State of Ashville Address

In the year of 2002 your Ashville employees and elected officials have faced many hurdles, changes and difficult financial decisions. It was a year where we grew as a team, grew in trust with each other and developed a vision for the future.

With a budget of over three million dollars, it is difficult to do on a part-time basis. We will soon be filling the position of village administrator. The proper person in the position will save the village more than his/her salary.

The village took a big step this fall by setting aside their personal time, some missed work, to attend a council retreat to work on planning and visioning, and came up with a document that should benefit the community on into the future.

This was the year where your government passed a cooperative agreement with South Bloomfield and other area governments.

This brings us to a pressing issue. The City of Columbus has assumed ownership of Rickenbacker and combined Rickenbacker and City Port Authority into one board. In my opinion, they will annex the base as soon as feasible; approximately 1,000 acres on the south end of the property within Pickaway County and Harrison Township. It is believed that the township, Ashville, and South Bloomfield have a two year window of opportunity to address and find a solution on how to keep our tax dollar from being siphoned to the north. We as a "community" not as a village will have to decide how we are going to address this. The more we can take advantage of commercial taxes, the less we have to depend on the individual taxpayer.

There is interest at the federal and state levels in financially assisting us.

In regard to service and utility:

Installed 740 feet of 30-inch storm sewer
$65,000 in street paving
Inspection and maintenance of the village's two oldest water towers
Cross trained employees within departments
Worked on village inflow and infiltration
Applied for grant monies for water line on Station Street
Improved operations of department
Applied for grant for parks improvement

For 2003, we will be replacing the old brick storm sewer in Center Alley from Station Street to Madison at a cost of $50,000 in grant monies for this project. This will go a long way in reducing Inflow and Infiltration. We also need to find a permanent home for the service department that has room for salt and gravel storage.

In our police department for 2002:

Jerry Pennington was promoted to sergeant
Two auxiliary corporal positions were filled
The police department received a 50 percent matching grant for bullet proof vests
Signed on as a participant on a county wide data sharing program paid for by a grant received from the Pickaway County Sheriff's Department
One new cruiser was purchased and outfitted

We lost three full-time officers in 2002 at great expense to the village. We have to look at ways to increase our retention rate.

The village will soon be moving the administrative offices into 200 E. Station St., which was purchased in 2002. With renovations we will be moved into the building well below the current market value of the property.

In closing, my personal goals for the village will be administering the goals and objectives set forth in the strategic plan adopted by council. I will also propose and appoint a committee for establishing a charter for our village voted on by its residents on "how" the village government shall operate.

The village is in sound financial condition with a great school system and great community resources, and I will diligently work for our vision.

Remembering our rural heritage, the village of Ashville will be a strong and friendly community offering an enhanced quality of life achieved through progress and teamwork. It will be a place people will want to live and businesses will want to locate.