By: Krystal Smalley
KSmalley@wbcowqel.com

Though the city faced some tough times in 2013, the consensus seemed to be that times were changing by the end of the year.

Bucyrus Mayor Roger Moore gathered city department heads Friday morning to discuss their annual reports.

Moore gave his State of the City report during the meeting. He hit upon the hiring of Rob Ratliff as City Law Director, the expansion of the Neighborhood Watch program, the clean-up and improvement efforts in the city parks, and other events in the city throughout the year. Moore also noted that the city received FAA grant monies to acquire much needed land for the airport, small Ohio Department of Transportation grants for street projects, and a grant to clean up the Shines Theater and start the Shines Art Park.. Plans are also in the works for the Plymouth St./St. Rt. 98 Street Project, which will begin in 2015.

Those projects seemed to pale in comparison with the major project the city administration will be taking on in the near future.

“The administration and City Council for years debated when the right time was to start the process of planning and building the new water treatment plant to supply water to our community,” said Moore.

The plan was announced in 2013 and, though Moore admitted it was never popular to undertake such a significant debt amount or to raise usage rates, the time had come for the much-needed plant. Community leaders and citizens helped to plan the new water treatment plant.

“This process takes hours of hard work, from the planning stages to completion,” said Moore. “It will take the dedication of our staff and employees to see it through.”

The site selection, building height, and treatment process have already been selected. Plans for the loan applications, repayment plans, rate adjustments, and EPA mandates are next on the list to be tackled.

The new water treatment plant will be discussed in depth at a special joint Finance and Service Committee meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Monday.

Many of those in attendance Friday credited the passage of the safety forces levy for the positive outlook for 2014.

“I’m very proud to say once again, thank you Bucyrus, for the passage of our safety forces levy. These funds will be put to good use in much needed updates, equipment, and personnel in our police department and fire department,” said Moore.

His sentiments were echoed by Bucyrus Police Chief Dave Koepke and Fire Chief Jay Keller, whose departments will be the recipients of the funds.

Law Director

Law Director Rob Ratliff reviewed his first year in office. He has had the computer systems in the law director’s office upgraded. City union contracts ended in 2013 and, though the new contracts are not completed yet, they have been handled in-house this year. Ratliff noted that litigation involving the city was down in 2013 as were Municipal Court prosecutions.
“Municipal Court prosecutions have been kind of been down in over the last few years. It’s a surprising trend that we see,” Ratliff said. “It is in part because so many things have become felonies and, I don’t know what the county numbers show, but we see a lot of felony drug arrests and those are things outside the jurisdiction of the Bucyrus law department. Our jurisdiction is limited to misdemeanors that occur within the limits of Bucyrus.”

Ratliff noted there have been a significant reduction in traffic arrests, which he believed could have been attributed to the reduced police force.

There were 1,170 criminal charges in Bucyrus last year, which were all prosecuted in the Law Director’s office. Of those, 595 cases were charged under local ordinances with 473 dealing with income tax prosecutions. Theft cases accounted for 114 of those 595 cases.
Ratliff said the increase in the income tax prosecutions can be directly related to the passage of the safety forces levy and the ability to have more police boots on the ground.

Bucyrus Police Department

Chief Dave Koepke said 2013 could be summed up by the passage of the safety forces levy in November.

Though the year saw some changes, Koepke saw the bottom line: “Every neighborhood has a future. What I look back on in 2013 is visiting 18 different Neighborhood Watch groups, face-to-face with you and your neighbors, hearing your concerns and what you see right out your front door every day. It’s a matter of negativity and optimism,” said Koepke.

Koepke said the city faces the major issue of addiction to opiates but he said the police department can’t arrest its way out of the problem.

“Arresting and incarceration will not solve the problem and it won’t turn the local economy around. Those are people that we’d rather see in the workforce,” Koepke said.

The police department will see an influx of new officers, though not right away. Testing to fill the vacancies will commence on Sunday though many won’t graduate from the academy until May.

Those officers will also have to go through a training period.

The police department will also be seeing new police cruisers on the streets soon. The city plans to purchase four new cruisers each year for the next few years. They will be rotated out every three to four years.

Bucyrus Fire Department

Chief Jay Keller said the Fire Department will use funds from the safety levy to keep on the firefighters that were hired with the S.A.F.E.R. grant. Money from that grant will run out in June.

The department has also undergone routine maintenance and training within its ranks. It has involved itself in community projects with Spooktacular, Serving Up Smiles, and the fire prevention program with the hazard house.

Auditor

Auditor Joyce Schifer said it was a busy tax season in her office. The income tax office is now open every day.

The city was granted an award in 2013 for having a clean audit.

Engineering

Engineering Technician Sean Cassaro discussed the new procedure for installing sewer mains and the Spring Street Project, which was mandated by the Ohio EPA. He also reviewed the tree program and recent mill and pave projects.

Planning and Zoning/Floodplain/Website-IT Administrator

John Rostash discussed all the changes that have taken place on the city’s website, from the interactive zoning map and the Neighborhood Watch pages to the news and announcements page. He highlighted digitizing and archiving 16,000 sheets of plans, the new utility bill layout, and his new role enforcing the Property Maintenance Code.

Waste Water Treatment Plant

Superintendent Terry Spiegel discussed the increasing operating costs for the plant, including the $12,000 per month electric costs. He also talked about the importance of stormwater systems.

Water Filtration Plant

Superintendent Don Fox discussed the increasing importance of the new water treatment plant. The current plant was built in 1948 and, due to flooding over the years, is facing major issues in the concrete and walls.

The new plant will be discussed in depth at the Monday night committee meeting though it was addressed that the plant will be located on Beechgrove Road. It will be a lime softening plant housed in a metal-type building with a brick front.

Sanitation

Jerry Daiber discussed the city receiving an Ohio Public Works loan and city funding to replace the water main on Walnut St. Water main lines will also be replaced on North Sandusky Ave. in 2014.

Fourteen major water main breaks occurred in the city since December.

So far, 500 tons of salt had been used this winter. His department saw 372 overtime hours last year but it has already racked up 670 hours this year.

Daiber said the weather and resources put a strain on his budget in 2013.

Access TV

Gary Hess discussed events that have been covered for Access TV as well as the creation of Rob’s Roundtable, a show that features the Law Director and is taped by Bucyrus High School students.