By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
The City of Galion welcomed two lieutenants to its police force at the regular City Council meeting Tuesday night. John Bourne and Joe Cinadr took their oaths of office in front of friends and family. Mayor Thomas O’Leary administered the oaths with Police Chief Brian Saterfield standing by.
Expressing his pride at their achievement, Saterfield reflected fondly that, “John was one of the first officers I hired as police chief back in 2006.”
Their swearing in brings Galion to the full staff of four police lieutenants.
City Council took steps to repopulate the Housing Council, with an eye toward giving the board a city wide jurisdiction. The purpose of the board is to encourage growth in the city by providing property tax abatements to worthy housing and business projects. The board was last in use during the city manager era, and helped encourage investment in the central hotel.
The city administration wants to reinstate this board to have another outlet of encouraging growth in the city. It will be composed of two appointments by the mayor, two appointments by the City Council, and one by the Health Department. Once assembled, Housing Council will then pick two members at large to join them. They will be in charge of determining which groups are viable candidates for such an abatement, and then determine what sort of abatements to offer.
Council member Thomas Fellner was particularly happy to see this board reinstated. “I think getting our committees in order shows we are taking things seriously and looking at outside options.”
Another piece of legislation aimed at encouraging growth was the removal of one of the city’s bed taxes. Ordinance 2016-7 was up for its second reading, but council elected to move it on to its final reading. This ordinance the city wide 3-percent bed tax that contributed to the general fund. This move was made to show good faith in the ongoing negotiations with the hotel project on 598. The city has another bed tax on the books that will be looked at in the coming months, with an eye toward removing that one as well.
“This is one of the moving parts in advance of bringing the hotel into town,” O’Leary said.
Council kept ordinance 2016-6 moving along on its second reading. This piece of legislation will allow for a rather substantial shifting of funds from the investment group back to the general fund PNC. Auditor Brian Treisch explained the $3 million moving of funds as a step to maintain a healthy cash balance in the fund in question. He was careful to point out that the city is “nowhere close,” to being short in these funds, but just want to ensure a proper cash balance.
A public hearing regarding the rezoning of a portion of Hesby Drive from residential to commercial was held before the regular meeting. The lots in question are at the northeast corner and southeast corner of Hesby and Drive and Heise Park Lane. This will bring the area in line with most of the rest of the area which is already commercial. No objections were voiced, and Sharon Baldinger of the Planning and Zoning Commission said that her group had given the rezone its approval. The issue will be passed along to regular council for ratification.
The upcoming Parks Committee meeting will discuss some major issues, chief among them the issue of sidewalk maintenance. O’Leary hinted at a lengthy discussion of this issue and stressed its importance for the community as a whole. Other topics to be discussed are the addition of handicap bathrooms to the parks and the possible closing of the railroad crossing on Church Street.