BUCYRUS — An ad hoc committee was formed during Bucyrus City Council’s online meeting Tuesday evening to create an emergency plan for the city’s safety forces during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The committee will consist of council members Kevin Myers, Mark Makeever and Lisa Alsept and will be chaired by council president Kurt Fankhauser. The city’s three unions, FOP No. 68, IAFF Local No. 1120 and AFSCME Local 1728, each will send a representative to discuss the plan but will not have voting rights on the committee.

A letter that was sent to the police and firefighter unions by city service-safety director Jeff Wagner in which he expressed his dismay that the suggestion by Mayor Jeff Reser to add part-time personnel into the billet from neighboring cities to fill positions immediately during an emergency situation for both the fire and police departments did not receive support from the unions. He requested council and the unions come up with their own pandemic preparedness plan and have it to the administration by Friday at noon.

In response to Wagner, letters were sent to council and read by council clerk Todd Hill during the meeting. Letters were sent from Tom Walker, president of the Bucyrus FOP, Eric Honaker and Kevin Teynor of the AFSCME Local 1728 and Greg Hershey of the firefighter union, IAFF Local 1120.

Fankhauser said the ad hoc committee will meet during council’s joint committee meeting Thursday at 6 PM.

Also during the meeting, a letter from Ashley M. Ousley of Bucyrus was read regarding the closing of the Bucyrus Maryhaven agency on June 1. She said the agency has lost its funding and asked council if there is anything that can be done to help Maryhaven with funding to continue to help local addicts stay in recovery without fear of losing this important support system.

Council also passed the final readings of resolutions for airport repairs being paid for through a grant from the FAA, the Finley Hill easement near Arby’s for landscaping and Govdeals.com authorization to sell city property no longer needed.

Myers made a motion to waive the third reading of two ordinances regarding employee and supervisor manpower which includes raises for nonunion employees. Council did not have enough votes to waive the readings. The ordinances were kept to a second reading.

Council passed ordinances as emergencies regarding various appropriations along with resolutions for material bids, an Ohio Department of Transportation salt bid, the 2020 mill-and-pave schedule and the Ohio 98 waterline project.

Council’s next meeting is May 5 at 7 p.m.