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PAGE 6 DECEMBE R 29 , 2023 Y E A R I N R E V I E W YE L LOW SPR INGS NEWS • At the second May meeting, Council members voted to contribute $40,000 in support to local affordable housing devel - oper Home, Inc. and $5,000 to YS Pride. • Council voted to adopt a pesticide use policy for the Village’s Public Works Department. • Council approved funding requests from the Chamber of Commerce for Street Fair and The 365 Project for Juneteenth. The groups received $15,000 and $1,200 respectively. At a later meeting, Council approved giving an additional $15,000 to the Chamber for the fall Street Fair. • In June, Council members passed three emergency ordinances that would disallow the use of “micro-mobility vehi - cles,” such as electric scooters, in addition to bicycles and skateboards on sidewalks in the downtown area. • In July, Council unanimously approved the rezoning of 144 Cliff St. from industrial to a planned unit development. • Council approved a resolution to grant $5,300 to Village Artisans for their Art on the Lawn event. • On July 25, Village Manager Salm - erón announced his resignation. His last day with the Village was Sept. 3. Then, by a unanimous vote at a special Village Council meeting on Aug. 7, Yellow Springs Public Works Director Johnnie Burns was appointed interim village manager — an appointment that went into effect Aug. 28. • On Aug. 21, Council member Carmen Brown announced that, following a meeting between her, Scott Osterholm and Greene County Commissioner Rick Perales, stop signs were repaired on the bike path near where a bike fatality occurred in July. Interim Manager Burns reported that his crews cleared obstructive brush in that area as well. • In September, Council unanimously passed a resolution to authorize the retention of up to $205,000 in the Village’s green space fund through Aug. 31, 2024. Following that date, Council may choose tomove some or all money from that fund into the general fund. • In October, Council members approved a resolution that codified an official event sponsorship and grant policy for the Village. • Council approved two resolutions to provide stipends to Finance Director Amy Kemper and Water and Electric Superin - tendent Ben Sparks for the additional labor they took on after Burns assumed the role of interim village manager. • In December, Council approved a reso - lution to authorize Interim Village Man - ager Burns to sell up to 42,579 renewable energy credits, or RECs, at an estimated amount of $18.11 per credit, as well as the purchase of 66,326 “Green E-RECs” at an estimated cost of $3 per credit. An approxi - mate amount of $572,263 was funneled into the Village electric fund. • Council voted affirmatively to grant $500 to The 365 Project for the group’s Kwanzaa celebration. • Council approved a resolution to give all Village employees a 3.5% increase in salary effective the first payroll period of 2024. Changes to the Council makeup For the first half of 2023, the Village Council dais looked much like it did last year: Brian Housh ser ved as Council president, with Kevin Stokes as vice presi - dent and Gavin DeVore Leonard, Carmen Brown and Marianne MacQueen as Coun - cil members. The Council presidency changed hands in October, however, when Council mem - bers voted 3–2 to remove Housh from his position. Following the motion’s pas - sage, Stokes was appointed president and DeVore Leonard became vice president. The decision followed allegations that Housh had been intoxicated at past Village Council meetings and purpor tedly had driven under the influence. Since then, the Nov. 7 election took place, with three Council seats up for contest — one of which belonged to MacQueen who chose not to run for another term on Coun - cil after 10 years. At the polls, Yellow Springers voted to renew the terms of incumbents Brown and DeVore Leonard, and elected newcomer to local politics Trish Gustafson. As the two highest-voted candidates, Brown and DeVore Leonard will serve four-year terms; Gustafson will serve a two-year term begin - ning in January 2024. P LANN I NG COMMI SS ION Zoning Code amended In February, the Village Planning Com - mission heard a proposal from Neighbors for More Neighbors YS, a local zoning reform advocacy group, which asked the commission to consider zoning changes that would make it easier for builders or developers to create multifamily and non - traditional housing. The group’s stated goal was to allow for additional diverse housing options in the village. Following that proposal, Planning Com - mission approved initiating text amend - ments in the code to allow as conditional use multifamily, two-family and attached single-family dwellings in Residential-A zones, which, at the time, only allowed single-family residences; to allow dwellings in industrial zones by conditional use; and to allow dwellings above street-level busi - nesses by permitted use. In addition, Planning Commission moved at their March meeting to initiate text amendments with regard to land that is annexed into the Village. Where the zoning code stated at the time that annexed land is automatically zoned Residential-A, which allowed single-family homes at low density, the commission suggested changing the designation of annexed land to moderate- density Residential-B, which allows as a permitted use single-family attached and two-family units, such as duplexes, and, as a conditional use, multifamily units, includ - ing apartment buildings. At the May 15 regular Village Council meeting, Council members approved both recommendations to modify the zoning code. Senior housing moves forward Also at the group’s March meeting, Plan - ning Commission members reviewed and voted to recommend for approval a pre - liminary plan application for a planned unit development, or PUD, from YS Home, Inc., in regard to the local affordable nonprofit’s future 32-unit development on 1.8 acres along Marshall and Herman streets. The plan for the proposed housing devel - opment, tentatively called “The Cascades,” includes 22 affordable duplex and triplex rental units earmarked for seniors and 10 two-story townhomes to be sold at low cost to qualifying buyers of varying age demo - graphics. Home, Inc. intends to complete the project in four phases as funds are raised, with the possibility of combining phases based on that fundraising. At the May 1 meeting, Village Council voted affirmatively to contribute $40,000 to the project, as well as to waive $50,000 in tap fees. Swinger signs of f; Leatherman new zoning admin After eight years of serving as the Village Planning and Zoning Administrator, Denise Swinger, retired fromher position in late June. During her tenure, Swinger was instru - mental in moving forward a number of major projects through Village channels, including the new Spring Meadows subdivi - sion, the renovation of the Union School - house to accommodate WYSO’s studios and offices, construction at the former Miami Township Fire-Rescue to house a comedy club and expansions at Cresco Labs. Succeeding Swinger is Meg Leatherman, who came to the Village with a master’s degree in city and regional planning and years of experience in zoning, building and planning. Before signing on with the Vil - lage, Leatherman worked as a community development director for the seaside tour - ist town of Astoria, Oregon, and prior to that, she was the director of development services for Ada County in Idaho. Lumber Co. Market & Eatery advances At the group’s September meeting, Plan - ning Commission members voted unani - mously to rezone a parcel of land downtown onwhich an indoor publicmarket is proposed; 108 Cliff St. was rezoned to a PUD from its previous status of mixed-use industrial. The future business envisioned for that land, dubbed the Lumber Co. Market & Eatery, owned by Massies Creek Ventures, LLC, aims to have approximately 10 ven - dors selling prepared foods and goods in a newly renovated facility where a 1940s-era lumber yard once stood. Aside from some light construction and demolition on the 0.67 acres where the lum - beryard previously sat, Planning Commis - sion’s rezoning of the land in September of this year has been the only significant stride in establishing the future market and eatery. MI AMI TOWNSH I P Solar conversations continue The December 2022 Ohio Power Siting Board, or OPSB, denial of Vesper Energy’s planned 175-MW, 1,500-acre utility-scale Kingwood Solar project — about 1,000 acres of which would have been located on unincorporated rural land in Miami Town - ship — did not halt conversations about utility-scale solar in the township this year. In January, Vesper Energy filed a rehear - ing application before the OPSB, just days after Citizens for Greene Acres — an ad hoc group of local residents formed in opposition to Kingwood — did the same. While Vesper filed the application in hopes of overturning the OPSB’s ruling, Citizens for Greene Acres did so in order to publicly record more testi - mony against the proposed project. The Miami Township Board of Trustees, which acted as intervenors in opposition to the project, co-signed the rehearing appli - cation, and approved a resolution to retain private legal counsel to continue to advise them on matters related to Kingwood moving forward. Throughout the year, the trustees also discussed petitioning Greene County to declare Miami Township off-limits to future utility-scale projects based on Senate Bill 52, which was signed into law in 2022. That law gives Ohio counties the ability to ban solar projects of 50 MW or larger on unincorporated rural land. In the summer, trustees enacted a two-year moratorium on deciding whether or not to petition restric - tion of such projects. In September, Vesper Energy appealed the OPSB’s ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court because the OPSB did not issue its decision on the rehearing request within the 30 days required by Ohio law. The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, citing lack of jurisdiction, as the requested rehearing must take place before an appeal can be made. The OPSB has not yet sched - uled the requested rehearing. In early December, Vesper Energy gave a presentation at a meeting of the trustees that proposed a new utility-scale solar project that could be mounted in Greene County, including in Miami Township. The proposed project, tentatively called the Aviation Energy Center, would use an exist - ing interconnection agreement already in place with regional electric power trans - mission system operator PJM, which was put in place ahead of the Kingwood Solar project’s design. The Aviation Energy Center, according to Vesper Energy representatives, could be as large as 175 MW based on the intercon - nection agreement, but could be designed differently than Kingwood. About 30 local residents attended the meeting at which the Aviation Energy Center was announced, with most in atten - dance vocally supporting the new project. Chief Colin Altman retires After 29 years at the helm of Miami Township Fire-Rescue, Chief Colin Altman retired in July. During his tenure, Altman oversaw the transformation of the local depar tment from a nearly all-volunteer force to one with 22 paid staff; managed a significant increase in calls for service; and orchestrated the move to a much larger and better-equipped fire station. Altman was succeeded by Dennis Powell, who has been with MTFR since 2004 and previously served as assistant chief. BZA procedure, personnel changes In July, the Miami Township Trustees announced that they planned to initiate sev - eral changes with regard to the Township’s Board of Zoning Appeals, or BZA. Among those changes were further training for BZA members and the creation of BZA bylaws. Also announced was the reduction of some of the duties of then-Zoning Admin - istrator Richard Zopf, with those duties to be given to a new position, to be called BZA administrator; BZA Chair Richard Silliman has been filling that role in the interim period. The changes followed concerns shared the month prior by local resident Steve Wirrig regarding the transparency of the BZA and the actions of Zopf. In early December, Zopf was fired from his position as zoning inspector, which he’d held for 24 years, during a regular meeting of the Township trustees. The trustees elected not to comment publicly on the reason for Zopf’s firing, either when it was announced or in a follow-up conversation with the News. Former Village Planning and Zoning Administrator Denise Swinger will act as interim zoning inspector until a new person is hired to fill the position. Elections Jeanna GunderKline won the race for Miami Township Fiscal Officer in a land - slide, receiving 1,839 votes over opponent Benjamin Crandall’s 366 votes. Miami Township Trustee incumbent Chris Mucher ran unopposed, but received 1,736 votes. GRE ENE COUNTY New jail breaks ground After two failed attempts to levy funds for a new jail through sales tax, and nearly a year of decisions about finance, design and size, Greene County broke ground on a new $76 million jail in October. The Greene County Gene Fischer Cor - rectional Center, named for the late former county sheriff, is funded by a $15 million state grant, $30 million in sales tax-funded bonds, $10 million in revenue from the American Rescue Plan Act and $40 million from the Greene County general fund. The new facility will have capacity for 482 incarcerated people — about 100 more than the current Greene County Adult Detention Center. S TAT E OF OH IO Special election Issue 1 fails, Nov. Issues 1 and 2 pass Issue 1 was struck down by voters in a special election held in August. The contro - versial initiative, if passed, would have created more rigid requirements for citizens aiming to make changes to the Ohio Constitution. In June, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Issue 1 was “100% about keeping a radical pro- abortion amendment out of our constitution.” At the polls in November, Ohioans went on to pass a second Issue 1, with this one legalizing access to abortion and reproduc - tive care and protecting that access in the State Constitution. Voters also passed Issue 2, a statute to legalize the sale and possession of cannabis products for Ohioans ages 21 and older. Property revaluations, House Bill 187 In September, Greene County homeown - ers received updated property valuations for their homes, following a scheduled property reappraisal that takes place every six years. Yellow Springs home values rose an average of 24%, with property taxes expected to rise accordingly in 2024. In October, Ohio legislators passed House Bill 187 — a bill that aimed to ease the tax burden for property owners in the short term by requiring county auditors to use a three-year average of home sales data instead of a one-year average, with the result expected to be a slightly curbed rise in property valuation and, thus, property taxes. In December, it was announced that the bill would focus exclusively on providing three-year expanded property tax exemptions for low-income seniors, residents with disabilities and surviving spouses of public safety officers. Ohio school districts are likely to lose expected revenue as a result of the bill. —Reilly Dixon & Lauren “Chuck” Shows Government CONT INUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE Specializing in WordPress Bryan Cady 678.520.9914 bryan@listentothewindmedia.com   listentothewindmedia.com Listen to theWind Media WEB DE S I GN , HOS T I NG AND WEBS I T E CARE 242 Xenia Ave., Yellow Springs Ph. 937-767-7349 TOM’S MARKET is locally owned & operated www.TomsMarketYS.com ! ! HOLIDAY HOURS New Year’s Eve: 7 a.m.–9 p.m. New Year’s Day: 9 a.m.–9 p.m. Have a SAFE & HAPPY New Year’s Eve! 240 E. SOUTH COLLEGE ST., YELLOW SPRINGS 937-319-0100 ANTIOCHCOLLEGE.EDU/WELLNESS-CENTER ANTIOCH COL L EGE NEW YEAR , NEW CLASSES & PROGRAMS ! FUTSAL | Tu/Fr 5:30–7 p.m. With Wolf Brauner; similar to indoor soccer with emphasis on control, creativity and technique. 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