Residents vow to fight placing gas meters outdoors

German Village Society leaders will be telling Columbia Gas of Ohio officials today that they’re prepared to fight to keep gas meters inside the homes of their historic neighborhood.

Nancy Kotting, the society’s historicpreservation advocate, said she also doesn’t want to set a precedent in German Village that could lead to Columbia Gas moving the meters outside in the city’s other historic neighborhoods.

“We’re looking to set a precedent for districts across Columbus,” she said.

Columbia Gas plans to move gas meters to the exterior of buildings in four sections of German Village as it replaces old gas lines.

Kotting, as well as Shiloh Todorov, the society’s executive director, and a resident will meet with Columbia Gas representatives at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio offices Downtown.

Kotting said that if Columbia Gas doesn’t agree with the society’s request, the group could file a formal complaint with the PUCO. After that, the society could appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, she said. To hide outside meters, the company has suggested that residents plant shrubs around them or paint the meters the same color as the brick of their houses, she said.

The first gas-meter project is expected to begin in May in the northwest section of German Village, along City Park Avenue north of East Willow Street, and sections of East Blenkner Street, South Pearl Street, East Hoster Street and East Willow Street, along with a section of South High Street that is not part of German Village. That would affect 112 residences, Kotting said.

The German Village Society has said the meters would hurt the historic character of the neighborhood, and would cause economic harm. German Village is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“German Village is one of the premier districts in the entire country,” Kotting said. She plans to present information from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on incidents nationwide resulting in death or damage of at least $50,000 involving gas meters on building exteriors.

Columbia Gas has said the project will make the neighborhood safer. The company also has said that moving meters to building exteriors makes them more visible and more accessible to responders who might have to turn off the gas in emergencies.

“This project in German Village is no different than other projects around the state,” Columbia Gas spokeswoman Kelli Nowinsky said.

She said cast-iron gas mains in German Village date back to the early 1900s.

The work in German Village is part of a 25-year, multimilliondollar statewide project by Columbia Gas to replace underground pipelines with ones that can expand and contract with temperature changes, while flexing to the contours of the ground.

Columbia Gas will host a meeting on the German Village project at 6 p.m. May 3 at the High Line Car House, 550 S. High St.