Hello Worthington! Here's your recap of what happened at May 11, 2026's City Council meeting. Below are brief summaries of the most significant discussions. For those interested in the full details, we've included links to longer articles where appropriate.
High Street bus service is changing.
COTA staff walked council through a draft five-year plan that would retire the High Street express bus, Line 102, and fold it into the regular Line 2. The remaining Line 2 would run more often on weekends, gain overnight service, and stop at every stop the 102 currently serves. The trade-off: commuters who use the 102 today for a faster downtown trip will be on the more-frequent but more-stop-heavy Line 2. A proposed Line 35 extension would bridge a long-standing gap in regional transit, providing Worthington with its first east-west crosstown connection along Wilson Bridge Road, linking High Street to major job centers like Easton Town Center and Sawmill Road.
Every household could get a small bucket for food scraps next year
SWACO came to council with an offer: if Worthington adds curbside food-waste pickup to its next five-year trash and recycling contract, SWACO will fund the residential buckets, three years of public education, and up to $100,000 of the program's first-year cost. Recent bids from nearby central Ohio communities for citywide service came in at $2.16 to $2.68 per household per month, which would add roughly $136,000 to $168,000 a year to Worthington's collection contract. Council signaled broad interest in putting it out to bid as an alternate, with a yes-or-no decision needed before the August recess. The new five-year contract takes effect January 1, 2027.
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In Other News
Sharon Township fire district levy passed. Last Tuesday, voters passed a new tax levy for the Sharon Township Fire District. This was the second and final step of a deal made in 2023 between the city and the township. For a long time, the township was paying much less than what the fire and EMS services actually cost to run. With this vote, the township’s payments will now cover their fair share of the costs. The City of Worthington expects to begin receiving these increased payments soon.
The new Worthington Recycling Convenience Center is open at the Highland Complex; the May 8 ribbon-cutting was well-attended. The center takes hard-to-recycle items including styrofoam, replacing the periodic styrofoam truck visits residents have used in past years.
Council policy agenda update — items worth knowing:
Council will launch an online "dashboard" to track their top priority projects (called their "Do Now" and "Do Next" lists). To measure success, staff will track specific data like the number of e-bike incidents and how many office spaces are available for rent.
The city's response to the April 13 discussion on e-bikes and e-scooters is now expected to come back in September rather than June or July. Franklin County Juvenile Court has to authorize the juvenile-diversion piece before staff can finalize the legislation.
Staff will add basic Old Worthington car-parking information to the city website ahead of the larger wayfinding signage project.
Outdoor pool construction: demolition at the former Worthington Schools site is complete and foundations are being poured.
April financial report accepted. Revenues and expenditures are tracking as expected.
Upcoming Dates
- Wednesday, May 20, noon — Worthington Together virtual public webinar. Same comprehensive-plan content as the May 13 open house, in webinar form for those who couldn't attend in person. Registration required via Zoom on the worthingtontogether.org "Get Involved" page.
- Tuesday, May 26, 6:00 p.m. — Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board meeting (rescheduled). Originally set for May 25; moved to Tuesday May 26 and held as a mobile infrastructure-evaluation ride starting from The Flats, the lower parking lot of Thomas Worthington School (300 W. Dublin-Granville Rd.).
- Through Wednesday, June 3 — Worthington Together public survey is open online; final structured input window for the comprehensive plan.
Thanks for reading this summary of the City Council meeting, you can watch the original full video here