City Manager Lists Status of City Projects

Grove City Manager Bill Galletly this week discussed the status of various projects currently underway or needed, in a one-hour interview with The Grove Observer. Projects are not listed by priority.

Number One on his list is completion of Shundi Road from Ninth Street north to Third Street. One half of the money to fund this project is in the budget, for engineering and a third of the construction cost, and more will come in the new fiscal year beginning July 1, he said.

Number Two on his list is the Downtown Revitalization Project. Bids for Phase One will be taken in July with construction to start in August, and a completion goal by Thanksgiving, he said. Since this is a Federally funded project administered by the State, "things don't move as fast as the city does," he said.

Number Three on Galletly's list is the Chopper Heights Storm Drainage Project, a water problem which directly impacts residents there. A $150,000 grant combined with $100,000 from the city is in the works to fix the problem.

Number Four is Cemetery expansion. "Buzzard Cemetery is full; Olympus is full; we have hired a consultant to find suitable locations to build new cemetery space and his recommendations should be forthcoming soon," Galletly said.

Number Five is the Civic Center issue…"it needs roof repairs of up to a half million dollars." The community needs to make a decision, rehab it, sell it, or build a new events center, funded by a Bond Issue over a period of years," he said. He added that a state of the art center could be built for $8 million with nearly half provided by sale of the current civic center. "But the people of the community will be the ones who make these decisions," he added.

Number Six is 18th Street from Shundi back to Main, a four-lane street.

Number Seven is new Police Department facilities. "We hired an architect a year ago to study the old Post Office, which was not suitable; we really need new facilities for the police department and could either build a new facility or use the old library building currently leased by the YMCA."

Number Eight is utility relocation along Highway 59. Galletly is concerned with the cost of steel and pipe going up "every day, about 20-40% a year." He said "we would like to buy the materials now and store them, with the help of ODOT which will reimburse us for 72% of the cost.

"The Highway 59 project influences everything we do. The cost is going up and we need to prepare for this. If we get ODOT approval to go ahead and buy materials we will call a special meeting of GMSA," he said.

Finally, State Park Road from Main to Broadway is on the list. "This road is terrible; I took the ODOT people down there this morning to see it first hand."

Other projects he listed include work on 13th street, widening and lowering it to accommodate hospital traffic when the new hospital building is constructed; and work on the intersection of Har-Ber Road and Leisure Road (money is in the budget for next year).

Galletly, who has been city manager for three and a half years, said "there is never enough money to deal with growth in a growing city. The only way to jump start projects is with Bond Issues via a General Obligation Bond. City government can only do what the public is willing to pay for, with big projects like roads and the Civic Center."