By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

The Bucyrus City Council decided to take advantage of an Ohio Department of Transportation project on Ohio 98 that will extend into city limits.

The city had planned on resurfacing its portion of Ohio 98 last year. When it came to the city’s attention, however, that ODOT would be working on the same project in 2015, it was decided to cut out some redundancy and allow the state to do the work for them.

Council passed a resolution Tuesday night that gave consent to ODOT to complete the project on Ohio 98. The project will resurface Ohio 98 from the Marion County line to the intersection with Ohio 4, and then Ohio 4 from the intersection with Ohio 98 to Charles Street. Roughly 1.72 miles of the project will be within the city’s corporation limits.

While ODOT will be covering all of the preliminary engineering costs, environmental studies costs and bridge related costs, it will only be paying for 80 percent of the roadway construction and construction engineering costs. The city will fund the other 20 percent of those costs. The city will also be footing the bill for items that are deemed unnecessary by the State or Federal Highway Administration for this project, such as curbs, sidewalks, city-owned signs, and guardrail replacements.

Bill Shumaker asked the city council for a letter of support for the rehabilitation of the Indian Creek Apartments on Whetstone Street. Shumaker said they are partnering with groups to rehab the 48-unit apartment complex. The plans include gutting the building and installing new kitchens, baths, and Energy Star heating and cooling systems as well as new roofs, doors, windows, and siding. A community building will also be built that will feature exercise and community rooms.

Shumaker said rural development mortgages will remain in place but to keep the tax credits, they will have to submit an application to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency by Feb. 20. He noted that housing credit applications are very competitive and they typically ask for letters of support from the city’s mayor or city council.

Mayor Jeff Reser had already written up a letter of support for the project. The city council also agreed to draw up a letter to add weight to the proposed project.

Should the assistance come through, Shumaker said they will work on making the building vacant before starting the rehab project, which may take up to 10 months. He expected the construction to begin in May 2016 if the applications were approved.

City council approved four additional pieces of legislation during the Tuesday night meeting. Those ordinances were:
• Ordinance 1-2015: Enterprise Fund reimbursements;
• Ordinance 2-2015: amended Ordinance 24-2014 to reflect wage changes for the Telecommunications Coordinator through 2016;
• Ordinance 3-2015: accepted the proposal of the Walter Drane Company not to exceed $1,589.61 from Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2014. The Walter Drane Company added the 2014 legislative items to the Bucyrus Codified Ordinances;
• Ordinance 4-2015: accepted the replacement pages to the Bucyrus Codified Ordinances.

Though the Finance Committee had discussed salaries raises for the council, council president, mayor, auditor, and law director at its Jan. 8 meeting, that legislation had been pulled. Council President Sis Love stated that they had not discussed the possibility of insurance, though it will be brought up at the next Finance Committee meeting, along with term life insurance.

Four committee meetings have been set. The Health and Safety Committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 22. The Finance Committee will meet that night at 7:30 p.m. There will be a joint Economic Development/Finance Committee meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 27 and a joint Service/Finance Committee meeting at 7 p.m. on Jan. 29.

Council adjourned into an executive session towards the end of the regular council meeting to discuss the consideration of a court action.