Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting, 7 p.m. Thursday June 8. See the agenda here.
Hear from former City of Hilliard employees who started their successful careers with seasonal jobs here in Hilliard.
So what are they up to now and how did the City prepare them for the future?
Watch the video to hear from some of our standout alumni and learn about future jobs with the City of Columbus, OSU James Cancer Hospital, and Columbus City Schools.
Pave the way for a bright FUTURE with the City of Hilliard. Apply for open seasonal positions today and let the fun begin! 🙂
The State of the City is strong. That was the lasting message Tuesday from Hilliard’s 2023 State of the City presentation at Center Street Market in Downtown Hilliard.
A crowd of more than 150 people attended the event with the train theme of “All Aboard and Full Steam Ahead”, harkening back to Hilliard’s railroad roots.
City Manager Michelle Crandall covered highlights from the past year and shared details about Hilliard’s exciting future plans.
The presentation included updates on the new Recreation and Wellness Campus, the Hilliard By Design community plan, the Hilliard City Lab tech initiative, and much more.
Videos from the presentation can be viewed on the City’s Youtube page: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkXmbPhtCrMGOh1tEsGdmxCvXVB2RO0EM
Thank you to all who attended this year’s event to make it such a big success!
On this Choose Hilliard episode, we introduce you to IC3D, one of Hilliard’s newest tech companies and a partner with Hilliard City Lab.
This full-service 3D printing manufacturer started in a basement back in 2012 and now owns the largest 3D printers in Central Ohio.
Through Hilliard City Lab, Converge Technologies (a high-tech commercialization incubator) and the City of Hilliard are partnering to promote technology growth and innovation through Hilliard City Lab.
Through this collaboration, the Hilliard becomes a lab for testing new technologies and supporting start-ups that are ready to advance their innovative ideas and products. Using the City’s infrastructure, fiber optic network, sensor technology and real-time analytics, the City and Converge have already assisted several companies in moving from prototype to commercial product.
To learn more about how Hilliard City Lab can benefit your business, visit: https://hilliardohio.gov/city-lab/
It was a beautiful evening in Downtown Hilliard for the 33rd annual Hilliard Tree Lighting event Sunday.
Several thousand people came out to ring in the holiday season with free cookies and hot cocoa, a visit from Santa and his reindeer, musical performances, horse and carriage rides, plus holiday train rides, and much more.
The tree will be lit at Hilliard’s Station Park through the holiday season, and kids can drop off their letters to Santa in the park through Dec. 15.
Happy Holidays from all of us at the City of Hilliard!
Instead of throwing your Halloween pumpkins and gourds in the trash, residents of Hilliard can drop them off at the City’s pumpkin composting bins.
Through Dec. 2, there will be collection bins located just left of the Municipal Building parking lot (3770 Municipal Way), for pumpkin composting.
Pumpkin composting is free and available to anyone who wants to help reduce waste in central Ohio.
All pumpkins will be taken to a composting facility where they will be turned into a valuable soil additive. Compost improves soil quality, reduces erosion, reduces greenhouse gases, and decreases the need for chemical fertilizers.
Collection bins will be available for pumpkin disposal through Dec. 2. Please remove paint, candles, wax or other non-organic material from pumpkins.
The American Legion William R. Schnug Post 614 has named a local World War II veteran as the Grand Marshal of its Nov. 6 Veterans Day parade.
Julian Smith served in the Merchant Marines in the European, African and Pacific theaters during the war. He will be honored for his service in the parade, which is planned for 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6. Post 614 will hold the parade on that Sunday to allow more people to attend than might be possible on Friday, Nov. 11.
“There’s a lot of wars right now, and they are all unpredictable, but the best thing you can do, if you’re called upon to serve, is to serve your country,” Smith said. “That’s the best advice I can give.”
The parade will leave the Franklin County Fairgrounds and travel down Main Street to Scioto Darby Road. It will enter Municipal Park on Veterans Memorial Drive, ending at the Veterans Memorial Park. A brief ceremony, 21-gun salute, and Taps will occur at the memorial.
“The theme of this year’s parade is ‘We are FREE to be HERE, because OUR VETERANS were THERE,’” said one of Post 614’s parade organizers. “This is so true, but often taken for granted or forgotten completely. ’Freedom is not free’ is not just a meme.”
Post 614 also will offer its annual free public beans and cornbread meal from 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 11 at Hilliard Church of Christ, 4300 Avery Road.
The simple dish is emblematic of everything America stands for, from feeding hard-working coal miners in Appalachia to being a symbol of success after the first space shuttle was launched into the galaxy.
The parade includes such things as veterans, veteran support groups, American Legion and VFW entries, color guards and drill teams from Junior ROTC groups from neighboring high schools and the Central Ohio Young Marines, Post 614, Hilliard Division of Police, and Norwich Township color guards, and military vehicles.
Other entries in past years have included the Franklin County Horse Patrol, a Hilliard high school band, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, American Heritage Girls, Hilliard youth groups, antique and classic vehicles, Shriners and other “little cars,” Hilliard civic organizations, restaurants, and businesses. Mid-Ohio Jeep Club usually brings 30 to 40 Jeeps.
The Veterans Day Parade started in downtown Columbus in 1947. At that time, it was sponsored by the American Legion, Department of Ohio, 12th District. In 1983, then-mayor Roger A. Reynolds invited the parade to Hilliard.
Smith served as a U.S. Merchant Marine from January 1944 to April 1947. His work took him to South America, Italy, and North Africa. He was in Karachi, Pakistan; Solin, Croatia; India; and along both U.S. coasts. He also visited France, Argentina, and Japan.
Smith’s service included close calls with Germans and a typhoon, a bout with dysentery, and preparations for an invasion of Japan – which was fortunately cancelled when the war ended.
“It was a good experience, and I would do it again,” Smith said. “But since I was younger, I had no idea what was going on from one trip to another. We just did our duty, because we were supposed to do that. We didn’t think anything of it.”
It’s Stormwater Awareness Week and the City is doing our part by preserving natural streams, rivers, and wetlands like Clover Groff Run in Municipal Park.
This past May, the City received $600,000 from the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission to restore green space and improve wetlands near Clover Groff Run. Since 2017, the City has restored 1,100 feet of Clover Groff Run and additional improvements will take place in 2023.
“Over the past 10-12 years, the City has restored just under three miles of stream in the Big Darby watershed basin,” said Clark Rausch, City Engineer. “We’ve also spent about $2 million on those stream restorations, which helps to improve water quality and flood capacity in the streams.”
Hilliard is also home to Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS), a stormwater management company, who just last week broke ground on a new $65 million engineering and technology center here in Hilliard. The growth of ADS provides a great opportunity for future projects within Hilliard’s boundaries.
“The City of Hilliard and ADS are really closely aligned in our focus on sustainability,” said Michelle Crandall, Hilliard City Manager. “It’s great to have them here to help us along as we also develop our new Recreation & Wellness campus, which lies in the Big Darby. So in that sensitive area of our community, stormwater management is key.”
Clover Groff Run is located in Municipal Park, adjacent to where the new Community and Wellness Center will be built in the next few years.
The Hilliard Operations team is excited to get back to doing what they love each fall: leaf collection!
Members of the public service team helped kick off the annual service in style with a “Leaf Collection’s Back” parody video. The service began, Monday, Oct. 17 and runs through Friday, Dec. 16.
A few things to remember:
Residents should rake leaves to the curb area (between the sidewalk and street) by 7 a.m. on the Monday of their scheduled pickup week.
Crews will collect leaves placed at the curb during scheduled times by neighborhood zones. The quadrant map can be found on our website. https://hilliardohio.gov/leaf-collection/
Residents can bag leaves in biodegradable brown paper bags for standard weekly curbside yard waste pickup.
Ever wonder what Hilliard was like in the 1800s?
The Historical Village at Weaver Park captured a glimpse of 19th-century life last Saturday at the annual “Heritage Day” event hosted by the Hilliard Historical Society.
The free event featured Civil War re-enactments, guided tours, interactive displays, and an Abraham Lincoln impersonator! If you missed last weekend’s event, you can still take advantage of this wonderful park.
The Hilliard Historical Society offers free guided tours (donations welcome) through the historical village on Saturdays and Sundays, 1-5 p.m., through Oct. 30.
The village includes original Hilliard buildings such as a 19th-century church, one-room schoolhouse, two-story cabin, as well as a full museum with hundreds of artifacts from different time periods throughout Hilliard’s history.
Complete info: https://www.hilliardohiohistoricalsociety.com/
This month’s “Real People” spotlight features Dave Judson, Operations Administrator, who’s been with the City for nearly three decades!
Judson has served residents in various capacities since joining the City of Hilliard Recreation and Parks Department in 1993. He went on to serve as Recreation Supervisor for the Hilliard Senior Center for 15 years before taking his current administrative role in the Operations Department.
No matter his role, Dave always displays a true “Heart for Service” in everything he does. Thank you for your dedication to the Hilliard community all these years!
Electric Aggregation (Issue 35) is on the ballot for Hilliard voters this November and is a program supporting sustainable energy that would offer residents and businesses that opt in, a bulk rate for electricity.
There are two main goals for this program.
Electric prices constantly fluctuate based on supply and demand, among other factors. But this program, if approved, would allow the City to act quickly on your behalf when the market is most favorable for sustainably-sourced electricity.
It’s important to know, it’s still your choice! Hilliard electric customers may always “opt out” of the program contract period and pay the market rate. Opting out will be as simple as completing an online form or returning a provided postcard informing us of your decision.
Even a “Yes” vote does not remove your choice. Everyone still keeps the same level of service, on the same power lines, and has the right to choose their provider.
The electric aggregation program just authorizes the City to negotiate a bulk rate for sustainably sourced electricity. You can then choose to “opt out” if you wish.
Voters in Columbus, Worthington, and Grove City have already made the commitment and authorized their municipal government to establish green-energy aggregation programs.
Now, it’s your choice to decide if this is the right step for the City of Hilliard. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 8 and early voting begins Oct. 12. So get out and vote and make your voices heard this fall!
For complete information, visit our Electric Aggregation, Issue 35 page.
We asked and you answered! Earlier this summer, the City of Hilliard asked for your thoughts about four possible designs for a bike and pedestrian path over I-270 at Cemetery Road.
The goal of such a path is to prioritize safety, recreation, and connectivity for people who travel on foot or via bicycles. This is part of the City’s long-range plan to improve the environment, promote alternate forms of transportation, support local business, and connect our community to Central Ohio’s multi-use path system.
More than 400 people provided feedback that ultimately informed our decision. The clear preference was for the City to build a crossing entirely on the south side of Cemetery Road, including a tunnel under eastbound Cemetery Road to the southbound I-270 entrance ramp. This path would loop up to the pedestrian bridge over the interstate.
This design would create a safe and user-friendly option for pedestrians, bicyclists, or anyone not traveling by vehicle to cross I-270 between Cemetery Road, Trueman Boulevard, and Mill Run on the east side of the interstate. Here’s why:
1. The multi-use path will be on a separate bridge on the south side of Cemetery Road. This means automobile traffic will not be affected by the new multi-use crossing. The new bridge also will not be affected by any future improvements to the existing interchange .
2. This option eliminates all free flow ramp crossings for path users. There will be only one ramp crossing at a signalized intersection.
3. It also results in fewer interactions between vehicles and path users.
4. Finally, there are fewer right-of-way impacts between Britton Parkway and I-270.
Now that you’ve helped us determine the best plan for Hilliard, the City will begin the process of securing outside funding from the federal government and other sources to pay for this needed improvement.
At this time, the City is in the process of applying for two grants – the MORPC Attributable Fund, and the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant.
About 80 percent of the funding for the I-270 trail project would come from these federal funds, with the remaining 20 percent funded by the City of Hilliard or other non-federal sources. The City should know more about the status of this funding in early 2023.
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