By Kimberly Gasuras

After over an hour of discussion, a proposed ordinance regarding trees throughout the city was put on hold until the next session of the joint committees.

The ordinance is being considered by the health and safety committee of the Bucyrus City Council and was created by the city’s tree board.

Council member Mark Makeever was not happy about the requirement that residents must pay three times the amount of the cost for a tree to be taken down on the property if the city is forced to do it.

“If a property owner cannot afford to take it down in the first place, then how will they come up with that kind of money to pay back to the city,” Makeever said.

Fellow committee member, Dan Wirebaugh, wants the wording changed from the mayor being in charge to a designee and/or the city safety service director.

The word “occupant” is also being removed from the proposed ordinance so that only property owners are responsible for dealing with trees that pose a risk or danger to residents and not the renters of a property.

An appeals process will also be written into the ordinance as well as a longer time frame between notification by the city and when the property owner must take care of the issue.

For residents who do not comply with the ordinance, charges can be filed in municipal court and depending on the level of misdemeanor charged, a fine up to $1,000 could be ordered along with jail time.

The finance committee is considering joining other cities such as Mansfield and Tiffin in a court battle with the state to prevent the state from receiving the city’s income tax then later funneling it back to the city.

“It will cost us close to $200,000 per year and we cannot afford that,” said city auditor Joyce Schifer.

The public lands and buildings committee is considering whether the Pines Reservoir should be kept under the control of the city, sold to a private resident who is interested in the property, or given to an entity such as the park district.

Discussion on all matters will be continued at the joint regular committee meetings in November.