GALION — Galion City Council passed five of the six proposed ordinances and two resolutions during its meeting Tuesday evening.

Two of those ordinances served as hot topics for debate.

Ordinance 2020-6, an ordinance amending Ordinance No. 2019-85 (permanent 2020 appropriations) by appropriating funds from unappropriated funds, failed to obtain the six needed votes to be passed with an emergency clause, after a 4-3 vote was collected.

Council members Gail Baldinger, Mark Triplett, and Ken Bodkins voted no. The ordinance will be moved on to a second reading.

Ordinance 2019-85 was passed on Dec. 23, it and allowed for $10,000 be appropriated to the Health Department Fund—Public Health-General Health/Salaries and Wages—Employees—Full Time. It also allowed for $2,200 be appropriated to the Health Department Fund—Public Health-General Health/Benefits—PERS.

“What this ordinance does is, last fall they submitted, to the auditor, rates of pay/a budget that had 2.5 percent (raise) not knowing what the union contracts would produce,” Galion mayor Tom O’Leary said. “What this ordinance does is give this handful of exempt employees a 5% non-merit-based raise.”

O’Leary questioned why the ordinance unanimously was voted out of the finance committee but failed to pass Tuesday. Baldinger replied that there were things brought up about it during the meeting that had not come up in committee, and council members would like more time to think it over.

The next ordinance, Ordinance No. 2020-7 was related to 2020-6 in that it is an ordinance also amending Ordinance No. 2019-85 (permanent 2020 appropriations) by appropriating funds in the general fund from unappropriated funds and transferring funds to the health department.

This ordinance allotted the money from the previous ordinance to be moved and used by the health department.

Council members said they were under the impression that they were voting on the 2.5-percent raise increase, when the health department already set that in motion, and it would be happening either way. Council just voting to move that money.

Ordinance 2020-6 is expected to be passed at the next meeting.

Also during the meeting, council accepted new, modified council rules that council member Tammy Erlsten and Galion law director Thomas Palmer looked into and changed. One of the main changes was the inclusion of social media and stating that council members should refrain from making personal, slanderous, threatening, abusive, belligerent, or disparaging comments of any kind.