Far Northwest Coalition

APRIL 2004 FNWC MINUTES

FAR NORTHWEST COALITION PO BOX 340285 COLUMBUS, OH 43234-0285

FAR NORTHWEST COALITION
P. O. BOX 340285 COLUMBUS, OH 43234

April 28, 2004


The Far Northwest Coalition (FNWC) met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the Northwest Library. Members present of the FNWC Board were John Best, Kelly Thompson, John Murley and Rich Herner. John Best opened the meeting with an introduction of the FNWC Board members to the group in attendance.

Best advised the group that he had seen a piece in The Daily Reporter that said about a third of the proposed MI Homes subdivision on the Antrim property would be parkland. He said he had spoken to a VP of MI Homes and apparently only 2/3 of the acreage is able to be developed for homes and the rest would then become parkland. The group discussed whether this had anything to do with the ravine area, the lake on the property or possibly being a wetlands area. Best said he had not put up “talking points” as he had indicated from the last FNWC meeting but wanted to wait and see what MI Homes had in mined for the land.

Best then mentioned that the TND proposed for the Linworth area is scheduled to go back to the NWCA at their next regular meeting on Wednesday, May 5 at about 8:00 pm at the Carriage Place Rec Center. He also noted that the council variance request for 2704 W. Dublin-Granville Road was being favorably received by City staff. Best said he made them aware of the Northwest Plan which wished to keep the properties on the north side of Dublin Granville Road residential in nature

Best then reported that he had received a letter from Gene Harris, Superintendent of the Columbus Public Schools concerning the proposed condominium project located at 8354-8400 Sawmill Road, adjacent to Chapman Elementary. The letter stated that the Columbus Schools would accept the property into the district, once the work was completed.

Michelle Williams, the City liaison to this area gave out information concerning upcoming meetings for the Columbus City Bond packages. The nearest meeting to this area will be on Wednesday, May 19 at the Carriage Place Rec Center from 6:00-8:00 pm. Various divisions will have tables to talk about the different possible projects for using the bond funds. She said comments on the proposed bond packages may also be emailed to columbusbond2004@columbus.gov. Upon request of the FNWC, Michelle will also look into what is going on with the graphics issues of the Immke signs on Sawmill Road.

Terry Croft and Scott Kraner of the City of Columbus then made a presentation and answered questions from the group present about the Hard Road project. Croft reported that the railroad switch should be made this week to the temporary tracks. Once that is done, the contractor can begin digging for the underpass. He said about 75% of the storm and sanitary sewers are in and are currently working on them around the Smokey Row area. He said that in a couple months, they hope to have turn lanes added at the Smokey Row/Hard Road intersection and have traffic switched to new pavement on the south side of Hard in September. He also reported that the new railroad bridge should be ready for train traffic in November.

They are looking for pavement to be poured under the new railroad bridge in May next year, and hopefully by mid-summer next year have all of the new pavement down. They anticipate being fully finished with the first phase (B) by September 2005, about 2 months longer than originally was anticipated when the work started. It was noted that a traffic signal has been warranted for the Hard/Fallhaven/Saddle Run intersection, but they were not sure when in the construction process that it will be installed. The median will be solid concrete, except for the area in front of the new MI development, which will be grass, at MI’s request. The new HOA will maintain the grass strip. However, there will be trees in the median, approximately 15-20 in Section B. A turn lane will also be incorporated into the completion for the anticipated park on Hard Road, to the east of McCord Middle School.

Section C, the section of Hard Road from Linworth to SR 315 is starting work on the design phase and right of way review now. The right of way acquisition should start this summer, with the project tentatively being bid in early 2006, and work starting perhaps that summer. The group discussed the bikeways and how they would integrate into the whole project, along with various safety issues for both bikers and pedestrians.

Section A of the Hard Road project, the piece from Sawmill to Smokey Row will be set once Section C nears completion. The City officials could not estimate for sure when that section might be started. It was also noted that Hard Road project information, as well as other traffic and construction issues in the area can be accessed online thru the Paving The Way web site, http://www.pavingtheway.org.

Bob Lawler, of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), then made a presentation to the group on the MORPC 2030 Transportation Plan. He discussed the planning process and the fact that they look out at least 20 years into the future for transportation needs. He said the Transportation Plan, and supporting reports, are available on their web site at http://tplan.morpc.org and email comments about the plan may be made before May 3, 2004 at tplan@morpc.org.

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

Respectfully submitted,

Rich Herner
FNWC Secretary