WEST ALEXANDRIA — The Village of West Alexandria is working on changing the speed limit on Ohio 503 from 50 to 35 miles per hour on the north side of town, out to the city limits.
During a council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 13, a concerned citizen appealed to council for this change.
She said, “We live in city limits and we have a 50 mph limit in front of our house that people go 60 and 70 mph in. I’m sure that the police officers can vouch for that, I’m sure you have caught people. I have grandchildren that play in our driveway and I’ve had people drag race down that hill and just about lose control. Sometimes pulling out is frightening. We’re in the village and we’re 50 mph.”
“It goes from 45 mph to New Lexington then to 50 mph and then to 35 mph in the school zone. Then if you’re going outside the town it says in school zone 50mph. So a bunch of people get on the gas and fly down that hill. Somebody is going to get hurt, it is a safety thing. The east, west, and south side all has 35mph right at the city limit sign and we are just asking for the same thing.
“I’ve talked to the Sstate and they said that they could make a recommendation, but that it was really up to the village. Only the village could make the decision, because we are in the city limits. They said if we were not in the city limits it would be up to them.”
Mayor Carol Lunsford noted, “I did talk to them today. She confirmed that and had 45 mph, but I told her that would not help at all.”
She added, the corporation limit signs are wrong, but when the State of Ohio comes to put the new speed limit signs up they will fix that as well. Lunsford recommended that instead of 45 mph, they change the limit to 35 mph. Council voted to allow the solicitor to draft a resolution for the change. Once that is in place, ODOT can proceed with replacing the signs and making the change official.
Council also voted to approve three related resolutions necessary to begin a Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) project. They were all declared an emergency and the three reading requirement was waive, with Mayor Lunsford explaining the village is on a time restraint put onto them by Ohio and the resolutions are truly emergencies.
The first resolution was for Kurtis Strickland from the Ohio Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) to submit a USDA Rural Development application by the new “RD Apply Online” application system for the Waste Water Treatment Plant project.
The second WWTP resolution was to authorize the mayor to apply, accept, and enter into an Ohio EPA Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) agreement on behalf of the village for construction of a Waste Water Treatment Plant Replacement project, designating a dedicated repayment source and declaring an emergency.
The third and final WWTP resolution was to authorize the mayor to apply in the RCAP to submit the electronic application for CDBG Residential Public Infrastructure program funding to the Ohio Development Services Agency for the WWTP project and declaring an emergency.
In other business:
•A new eyeglass store named Pride Optical has come to West Alexandria, and is located on the north side of U.S. 35.
•Bratt Tasties has officially reopened.
•Council accepted a second reading modifying the compensation for certain village employees.
The next West Alexandria Village Council meeting was scheduled for Monday, Feb. 19 .
