(PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
COUNCIL … Members of the Wauseon City Council listen as council member Brandon Tijerina goes over what took place during the Safety and Code Committee meeting.
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
The Wauseon City Council held their meeting on Monday, January 20th. The meeting began at 5:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.
Council first moved to approve minutes from the prior meeting held on January 6th and Committee of the Whole meeting held on January 16th. Committee reports were then discussed, beginning with Safety and Code.
A list of items discussed at the committee meeting included zoning, zoning fees/residential permit fee structure, change to the parade permit section of the codified ordinances, and a revision to the local government handbook.
Council member Brandon Tijerina stated that the code enforcer had put forward a proposal to the fee structure for zoning, and that there had not been any changes made to this section since 1992.
The entire program will be seeing zoning and inspections done in house, rather than having to hire out to Wood County, at least at this time for most everything except for commercial, industrial and electrical. Those items are, however, being looked at. Council member Sarah Heising expressed her view that this will ultimately save the residents of Wauseon money.
As for food trucks, a permit will now be available for operators that includes the option for a seven-consecutive-day permit and another for a seven-day seasonal permit.
The seasonal permit will be for seven days throughout the year, with the operator stating which days they will be back in the city for inspection.
For parade permits and the handbook revision, it was stated that council would be approving changes made to Section 311.02 of the Codified Ordinances, and that the revision would be made for the fire department.
It was explained that a section in the handbook for vacation time was incorrect and needed fixed. Following discussion of those items, council moved to approve each of the stated recommendations.
Lastly, a possible change to the utility vehicle policy was discussed. This item pertained to the fee schedule for residents.
It was stated that the committee looked at changing the fee to only $10.00 for residents who brought their vehicle in by March 1st, and $50.00 for those bringing in the vehicle after March 1st.
Council member Jeremy Simon then spoke to council regarding the Tree Commission meeting that took place on January 7th.
Simon stated that the Tree City application is being reviewed by the regional coordinator and work is still being done to find a new member for the Tree Commission.
A possible new tree mapping option was also discussed that will give the city the ability to know where each tree is located and when it was planted.
Department head reports were then heard by council with Fire Chief Phil Kessler speaking first about the cold weather.
The chief explained that the department has done preventative maintenance on the vehicles to prepare for the cold. He also expressed his hope that households have proper smoke detectors.
Public Service Director Keith Torbet spoke next and stated he was meeting with contractors on Wednesday to go over the new signal beacon on Shoop Avenue.
Mr. Torbet also stated that crews were out taking down trees and fixing issues with the water system as they occurred.
Lastly, Law Director Tom McWatters stated that he had been working with Wood County on getting the contract together between the two organizations, and that the city will be well situated for inspections moving forward.
Following department head reports, council member Simon informed the council that he had attended the WRA meeting held the previous night.
He mentioned that the organization has been focusing more on soccer and is in the process of setting up a dedicated board for this purpose.
Additionally, Simon discussed a topic that arose during the WRA meeting regarding travel soccer teams. He highlighted the growing popularity of travel teams and explained that an opinion was expressed that, if this trend persists, it could potentially impact high school teams in the future.
Following that conversation, council moved to approve the first reading of Resolution 2025-1 authorizing the mayor to enter into a mutual aid agreement for inspection services with Wood County. This measure was approved with emergency provisions.
Lastly, council moved to approve payment of the bills before adjourning at 5:26 p.m.
