By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
A joint session of the Bucyrus City Council Committees was held Monday night in order to send legislation to Council for vote.
The Health and Safety Committee approved for vote by Council the renewal of liquor permits after Police Chief Dave Koepke said that he had no objections to the establishments that have the permits.
Progress doesn’t always means more. In the case of the new Bucyrus water treatment plant it means less – as in less land farmed means less rent collected.
The Public Land and Buildings Committee voted to amend the lease with Charles Brinkman for 44 acres of city-owned land. The lease was amended so that Brinkman is not paying for 16.4 acres being used by the city for the water treatment plant. The original agreement for rent was $11,050 per year; however, due to the reduction of land, the city will charge Brinkman $6,931.36 for the rent of 27.6 tillable acres.
During its session of the meeting, the Finance Committee also approved the amendment.
Koepke asked the Public Lands and Buildings Committee about using the area of the current water plant as a park when it is decommissioned. Council member John Walker dismissed the idea for the time being saying that it would be two years down the road.
City Law Director Rob Ratliff disagreed, saying that the city needed long-term planning for the area and that it is something that the administration could look into.
The Platting Committee approved, for a City Council vote, the appointment of Rodney Stride to the Board of Zoning and Appeals. Stride would replace Janet Herman who has relocated from the city. Hermen’s term ends in 2018.
The Finance Committee approved appropriations in reductions in order to get grant monies in order. These included a reduction of $38,000 in Contractual Services in Lands and Buildings, $25,000 in Contractual Services and $45,000 in Capital Outlay for the airport grant. Reductions of $105,000 and $24,360 were approved for the 2014 CHIP-CDBG Grant, and a reduction of $205,500 and $17,640 in the Contractual Services for the 2014 CHIP-Home Grant.
City Auditor Joyce Schifer explained that the CHIP and CDBG grants don’t need to be tracked as it benefited the residents of Bucyrus, and not the city.
A reduction of $282,506 in Capital Outlay for the Schines Theatre demolition was approved. Schifer noted that those monies would be transferred into next year’s budget for the art park.
A reduction of $158,500 was also approved by the Finance Committee for the Plymouth Street and East Street waterline. The reduction request is due to the city not spending that money on the project this year, and will be moved into next year’s budget.
The Ad-Hoc Committee approved the new proposal for Income Tax legislation. That, too, must be voted on by the full City Council. While explaining the new legislation, Ratliff went through a four-page summary of the new legislation discussing various nuances to the new tax legislation including changes in definitions, ways that taxes acre collected, and audit procedures.
Ratliff also noted that the new tax legislation increases penalties for delinquencies, which could result in jail time for residents who don’t pay or file for taxes.
City Council President Sis Love explained that bigger cities are going to be hit hardest with Dayton having a potential loss of $2 million.
“I anticipate a big city is going to sue,” Love said. “Ohio is home rule. The Ohio Municipal League is going to stand by the cities.”
The new legislation needs to be approved by City Council by Jan. 1.