A flashing crosswalk sign was recently installed, and a stop sign removed at the intersection of St. Andrews Drive and Frasier Road in Genoa Township.
Gary Budzak | The Gazette
WESTERVILLE — The Genoa Township Board of Trustees took on a number of topics at its early meetings of 2023, most notably stop signs.
At the reorganization meeting on Jan. 5, Trustee Renee Vaughan was retained as chairperson and Mark W. Antonetz was retained as vice chairperson, with Connie M. Goodman as the third trustee.
Several members of the public were concerned about the removal of stop signs in their neighborhoods. The signs had been deemed as unwarranted. Genoa Police Department Chief Steve Gammill explained the township’s speed control policy. A few months later, the signs were removed.
Genoa’s website said the Delaware County Engineer’s Office had studied seven intersections and concluded that the stop signs should be removed at six of them “due to the unmet traffic volumes” the state of Ohio requires. This means the police can’t legally enforce the “unwarranted traffic control device” in an accident to determine liability.
On Feb. 2, Vaughan presented a “State of the Township” video. The results of a communications method survey for residents were discussed. The board approved removing stop signs at the intersection of Spring Run Drive and Dunaway Lane, to be replaced with “cross traffic does not stop” signs and crosswalks with flashing lights at the intersections of Spring Run and Hilmar Drive.
Special meetings were held in executive session on Feb. 27-28, where candidates were interviewed for open positions on boards, commissions and committees. Jerrad Christian and Bob DeRose were later appointed as alternates and Paul Hanson as a regular member on the Board of Zoning Appeals; Ryan Wester as an alternate on the Zoning Commission; and others to the Communications Advisory, Parks Advisory, and Police Advisory committees.
The trustees met again regularly on March 2, where they heard presentations on joining the Delaware County Foundation and the Delaware County Land Bank. Several residents “expressed her/his concerns with the removal of stop signs on St. Andrews Drive in Highland Lakes (South)” at Frasier Road, the meeting minutes said. The trustees made suggestions and noted that additional signage was being installed.
A drive through the subdivision shows a flashing crosswalk was later installed. A resident’s nearby yard sign urges motorists to drive at 25 mph along St. Andrews Drive.
Also on March 2, the trustees hired Thomas Gavin, M.D., as an independent contractor to be the Genoa Township Fire Department’s medical director. Fire Chief Joe Ponzi “explained the township needs a medical director on staff to administer medicine.”
For more information, visit www.genoatwp.com.
Assistant Editor Gary Budzak covers the eastern half of Delaware County and surrounding areas. He may be reached at [email protected].
