By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Virginia Avenue residents pleaded with Bucyrus city officials not to turn an alley into a dead end Tuesday night.
Barb Pritchard and Duane Dible told Bucyrus City Council members that, other than one person, no one in the vicinity of the alley that runs from Center Street to Kaler Avenue to Wise Street wanted it turned into a dead end. She provided council with a petition signed by neighbors against the traffic change.
According to Pritchard, she has been addressing the issue of the alley and her neighbor Richard Johnson with the city since 2004. It finally came to a head when she found out that the Bucyrus City Traffic Commission voted last week to set up barriers and place dead end signs in the alley for a 90-day trial period.
“We have been battling with Mr. Johnson for all these years,” Pritchard said. “We have went forward and now we’re going backwards in it. We don’t understand why.”
Pritchard, who uses the alley, opposed vacating it in 2015. Johnson at the time called the alley a “dangerous situation” and claimed it partly as his.
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An easement was later assessed, but last week’s Traffic Commission saw the issue brought up again and a new solution decided.
“Are we giving in to one man?” an impassioned Pritchard asked.
According to Pritchard, Service/Safety Director Jeff Wagner indicated that the city had spent a lot of money taking Johnson to court without any positive results.
“It’s costing the city too much money so what they’re going to do is give one person their way over all of us that (are) wanting to travel both ends of that alley,” she argued, adding that the alley had never been unsafe.
Law Director Rob Ratliff acknowledged the city was in legal proceedings with Johnson.
“There are issues obviously and we’re trying to get them resolved,” Ratliff said.
“No reason to close it,” commented Councilman Bill O’Rourke. “I think somebody owes the people who live there an explanation.”
Aaron Dobbins, who owns property on Kaler Avenue and was opposed to the barricades, also related conflicts with Johnson. He informed council that he had hours of security video involving Johnson and the relatively low amount of traffic that travels the alley.
“If it’s a problem, don’t take it out on the rest of us,” Pritchard said. “Take it out on the problem.”
A Traffic Commission meeting has been scheduled for 1 p.m. on May 8 in Council Chambers to address the matter.
An alley was not the only area of debate. Pastor Mike Corwin, a former Bucyrus police chief, discussed outdoor alcohol consumption, which has become a major topic of debate in the city, and how the city and residents have responded to certain opinions.
“Some people are kind of dismayed that this issue has turned into almost a vigilante,” Corwin said. “If you’re not the on the right side then things are being said.
“In a democracy, last I checked my books, we were supposed to be able to have conversations without being mean and nasty,” Corwin concluded before putting on his police chief hat.
“If you are going to do it (approve outdoor alcohol consumption),” Corwin said, “please make sure you have all your infrastructure in place.”
The former police chief added that they needed to be prepared for littering, vandalism, fighting, urination, and underage drinking. He advised approving overtime hours for the police department, which he believed could create good community policing with officers on the streets conversing with customers.
Corwin encouraged the council to think ahead before making any decisions.
O’Rourke agreed that it was not right for the public or council to have a “vigilante mindset” when he addressed the lack of a quorum at the last Health and Safety Committee meeting.
Councilman Mark Makeever stressed the importance of having a quorum at this Thursday’s committee meeting and encouraged everyone to come to an amicable agreement.
RELATED CONTENT: O’Rourke criticized for not attending meeting on alcohol issue
Barb Scott with the Bucyrus Public Library, Josh Noblet with the Crawford County United Way, and Jeannette Smakal spoke on the Crawford Reads 20 program, which is collecting books to distribute at the summer lunch programs across the county. Crawford Reads 20 is a county-wide literacy program that encourages everyone to read to children 20 minutes each day.
Books can be dropped off at Bucyrus City Hall and the Bucyrus Public Library. More information about the program and drop-off locations can be found by calling Smakal at 419-262-8352.
Council passed five pieces of legislation during the meeting: a tax collection contract with Capital Recovery Systems, Inc.; a tax collection fee for unpaid municipal income taxes, fines, and interests owed to the city; a Community Development Block Grant for the Washington Square lampposts; a Water Supply Revolving Loan Account application; and an ODOT road salt contract.