Council to consider fate of committees

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

While the agenda itself was very light, a wide and varied number of topics were covered during Monday night’s lengthy meeting of Van Wert City Council.

One of the discussions centered around the future of council committees, a subject that has been broached at previous meetings. At the suggestion of Councilman At-Large Jeff Kallas, an ordinance will be prepared that, if approved, would eliminate council’s seven three-member committees (finance, streets and alleys, judiciary and annexation, properties and equipment, parks and recreation, health service and safety and economic development) and replace them with special committees on an as-needed basis. Those special committees would be dissolved once the task at hand was complete. The vote to prepare the legislation was 5-2. However, it will ultimately take six “yes” votes to change the current committee system.

“How do we change it, what do we do to make it more effective for us?” Kallas said.

During his report to council, Mayor Ken Markward recommended council members prohibit recreational marijuana dispensaries within the city limits, just as the city previously did with medical marijuana dispensaries. The matter will be discussed during a future meeting. A full story on Markward’s recommendation and the ensuing discussion can be found here.

Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming asked council to increase water tap fees for new construction from $800 to $1,900 for a 3/4 inch line and from $1,200 to $2,350 for a 1-inch line. He noted the current rates have been in place for 20 years. Legislation is expected to be introduced at the next council meeting.

Fleming also said Police Chief Doug Weigle has requested reducing the minimum age for entry level police officers from 21 to 20, while increasing the upper age limit to 42.

“We’re putting some of these people through the Vantage program, they’re coming out and they’re not 21 yet so they’re not eligible for the test, so we want to reduce the minimum age,” Fleming explained.

He also stated the Civil Service Commission will have to agree to the age changes before the matter is considered by city council.

Council members approved an amendment to a salary ordinance, along with a “then and now” invoice for $138,840 for a new dump truck for the street department.

Council will meet at 6:15 p.m. Monday, April 1, to consider a rezoning request along Kear Road, then a special meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. to continue discussion on a possible community pool. Both meetings will take place in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St. The next regular meeting of Van Wert City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 10. The meeting was pushed back two days due to the April 8 solar eclipse.