GALENA — The Village’s Planning and Zoning Commission met for the first time in 2024 on Jan. 17, where there was a discussion on mailboxes.
The Estates at Blackhawk subdivision phase D “were initially approved with standard mailboxes but during that phase the U.S. Post Office, Sunbury Postmaster required an amended plan to have cluster mailboxes,” minutes said. “The current installation has no sidewalks leading up to the boxes, and the residents are lodging their complaints with the village offices.”
Former Mayor Tom Hopper told the commission, “All developments that were under construction in May/June of 2018 were very abruptly approached by the Sunbury Postmaster and told that they would have to change all future sections to the cluster mailbox setup… in some cases the changes had to be made quickly.”
Also at the meeting, new Mayor Jeff Kinnell asked the commission to put together a vision statement, and a wish list of amenities for the village.
The commission next met on Feb. 21, where it went over the vision statement and amenities. Ranked in order after three iterations, the top amenities were:
• Safe connection of Walnut Creek trail to the other trails and downtown.
• Some sort of traffic calming feature coming into the square from Old 3C Highway and Sunbury Road.
• Add crosswalk on square.
• Estates at Blackhawk safely connected to the bike trail.
• Connect all bike and walking trails.
• Sidewalk repair/replacement throughout village downtown business and residential areas.
• Lighted archways, with new branding at Route 3 and square entrances.
• Install removable vehicle barriers at the Joe Walker Road parking lot entrance and at Harrison Street.
• Pickleball courts.
More discussion followed on those items, with Kinnell saying he was meeting with the Delaware County Engineer’s Office in March to discuss the viability of rumble strips to slow traffic around the village square. Also in March, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office would have a meeting at the village offices “to discuss mounting a neighborhood watch program in the Village of Galena,” minutes said.
The March 20 meeting was canceled.
The Planning and Zoning Commission consists of Pete Casuccio, Alison Cherubini-Hillyer, Tim Erb, Mike Fry, and Kinnell. Village Zoning Inspector Levi Koehler was also present.
For more information about the village, visit galenaohio.gov (website), Village of Galena (Facebook), The Village of Galena (YouTube) or Village of Galena (Instagram).
Assistant Editor Gary Budzak photographs and reports on stories in eastern Delaware County and surrounding areas.
