City Council tables parking ordinance

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council decided to table legislation that would switch parking from one side of Burt Street for a portion of the street because of possible safety issues during its brief meeting on Monday and also heard an update on city budget talks.

Mayor Don Farmer requested tabling for one meeting an ordinance that would switch parking from the west side of Burt Street to the east side on a portion of the street that runs from the railroad tracks south to Main Street. The legislation was to be read on third and final reading at Monday’s City Council meeting and would likely then have been adopted, since a majority of Council had voted in favor of the measure during administrative votes taken on the issue.

Two Council members had opposed the ordinance. Councilman At-Large Jon Tomlinson said he feels changing parking on only a portion of Burt Street is counterproductive and doesn’t fit in with the city’s overall traffic control philosophy. Fourth Ward Councilman Steve Trittschuh, who chairs Council’s Streets & Alleys Committee, also opposes the ordinance.

The mayor and Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming noted that they found potential safety problems when parking was temporarily switched from the west side to the east in the area where parking is to be changed.

After making the temporary parking switch, Mayor Farmer noted that he and Fleming noted that those traveling south on Burt from either east or west off Main Street can be disoriented by having parking on the east side of the street, while also adding that, because parking isn’t allowed within 20 feet of a stop sign, the parking spot requested by a resident in that area would only be allowed on the north edge of the property in question because of a stop sign located at Center Street.

The mayor requested that Council members drive the area with either him or the safety-service director to see whether they also feel there could be a potential safety problem from the parking change.

Councilman At-Large Kirby Kelly asked Fleming whether a traffic count had been taken on the street, to which the safety-service director replied that the recent railroad crossing projects mandated a traffic count at the crossing, which should be fairly accurate for the area of the street where the proposed parking change would occur, but that he didn’t have those numbers with him for Monday’s meeting.

Council will again take up the legislation at the next meeting on Monday, November 9.

City Council also adopted a list of supplemental appropriations, while Second Ward Councilman Joi Mergy, who chairs the Finance Committee, gave an update on a meeting held prior to the regular Council meeting for the purpose of discussing the city’s temporary budget.

Legislation approving a temporary budget was prepared on Monday, but would be read three times before passage. City Auditor Martha Balyeat noted that there would likely be some changes to the budget measure prior to passage to reflect last-minute changes in city appropriations.

Fleming updated Council on the railroad-crossing project, noting that work was completed on all of the crossings slated for improvements. The safety-service director also noted that city workers still need to put up permanent barriers at crossings that are now closed, and also noted that new warning lights and bars planned for several crossings would likely be installed early next summer.

Fleming also noted that leaf pick-up would begin next week, and reminded city residents that leaves must be placed in biodegradable bags to be collected.

City Law Director John Hatcher noted that the city had received an annexation request back from the Van Wert County Board of Commissioners for property along West Ervin Road that includes Van Wert Bedrooms, The Bridge, and the Brewed Expressions coffee shop, while also updating Council on the status of a lawsuit filed over property located near the intersection of Ervin Road and Washington Street over zoning of that property.