BUCYRUS — Bucyrus resident Kathy Fuller came to the Bucyrus City Council Joint Committee meeting Thursday evening to learn more about repairs being done to the former Ohio Department of Transportation facility on West Irving Street.
Council voted to purchase the facility for $1 in April.
“We were told that no money would be put into the property until the other city properties were sold,” Fuller said.
Although Mayor Jeff Reser, Safety-Service Director Jeff Wagner and City Law Director Rob Ratliff were not present at the council committee meetings, Reser previously said the need arose to use the salt dome building at the former ODOT property before the sale of the West Mary Street and Marion Road properties.
“I don’t make every decision for the city,” Reser previously said. “The city’s street superintendent and city safety service director made the decision to repair the roof of the salt dome at the former ODOT property, so we can use it this season to store salt.”
Reser said the building located on Isaac-Beal Road where the city currently stores road salt currently is full.
“We felt like we needed to order more while we can get the discount since predictions for this winter appear that it may be a tough one,” Reser previously had said.
During the meeting, Bucyrus City Auditor Joyce Schifer said the salt is purchased through a state discount program and a minimum amount is required to order.
“The price of salt is set to double, so we had to take advantage of this while we could,” Schifer said.
Councilmember Dan Wirebaugh said the administration can do whatever it wants without council approval is the purchase is under $50,000.
Fuller said she recently put new roofs on several properties she owns and did not believe the cost for a salt dome roof is only $12,000 as stated previously by city service safety director Jeff Wagner.
“I have a hard time believing it,” Fuller said.
In other council business, councilmember Kevin Myers said repairs to the city-owned building that houses the ambulance service on Plymouth Street are underway.
He said Home Sheet Metal is inspecting the building’s roof to determine if repairs can be made to last until next year before a new roof has to be installed. He also said Insta-Clean was hired to thoroughly clean the building and new ceiling tiles were ordered.
“They (city administration) are looking for a licensed mold inspector to check for mold,” Myers said.
Doug Foght, chair of the economic development committee, said plans are ongoing to create a city Community Improvement Corporation that will be separate from the one already in place by the county.
“This would allow the city to sell city-owned properties without having to go out for bid,” Foght said. “The city will have control over how the properties are developed also.”
Some council members requested more information before voting on the issue. Foght said a special committee meeting will occur before the next regular council meeting to vote on proposed legislation to create the CIC.
Legislation for updates to the city’s codified ordinances and various appropriations was approved to be voted on by the entire council at the next meeting Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.