{"id":192294,"date":"2025-04-28T21:53:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T02:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=192294"},"modified":"2025-04-28T21:53:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T02:53:37","slug":"payments-approved-raises-discussed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/04\/28\/payments-approved-raises-discussed\/","title":{"rendered":"Payments approved, raises discussed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

A possible pay increase for members of Van Wert City Council was discussed at some length Monday night. More discussion and possible action could take place at future meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to Monday\u2019s regular meeting of Van Wert City Council, a \u201cCouncil of the Whole\u201d meeting was held to address potential raises, which would go into effect with the next term, which begins in January, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Jana Ringwald proposes a $460 raise for members of Van Wert City Council. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Councilwoman At-Large Jana Ringwald suggested tying council salaries to 10 percent of the city\u2019s average household income, which would increase the salary by $460, to $5,360 per year. If the average income decreases, salaries of council members could decrease as well. She also noted council duties can\u2019t be considered hourly, or just by meetings alone. Such as argument was made earlier this year on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t put that assignment of hours on this role,\u201d she explained. \u201cYou\u2019re going to talk to that person at the grocery store, you\u2019re going to get that phone call from a neighbor, you\u2019re going to jump in your car and do some investigating, you\u2019re going to have these conversations as an elected official with your constituents and how do you define that in the case of time?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also said an increase in pay could help attract professional individuals or people with a desire to improve the community. Council\u2019s last pay raise came in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No action was taken after the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the regular meeting, council members approved an emergency ordinance for a $60,000 payment to the Van Wert County Regional Airport\u2019s runway expansion project, along with a $10,000 allocation to the Business Development Corporation of Van Wert County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Council heard the first of three readings of a pair of ordinances dealing with the placement of data centers. If ultimately approved, such facilities will be permited in I-2 general industrial zoned areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Ken Markward reminded residents that the city\u2019s first brush pickup of 2025 will begin next Monday, May 5, and will likely last the week. Brush should be placed by the curb by 7 a.m. Monday. The city will not pick up limbs larger than four inches in diameter or more than four feet long. He also noted the traffic light at the intersection of E. Main St. and Cherry St., which is currently in flashing mode, will be turned off and bagged on Thursday, as the transition continues to a two-way stop at the intersection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming concrete curb pouring on the Bonnewitz Ave. extension project should begin next week, and final top course work on Leeson Ave. should get underway May 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law Director John Hatcher issued a reminder that Ohio\u2019s OVI laws recently changed and have become more stringent (see story here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next meeting of Van Wert City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 12, 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 A possible pay increase for members of Van Wert City Council was discussed at some length Monday night. More discussion and possible action could take place at future meetings. Prior to Monday\u2019s regular meeting of Van Wert City Council, a \u201cCouncil of the Whole\u201d meeting was held to address potential raises, which […]<\/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-192294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 17:17:23","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\/192294","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=192294"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192301,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192294\/revisions\/192301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}