PHOTO BY JENNA FRISBY / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
PROJECT TO BEGIN … Road work will begin in the East Village Addition in August. Bryan City Council passed the ordinance for the road work at their meeting on Monday evening. The work will be contracted through Gerken Paving, Inc. According to City Engineer Brian Wieland the work will only take an estimated month once they physically start the project.
By: Jenna Frisby
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jenna@thevillagereporter.com
Bryan City Council held their bi-monthly meeting on Monday, June 17th at 5:30 p.m. In attendance were council members: Mary Leatherman, Richard Hupe, John Betts, Stephen Alspaugh, and Jim Kozumplik, as well as Mayor Carrie Schlade, City Clerk/Treasurer John Lehner, Chief of Police Greg Ruskey, City Engineer Brian Wieland, Zoning Administrator Andrew Waterston, and a few other members of the community.
Leatherman called the meeting to order and then led the room into the saying of the pledge of allegiance. The first item taken care of was the approval of the minutes from the council’s May 21, 2024 meeting.
Motion for approval was made by Kozumplik and seconded by Alspaugh with the rest of the council in favor.
Lehner then gave the treasurer’s report of the past month’s finances of which the council received prior to the meeting and had the chance to review. Council approved those numbers all in agreement. Hupe made the motion and Kozumplik seconded.
Lehner then read off the first ordinance for the board to vote on. That being Ordinance No. 20, 2024. An ordinance providing for the transfer of funds for the City of Bryan, for the month ending June 30, 2024.
Motion to suspend was made by Kozumplik and seconded by Betts. Board then moved to a motion to pass the ordinance with Alspaugh initiating the motion, Hupe seconding and the rest of the council agreeing.
Next was the discussion of Ordinance No, 21, 2024 which is an ordinance providing for annual appropriations for the city of Bryan, for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, and declaring an emergency.
Betts motioned for a suspension with Alspaugh seconding, followed by a. Motion made by Kozumplik for approval and seconded by Hupe.
City Engineer, Brian Wieland, then came up to the podium and spoke for a minute on the work that would be done in the East Village Addition should the council members decide to approve Ordinance No. 22-2024.
This would be an ordinance authorizing for the mayor to enter into a contract with Gerken Paving, Inc. for the project known as “2024 Street Improvement of East Village Addition”.
Wieland did explain that how they would work as they were fixing the roads through the addition would be only in 200-foot sections at a time. Their intentions are to move quickly when in front of driveways, trying to ensure they do not block resident’s driveways for prolonged periods of time.
However, they will have to block residents’ driveways for a short time while they work on the road in front of their driveway.
Wieland also mentioned that at the end of each of their workdays, they will ensure no driveways are blocked so that residents can access them at night.
The anticipated time to complete the entire project is one month from the start date. Wieland also stated that upon council approval they would be able to begin the project in August after contracts are written up and signed.
With no more information to be given on the ordinance, Alspaugh made a motion to suspend, Hupe seconded followed by Betts motioning for approval and Kozumplik seconding.
Council then discussed resolutions, the first being Resolution No. 26-2024. A resolution approving the Community Reinvestment Area tax exemption application as submitted by Verhoff Properties LLC.
Zoning Administrator Andrew Waterston came to the podium and spoke on the importance of this application as if it is approved it would give a 10-year tax abatement.
Hupe made a motion for suspension with Betts seconding. Then Kozumplik motioned for approval with Alspaugh seconding.
The next resolution was Resolution No. 27-2024 which is a resolution to accept 25 electronic hearing devices from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services through the Hearing Protection Pilot to the city of Bryan.
Chief of Police, Greg Ruskey, came to the podium to explain that this resolution would allow the department to accept the hearing protection devices and that officers would be able to begin utilizing once received.
Hupe motioned for suspension with Alspaugh seconding. Then Kozumplik motioned for approval with Betts seconding.
The last resolution reviewed was presented by Mayor Schlade and was Resolution No. 28, 2024 and is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an Economic Revolving Loan Fund Agreement with the Ohio Department of Development pursuant to the Community Development Block Grant Program.
Mayor Schlade iterated that this was the annual application that they are required to complete in order to apply for the fund agreement.
With that Kozumplik motioned for suspension with Betts seconding. Then Hupe made a motion for the approval followed by Alspaugh seconding,
The council was then brought permits and appointments for Planning & Zoning, the Housing Authority, and for Records Commission, all of which were all approved with no disagreement.
Before concluding the meeting Leatherman asked if anyone else had anything, Mayor Schlade said she would like to give thanks for how well the parade for the Jubilee went.
The parade was almost an hour long and because of the city’s continual work to keep everyone safe, there were no accidents. Everyone was kept safe and had a great time.
Mayor Schlade also wanted to commend all those who have been a part of the communications between the city and Amtrak.
Because of the continual work on getting an upgraded building, the city was able to break ground with Amtrak representatives as well as several state representatives on Friday for the new Amtrak upgrades that Amtrak is fully investing in. Those upgrades and remodels are at an estimated 5 million dollars.
Mayor Schlade then brought to the council’s attention the date of their next scheduled meeting being July 1st, 2024.
With that being the week of Independence Day and having several members being on vacation the council voted to cancel that meeting. The council’s next regular meeting will be on Monday, July 15th at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers located inside the Don North Building.
Council then voted to go into executive session at 5:47 p.m. to discuss the acquisition of property with no action expected to occur.
