I wanted to review this past year and what will be happening in the coming year. Before one can understand 2001 you must understand where we came from in 2000. Then we had elected a new Mayor by default (he ran unopposed). The same old councilmen were re-elected. The High school was over crowded and the voters passed a new levy by 23 votes to build two new schools. PATA was formed. We had growth summit meetings that went no were. The Mayor proposed the township merge with the city. The PATA web site went online.
A group of city and township residents gather 491 signatures in one cold windy day in January to run a referendum on ordinance 2000-137. In 2001 PATA started a newsletter. The city well system was tested for its capacity. After the results were in, the city agreed to only pump 2.2 million gallons per day from the Diley road well site because of fears that it would affect the Pickerington Ponds. Even at this level, some believe that they will pump the ponds dry. The city began a series of annexations that gobbled up over a thousand acres of township land. In March, the council approved changes to the comprehensive land use plan for the city. The well system mentioned above can?’t support all the houses that the city council approved on their land use plan. These new changes were inline with the city changing their plans for the properties west of Diley Road. The township and Canal Winchester formed a CEDA agreement. Pickerington broke their water and sewer agreement with Canal Winchester. Still more to come on that one. Unable to convince the city council that they were abusing the emergency powers of the city charter and that they were giving away valuable recourses to residential developers, ten city residents filed three initiatives to curtail the city council?’s actions.
What is in the future for this community? We all must get involved. That is happening as we speak. There are some very important issues regarding the school boundaries. These citizens that have been meeting over the last few months must continue to attend these meetings. They must let those in charge know their feelings. We have a new councilman at city hall. We must continue to show him our support. We must not leave him there to fend for himself. We must continue to find ways to show our displeasure with those that are currently in charge. We simply must change the direction of this community.
I truly believe there is hope in our future here in Pickerington. I am beginning to see more people getting involved and I see the sphere of influence around city hall shrinking. I can see more initiatives coming. It seems to me that if Pickerington can give away $3 million of our water and sewer fees then they simply have too much money to work with. Maybe we should cut the income tax back to say one half percent. We all know that the incumbent?’s council members spent over $30,000 to get re-elected. Maybe we need a financial disclosure initiative here in Pickerington. Maybe we need to reverse the council decisions on Diley and Painter/Kohler. Get ready to meet your neighbors this year.
As for right now Ann and I have rented a couple of movies, and we have fire in the fireplace, with plenty of wood and a small amount of wine under the tree. See you all next year.
A group of city and township residents gather 491 signatures in one cold windy day in January to run a referendum on ordinance 2000-137. In 2001 PATA started a newsletter. The city well system was tested for its capacity. After the results were in, the city agreed to only pump 2.2 million gallons per day from the Diley road well site because of fears that it would affect the Pickerington Ponds. Even at this level, some believe that they will pump the ponds dry. The city began a series of annexations that gobbled up over a thousand acres of township land. In March, the council approved changes to the comprehensive land use plan for the city. The well system mentioned above can?’t support all the houses that the city council approved on their land use plan. These new changes were inline with the city changing their plans for the properties west of Diley Road. The township and Canal Winchester formed a CEDA agreement. Pickerington broke their water and sewer agreement with Canal Winchester. Still more to come on that one. Unable to convince the city council that they were abusing the emergency powers of the city charter and that they were giving away valuable recourses to residential developers, ten city residents filed three initiatives to curtail the city council?’s actions.
What is in the future for this community? We all must get involved. That is happening as we speak. There are some very important issues regarding the school boundaries. These citizens that have been meeting over the last few months must continue to attend these meetings. They must let those in charge know their feelings. We have a new councilman at city hall. We must continue to show him our support. We must not leave him there to fend for himself. We must continue to find ways to show our displeasure with those that are currently in charge. We simply must change the direction of this community.
I truly believe there is hope in our future here in Pickerington. I am beginning to see more people getting involved and I see the sphere of influence around city hall shrinking. I can see more initiatives coming. It seems to me that if Pickerington can give away $3 million of our water and sewer fees then they simply have too much money to work with. Maybe we should cut the income tax back to say one half percent. We all know that the incumbent?’s council members spent over $30,000 to get re-elected. Maybe we need a financial disclosure initiative here in Pickerington. Maybe we need to reverse the council decisions on Diley and Painter/Kohler. Get ready to meet your neighbors this year.
As for right now Ann and I have rented a couple of movies, and we have fire in the fireplace, with plenty of wood and a small amount of wine under the tree. See you all next year.
