Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Growth control

The city AND township have gotten growth under control. Call them and ask their numbers for new permits and new starts. What you see now is residual from Wright, Sabatino and Parker's regime. It is dwindling. Subtract the unnecessary sewer plant expansion, add the comprehensive land use plan (a real one this time) and the growth management plan with the potential for growth caps and what you have is further control over growth. The township has implemented processes where there are no more slam dunks for high density, low value development. Many of our elected officials are doing exactly what we elected them for and what they said they would do. Acknowledge that!

It's time for the schools to stop whining and blaming. It is time for them to take responsibility for what they have. The new council has accepted responsibility for what they inherited, taken ownership and begun the healing process. Is it fast? No, but it is steady. The township, now that they have the support and cooperation of this council (sorry Wright and Hughes - you don't count) has begun not only the healing process with the city but also taking ownership of what they have and making positive changes.

PLSD - take ownership and take control. Partner with the city and township to study what growth will occur, when and where it will occur. Don't sit back and use old data from old regimes and try to stick it to the voters over and over again. Be adults. Lead by example.

The Growth Already has Occurred

Folks, the kids to be housed in the proposed two new elementaries are already here. We have almost enough kids in double-wides to fill these schools. We are still playing catch-up.

As to growth projections, I assume that the new facilities committee has newer and better information than we did back in 1997, and that they are taking it into account. We need to plan ahead for our schools, as we do for the rest of our community. Fifteen years is not too far out.

Growth numbers

The current facilities committee has reviewed the numbers from the 97 report, as well as up-to-date projections from Lew Stemen and the DeJong Company. Numbers have been projected for a 15-year growth cycle, and the areas of potential future growth have been studied as well.

Obviously, economic and other factors will play a part in how close those numbers will be, as the farther out you go, the more it becomes an educated guess.

Growth numbers

I have been provided some information about growth in our community. The sources of these numbers come from MORPC and the US Census data. The extreme differences in these two reports is very disturbing.

Clearly there seems to be some kind of inherited bias when reporting growth numbers and projections. I am not sure how the US Census arrives at their (voluntary reporting) numbers but they are completely out of sync with MORPC.

Growth studies seem to depend too much on past growth patterns and not future patterns regardless of what they try to convey in their reports. Since Pickerington has grown at 5% per year over the last ten years then it will continue to grow at that rate seems to be the conventional wisdom.

Changing policies in affected governments around these school districts never seems to be considered until years later.

I think what was being expressed here is the fear that we build two new schools and in 15 years we then have schools sitting empty and we are still paying form them. Please remember that the school board is asking the taxpayer to finance this school building project over 28 years. I know that is hard to imagine if you have lived here the last ten years.

I have seen schools in the Columbus School district be built and within 20 years they are sitting empty. I believe one close example of that was the elementary school on Livingston near Noe Bixby that was closed and then it was recently opened again after renovations.

Once the schools in say the Sycamore Creeks area are filled with new students within ten years that elementary school population will start to drop off and that comes from my reading of school studies related to the average school age child per home versus the age of that neighborhood. Older neighborhoods in Pickerington generally have a lower per student per household ratios.