VW City Council approves TIF agreement

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council approved a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) related to The Landing at Dickinson Farms and also heard complaints from city workers who questioned the way raises were given in the last salary contract.

Council members gave the final approval on third and final reading to an ordinance creating a TIF incentive district for the property, located behind Chief Supermarket on Van Wert-Decatur Road, and creating a fund for property tax payments made by what is now G-5 Partners, developer of the land, which will be used for capital improvements to the property, such as streets.

Approximately 11 workers from the Street, Maintenance, and Parks departments were on hand to ask about pay raises, specifically why some received more than others in pay raises.

Council President Jon Tomlinson provided an answer to the question, noting that those with special licenses, such as water and sewer workers, received bigger raises than others because salaries for those positions are more competitive than regular municipal workers.

“The reason comes down to economics, from a city standpoint,” Tomlinson explained. “When there are positions or individuals who have licenses, those positions ultimately become in higher demand, It’s not about whether a job is more important than another job.”

The Council president noted that the city has lost some licensed workers to neighboring communities because local salaries were not competitive to what those communities could pay licensed workers.

One worker, Joe Hire, noted that workers in the above departments felt like they were not receiving the pay they deserved, and noted that many workers need to obtain commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) for their work.

“This is our license that we are required to have,” Hired said, noting that workers in the above departments are on the job every day and they feel they deserve better compensation for their work.

“Everybody else is getting these pay raises and we’re still way down here, and we’re still out there doing what we’re supposed to be doing,” he added. “We have to have CDLs or we can’t clean the streets for all you people to go to work.”

During his report, Mayor Jerry Mazur talked about the possibility of transitioning city from a statutory form of government to a charter city, noting that there were a number of advantages to doing so, especially related to Civil Service positions.

City Council, meeting as a committee of the whole, will hear a presentation on the process by a representative of the Ohio Municipal League at 6 p.m. Monday, October 29, in Council Chambers.

Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming reported on the Jefferson Street reconstruction project scheduled for 2019, noting that work to replace the bridge on Jefferson Street, just north of the S.F. Goedde Building, would begin next May after school ends for the school year.

The city will pay just $38,775 on the project, because the project is federally funded.

Council also discussed whether cigarette butts should be considered litter, as defined by city ordinance, while also voting to include grass clippings and leaves as materials that should not be placed on city streets.

Council is also trying to decide what the bottom limit should be for building permits, with some members supporting a limit of $3,500 and others $5,000. More discussion will take place on that issue in the future.

Hire, who also is an owner of the Old South Tavern, complained about people who dump their trash in his and other downtown businesses’ dumpsters. Hire was also concerned that downtown businesses would be liable for cigarette butts thrown on their property, if they were considered trash or litter.

Law Director John Hatcher said trash dumping is a problem, but that he has prosecuted several people for doing so when they have been caught in the act.

Snow removal legislation was also introduced by Council on Monday and it was read for the first time later in the meeting.

Also Monday, Bonnie Thatcher and Sara Lape, Democratic candidates for county treasurer and county auditor, respectively, spoke to Council about their campaigns and their qualifications for their positions.

The next meeting of Van Wert City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 14, because that Monday is Veterans Day, a city holiday.