Street proposal moves forward (4/5/05)

Sometimes there’s strength in numbers.

With six of its seven members present Monday night, the Portland City Council was able to push an ordinance to change a portion of Massachusetts Avenue to one-way north one step closer to being approved.

The ordinance to change the portion of the street located between Seventh Street and Boundary Pike to a one-way street was passed on first reading in a 5 to 1 vote.

At the March 21 meeting, the proposed ordinance was stalled by a 3 to 1 vote. Because only four of the seven council members attended that meeting, the vote had to be unanimous for the ordinance to pass on first reading.

Council president Glen Bryant cast the lone opposing vote Monday. Council member Dolphus Stephens did not attend the meeting.

After Monday’s meeting Bryant, who also voted against the ordinance at the March 21 meeting, said he agreed with the council that the street should be one-way. However, he felt the ordinance should be adjusted to accommodate Portland resident Carolyn Curtis, who lives at the corner of Seventh Street and Massachusetts Avenue.

Curtis asked the council at the March meeting to consider making that section of Massachusetts Avenue one-way south, so she would not have to drive southeast on Boundary Pike, then north to get to her house. Bryant suggested the street be one-way north only to Curtis’ driveway.

Boundary Pike resident Debi Gillespie asked the council at the Feb. 7 meeting to consider changing Massachusetts Avenue from a two-way street to a one-way north street so she would not lose so much land to the Boundary Pike/Wayne Street project.

Plans for the project call for widening the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Boundary Pike, which would cause Gillespie to lose 6,000 square feet of her property. Boundary Pike and Massachusetts Avenue currently intersect at about a 25-degree angle. Making the street one-way north eliminates the need for expanding the angle.

The ordinance will go before the council for second reading on Monday, May 2, at 7 p.m., in the Portland Fire Station meeting room.

In other business, the council heard a request by a representative of Jay-Randolph Developmental Services to change the yield sign on Tallman Street at the intersection with Jack Street to a one-way (Continued on page 2)

(Continued from page 1)

stop.

Tom Holcomb of JRDS said he would like to see the change for safety reasons. The facility is located next to the intersection. Holcomb said this morning if a stop sign is put at the intersection, drivers will slow down and be more aware of their surroundings. He said school children walk in that area, and several people ride bicycles to JRDS.

Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier said he will have Portland Police Chief Bob Sours and Portland Street and Park Department superintendent Jeff Harker look at the intersection. The proposed change will be on the agenda at the May 2 meeting, he said.

Also Monday, Harker updated the council on the progress of grinding debris left by the Jan. 5 ice storm.

Harker said the grinding, which began last week, is ahead of schedule and should be completed this week. T.T.I. Custom Wood Grinding and Recycling of Ansonia, Ohio is grinding the limbs and branches at the dump site. The site is located along the west side of Morton Street, behind Doane Pet Care. The Jay County Solid Waste District is paying for the grinding.[[In-content Ad]]