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Munday joins council on Tuesday




MILLERSPORT – Village Council has a new member.

Council members unanimously appointed Kenny Munday Tuesday night to replace Shane Wise who resigned. His term ends at the end of the year, but he will be reappointed in January for a full four-year term. It’s too late for Munday to get on the November ballot. Just Council President Dave Levacy will be on ballot with two positions open. Munday, who owns Kenny’s Collision, will be on the safety committee.

Levacy may only serve one year of his new four-year term. Next March, he is seeking the Republican nomination to replace retiring Fairfield County Commissioner Judy Shupe.

In other business, Levacy asked for an informal show of support for Millersport Fire Chief Bill Yates’ bid to replace the retiring Ralph Zollinger as a Walnut Township Trustee. It was a unanimous show of support including Mayor Dean Severance.

William Newton PE of GGC Engineers told council members that the roadway improvement design for Laker Drive is 75 percent complete. The looping roadway connects the high school to Ohio 204.

“It is one of the highest used roads in the village,” Newton said. Its cracked top asphalt layer retains storm water, causing further deterioration. Surprisingly, Newton said, its base is in good condition after it was core sampled. The plan is to grind off the failing top layer of asphalt, replacing it with a thicker layer of new asphalt. A swale will be constructed on the south side to reduce the amount of storm water on the roadway and two culverts will be added.

The village is seeking an approximately $100,000 grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission. That will still require a local share of about $50,000 of which $20,000 can be an in-kind contribution. Newton suggested that Street Superintendent Gilbert Arnold could install the two culverts to minimize the village’s cash outlay. Walnut Township Local Schools is contributing $7,000 for the drainage design since the storm water is flowing off school district property. The total estimated project cost is $141,610. Newton expects a decision on the application in December or January. If the grant is awarded, work couldn’t start until July 2012.

Council members also heard the first reading of an ordinance adopting FEMA’s revised Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). The lengthy process to revise the FIRM was recently completed. Though the Seller’s Point spillway was completed nearly 20 years ago, this is the first time it has been reflected in the FIRM. “The entire village is outside the flood area,” Severance said. “Nobody will have to have flood insurance.”

Severance and council members decided to retain the three reading rule for the ordinance so residents will have an opportunity to comment on it at both the November and December council meetings. Council members will vote on the ordinance at their December meeting.

In his report, Police Chief John Shirk said stepped up enforcement efforts in the school zone on Lancaster Street (Ohio 204) weren’t significantly improving safety for school children. The school zone is .7 of a mile long, extending from the intersection of Lancaster and Main streets along Ohio 204, east of Millersport Road. He said the length of the zone is both confusing and frustrating to drivers. Motorists exiting Laker Drive onto Lancaster Street by the dairy bar don’t know they could be in the 20 mile per hour school zone. After talking with both school principals and an ODOT engineer, Shirk is proposed four changes:

• The intersection of Lancaster and Main streets will become a four-way stop. By making all vehicles come to a stop, it will improve the safety for both the student crossing guards and students using the crosswalks.

• Shorten the southern side of the school zone by having the zone stop and start just south of Laker Drive by the dairy bar.

• Remove the speed limit sign (35 miles per hour) at the southern corporation limit. The speed limit for the roadway doesn’t change upon entering the village. That sign causes drivers leaving the high school to believe the speed limit is 35 mph because they haven’t seen a school zone sign.

• Move the northern school zone sign at least 150 feet (maximum of 300 feet) north in order to slow traffic before they reach the heavily used Main Street crosswalk. The move would also place the crosswalk in the school zone.

Shirk is seeking support from Walnut Township Trustees, Severance and village council members and the Walnut Township Local Schools Board of Education before submitting the request to ODOT. Trustees unanimously agreed to sign the letter during their Tuesday night meeting as did village council members and Severance. His next stop is the board of education.

In a response to a question, Shirk said the break-ins have dried up. Police are still following some leads.

Fiscal officer Susan Ramsey had some relatively good news about the village pool. Concession stand sales and profits were up significantly. The pool still ran a deficit this summer, but it was $10,000 now from last year’s $16,000. Several council members commented that it was a tough year weather-wise for the pool.

Ramsey also announced that the Millersport Lions Club is cosponsoring the Community Shred- It Day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28, at the village office. The event is for personal, not business, records with a limit of five boxes per person.



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