Natural gas pipeline project to wrap up this fall – Landscaping, fencing around stations still to be installed

by Melissa Martin

Aug. 6 township trustees meeting

Traffic delays over the past year along West 130^th Street in Hinckley are officially a thing of the past, a representative from Columbia Gas informed township trustees earlier in August.

Ben Cutler, public affairs manager for Columbia Gas, said that all the new natural gas pipelines have been installed, the roadway has been repaved and construction of state-of-the-art natural gas stations on Babcock Road and Crestview Drive have been completed.

Construction of new fencing and landscaping in and around the two station properties is scheduled to be completed in the coming weeks, Cutler said.

The fencing on both station sites has been upgraded in recent months, and the chain link fence originally planned to secure the stations has been replaced by track vinyl fencing to better shield the stations from surrounding residential properties.

“As soon as the material comes in, we’ll get both fences up,” Cutler said. “The Crestview property will have track vinyl fence on the east, north and south sides, while the west side [will be] a split-block wall that was agreed to by the property owner when [Columbia Gas] acquired the parcel. The Babcock station will have a full vinyl fence.”

Cutler explained that this is one of the first projects the company has done in close proximity to residential neighbors. As a result, the company has learned a few things, including how important it is to shield large stations in residential areas. That need, he said, predicated the decision to upgrade the fencing and landscaping at both sites.

“I think the fence is nice and will hide the site well, but I also understand the [township’s] rural mantra and the importance of trying to fit back into the aesthetics of the neighborhood,” he said.

The project required Columbia Gas to build a new natural gas delivery system after the gas company’s upstream supplier took the previous line out of service. When work began in August 2023, it was slated to take four months. However, as a result of several complications that surfaced during the process, the work took more than a year.

In the 10 years he’s worked for Columbia Gas, Cutler said this project has been “the most trying.”

“It was a tough project on many different levels,” he said. “Putting that amount of gas line in that busy of a corridor is really challenging on multiple fronts. I think our [employees] did a pretty good job, but we just ran into roadblock after roadblock.”

Among the challenges crews faced was the discovery of contaminated soil and underground asbestos that had to be removed.

Throughout the project, Trustee Jack Swedyk said the gas company and trustees fielded numerous complaints from residents.

“It’s been a challenge, and nobody likes to see something like this happen,” Swedyk said. “I think that [Columbia Gas has] handled it the best to [its] ability and as good as we could expect.”

Trustees said good communication with residents of Hinckley and Brunswick kept the project from becoming even more of a nuisance. Cutler said the company distributed weekly updates to trustees and the public.

“We’re very sensitive to the neighbors there, and we want to make sure that we gave them a constant line of communication to our folks,” he said.

Trustee Monique Ascherl that communication has been “top-notch” throughout the project.

“I know there were a couple of spirited conversations on a Saturday morning when you made yourself available, and I appreciate you being so hands on like that,” she said.

Columbia Gas has set aside $6,500 to donate back to the Hinckley community. Of that amount, $5,000 will be donated to a 501(c)(3) organization of the trustees’ choice and the remaining $1,500 will go to the Hinckley Firefighter Association, Cutler said.

Once trustees decide where the money will be used, it will be paid out by the end of the year, Cutler said.

Resignation

Township Fiscal Officer Martha Catherwood announced her resignation, tentatively effective Nov. 30, pending the hiring and training of her replacement.

“It’s been an honor to serve Hinckley Township for quite a while and it’s just time to make this decision for my family and myself,” Catherwood said. “But I’m not going anywhere. I wanted to announce this early, because I wanted there to be plenty of opportunity to find a new fiscal officer.”

Ascherl expressed the township’s appreciation for Catherwood’s dedication and service to the community. She was elected to the Hinckley Board of Trustees in 2008 and served two terms before being appointed township fiscal officer in 2017.

“This board and previous boards and everyone in the township cannot thank you enough for everything you’ve done, not only for our government but also our community,” she said.

“It’s been an honor and a privilege,” Catherwood said.

Catherwood said the new fiscal officer will have the opportunity to work at home or at town hall and will earn upwards of $30,000 a year, plus full benefits and a pension.

Applications for the position are available on the township website.

Touch-a-Truck

Fire Chief Jestin Grossenbaugh announced that his department will host the annual Touch-a-Truck event later this fall. The event will feature a wetting-down ceremony for the newly acquired tanker truck.

The wet-down ceremony, Grossenbaugh explained, is a tradition to express appreciation for a vehicle that has served the department well and to anoint a new vehicle. Grossenbaugh said the existing truck will be sprayed down, as will the new tanker.

“We’ll let the kids spray down the old engine and then we’ll do [the same] with the tanker,” he said. “And then our firefighters will push that massive 60,000-pound vehicle into the fire station.”

The day and time of the Touch-a-Truck event will be announced in the coming weeks.

Earlier in August, Grossenbaugh said the tanker was still being outfitted with equipment when it was called into service in late July due to its ability to transport large quantities of water to a fire.

In addition to Hinckley firefighters, nine other fire departments responded to a large structure fire at Big 3 Racing on W. 130^th Street around 8:30 p.m. July 26 after a passersby reported seeing massive amounts of smoke coming from the commercial building.

Grossenbaugh said the fire appears to have been started accidentally, however the Medina County Fire Investigative Unit continues to investigate. ∞