Archives for May 2023

Mayor Ben’s “Four Things Friday”

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Here are a few things happening in Bexley that aren’t otherwise covered in this week’s Blast. Have a great weekend! – BK

Last weekend, Love Your Alley volunteers, primarily staffed by students from the Bexley High School Environmental Club, took to the alley behind Starbucks and did a fantastic job infusing art and native plantings in this highly visible alley.  And then yesterday CSG students helped remove invasives and plant more than 100 native plants in another Love Your Alley project.  To take a look at this year’s Love Your Alley artwork, visit this interactive map. Thank you to the volunteers and planners for making such a special difference in our alleys!

This week the service department received delivery of our first all-electric pickup truck, a Ford F-150 Lightning.  We’ve been steadily electrifying our fleet, and this model is a big and very logical step for our Service Department.  The truck will be used by the urban forestry department during the week, and will be available for community events during the weekend and after hours.  Its onboard outlets essentially turn it into a powerful battery-powered generator, and it will be especially helpful for community events, our cookout trailer, 4th of July floats, and more!  Props to Service Director Andy Bashore, who has been on a search for an electric truck and negotiated a great deal, resulting in a truck that was less expensive than the equivalent gas-powered version despite these models being hard to find and often selling significantly above sticker price.

Every year, the Bexley City Schools athletic department designates two senior athletes who have demonstrated exceptional sportspersonship for the Annual Mayor’s Athletic and Sportsmanship Cup — an award that has been given out since 1927.  This years’ awardees were Josiah Old and Sofie Sheridan, whose graciousness and humility were called out this week during the BHS senior awards ceremony.  Congratulations to Josiah and Sofie!

At their annual event this week, the Bexley Community Foundation awarded their “Cornerstone Award for Philanthropy” to Dr. Barry Blank.  Dr. Blank and his late wife Denise have made such a difference in our community, with giving focused on trees and beautification projects throughout Bexley.  The Blank Fund was pivotal in honoring Denise’s legacy in the imagining and completion of the DGB Kindness Park — AKA the super cool chalkboard and kindness rocks park next to the Drexel — which was the first completed project of our Year of the Parks initiative. Congratulations to Dr. Blank, and thank you for the huge difference you’ve made in our community!

Parade Registration is Open!

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The 4th of July parade begins at 9:30 am at Remington and Maryland, and follows the same route as 2019. If you’d like to participate in the parade, register here! Parade entries must be received by June 19 at 9:00 am. 

Golf Cart Safety Reminder

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As the weather warms up, licensed and registered golf carts are a great way to get around town!  As a reminder, golf carts may only be driven on public streets if they have been licensed with the BMV and inspected by a law enforcement agency (Bexley PD does golf cart inspections).  The operation of golf carts is limited to streets and alleys with speed limits of 25 mph or lower, meaning golf carts may not be driven on Broad Street or Drexel Avenue.  Additionally, golf carts may only be driven by licensed drivers; underage driving is illegal and unsafe.  Now that we’ve covered all that, golf carts should be driven with a big smile on your face, because they’re awesome and we love them.  Thanks for staying safe!

Jazz in the Park & Havenwood Grand Opening

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Are you ready for great food and music in the beautiful and newly improved Havenwood Park? The 6th season of the Bexley Jazz in the Park Series begins on Monday, May 29 with a special Havenwood Grand Opening event featuring the modern swing group, Whirlybirds. In addition to music and park highlights, there will be plenty of amazing food thanks to the Bexley Chamber of Commerce’s Food Truck Festival. The Havenwood Park renovation is a project of the Year of the Parks, made possible in part due to the generous support of the Bexley Community Foundation.  We’ll see you at the Grand Opening!

City Hall Hours on Memorial Day Weekend

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Please note, in honor of Memorial Day, City Hall will close on Friday, May 26 at 12:00 pm and will reopen on Tuesday, May 29 at 8:00 am. Please join us this weekend at the Memorial Day Service at Drexel Circle on Monday, May 29 at 11:00 am.

Memorial Day Service at Drexel Circle

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Our community’s annual Memorial Day Service will include music from community members and remarks from General Gail Atkins, with participation from the Bexley Police Honor Guard and a wreath laying ceremony. The event begins at 11:00 am and typically lasts about a half hour. Come join us as we honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.

Mayor Ben’s Four Things Friday 5/19

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Here are a few things happening in Bexley that aren’t otherwise covered in this weeks’ Blast.
Have a great weekend! – BK

The Farmers’ Market opening bell rang in a new season of fresh produce and creative local crafts and specialties.  Catch the next market on Thursdays from 4:00 to 7:00 pm on Dawson just north of Main.

This morning we joined the Chamber of Commerce and local residents in cutting the ribbon at the grand opening of Noahla on Main!  This New Orleans inspired restaurant features super fresh seafood, and some truly spectactular offerings.  Check them out soon!

At this week’s One Bexley workshop, participants helped us craft a vision to nurture a community free from racism and prejudice, where all residents and visitors are valued, respected, and empowered to thrive.  The One Bexley project is a joint effort of the City, Schools, Library, and other area organizations.  We’ll be posting highlights from the workshop and next steps in the coming weeks!

At our Calm Corridors Workshop this week, residents heard concepts for slowing traffic and providing a safer environment for our youngest pedestrians and cyclists on their routes to school.  Concepts discussed included tabletop intersections, scramble intersections, bump outs, bike lanes, and more!  Engineering will now begin working on turning some of these ideas into reality, with a planned roll-out as part of our 2024 streets project.

Columbia Gas Project – Begins 5/22

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Columbia Gas Project Update
Project Begins May 22, impacting College and Astor Avenues

Columbia Gas will begin a gas line replacement project in Bexley to modernize and improve the safety of the gas system. Columbia Gas contractor, RLA Utilities, will work street by street to install new main lines in right of way areas, followed by new service lines to each individual home or business. Gas service will not be impacted until it is time to connect to the new gas system. Residents will receive notice for these connections so they can prepare for a temporary disruption.

The project, which is scheduled to begin on May 22, will impact about 60 customers primarily along Astor and College Avenues. Some of this work will necessitate temporary lane closures, and flaggers will be present to assist with traffic flow. For more details on this project, visit ColumbiaGasOhio.com/Replacement. Residents may also reach out to Luka Papalko, public affairs manager for Columbia Gas, with questions or concerns at lpapalko@nisource.com or 614-420-1376.

Electrical Aggregation Update

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As you may be aware, the City has been researching and planning for several years to leverage electrical aggregation to procure community-wide clean energy for Bexley.  Earlier this year, we awarded a contract to Aspen Energy to help us explore an electrical aggregation program for our municipality. 

What is an electrical aggregation program? In short, an electrical aggregation program allows the City to use the purchasing scale of Bexley to negotiate a product that meets the needs of our community at a potential savings to consumers.  In this instance, we’re going to market on renewable energy at a time when AEP’s base rate is set to rise over the summer and we have what looks like a good window of opportunity to move forward with aggregation.  We should have results back in early June, at which point we will decide if the options available to us would warrant aggregation.  

It’s important to know that each step of this process will be communicated thoroughly and carefully through a variety of City channels including mailings, website articles, the Bexley Blast, and other official forums where residents can ask questions and obtain information. While some residents have reported receiving calls about aggregation, these calls are not from or affiliated with the City of Bexley at this time. Stay tuned for more information on this developing issue!

Mayor Ben’s Four Things Friday – 5/12

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Mayor Ben’s “Four Things Friday”
Here are a few things happening in Bexley that aren’t otherwise covered in this weeks’ Blast.
Have a great weekend! – BK

We’ve been working closely with COHatch to support their proposal to rehab the building at 2691 East Main Street and create a modern, attractive shared office/co-working environment there.  Excited to see this project move forward!

City Council was busy (as always) this week: among other things, they approved two key pieces of legislation, including financing the Main Street TIF parks projects and updating the City’s Community Reinvestment Area ordinance to modernize incentives for housing in Bexley’s commercial corridors.

At yesterday’s groundbreaking for the Commonwealth Park Pond, Council President Troy Markham took the controls of the city excavator and broke ground on the signature piece of the upcoming west Commonwealth arboretum and botanical walk.  To top off our tour of upcoming Commonwealth projects, we had a special visit from Ohio School of Falconry’s Joe Dorian and met Henson the Eurasian Eagle Owl, Jaeger the Peregrine Falcon, and Sedosa the Harris’ Hawk!

Sometimes it’s the small things that delight.  Earlier this week I was enjoying the setting sun and the quiet sounds of the neighborhood from a backyard adirondack chair when I was regaled by the distant melody of our resident bagpiper practicing in the distance.  A year or so ago I followed his music to a garage, where he was practicing, to thank him in person.  Our bagpiper friend always puts a smile on my face. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿