Etna Township to contribute $3.5 million to widen portion of Refugee Road

Etna Township Trustees agreed to contribute $3.5 million to improve and widen sections of Refugee Road as part of a joint project with the City of Pataskala.

Trustees Mark Evans and Rozland McKee voted in favor while Trustee Jeff Johnson voted against the effort at the March 15 meeting. Johnson opposed because he didn't want the township to be responsible for such a high price tag. Pataskala signed off on the project in 2021.

The project will widen Refugee Road to three lanes from Mink Street to Etna Parkway with roundabouts at each intersection.

Businesses along Refugee Road are contributing money to the project, leaving about $7 million to be split between Etna and Pataskala. They debt payments will be about $230,000 a year, Evans said, depending on the bond term.

The Licking County Commissioners will also provide $1 million as a stopgap in case the project exceed $10 million, Evans said.

The township has Joint Economic Development Districts in place on some of the undeveloped Refugee Road land. Once development comes in, Evans said money from the JEDDs can be used to pay down the debt as well.

"The projections from the JEDD on Ashley Furniture alone, the one building, was enough to pay the debt on this," he said after the meeting.

Evans and McKee also approved a resolution that states if more companies come to the area in the future, they will be be required to contribute money that Etna will use to pay down the debt from the project.

"I wanted to ensure before I came on board with this that there's mechanisms that we can get funding from the development coming in to reduce our debt in conjunction with what we're going to receive through JEDDs, TIFs or anything else negotiated," he said.

Still no administrator

The trustees interviewed four interim administrator candidates during a special meeting before the regular session, but no action was taken during the meeting.

Previously: Etna Township Trustees agree to proceed with interim administrator

In addition, the trustees seemed to disagree if the consultant McKee had been communicating with had withdrawn his proposal to contract with the township.

Earlier in the meeting, Evans told McKee and Johnson he can't keep doing everything and asked them to take on more responsibilities. McKee agreed to be the point person for mosquito control and creation of stormwater pollution prevention plan. Johnson said he would take on an issue brought forward by a resident about car crashes that keep happening near their Palmer Road home.

Evans said he can no longer put off professional and personal duties. Township duties that he can't do, will not get done until they hire an administrator or Johnson and McKee take on more work, he said.

"Otherwise I'm just going to have to push a lot of stuff out until next month," he said.

Evans said after meeting the position will remain open until it is filled. But with Jersey Township now looking for an administrator, Evans said the pool of applicants will continue to shrink.

More: Jersey Township seeking full-time administrator as Intel looms

At least four people have pulled their application from contention, Evans said.

"We're getting the reputation that ... the board's not going to support the administrator," he said after the meeting. "I know a lot of people that were interested in applying that have not. I know about five. We're sending a mixed message of what we want because nobody's going to leave their position for uncertainty."

mdevito@gannett.com

740-607-2175

Twitter: @MariaDeVito13

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Etna Township to contribute $3.5 million to widen Refugee Road