PLANNING COMMISSION … Roger DeGood, Chairman of the Planning Commission, speaks to council during the January 23rd meeting.
By: Elaine Bierie
The council meeting began on January 23, 2023, at 6:00PM. There were four members present with two members having been excused.
A prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance was said before also giving approval for the agenda.
Minutes were amended by Mr. Pilliod. From the January 9, 2023, meeting before the board moved to enter into executive session to discuss an audit.
Following executive session, the meeting moved on to finance. All W-2s have been issued. No material deficits were found via the audit.
Following, a discussion began regarding walnut trees in an alley at Harrison & Clark. Mr. Lumbrezer will be meeting with the Village Administrator.
The cost will be about $8,000 for clean out the alley of trees and brush. Jeff Pilliod spoke in positive terms about the clean out of this alley though there is cost involved.
The Cornfest Agreement was then given some updates via the vvillage administrator before moving to discuss a water main break.
The water main break resulted in a discovery that many pipes are going in different directions which will be looked at.
Next, the Planning Commission updated the land use code. Solar and wind use was added as well as a special zoning district for the downtown district.
The Planning Commission was interviewed several times and the report is the final result. No longer will a property owner be required to get a variance for so many different areas as they are written into the code.
The group in charge of this tried to streamline the Land Use Codes and modernize the codes so that they were relevant to today’s property owner and did not contain language about buggy stables and blacksmith shops.
Fencing is an area that the group attempted to make much more uniform as well. It was then stated that the DORA signs have been purchased.
Moving to new business, approval was given by council for the first reading of Ordinance 2023-03 adopting and amending the Updated Codified Ordinance Chapter 150.151, & 152 Land Use Codes.
During public comment, Pilliod asked for the removal of the trees in the alleyway, he indicated that five families (properties) are involved.
There will not be a car show this year. An individual representing the car show indicated that the group was getting too old and too small to continue providing this service to the festival and he wanted to let the council know that they would no longer be providing that service.
The last individual, Chad Branum, talked about the fire department EMT’s. He mentioned two EMT’s who are working that have very little experience.
The EMT’s are now working 36 hours at a time as there is a known shortage of EMTs. He also mentioned that there needs to be a fire safety inspector for Swanton.
He indicated that to be a fire safety inspector, that one needs to become certified by the State of Ohio. Following public comment council moved to adjourn the meeting.
Elaine can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com