CRESTLINE — For well over a decade, John Rostash was the person that Bucyrus residents turned to for all things zoning or code-related. Now, Crestline residents are looking to him to make positive changes in their village.
Rostash left his position as zoning administrator in Bucyrus in September to take over the position of village administrator in Crestline.
“I was working towards becoming a city service safety director one day and I thought it would be in Bucyrus. Then Crestline came a-calling and I welcomed the challenge,” Rostash said.
Rostash and his wife, Sandra, recently moved to Crestline.
“We love it here,” Rostash said.
He said he recently developed a plan for the village administration and employees to follow that includes a list of fundamentals:
- Excellent customer service is the priority of our teams.
- We decide daily to bring joy and a positive attitude to work.
- We challenge ourselves and each other to produce excellence.
- We love our citizens.
- We take care of each other.
Rostash said the village’s website recently was updated and is an important part of the customer service piece to the list of fundamentals.
“We will be using our website and our Facebook page to get accurate and up-to-date information out to our residents,” Rostash said. “I think it’s important for residents to know about everything that’s going on in the village.”
When it comes to infrastructure issues, Rostash is taking an aggressive approach.
Rostash said several plans are in the works to improve the quality of life for local residents including addressing the issue that sometimes occurs with the water supply.
“The village has older, cast-iron pipes and rust scale forms on the inside of the pipes. When there is a disruption such as from a fire in the village or hydrants being flushed, it increases the flow through the lines, dislodging the rust scale and that is what the customers are seeing. The goal is to replace those old, cast iron pipes with new ones,” he said.
He said that changes to the water treatment process may also help alleviate the situation.
“Some areas, like Bucyrus, use a lime-softening treatment process while we have a well-based plant,” Rostash said. “The lime coats the inside of the pipes, acting as a barrier between the pipes and water that is passing through.”
The plans for new, main water service lines also are in the works.
“We want to be aggressive in our plans to get those pipes changed,” Rostash said. “We have contracted with Lynn Makeever to develop a plan, but we are going to begin construction on a portion this year yet, to replace pipes from Wiley Street to up to the railroad tracks on Main Street.”
He said that plans are underway for improvements to the waste water treatment plant.
“We have to meet mandates and requirements by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Those requirements include improvements to our waste water treatment plant. It’s going to be a large investment, but we are looking at all avenues of funding for this project,” Rostash said. “We will aggressively go after grants and zero or low interest loans.”
He said that part of those improvements also will include the collection system.
“The Ohio EPA is requiring us to do some specific things to our collection system,” Rostash said.
Crestline Village Council approved Prime AE Group of Columbus as the engineering firm for the project at its last meeting.
Rostash said an exterior sewer line already is been installed on Livingston Avenue and the project soon will go out to bid.
“We are connecting residences to the sewer line that are still on septic systems,” Rostash said.
He said he is excited for the future of Crestline and the upcoming projects.