Work has begun on the road construction project connecting Core-Way Drive to Clark in Pioneer.
The project will extend Clark Street north three-quarters of a mile and west for a half-mile west to connect with Core Way Drive so trucks for Reifel Industries can avoid Baubice Street and North Central School, Kidston said. The company occupies 300,000 square feet of floor space and houses 250 employees, he said.
Ground was broken a few weeks ago and now new water lines and sewer lines have been completed on schedule, Village Administrator Al Fiser said.
“We’re working now on the storm sewer which is done down the middle of the street,” Fiser said. “That will be complete here this month.”
The street curbing should be done in June, Fiser said. The substation council approved should happen in April and cause no disruption of power, he said.
In other news:
The possibility local telecommunication providers could come to town to install 5G wireless antennae anywhere they want is a concern to Kidston.
“I don’t want wireless antennae all over the place,” Kidston said.
The issue came up during the lame duck session of the Ohio Legislature at the end of 2016. The legislation originally gave wireless providers carte-blanche access to any site it any community desired.
A lobbying effort by communities statewide and the Ohio Municipal League modified the language and returned some control to local governments. The rollout will continue, however.
The mayor directed the village solicitor to research the issue and report back to council.
Citing a practice of already being open with the public on its finances and other requests, the village will not be participating in the Ohio Checkbook program. The program places financial records of a town on a web site for the public to views.
Edgerton, Stryker and Blakeslee have already signed up, Fiscal Officer April McMillin said.
Fiser said the village gets few requests for information and when it does, the staff answers the requests.
“We’re very open with the taxpayers,” Kidston said. “I am against putting more information online. We will not do it until we are forced to do it.”
In legislative matters, the council voted to update some pages in the codified ordinances, support a resolution opposing the governor’s plan to centralize tax collection for communities and to sign an agreement allowing the state to inspect all bridges.
The village’s income tax collection for February was down sharply from January and compared to recent years. The village collected $25,882.92 last month, down from $63,283.12 in February 2016. In January of this year, the village collected $61,031.
The Council approved the transfer of a liquor license from Northwest Ohio VFW to Loggers Lounge LLC. The council declined to hold a hearing even though a park is within 500 feet of the lounge, Kidston said.
The Fire Department had 20 runs since Feb. 13, Fire Chief Denny Fackler said.
Fackler received permission from council to bring on Jayme Roth and Will Cable as new medical first responders.
The Police Department handled 14 incidents since the last council meeting, Timothy Livengood said. The department issued six traffic warnings, one traffic citation; two misdemeanor charges and two felony charges. There was one warrant arrest.
The average response time was 36 seconds.
James Pruitt may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com