VW City Council approves DORA proposal

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council approved four improvement project-related ordinances and adopted a Downtown Outside Recreation Area (DORA) proposal, while also discussing the possibility of placing the charter government issue back on the ballot in November during its first meeting of May on Monday.

Council unanimously approved emergency ordinances authorizing Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming to sign an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation regarding bike/walking path work in the city, and also to seek bids and award contracts for the city’s 2021 street paving program, a street project on Grill Road, Kear Road, and Bonnewitz Avenue, and the Market Street resurfacing project, which would run from Keplar Street to the railroad tracks.

Also legislatively, City Council also gave its approval to an Enterprise Zone abatement request by Alliance Automation. The request has already been signed off on by Van Wert and Vantage boards of education, with final approval needed yet from the Van Wert County Board of Commissioners, which will act on the request on Tuesday.

Council also unanimously approved the proposal for areas downtown where alcoholic beverages could be served and imbibed outside.

Fourth Ward Councilman Andrew Davis also raised the idea of placing the charter government issue back on the ballot in November, citing the election of a new city auditor to replace retiring Auditor Martha Balyeat in 2022. One of the reasons city officials are considering a charter government is that it would allow the city to hire or contract for positions, such as the auditor and law director, which currently are elected positions. Eliminating those positions as elected positions would increase their accountability.

While some Council members were in favor of the putting the issue on the November ballot, others were in favor of waiting until at least next year.

First Ward Councilman Jeff Agler said he felt more needs to be done to educate voters on charter government prior to placing the issue on the ballot, while noting he feels the elected official issue can wait. No decision was made on the charter issue on Monday.

During his report, Mayor Ken Markward designated the week as Apraxia Awareness Week and National Police Week, while May 15 was designated National Police Day. Apraxia of speech negatively affects children who suffer from it in reading, writing, spelling, and other school-related skills.

The mayor also read a statement related to a controversy arising over a request for a temporary “parklet” outside dining area by Main Street Van Wert. The temporary dining area, now located near Brewed Expressions, which had shown interest in the idea, had generated some negativity from those upset that it took up parking spaces in the downtown area and who had blamed Brewed Expressions for the parklet.

“It was obvious to me that only the City could authorize the placement of such objects on public property,” the mayor read. “Because of this, it never occurred to me that anyone would mistakenly jump to the wrong conclusion by incorrectly assuming that the owners of Brewed Expressions had done this.”

Mayor Markward did apologize to City Council, several of whose members were called about the parklet being in the downtown area. Noting that Council’s “lack of prior knowledge may have caused you some unexpected stress.”

The mayor said he felt the issue was similar to closing downtown streets for public events, something that Council is typically not informed about. He also noted that the parklet idea has been very successful so far, adding that he has not received any comments, positive or negative, about the dining area.

Also Monday, Council approved a then-and-now certificate requested by the auditor and held an executive session to discuss the possible sale of city-owned property, with no action taken following the meeting.

The next meeting of Van Wert City Council will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 24, in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St.