Thanks to all the Forest Park residents who turned out for this year's Northland Fourth of July Parade, produced by the Northland Community Council!  Click here for a photo gallery of pictures from this year's parade.

More than 50 local civic associations, businesses and organizations participated in the parade, including Mayor Michael Coleman, City Council members Michael Mentel, Hearcel Craig and Andy Ginther, State Representative Kevin Bacon, the Northland High School Marching Band and our very own contingent of Bikes & Trikes!  Thanks to everyone who joined us to show that Forest Park is Community!  [7/11/07]

Saturday, July 21 is Cleanup Day on SR-161 (East Dublin Granville Road) from 9 am to noon!  Help us remove trash and debris from the shoulders, culverts and median of SR-161 to improve its appearance and to prevent these materials from being shredded during mowing activities on the corridor this summer.

Click here to view the flyer for this event, sponsored by NCC and the NABA SR-161 Task Force. [7/11/07]

The FPCA Membership Drive is now underway!  Look for your membership packet in the mail in the next few weeks.  Please return your Household Data Sheet and your household's $20 annual dues to join for the 2007-2008 membership year, which begins July 1, 2007.  Please be sure to review the Volunteer Sheet on the back of your Data Sheet and the enclosed list describing our volunteer positions, and let us know of any activities or positions that interest you.

If you have any questions about the Association or membership, please contact us using the Comment form here on the Web site or by sending an email to join_fpca@fpcivic.org. [4/10/07]

The third Northland Community Shredding Day, sponsored by the Northland Community Council, was held on Saturday, May 12 and was once again a success.  Another will be held this fall.  Click here to view a flyer with additional details about the May event.  The flyer includes a suggested list of items you should bring to be shredded at the next Shredding Day event! [7/11/07]

Preparations are underway by the Northland Community Council for this year's Northland Fourth of July Parade! The theme this year is "American Icons."

Starting near Morse Road and traveling north on Karl Road through Forest Park, the Parade begins at 11:00 am on July 4.

Kids in Forest Park are invited to participate in the Bikes & Trikes segment of the Parade from Woodward Park to Sandalwood Place, including judging for prizes for best-decorated bicycle or tricycle in several categories.  Contact Dick Buttermore by phone at 885-1434 or email dick_buttermore@fpcivic.org for more information or to volunteer as a judge.

Watch this space for more details in coming weeks! [4/10/07]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is offering a one-time refund to all telephone customers (including cellular phone and Internet, or VOIP, phone users) who paid excise tax on long-distance service after February 28, 2003 and before August 1, 2006. The refund is the result of recent federal court rulings that the 3-percent tax is no longer applicable to long-distance service as it is billed today.

Individuals can request the refund on their regular tax returns. If they don’t have to file a tax return, they can use a newly created form to request their refunds.  In addition, the IRS is providing a fast and simple option for any long-distance customer by offering a standard refund amount, between $30 and $60, based on the number of exemptions they claim.

Refunds can be requested using Forms 1040, 1040A, 1040 EZ or 1040 NR, or by using new Form 1040EZ-T. These forms can be downloaded at IRS.gov or can be obtained by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM.   Many post offices and local libraries will also have these forms available.

Long-distance telephone customers for whom it is more advantageous to request a refund using the actual amount of tax paid may do so by filling out Form 8913 and attaching it to their tax returns or Form 1040EZ-Ts.

For additional information about the telephone excise tax refund, including Form 1040 EZ-T, visit the Internal Revenue Service Web site at IRS.gov.  [3/18/07]

Could you have been billed twice for storm sewer fees?

According to this March 9 article in the Columbus Dispatch, some owners of duplex properties (totaling under 2000 square feet of roof, driveway and sidewalk for both units) may have been charged twice the correct amount for storm-sewer service, possibly for some time.  If you own a duplex property in or around Forest Park, check the water bills for both of your units and contact the Columbus Department of Public Utilities if you find an error! [3/11/07]

In February 2006, information was sent by mail from the FPCA to homeowners in Forest Park East who may be directly affected by right of way clearing operations near a petroleum pipeline that runs through our community. Click here or on the graphic to view this information.  (Requires the free Adobe Reader - see link below.)

Mid-Ohio Tree Service, Marathon's contractor for the clearing operations, advises that clearing is nearly completed in Forest Park as of January 25.  Buckeye Landscaping is continuing work on stump removal and lawn repair on the affected properties.

Forest Park residents whose properties were affected by the clearing have advised that, while they were not happy about the loss of trees, they felt that Mid-Ohio representatives were courteous and professional and that the work was done to their satisfaction.  If your property was affected and you have comments or concerns about the clearing or lawn repair operations, please contact Dave Paul at dwpaul@fpcivic.org. [1/25/07]

With the end of Winter approaching, now's a great time to start thinking about ways to save energy and reduce your air conditioning costs this Summer.  Here are an energy fact sheet, a checklist of low- and no-cost tips for lowering your energy bills and a booklet with additional energy saving ideas from the Alliance to Save Energy. (Requires the free Adobe Reader - see link below.) [1/25/07]

FPCA officers and representatives for 2007, including several new Board members, were elected by the voting membership of the Association in attendance at the FPCA General Meeting on Tuesday, January 9, 2007.  Click here or on the graphic for a handout introducing our new and returning Board members.  (Requires the free Adobe Reader - see link below.)

A list of current FPCA officers and representatives is maintained on the About the FPCA page.  Our thanks to them, and to all of our section representatives and other dedicated volunteers, for helping us prepare for another great year here in Forest Park!   [1/09/07]

Are you 65 or older and/or permanently disabled, with a 2006 federal Adjusted Gross Income for your household of $27,000 or less?  If so, you could qualify to save on your annual property taxes by reducing the taxable value of your property by as much as $5700 under the Franklin County Homestead Exemption program.

To receive the reduction for tax year 2007, you must file an application by June 4, 2007.  For more information or an application form, visit the Franklin County Auditor's Homestead Exemption Web page by clicking here or on the graphic. [12/27/06]

Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey reports that Central Ohio residents are receiving calls from a non-existent "Department of Verification" or "National Verification Center" asking for confidential information. A 10-TV report provides additional details on this scam.

In April, NBC4 reported on an elaborate phone scam involving a false report of a family member being severely injured in an accident to obtain credit card information from a resident of a nearby Central Ohio community.  [9/13/06]

We often receive questions about parking of commercial vehicles in Forest Park, as well as parking of disabled or "junk" vehicles on the street or in residents' driveways.  Click here for information from the Columbus City Code, Chapter 2151, which pertains to vehicle parking.

If a vehicle meeting the criteria described in the Code is parked illegally on private property (i.e., off the street, in a driveway or parking lot), contact the City's Code Enforcement division by dialing the City Call Center at 311 (or 645-3111).  If the vehicle is parked illegally on a public right of way (i.e., in the street or at the curb), contact Columbus Police at 645-4545.  [8/29/06]

The quarantine area declared by the state Department of Agriculture and intended to contain the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been expanded to include most of eastern Franklin County, including both Forest Park East and West.   This means that no cut wood, including firewood, from ash trees or other hardwood should leave the area until further notice.  For more information, please see this July 22, 2006 article in the Columbus Dispatch.   [8/12/06]

A new infestation of the emerald ash borer (EAB), a beetle whose larvae destroy ash trees, has been found in Blendon Township, just a few miles southeast of Forest Park.  EAB has already destroyed 15 million ash trees in Canada and northwestern Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, including17,000 in Franklin County and 39,000 in Delaware County.  Ohio's 3.8 billion white ash trees are in danger.

According to the Ohio Department of Agriculture and as reported in a July 6, 2006 article in the Columbus Dispatch, as recently as January of last year state officials believed that the emerald ash borer had been eradicated in Franklin County. A July 7, 2006 article in the Dispatch provides more background.

This OSU Extension Service Web site offers detailed information on EAB and the threat it poses to ash trees. This article will help you determine whether you have ash trees on your property.

If you believe you have or have seen an infested ash tree, please call the Ohio Department of Agriculture EAB Hotline immediately at 888-OHIO-EAB.   [7/7/06]

The Association's second General Meeting of 2006, held on Tuesday, April 11 at Epworth United Methodist Church, included a presentation by representatives of the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) to explain the North Corridor Transit Project (NCTP).

Detailed information on COTA's North Corridor project and the agency's Comprehensive Long-Range Transit Plan is available on the Project's Web site at http://www.cotanctp.com. [4/12/06]

Members of seventy-six Forest Park households (and several from neighboring communities) took the time to attend our Block Watch meetings in January, February and March.  As a result, our Block Watches in Forest Park East and West are now officially reactivated and recognized by the City's Division of Police!  Look for additional signs on streets leading into Forest Park, putting criminals on notice that ours is a community that cares about crime.

However, this is not the end of the Block Watch effort.  Members of the Block Watch programs have agreed to continue to meet each month for presentations on personal security, identity theft and other safety and security related topics. We need to recruit many more Block Watch members to reach our goal of one member for every five households in Forest Park.

Click here for information, published last December, on how your family can participate in the community's revitalized Block Watch programs and help us reach this goal. [3/22/06]

The Ohio Department of Commerce's Division of Unclaimed Funds issued an identity theft alert today to Ohio residents after receiving complaints from residents throughout the state.

The alert warns Ohioans to be on guard if they receive a letter or telephone call from an organization calling itself the "Department of Unclaimed Funds," located on West Fifth Avenue in Columbus, telephone 1-800-467-7010. For more information, please view the news release issued by the Ohio Department of Commerce.

To learn about identity theft, visit the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Web site. [1/24/06]

Images and video of the FPCA General Meeting held at the Karl Road Library on January 10 are now available here on FPcivic.org.

The meeting included the election and swearing-in of 2006 FPCA officers and representatives, and presentations by AEP Ohio concerning electric rates, AEP facilities in and around Forest Park, and the November fire at the Karl Road substation.

To view images and video of the meeting, please click here or on the graphic at left. [1/20/06]

The City of Columbus 311 Call Center is the new single point of contact to request all non-emergency City services.

Its mission is to provide access to City services and City information with the highest possible levels of customer service. The "3-1-1" initiative strives to help City agencies provide efficient service delivery by allowing them to focus on their core missions, manage workloads efficiently, provide insight into the needs of residents, and measure how well services are delivered.

AT&T Ohio (formerly SBC) local phone service subscribers can dial 3-1-1 from their home phones to reach the City Call Center. Non-AT&T subscribers or cell phone users can call (614) 645-3111. For more information, or to submit a Call Center service request online, visit http://311.columbus.gov/. [1/05/06]

Every three years, the FPCA compiles a new edition of the Forest Park Directory.  The 2004 edition was completely redesigned, and its listings of Forest Park households are based on data from our new FPCA membership database.

In addition to listing Forest Park households by street and house number, the Directory includes a listing of adult residents by name; lists of frequently used phone numbers for city, county and Federal offices; local churches and schools; maps of Forest Park East and Forest Park West; and advertisements from businesses in and around Forest Park that support our community.

If you haven't received your copy yet, it can only mean one thing - you're not a member of the Civic Association!  The Directory is provided free of charge to all Forest Park households that join the Association and pay their membership dues.  So join today (by completing an FPCA Household Data Sheet and returning it with your $20 annual dues) and we'll deliver a copy to you! [11/20/05]

The Forest Park Civic Association is a strictly volunteer organization. We're always in need of interested members of the community to help plan and organize community activities, present fresh ideas for new activities and services, and help the Association grow.

We especially need Area Representatives for several areas which currently lack representation on our Civic Association Board, and Section Representatives ("block captains") to help conduct the 2006 membership drive by contacting their immediate neighbors about membership.

If you have a few hours each month you can devote to helping us make Forest Park a stronger, better community, please consider filling out and returning a Volunteer Sheet. If you have questions about how you can help, send an email to volunteer@fpcivic.org. [11/20/05]