City Council holds last meeting of 2017

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council went out with a bang — literally — as Council President Pete Weir, presiding over his final meeting in that position, distributed “poppers” that city officials set off to end Council’s last meeting of the year on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Council moved forward on legislation upping downtown parking fines to $40, as well as approving end-of-year housekeeping supplemental appropriations

During his report, Mayor Jerry Mazur sought guidance from Law Director John Hatcher on who can be appointed to fill a vacancy on the City Board of Zoning Appeals. The mayor noted that the person leaving the board is a registered engineer, as required, but wondered if someone with lesser credentials could be appointed to the board.

Hatcher said he would research the ordinance and provide an answer to the mayor’s question.

The law director also noted that he plans to work on changes to city codes that would improve enforcement of local nuisance ordinances, particularly those dealing with multiple offenders, and also plans to change current law to make the collection of delinquent income taxes more effective.

Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming sought changes to ordinances dealing with lot coverage requirements and lighted signs in the city.

Fleming noted that the requirement that a company building on an I-2 zoned lot would need to cover 20 percent of the lot with a structure was something that he and Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Stacy Adam felt could hurt future development efforts and should be removed.

He also sought to amend a section dealing that prohibited lighted signs in the city to allow the city zoning inspector to make the final decision on whether such signs could be placed in commercial or industrial areas of the city.

A Judicial and Annexation Committee meeting will be held to discuss those changes.

Council also voted to prepare an ordinance making changes to the city’s taxicab regulations brought forward by Judicial and Annexation Committee Chair Jon Tomlinson.

Also Wednesday, Health-Service-Safety Committee Bill Marshall noted that code violations were down 28 percent from last year, from approximately 550 in 2016 to approximately 400 this year, and thanked Hatcher and City Engineering Department Supervisor Bill Lawson for their efforts in enforcing city ordinances dealing with grass, trash, and junk violations.

City Council also approved legislation setting city health insurance rates and employee contributions, as well as a then-and-now certificate and year-end supplemental appropriations requested by City Auditor Martha Balyeat.

Legislation expanding the downtown redevelopment district and amending current legislation dealing with the district was also adopted on third and final reading, while ordinances raising water and sewer rates and making temporary appropriations were also passed on second and final reading.

A city resident who lives on U.S. 127 also attended the meeting to complain about her sewer rates, which she said were much higher than most city residents.

The next meeting of Van Wert City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, January 8, 2018, in Council Chambers.