

Strongly recommended purchases are Dr. Schwab’s property on Summitview and the wooded Nielsen property along Sawmill. Dr. Schwab’s wife recently passed away and the Nielsens are in their 80’s. Note that at one point the Nielsen’s attempted to give their property away to the City. Purchases of these properties will allow a scenic connecting pedestrian or bikeway path from Sawmill to Summitview Road.

Playground equipment similar to the $35,000 of equipment added at Carriage Place is also requested. Olde Sawmill Park, due to its heavy traffic, is a prime candidate. Others, such as Summitview, Woodbridge Green, and Brookside Parks need upgrades to remain attractive, family friendly parks.

The following items fall under the Parks and Recreation budget. They all specifically are for the Woodbridge Green Park next to Hard Road next at the CSX Railroad tracks.

A. A better means to block vehicles from going into the grass. This is a neighborhood park to be accessed by pedestrians only. There is no parking for this site. People have been parking on the berm of Hard Road and the chain has been movable to allow them to do so. A better means of preventing cars from parking there is needed. This was mentioned last year, but it has not been fixed.

B. Large charcoal grills would make a nice amenity for large neighborhood gatherings.

C. Two additional picnic tables are requested.

D. There is a large open space where kids commonly play softball or baseball. Evaluation and conversion to a permanent playing diamond is requested.

Please direct questions to Lori McAuley, Woodbridge Green Civic Association President at 764-5890 or Patti Orders at 792-6641.

6. Code Enforcement Staff Additions

Additional staff is needed to evaluate and proceed where warranted dilapidated vacant housing within the City. In addition, it would be prudent to add 30 additional code enforcement officers to enforce the new graphics code, approve occupancy permits, inspect newly completed buildings for conformance with zoning texts, etc.

The City should anticipate passage of Senate Bill 83 allowing immediate fining of offenders. The City needs to pursue these with the same due diligence it does for Downtown Parking violators.

7. Fire Protection – Purchases of $25,000 per unit infrared detection equipment to locate people in dense smoke is needed to save lives !!! This should not be delayed.

FNWC would appreciate it if you would assure these items are included in the Fiscal Year 1999 budget. We view almost all of these expenses as ordinary things any city should provide its taxpaying residents. If the City cannot work these items into the current budget, FNWC request that the 2000 bond package be made sufficiently large to meet these quality of life improvements.

Sincerely,

John W. Best, President
Far Northwest Coalition

Cc: FNWC Board