By Mary Faulds
CCN correspondent

GALION – Galion City Council unanimously approved an amendment Tuesday evening to the city’s codified ordinances regarding building design review. It established two boards to review proposed building improvements, combining two previously existing boards into one.

 

This new board will consist of nine members who will vote to grant or deny Certificates of Appropriateness on building improvements for the Uptowne and Historic West Main Street districts.

 

The second board will consist of five members, preferred by council to be residents of the design zone, to oversee the same for the Harding Way West area. Other clarifications were made in the amendment regarding the use of vinyl clad wood windows, which now are allowable.

 

The amendment was the city’s response to previous complaints regarding a vinyl window policy that deemed the windows inconsistent with the look of the city’s historic buildings.

 

In other council business, the council unanimously approved its final reading an ordinance that rezones the Galion City Schools’ property as an Educational Services District.

 

Council also made the first steps on three ordinances regarding a Valero gas station at the intersection of U.S. 30 and State Route 598.

 

The ordinances all related to getting initial funding started to construct streets from 598 and from Brandt Road, which would connect with a four-way intersection that will allow for future road construction and development. The first fronted over $511,000 to the street department from the general fund to start the construction. The advance would be repaid by the end of this calendar year.

 

The second clarified where that funding would come from and detailed infrastructure spending to get the property ready.

 

The third ordinance was an approval to amend to the city’s financial recovery plan, so as to reflect the impact of the Valero station’s construction on the current year’s budget and subsequent years up to 2022.

 

Auditor Brian Treisch was asked about the risk of putting this money up before the construction of the station starts. He responded that while he could not guarantee 100 percent that the station would be built, the Valero company already has invested more than $200,000 on the property, so the investment by the city was secure.

 

All three pieces of legislation unanimously passed in their first reading and will be addressed again at the next council meeting.