Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

With the changing of the seasons, it is important to remind everyone that early detection and notification of the fire department is an essential component for success. Carbon monoxide detectors, as well as smoke detectors, should be installed in every home and business.

It is important to remember that these devices must be working in order to protect families and workers, and they must be installed and maintained according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Batteries should be changed twice each year.

With the Holiday season rapidly approaching, the Violet Township Fire Department will once again be kicking off our Holiday Toy Drive beginning November 26 and ending on December 21. Donations of new unwrapped toys will help out greatly.

Thanks to your support over the years, we have all made a tremendous difference by providing happy holidays to families that otherwise would be without gifts for their children.

We encourage you to call us at 614-837-4123 to talk about how you can better protect your family with carbon monoxide and smoke detectors; and how you can get involved in our annual Holiday Toy Drive as a donor or sponsor. We also can assist directing those who have a need for toys this season.

Remember to Vote Tuesday, November 2

The polls will be open for voting from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day – Tuesday, November 2.

If you prefer to vote from the comfort of your own home, there’s still plenty of time to request and vote an absentee ballot. Simply contact your county’s election office and return the ballot (by mail with $1.22 postage affixed or in person to your county’s election office) so it is received no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. 

Absentee ballots for Fairfield County residents can be obtained via the election office’s new phone numbers, 614-322-5270 or 740-652-7000. Franklin County residents should phone 614-462-3470.

This year’s ballot will be lengthy. In Fairfield County, it will include the names of more than three dozen candidates vying for county, state and federal offices. In addition, two important local issues will appear on the ballot: 

-          Pickerington Local School District is seeking an 8-mill tax levy for operating expenses.

-          Voters who reside within the Pickerington city limits are being asked to consider updates to the city’s charter.

The Fairfield Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is hosting a workshop for landowners on how to maintain the stream corridor through their property on Nov. 4 from 4-6 p.m. Topics presented will include stream bank stabilization options, permit requirements, characteristics of streams, benefits of trees and tree maintenance and log jams. 

Speakers from the Army Corps of Engineers, ODNR Division of Forestry and Division of Water Resources will be presenting along with local personnel. Several stream restoration/stabilization sites will be viewed near Lancaster High School and sections along Fetters Run will be evaluated for stability.

            Participants will meet at Lancaster High School’s tennis court parking lot on Arbor Drive. The workshop will be outside and involve some walking. Please dress accordingly and wear comfortable shoes. There is no charge to attend. If poor weather prevents us from being outside (rain or below zero wind chill), the workshop will be held at the Fairfield County Agricultural Center located at 831 College Ave. in Lancaster. For more information or directions, please call the Fairfield SWCD at 740-653-8154.

After record snowfalls and unusually cold weather in Violet Township last year, Township Engineer Greg Butcher hopes the 2011 Farmers’ Almanac forecast of a “kinder and gentler” winter is accurate.

“A warm winter certainly will help our strained road maintenance budget,” notes Butcher. The township currently maintains 105 miles of roadway in the approximate 29 square miles of unincorporated area. 

Last winter, the Violet Township Road Department used 1,900 tons of salt and 27,000 gallons of salt brine to keep township roads safe. The road crew spent about 1,500 man-hours plowing snow. According to Butcher, these materials and labor, along with equipment parts and maintenance, took a large slice out of the road department budget.

Violet Township’s dilemma is that the county and state tax revenue it receives for the maintenance of roadways remains stagnant while the cost of road upkeep continues to rise. Salt and asphalt prices have risen approximately 50 and 80 percent, respectively, within the last five years.

These escalating material prices now account for a larger percentage of the road department budget, which leaves less funding for other services such as culvert replacement, federally mandated street sign replacement, storm water maintenance and the mowing of road rights-of-way, parks and cemeteries.

Butcher concludes, “We will continue to evaluate our costs, look for grant opportunities, streamline what we can and strive to continue to provide the high level of service Violet Township residents have been accustomed to receiving.”

By Greg Butcher, P.E., Violet Township Engineer

Since 2006, a small group of engineers have been meeting to develop a school travel plan for our community and to find funding for the various components within the plan. Our group is called the “Safe Routes to School” committee and consists of staff from Violet Township, City of Pickerington, Pickerington School District and several community volunteers. 

Safe Routes to School, a federally funded program, enables community leaders, schools and parents across the United States to improve safety and encourage more children, including children with disabilities, to safely walk and bicycle to school. In the process, programs are working to reduce traffic congestion and improve health and the environment, making communities more livable for everyone.

We already have identified needs, obtained statistics and mapped every crosswalk, stop sign and curb ramp in the Pickerington Local School District. We applied for funding and in 2009 were awarded $290,000 in grants from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) who administers the program in Ohio.

Since $43,000 of the funds were earmarked for school travel-related education, we purchased bike helmets and plan to distribute them to every fifth and sixth grader in the district. Additionally, we have distributed safety-focused literature within the schools and held “Walk With A Cop Day” at each of the elementary schools.

However, the bulk of this grant will be spent on a project to improve student travel to two schools:

Diley Middle School: We plan to improve connections to neighborhoods surrounding Diley Middle School. There are sidewalks in front of the houses, but the students have worn a path through the grass on the school grounds getting to the building. The path will be paved and become handicap accessible. We also will improve and extend an existing sidewalk on the school grounds.

Fairfield Elementary School: We plan to install sidewalks on one side of four different streets within the Summerfield Subdivision: Coventry Avenue and Hounsdale, Stonecreek and Oxford Drives. These sidewalks will form a loop to connect to a short segment of existing sidewalk at the school. Upgrades to the crosswalks and flashing school signs also are planned.

Surveying and design work for the project has been done (the latter in-house) and plans recently have been submitted to ODOT for final approval. Once ODOT approval has been obtained, public information meetings will be held with residents surrounding these two schools. Ideally, bids for the project can be obtained this winter, with construction commencing during the summer of 2011.

This is the first project of its kind in our community, and our committee is working through many issues. We continue to apply for additional grants and two more were recently received: $319,000 for a loop of sidewalks around Violet Elementary School, and $10,800 for crossing guard caddies with safety equipment.

It is the Safe Routes to School committee’s hope that the end result will provide safe pedestrian mobility for all of our school-age kids. As a bonus, improved pedestrian access should also benefit the adults in our community.

During the last week of July, Opinion Consultants, a Columbus-based research firm, conducted a telephone poll of Violet Township residents at the request of the Violet Township Trustees. Each of 150 randomly-selected respondents was asked to grade the overall performance of Violet Township government using a school-like scale where “A” is best and “F” is worst.

Violet Township was given an “A” grade by 41 percent of the respondents, 47 percent opted for a “B” while the remaining 12 percent gave Violet Township a “C.”

These Violet Township residents also were asked to evaluate township services, using the same scale. The following numbers indicate the percentage of the 150 respondents giving “A” and/or “B” grades:

Road upkeep and maintenance: 96% (4% gave a “C” or lower grade)

To ascertain township residents’ needs and viewpoints, the Violet Township Trustees periodically conduct opinion polls. Prior to this July 2010 survey, the last opinion poll was conducted during 2005.