By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
The proposed nuisance ordinance in New Washington received a delay Monday night, as not enough council members were present to continue with a second reading. The second reading will go ahead at the April 28 meeting. Mayor Ben Lash and Council member Paul Forster were both absent.
Concerns were raised regarding the ordinance anyway, with Jerri Lucius in particular voicing her concerns about everything the ordinance would entail and potential enforcement issues. Council only received a draft of the legislation the afternoon of the meeting, so delaying the vote will give them a more appropriate time frame to consider what ramifications, outside of the immediate situation, may arise.
In attempting to address these concerns, there was discussion of paring away portions of the ordinance that did not deal with noise. To this, Village Solicitor John Berger suggested that, if these are Council’s wishes, the ordinance should be redrafted from a “nuisance ordinance” to a “noise ordinance”.
“Nuisance ordinance, noise ordinance, or no ordinance. That’s what we’ve got to decide in two weeks’ time,” Council President Joe Blum said.
When proceedings began on this ordinance at the last meeting, it was hoped that this might bring Teri Stacklin (owner of the tropical birds) to the negotiating table. Council, and those who have complained about the noise of the birds, have attempted repeatedly to solve this outside of passing legislation, but so far to no avail. Police Chief Scott Robertson reported that since the last meeting he has tried to contact Stacklin three times, each without reply. It seems that such a solution is unlikely to come to fruition.
Darrell LaVenia, one of the spokesmen for the party against the noise the birds emit, was on hand to thank Council for any action they may or may not take.
“I would like to thank council for taking action. I don’t really want this action but I appreciate you listening to us,” LaVenia said.
During discussions of the ordinance, and the possibility of settling it outside legislation, LaVenia expressed his repeated frustrations at those attempts. He also informed Council that should no legislation be passed he would be pursuing this issue through laws provided in the Ohio Revised Code. Berger affirmed that this was a valid course of action, but LaVenia hoped Council could resolve something as he fills this is their prerogative.
The renovations to the pool house received a few alterations. Village Clerk Julie Cronau presented some recommendations from contractor Rusty Kehres. Since the village is planning to extend the roof over both changing areas a few years down the road, Kehres recommended not doing any roof work at this time as the current roof will hold a few more years and any work done now would have to be partially undone. This will knock $2,200 off of his estimate of $26,500.
He also recommended that since the floors have been torn up now, it is a good time to replace the doors of the facility, many of which are quite rusty. The total to replace the six doors will be $8,875. The last proposal was to bury the electrical wires so they do not hang over the roofless men’s and women’s changing areas. This work will cost $1,500.
The total cost of the project was originally $36,350 (the additional money to DJ Plumbing and Heating for plumbing and electrical work) and the village appropriated $50,000. The changes will see a subtraction of $2,200 and an addition of $10,375, bringing the new cost of the project to $44,525.
Council approved several expenditures for the Street Department: $800 to have the chipper/shredder sandblasted and painted; $1,980 for mulch at the playground area of the park; and $599 for a 60 gallon utility sprayer for the new UTV. Currently the Village has a 20 gallon sprayer and this causes the street department to make extra trips to refill it. Council also approved purchase of aluminum steps for the recycle truck at $256.95. They will be 50 inches high, 23 inches wide, and have handrails.
Jeffrey Drive will be the first street paved in town when such work begins, and Cronau confirmed that this project is first on the list of Bucyrus Road Materials when they re-open. After this project is completed the Village will get as much work done on the following list until the money runs out for the year: Hill Street, Washington Avenue, Franklin Street, and Apricot Way.