Compiled By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

West Chester Township leaders are smarting over a recent letter from the Ohio Department of Transportation demanding that they remove four "Welcome to West Chester" signs and a brick planter from the side of state-owned roads in the township by the end of this week.

The signs are on U.S. 42 just south of Butler-Warren Road and just north of Fields Ertel Road, and on Ohio 747 just north of Crescentville Road and just south of Hamilton-Mason Road.

West Chester Administrator Dave Gully fired back a 20-page response, saying the township has no intention of removing the signs.

He enclosed photos of more than a dozen similar signs along state highways in other communities such as the city of Mason and the village of Evendale.

"We cannot figure out why you have chosen West Chester Township ... to selectively enforce this standard, when no other community abides by it," Gully wrote. The packet is copied to all the trustees; state Rep. Gary Cates, R-West Chester; and state Sen. Scott Nein, R-Middletown.

What's more, West Chester spends more than $100,000 a year maintaining ODOT roads, including snow removal, because ODOT isn't doing its job, the June 4 letter reads.

"Why would you want to jeopardize our good working relationship over something like this?" Gully wrote.

"It's ridiculous," Trustee Catherine Stoker added. "Do the people working for ODOT have nothing else to do? Why don't they come down and clean the streets?"

Christine Hilbert, ODOT's District 8 permit supervisor, denied ODOT is targeting West Chester with selective enforcement.

ODOT oversees signs only along state-owned roads in townships, not cities and villages, so most of Gully's comparisons aren't accurate or fair, she stressed.

"The last thing we need is governmental agency against governmental agency here," Hilbert said. "If the township and ODOT can't work together to have the township remove those signs, ODOT will just have to take the next step, which I hope we don't have to do."

West Chester officials suspect Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox turned them in to ODOT (the Federal Highway Administration recently looked into whether there were illegal signs on the Michael A. Fox Highway).

But Fox denied it: "I don't get involved in that kind of (stuff) ."

He called ODOT "nutso" about signs and even said, "Tell Catherine I'm on her side on this one."

Jennifer Edwards