By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Bucyrus will be taking a long hard look at forming a county-wide tourism bureau.
Bucyrus Tourism and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Trish Ratliff extended an invitation to council members to join her, Galion, and the commissioners to a meeting to discuss options for a county-wide tourism bureau.
The move to a county-wide tourism bureau would affect not only Bucyrus and Galion, which already have 3-percent bed taxes in place, but could also benefit the county with future growth.
Bucyrus established a bed tax in 1993. Fifty-percent of those monies are given to the local tourism bureau while the other half remains within the city’s general fund. The city received $23,538 in bed tax monies in 2014.
If a county-wide tourism bureau is established, the county commissioners could step in and establish an additional 3-percent bed tax that would cover the entire county. That would put two bed taxes each in Bucyrus and Galion. Two-thirds of the 3-percent county tax would be put towards a tourism bureau – whether that be a local one or a county-wide one – while the remaining third gets set aside for county administration costs or to the municipality.
Law Director Rob Ratliff explained that a county bed-tax would draw in monies from hotels that lay just outside of city limits, such as Hideaway Country Inn, the former Al Smith’s, or McGlone’s.
“You got to have a hotel to have skin in the game,” Ratliff said, “but development is going to come along at those U.S. 30 exits. Most of that isn’t within the city limits. If we got another hotel in town – which I’m sure we all would love – chances are it’s going to be on 30 somewhere. Only very small pieces of 30 are within the city limits.”
Ratliff added that the additional bed tax would be a boon for the city.
“The monetary effect on us is actually going to be to the positive,” Ratliff said. “To our general fund, we may actually see a slight increase. I won’t advocate one way or the other but I think tourism as a whole is more sellable.”
Bucyrus Tourism and Visitors Bureau board member Virginia Hammontree believed a county-wide tourism board would be beneficial to everyone.
“This initiative of becoming a county agency comes from the (Crawford) 20/20 initiatives,” Hammontree said. “The 20/20 initiative has been in effect for six years and we’re just now getting to a point of moving forward with this part of it.”
Hammontree said the Bucyrus tourism bureau has discussed what it would mean for them to become a county-wide bureau.
“We already have several of us on the board that do not live in this city, but we promote this city. This is where we call home no matter where we live. I’m from Crawford County, city of Bucyrus. So it’s a double thing I think we are all involved with.”
She noted that being a tourism bureau does not end at the corporation limits. Rather, Hammontree explained, they would be able to cross promote for each area of the county.
“While you’re in town for the Bratwurst Festival, there’s a Christmas store in Galion or there are other things going on in the county. Bring people in for more than one event – all the way around, the county is going to grow. Each of the cities, each of the entities, as well as the county,” Hammontree added.
She said the Bucyrus tourism board was in favor of a county agency as long as the cities and counties were also in favor of it.
“Right now we’re (Bucyrus) are the only one with hotels,” noted Ratliff. “The more we can sell and the more people we can bring into town, we can tell them something about New Washington or Galion. We’re in the middle of the county. Unless they are going someplace else, that money is coming here and we’re getting half of it for our budget. The more people that come, the more our half is.”
Council members will be attending a meeting next week with the commissioners and other representatives throughout the county and other municipalities to hold initial discussions on a county-wide tourism bureau.
Service/Safety Director Jeff Wagner announced the 2016 Mill and Pave program during the Platting Committee portion of the meeting. He estimated the total cost of the project to come in at $900,000.
The largest portion of the project will be focused on Mansfield Street from Whetstone Street to the eastern corporation line. Council members also requested that rumble strips be installed between the road and the walking path.
Wagner and the city’s engineering firm Brandstetter Carroll budgeted $25,000 for pavement repairs to Whetstone Street. Wagner said they are trying to take care of the worst of the problems right now, but will look at the street again next year due to the heavy traffic that travels along that road. Bruce Brandstetter believed a total reconstruction will have to be done in the near future.
The rest of the 2016 Mill and Pave program includes: Auto Avenue and Penn Avenue, Mary Street from the bridge to Poplar Street, Dudley Street from Sandusky Avenue to Dunn Street, Woodlawn Avenue from Whetstone Street to McKinley Avenue, East Street from Oakwood Avenue to Hopley Avenue, Prospect Street from Hopley Avenue to Southern Avenue, and Sears Street from Mansfield Street to Mary Street.
Wagner also presented quotes from companies pertaining to the City Hall roof. Two quotes came in over $120,000, one for a rubber roof and another that was made of Duralast. A quote for a metal roof and shingles was priced at $453,000.
Committee members debated between going with a rubber roof and having to replace it every 15 to 20 years, or installing a pitched metal roof that came with a higher, immediate price tag. Mayor Jeff Reser noted that residents may not look favorably upon the city asking them for money again after the city sought funding for its new, $25 million water treatment plant.
Council member Bruce Truka requested Brandstetter Carroll to draw up examples of a pitched roof for the committee to review.
The Service Committee will be seeking legislation after having accepted the Crawford County Solid Waste Management District’s 15-year plan and subsequent increase in fees. Truka noted that, overall, the $2 increase per ton will not be felt much by the average citizen. The city was unsure, however, how Santek would respond to the increase.
The Health and Safety Committee discussed improved legislation concerning marijuana. Ratliff explained that the legislation would mirror state statutes on drug paraphernalia and gives the city the ability to levy fines against offenders rather than suspending driver licenses. The legislation was postponed until the next meeting in order to allow the committee members to review it.
The Finance Committee also reviewed the detention pond project proposal that has been sent to the county commissioners for approval. The pond would be located in the southwest corner of the back lot at the fairgrounds in order to alleviate some of the overflow into the sanitary sewer.