(PHOTO BY BRIANNA BALOGH / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
PARKING PROBLEMS .. Village Administrator Chad Ordway addresses parking issues at the baseball fields.
By: Brianna Balogh
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
Edon Village Council discussed a rocky situation at its regular meeting on June 16. The meeting started off with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by roll call taken by Fiscal Officer Heidi Bidwell.
All members were in attendance and are as follows: Dave Loughborough, Dan Ankney, Austin Thiel, Lee Lawrence, Jeff Pease, and Brian Shaffer. Also attending were Village Administrator Chad Ordway, Chief Tom Szymczak, and Mayor Duane Thiel.
Council quickly approved the meeting minutes with Lawrence making the motion and Loughborough seconding.
The financial report and bills, which had been provided to the council, followed with Pease making the motion to approve. Thiel seconded, and all members approved.
Next on the agenda was communications. Fiscal Officer Bidwell had a brief note that the office would be closed on Friday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day.
Chief Szymczak followed with the police report, providing several updates. He recently attended the Ohio Tactical Officers Association Training, where he was re-certified in two instructor-level certifications.
Szymczak attended multiple critical incident debriefings where he learned what was done well, what was not done so well, and where there was room for improvement.
Upcoming will be an OHLEG (Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway) audit, and Szymczak expects no issues. The department is also looking into new software for crashes and e-citations.
It is a free service and would be different from the current process. Currently, officers struggle with using cell phones as a Wifi hot spot, which oftentimes can be unreliable.
The final item was to inform the council of plans to coordinate with the fire department and set up a repeater for that department to use.
This would improve communications and enhance the capabilities of portable radios at no cost to the police department. Loughborough clarified that no motion was needed before moving on.
Committee reports followed, with safety being first. Thiel had no update from the committee, but Ordway raised a recent issue brought to his attention.
The summer recreation organization had inquired about moving rocks along Bunny Lane in order to allow parking.
Several council members provided input on this discussion. In the past, this was denied due to safety issues with parking in that location.
It is a concern that children would be in danger if they ran between parked cars in order to get a foul ball and then ran into the street.
Szymczak was asked for his input, and he addressed future issues, such as if parking was to be outlawed in that location, where would the vehicles then park?
Lawrence added that several other communities had similar parking situations, meaning parking was a decent walk away from the actual field.
The community building parking lot, the football field parking, and a few other locations were provided as overflow parking.
After further discussion, the council’s consensus was that the danger was too great and the rocks would stay, even though it is understood why people want to park there.
A motion was made to leave the rocks as is and to add no parking signs to that location as well. The motion was passed by all members.
The next few committee reports were brief. Lawrence provided an update on the park committee that is still awaiting the second seat to be filled by the school board.
Loughborough provided the cemetery committee update, stating that at the next meeting, they would be approving a decision to move an empty lot that is too close to the road.
Both zoning and finance committees had no substantial updates, with finance matters included in the village administrator’s report.
Administrator Ordway followed with his report. The first item was a property on Woodville Street, which is currently being transferred to the land bank with the stipulation of a warranty deed. The house, once acquired, has plans to be torn down.
He followed with a notice for hydrant flushing, taking place July 7 – 11, before handing the floor over to Bidwell to further explain the CCA finalized tax audit.
Bidwell explained, as the council followed along on the handout, that this was the finalized tax audit from 2024, including cost estimates.
The village participates in a municipality share, allowing CCA to collect taxes on their behalf. In turn, the village is charged a percentage of that tax revenue, currently at 1.24%. The original estimated percent was 3%.
This resulted in the village receiving a refund of $11,388.91. Bidwell also informed the council that CCA has sent out 93 notifications for 2023 non-filers.
Ordway finished with a letter from the Ohio Department of Transportation stating the Village of Edon had received grants from the Carbon Reduction Program and the Federal Safety Program.
A total of $2.25 million was awarded and is to be used in the downtown project. The pedestrian sidewalk project is slated for 2028.
The agenda moved on to the old business, which there was none, followed by new business. Loughborough brought up a recent concern regarding a house in close proximity to the cemetery, which seems to have several types of fowl and dogs kept at the property.
Council and Szymczak agreed that the dog had recently been loose, and several concerns were raised. Szymczak added that he had addressed the dog issue with the homeowner and advised the concerned citizen to contact the zoning department regarding the other animals.
It was also noted that the owner did not reside at the property. Szymczak and Ordway both clarified that the owner does not have to reside at the property to keep animals there as long as the animals are being cared for.
While there are no laws or ordinances regarding the number of chickens or other fowl, a permit is required yearly, and roosters are strictly prohibited inside village limits. Ordway will follow up on the permits.
A rooster had been heard at the property, and a notice can be issued to address this ordinance violation.
Mayor Thiel announced the next meeting date for July 21 before asking for a motion to go into executive session to discuss property acquisition.
The motion the enter executive session was made by Lawrence, seconded by Loughborough and approved by all at 7:24 p.m. No action was expected to follow.