By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com

It was a busy night for legislation in Galion with appropriations and purchases providing some of the more notable figures. However it was arguably the ordinance that was referred back to committee that grabbed the lion’s share of the attention.

Ordinance 2015-64 was up for its second reading, and after some vigorous debate at the last meeting it came back to the table with a proposed alteration. The original ordinance to come to the table would have changed the provision that citizens had to purchase meter bases through the city. This was enacted to provided quality control and continuity of parts for the city’s electric line department. The new ordinance would allow citizens to purchase meter bases however they wished. The idea behind this was to give citizens some options when making purchases.

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When 2015-64 came up for its second reading, Mike Richart put forth a proposal to allow citizens to purchase from other sources, so long as they purchased the Millbank brand, the brand that they city has long used.

This proposal received mixed reviews. Tony Sloan, of the line department, added that this provision will not necessarily ensure that the city has parts on hand. Millbank makes a wide variety of these meter boxes, and some purchased from other sources may not match up with what the city has prepared for.

Bob Johnson was vocal in his opposition to any change in the way the law is currently established.

“I’m asking for conformity,” Johnson said.

He was supported in this stance by Mayor Tom O’Leary and council member Shirley Clark. Johnson worried about what extra time constraints this action would put upon his already stretched thin office to process this new range of permits that would result.

O’Leary also like the idea of meter boxes being purchased through the city, as it provides another check point for city offices when changes are made to electrical systems. This gives the city oversight to ensure that inappropriate changes are not being made, such as lowering amperage below what is a necessary amount.

In the end the ordinance was removed and referred back to committee.

Some large changes were made to appropriations, but it was primarily money being around to appropriate funds. $60,000 that had been set aside for debt service payments for Portland Way South. However, the city elected to pay that project out of pocket, so this money can now be redirected to work for Ohio 61. In other appropriations $12,000 was appropriated to receive the grant money for police body cameras and $19,000 was moved to the Parks Fund.

The other large number was $360,827 that was moved to be put toward local paving projects. Much of this came from an excess in the Workmen’s Compensation Fund. These funding changes will allow Safety Service Director John Swain to proceed to market with about $400,000 worth of paving work. Involved with this work will be about $90,000 of storm water repair and catch basin work in the Union to Market stretch.

Council also approved the purchase of a digger truck and a bucket truck. The digger came in at $209,346 and the bucket at $110,505. These vehicles undergo heavy use by the line department and the current models date from 1985.

The Shumaker Ditch project will be going ahead soon at a cost not to exceed $32,305. O’Leary added that the city should be able to bring that project in well below that number, as they will be lending manpower and equipment to help ease the cost.

Robert Baxter of the Galion Airport Management Company LLC provided council with an interesting proposal during public comment. His group, composed of like-minded, “aviation-oriented” people, is hoping to take over the management of the airport from the city.

They hope to boost profile and operations of the airport, increasing its air space and occupancy. Details on how this would be accomplished were in short supply, but it was an introductory meeting. A large part of the project is waiting on a land swap deal that would expand the hangar space. O’Leary acknowledged that the city is aiding in getting this land swap deal accomplished.