BUCYRUS — Steve Ebersole, one of the owners of Stow-Away Storage in the 1800 block of East Mansfield Street, came to the Bucyrus City Council Joint Committee meeting Thursday evening to speak to the Platting Committee about his plans to expand the business.

Ebersole said he is purchasing land from Ohio Specialty Services to be able to expand his business. The move will require a rezoning change from general business to limited industrial commercial for the properties.

The committee set a public hearing date of Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. to address the issue.

A heated exchange took place between council member Dan Wirebaugh and Mayor Jeff Reser during a discussion to change the residency requirements for the city’s safety service director positions.

“This did not come up until Jeff Wagner bought a house in Sulphur Springs,” Wirebaugh said.

Reser said that is not the reason for the change.

“By increasing the distance, a person can live outside the city limits, it opens up the pool of people to choose from for the job in the future,” said Reser, who suggested raising the limit to 50 or 60 miles to include the Columbus area.

The finance committee approved legislation to be brought before council for a vote to change the rule from three miles outside the city limits to 20 miles, keeping with the current residency requirement for police officers and firefighters.

After speaking with business owners in the Washington Square area, legislation was approved by the Health and Safety Committee to be voted on by council to allow an AEP charging station to be created in the parking lot east of Millennium Park. The electric bill for the station will be paid by the Crawford Partnership and the station is being funded through a $94,000 grant from AEP with no cost to the city.

“I checked out two apps for the charging stations and they have the time listed in 15-minute increments,” Committee chair Kevin Myers said. “This will bring people into the city from Route 30 and Route 4 to use the station. They may shop and eat while they are waiting on their vehicle to charge which will be good for the city.”

The Finance Committee will meet in a special session to discuss the 2020 budget Nov. 25 at 3:30 p.m. in City Hall’s council chambers, 500 S. Sandusky Ave. Reser called the meeting.

Council’s next meeting is Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.