{"id":37608,"date":"2013-04-23T07:31:39","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T12:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=37608"},"modified":"2013-04-24T06:50:45","modified_gmt":"2013-04-24T11:50:45","slug":"council-discusses-west-main-street-project-vision-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2013\/04\/23\/council-discusses-west-main-street-project-vision-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Council discusses West Main St. project"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Van Wert City Council discuss the upcoming West Main Street reconstruction project, as well as economic development and longer terms for Council members during its meeting Monday in Council Chambers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Van Wert Safety Service Director Jay Fleming listens to concerns from local businessman Jerry Brown about the West Main Street reconstruction project. (Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

City Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming talked about the planned start Monday, April 29, of the West Main Street reconstruction project, while local businessman Jerry Brown, owner of B & K Root Beer Stand, voiced his concerns that the public would continue to have access to his business while street construction was ongoing this summer.<\/p>\n

Fleming said contractors would maintain access to businesses for nearly all of the construction period, with only a brief period being a problem while water lines were being installed. Fleming did note that Sibley Street would remain open to Main, which would help both B & K and Wild Hare BBQ, since that street leads directly to those two businesses.<\/p>\n

The first phase of the project, which would run from Shannon Street to Burt Street, begins next Monday and should be completed by the middle of July. Phase II, which would go to Fisher Avenue, would then begin and run through the remainder of the summer and early fall.<\/p>\n

Mayor Don Farmer talked about how Vision Park is a big asset to the city and advocated raising the job credit for those who purchase land in the park from $250 to $500 to make the site more attractive to potential businesses. The land is currently being sold through the Community Improvement Corporation for $6,000 an acre, and the job credit would provide a further incentive to businesses to locate here, Mayor Farmer noted, adding that incentives are needed to give businesses a reason to locate here, rather in Indiana, which provides a number of incentives for economic development.<\/p>\n

Mayor Farmer said there are businesses currently interested in the site that are looking to make decisions on where to locate in the next 30 days.<\/p>\n

The site is also one of the focuses for Van Wert Economic Development Director Cindy Leis, who also provided an update to Council earlier in the evening.<\/p>\n

Also Monday, Council approved legislation allowing Fleming to seek bids and award contracts to install a traffic light at the intersection of Fox Road and Shannon Street. Streets and Alleys Committee Chair Pete Weir said the light, which would cost an estimated $150,000, was necessary because of the heave traffic seen at the intersection, especially during school start and end times.<\/p>\n

During a Judiciary and Annexation Committee meeting, Council members discussed the option of going to four-year City Council terms, in order to provide more continuity on the city\u2019s legislative body. It was noted that other area cities, including Delphos and Celina, have already gone to four-year Council terms. More discussion is planned for the proposal, which could not be implemented until the year 2015, because of state requirements that such changes be done only in odd-numbered years.<\/p>\n

Council also held a discussion on Ohio House Bill 5, which calls for providing uniformity in tax forms across the state. State Representative Tony Burkley was at the meeting to answer questions from Council, which later approved legislation opposing the bill\u2019s passage on the grounds that it would take approximately $40,000 in needed revenue away from the city.<\/p>\n

City Law Director John Hatcher gave an update on Van Wert Municipal Court, noting that the city court\u2019s caseload was up substantially last year and appears to be maintaining that pace this year.<\/p>\n

Mayor Farmer also noted that additional security is planned for the Municipal Building, including limiting access to the building to the rear entrance after 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Council also approved legislation authorizing Fleming to use an online auction site to sell unused and outdated city vehicles and other equipment.<\/p>\n

The next City Council meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 13.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Van Wert City Council discuss the upcoming West Main Street reconstruction project, as well as economic development and longer terms for Council members during its meeting Monday in Council Chambers. City Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming talked about the planned start Monday, April 29, of the West Main Street reconstruction project, while local […]<\/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-37608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 15:49:04","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\/37608","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=37608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}