VW Council again discusses development

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Economic development — or at least the city-county disconnect over economic development — was again a topic of discussion for Van Wert City Council on Monday.

Third Ward Councilman Jerry Mazur led a discussion on the subject, stating that he and Second Ward Councilman Joi Mergy are seeking a meeting to negotiate an economic development agreement with the county that would put both development programs back on the same page.

In addition, Mazur also asked that Council President Ken Mengerink send a letter to the Ohio State University Extension terminating the city’s economic development agreement, which he said was improperly signed by Mayor Don Farmer without Council’s input.

Mazur also sought to have the mayor’s authority to enter into an agreement with OSU Extension terminated and to have that power vested in the council president’s position, but discovered that could not be done, since a legislative body such as City Council does not have the authority to enter into contracts.

An alternate suggestion was then proposed to have another member of the administration sign development agreements.

During his presentation, Mazur said he felt having competing city and county economic development efforts sent a negative message to prospective businesses seeking to locate here, while Staci Kaufman, current president of the Van Wert County Economic Development Advisory Group, which oversees the OSU Extension agreement, said she felt the commissioners were at fault for any negative message, noting that it was the county that unilaterally decided to end its association with OSU Extension without discussing the matter beforehand.

Councilman At-Large Stan Agler agreed. “It’s not because we pushed them in the water, they jumped in,” he added.

For his part, Mayor Farmer said he would veto any action by Council to cancel the OSU Extension agreement. Overriding that veto would take a two-thirds majority (five votes) of Council. It was unclear, at this time, whether Council has such a majority, although there were at least four of seven Council members who spoke in favor of coming to some sort of an agreement with the Van Wert County commissioners on economic development.

Fourth Ward Councilman Steve Trittschuh did not voice an opinion on the issue, while Councilman At-Large Jon Tomlinson and Agler both appear to support the current economic development agreement with the OSU Extension.

Tomlinson was obviously upset that Mazur had not contacted him prior to Monday’s special meeting to discuss the issue, noting he felt blindsided by Mazur’s proposal. Mergy countered by saying she had felt the same way at Council’s last meeting when Mayor Farmer announced that he had signed a new agreement with OSU Extension without consulting her and other Council members.

Both sides have sought a legal opinion from Law Director John Hatcher on whether the new agreement with OSU Extension is valid, and Hatcher said he would draft an opinion by Council’s March 24 meeting.

First Ward Councilman John Marshall spoke for a number of people when he said some agreement was needed between the city and county on economic development.

“The bottom line, in my opinion … the key to this mess that we’re in … is to get the county commissioners and City Council (together),” Marshall said, adding, “I think the two entities can get a lot more done by simply working together, working out the problems … I’m sure it can be done.”

Longtime businessman and economic development volunteer Bernie Nieman, one of a number of local business and development people who attended the meeting, agreed with Marshall. “We can’t afford to fight between ourselves and the county commissioners,” Nieman said. “I don’t know how you fix that, but let’s get the people together and talk about it.”

More discussion of the subject will likely occur at the next Council meeting, following Hatcher’s legal opinion on the Extension contract with the city.

Also during Monday’s meeting, City Council took care of some financial business, approving a then-and-now certificate, and also heard a proposal from local resident Phil Burnett on the possibility of having a Renewable Energy Fair in conjunction with the Van Wert County Fair.

Auditor Martha Balyeat noted that income tax revenue from employees who file W-2 forms was up, noting that was a good sign for the local economy.