City Council approves ODOT land donation

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council approved legislation allowing Mayor Ken Markward to sign a quit-claim deed to donate 0.191 acre of city-owned property to the Ohio Department of Transportation. The land donation is in connection with an ODOT project in that area.

Council also approved a then-and-now certificate totaling $4,458 for the Van Wert Fire Department.

During his report, Mayor Markward noted that the final brush pick-up of the year will begin next Monday, August 31. There are limits on what will be collected during the brush pick-up. The city will not pick up limbs larger than four inches in diameter or more than 10 feet long, brush left behind by professional tree trimmers or private contractors, brush placed in bags or boxes, or leaves.

The mayor also stated that 2020 U.S. Census workers will be visiting local households through the end of September. An estimated 70 percent of households have responded to the 2020 Census.

He also said the Van Wert County Foundation is seeking additional community input until the end of August on its Van Wert Forward downtown development project, and also added that there will be a Zoom meeting with Garry Hunter of the Ohio Municipal League concerning the charter government ballot issue at 10 a.m. Friday, August 28.

The mayor also mentioned an Eagle Scout project by Liam Shartzer that would beautify the former Clark service station property bounded by Jackson and Main streets.

Health-Service-Safety Committee Chair Bill Marshall and Law Director John Hatcher again discussed the code enforcement process. Marshall noted that, while the city has been making progress on code issues, there are some serial violators that haven’t fixed problems for which they have been cited. Hatcher noted that the city can levy per-day fines that would fine violators for each day they are not in compliance. While the city hasn’t done so to this point, the law director said it’s a very real possibility — especially with chronic violators.

“We really just want results, just fix the problem,” Marshall said.

Economic Development Chairman Jeff Kallas noted that the Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation (VWAEDC) has a list of developable properties acquired by the land bank and noted anyone interested can access the list at http://vwed.com/landbank  

Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming gave an update on the north water tower painting project, and the HVAC project at the Municipal Building, and also briefly mentioned a Leeson Avenue street project coming in the future.

City Auditor Martha Balyeat noted that the Hotel-Motel Tax was down this year due to low occupancy of local hotels and motels. While that likely won’t be a concern for this year, or probably even next year, since there is currently a $100,000 carryover in the fund, the auditor did say that it could be a concern down the road. Council also talked about going from a flat-rate donation to agencies such as Main Street Van Wert and the Airport Authority, to a percentage of money received in the Hotel-Motel Tax Fund.

The next meeting of Van Wert City Council will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 8, in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Van Wert Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St.