Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

I am amazed at our fellow citizens here in Pickerington. Last night I witnessed a group of citizens attend the Pickerington City Council meeting with their opposition to the widening of Diley Road. There are about 28 families along Diley that live in the areas that will be affected by the widening to five lanes.

The one gentleman that first appeared before council in May asked that the council consider an avoidance alternative which meant that the council would put the project on hold to get ODOT to approve moving the road to the west about 20 feet. I understand that the new city manager has had meetings with most of the remaining residents and has had the road down south of the Pickerington Water Plant moved to the west 20 feet also.

The same gentleman appeared again last night and refused to give up the floor to the Mayor once he rambled on for about 20 minutes repeating the very issues he raised in his second and third meetings. Another woman complained about how much of her yard this widening would take and now she finds other things to complain about because the road is moved to the west 20 feet and her side of the road stays where it is. She is now complaining about five lanes causing cancer. It is time to pass this ordinance and get on with the project. These people will NEVER be happy no matter how open the council is.

These people now say they don?’t want the city to widening the road. They think the traffic is coming from the new US 33 interchange. It is coming from all of the houses being built along Diley. They are all internal cars not outsiders. Unfortunately Super Mike is in there spreading his lies and he always forgets to tell them he voted for those houses on Diley. He appears to be pissed because the city isn?’t buying his mom?’s house.

For those people that have never lived on a VERY BUSY TWO LANE road they don?’t know what they are asking for. I lived on Smokey Row up near Sawmill Road and that was a nightmare the three years we lived there. Wait until the winter and they try to stop at Diley and Long and they are late. There will be more cars in their front yards than on Diley Road. How safe is that for their kids?

They claim they are willing to pay more taxes to widen Diley Road and not use Federal and State Funds. If they are successful in delaying the project with a referendum then the city will surely lose their MORPC funding. I understand the above Gentleman threatened the council with recall if they approved the widening project. The city does have a responsibly to keep the roads in repair.

If they are able to delay the project for just a month or so they will kill the funding. MORPC will just give it to another community and Pickerington will be back on the waiting list for years. If it wasn?’t such an important road in our community I would say to hell with these idiots, but I think you people that want to double your city income taxes should continue to allow these people to gain power and they will cost the city tons of taxpayer money based on blind rage.




By Stumped

Will the city lose the money?

City officials warn against Diley Road vote

By TAMARIA L. KULEMEKA, tkulemeka@nncogannett.com
The Eagle-Gazette Staff

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PICKERINGTON -- City Council should not consider making the Diley Road widening an issue for the ballot, two city officials say.

Any delays may cause the city to lose state funding for the project, warned City Engineer Jerry Dailey and City Manager Judith Gilleland in a council work session Tuesday.

''You're on untrod ground right now,'' Dailey said. ''Two years ago you would've lost funding already. (The) Ohio Department of Transportation and Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission could pull the trigger on this at any time ... If it goes on the ballot, the signal could be enough to cause one of the agencies to pull out because they could lose federal funding.''

''The bottom line is your staff doesn't recommend this be put on the ballot,'' Gilleland said.

Dailey said he attended a meeting last year where ODOT officials said $40 million worth of projects needed to be cut because of a lack of funding.

''There are people waiting for funding,'' Dailey said. ''The money was made available July 1 and we're supposed to spend it by June 30, 2005.''

''We talked with ODOT and they're OK with us waiting until the Aug. 17 meeting to take action,'' Gilleland said.

Despite their warnings, Councilman Michael Sabatino said residents should have a right to vote for or against the widening.

''The reason the city won't do it is because they're afraid ODOT might pull the funding,'' Sabatino said. ''The thing is, ODOT should not have as much control and say as they do. The administration should be concerned about how this affects citizens, not what ODOT thinks.''

By 2028, more than 24,000 vehicles are expected to be traveling on Diley Road. Based on these projections, ODOT will only fund a five-lane project, which will cost approximately $14 million. The city would pay $3 million of that portion.

But many Diley Road residents are opposed to a five-lane highway and have attended multiple council meetings voicing their opposition.

At Tuesday's council meeting, John Darby of 310 Diley Road N. was adamant in his disdain for the project.

''We should not be forced to use ODOT money,'' Darby said. ''The city would be placing us in a very, very unsafe traffic access location.''

Darby added that the widening would bring many undesirable things into the neighborhood, including crime.

cont.

Darby added that the widening would bring many undesirable things into the neighborhood, including crime.

If council goes ahead with the widening, Darby said residents are ready to take action.

''We're ready for a referendum and recall should it be needed,'' he said.

There needs to be closure on the issue, said Councilman Mitch O'Brien.

''The Diley Road people that come to the meeting are in a very emotional state right now and that's very understandable,'' O'Brien said. ''The reason I believe it's that way is because of the uncertainty of what we're going to do. When we move forward, that would give them closure and a place to start whatever they plan to do next.''

Delaying the project or placing an issue on the ballot is not feasible, said City Council President Heidi Riggs.

''The citizens have their rights with what they feel, but the issue of putting this on the ballot puts us in a difficult situation because we could lose funding,'' Riggs said.

The issue has been tabled since June 1.

Sabatino made a motion for the issue to be removed from the table so he could discuss some of his concerns, but it was voted down 4 to 3.

Riggs, O'Brien and Councilmen Ted Hackworth and Brian Wisniewski voted for the issue to remain on the table.

''I didn't remove it because Judy told the residents she'd have responses to their comments before we removed it from the table,'' O'Brien said. ''She's compiling the rest of the comments and then they're going to start responding to them.''

Originally published Thursday, August 5, 2004

Let them pay for the 3 lanes

If the Diley Road folks don't want the five lane road MORPC is willing to pay for then they ought to be willing to pay the difference for the three lane road they want. Set up a special taxing district for just the folks along Diley and they can pay for the road.

Otherwise get out of way and let's get the MORPC money before it is gone.