{"id":158870,"date":"2022-10-11T03:39:25","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T08:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=158870"},"modified":"2022-10-11T21:52:40","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T02:52:40","slug":"shorthanded-vw-city-council-has-to-change-vote-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2022\/10\/11\/shorthanded-vw-city-council-has-to-change-vote-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Shorthanded City Council changes plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The absence of two members led to a stalemate of sorts during Monday night\u2019s meeting of Van Wert City Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Ward Councilman David Stinnett and At-Large Councilman Bill Marshall both missed the meeting, which changed things when it came to approving financial matters. A motion to approve legislation to transfer certain funds, pay certain vendors and green light an expenditure of over $425,000 for sewer work under Eggerss Stadium needed five votes to pass as an emergency ordinance during Monday\u2019s meeting. However, with the two members absent the vote was 4-1, with Fourth Ward Councilman Andrew Davis voting no over his objection to the city paying for the entire sewer project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nate Green of the Montrose Group talks to council members about Downtown Redevelopment Distrcts. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It was suggested the sewer portion be removed and revisited later in order to approve the other parts of the measure, but that suggestion was met with a 4-1 vote, with First Ward Councilman Jeff Agler casting the dissenting vote and suggesting the ordinance should be approved as presented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou want vendors to not get paid just because they want to exclude one item?\u201d City Auditor Martha Balyeat asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve stated my objection to this in previous meetings as to where I stand on that particular issue and I think it would be in good faith of us to negotiate a fair value with the school district on taking care of that particular project,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThey were not interested in doing that and I don\u2019t feel it\u2019s the right spend of taxpayer money to allocate two sets of funds to the same project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agler pointed out the school district isn\u2019t responsible for the sewer line and a discussion ensued about timing of the project and the ramifications if the 100-year-old sewer line failed and had to be dug up after the renovation project was complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never going to be cheaper than it is now,\u201d Agler stated. \u201cIt\u2019s got to be done, it\u2019s 100 years old and it\u2019s not holding up any other projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safety Service Director Jay Fleming noted the sewer fund has a \u201chealthy balance\u201d and can cover the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

After the discussion, the ordinance was approved on first reading, which only required four votes. It\u2019s scheduled for a second vote at the next council meeting and a third and final reading in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other business, city council agreed to approve a motion allowing city workers to donate up to 40 hours of sick leave time to other city workers in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his report to council, Fleming said the Bonnewitz Avenue project is nearing completion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe striping is all done, there\u2019s some berm work to do and a few driveways to be poured this week but other than that, the project looks good,\u201d Fleming said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said he wants to continue an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation to do bridge inspections in the city and he said the city should save between $15,000-$20,000 by not having to hire an outside consultant to do the inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balyeat told council the city\u2019s general fund is in a positive position and she sent out a first draft of the city\u2019s 2023 budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the meeting, council members went into executive session to discuss a salary issue but no action was taken afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the regular session, a “Council of the Whole” meeting was held to hear about Downtown Redevelopment Districts. Nate Green from the Columbus-based Montrose Group explained how state law allows municipalities to redirect up to 70 percent of future property tax growth in a 10-acre continuous district that includes a certified historic structure or buildings. The property tax growth would come from the improved buildings in the downtown area as part of the Van Wert Forward project. Van Wert Foundation CEO Seth Baker and Property Manager Hall Block also spoke on the subject and answered questions. More discussion is expected at future meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next meeting of Van Wert City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 24, in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor The absence of two members led to a stalemate of sorts during Monday night\u2019s meeting of Van Wert City Council. Second Ward Councilman David Stinnett and At-Large Councilman Bill Marshall both missed the meeting, which changed things when it came to approving financial matters. A motion to approve legislation to transfer certain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 14:26:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158870"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158950,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158870\/revisions\/158950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}