Village Council approves goals set for 2019
- Published: March 2, 2019
At its March 4 regular meeting, Council unanimously passed the first reading of its goals for the year, which include:
• Provide an affordable community with a high quality of life that encourages a diverse resident base …
• Promote retention, rehabilitation and development of diverse types of rental and home-ownership housing to meet current and future needs …
• Engage in continuous infrastructure development …
• Take action to avoid a deficit budget, recognizing the importance of “right-sizing” funds …
• Embody a Village culture that is welcoming to all, anti-racist and proactive about maintaining a diverse community.
• Execute an economic sustainability strategy to support existing businesses and entrepreneurs and attract new opportunities that support the values of the community.
• Establish a model Village Justice System that supports a just, safe and welcoming community … the entire Village Team will work in concert to be proactively anti-racist.
• Develop high quality integrated surface transportation infrastructure system …
• Complete protection of key properties in the Jacoby Greenbelt, protecting additional 1,000 acres in sub-watersheds …
Visit http://www.yso.com for the full goals and strategies.
In other Council business March 4:
Legislation targets EV charger abuse
Council unanimously passed the second and final reading of an ordinance that would allow local police to give warnings and tickets to electric vehicles who abuse the free chargers at the Bryan Center.
Police can now target vehicles parked at the chargers for longer than four hours or overnight, which are both prohibited, citing them to Mayor’s Court for $40.
Council President Brian Housh reaffirmed the four chargers, which cost the Village $1,800 in electricity last year, were to promote sustainability for both villagers and visitors to town.
“We want to encourage other forms of energy beyond fossil fuel,” Housh said. “We hope people will come to town recognizing they can charge up their car.”
Investment policy change passed
The Village investment policy now includes a provision that one to two Council members sit on a committee to decide how the Village invests its liquid funds. Council unanimously passed the second reading of an ordinance to adjust the makeup of the investment committee.
“The impetus was to make it very clear to make sure that the Council should be more involved in investments,” Council member Lisa Kreeger said of the legislation.
Village manager candidates to visit
Council briefly discussed the ongoing Village Manager search process. Housh said that the list of candidates, which started at 62, has been narrowed down to 32 candidates and would be further winnowed by the end of the week to 10 to 15 candidates.
“It was a slow and deliberative process,” Council member Kevin Stokes said. “It’s laborious, but I think we’ll come up with good candidates.”
A group of 16 villagers are helping Council with the task. A larger group of citizens will get involved during candidate visits, which are slated for April 9, 10 and 11, with a public forum on Wednesday, April 10.
Cell tower buyout still recommended
Council continued to discuss a proposal from SBA Properties of Boca Raton, Fla., to purchase a perpetual lease of the cell tower the Village owns on the Sutton Farm along Ohio 343.
SBA, which currently leases the property for around $1,500 per month, offered the Village a one-time lump sum of $280,000 for the perpetual lease.
The Village then responded with a request for SBA’s “highest, best offer,” which SBA reported was $305,000.
Council member Stokes said he thinks the company can pay more, as his research on perpetual cell tower leases suggests are usually in the range of $400,000 to $500,000.
Council decided to direct the Village to make a counter-offer to SBA of $350,000, and Council members expressed their hopes that the decision would be wrapped soon.
Bates still recommends that Council approve the buyout, saying at the meeting that even though the lease is a “continuing source of revenue,” there are significant infrastructure needs.
“What we could accomplish with this money would be a couple of good steps,” Bates said of infrastructure updates.
Bates previously requested that half of the initial purchase price be used to remove a waste pile that has accumulated at the Village Public Works headquarters at the Sutton Farm.
Village not awarded health grant
The effort to win a Culture of Health award, with a cash prize, fell short, organizers reported to Council.
Dr. Cindy Sieck led the group that applied to the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation in February. Although the Village made it into the second round of judging, it was not selected for the final round.
Sieck was encouraged by the amount of health-related activities in the village and hopes that once its health efforts become more cohesive, the Village could reapply for the award.
“We’re missing a cohesive body that is pushing this forward. I see that developing,” Sieck said. “And next time we’ll do better and we’ll be stronger.”
Free clinic helps villagers
Sharon Sherlock of Reach Out, a Dayton nonprofit running a once-per-week free clinic in the village, gave an update to Council about the clinic’s progress.
Sherlock shared that the clinic is helping to “fill the gaps” of the healthcare system by serving those who are uninsured or underinsured.
“There are a lot of gaps in the health care system and we are one little organization filling the gaps to serve a diverse population,” Sherlock said.
The clinic offers walk-in service and its doctors can perform screenings, make referrals and prescribe pharmaceuticals, among other activities.
Since the clinic opened last fall, Sherlock has seen one death of a local patient, which demonstrated to her the need for the service in the Village.
“We have seen that when you don’t have access to care, it can be detrimental,” she said.
Overall, Reach Out is hoping to expand its work in the village.
“We’d like to grow and become part of the community. We know there are needs here,” she said.
The clinic is open Tuesdays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Central Chapel AME Church, 411 S. High St.
Glass Farm housing discussed
Council Vice President Marianne MacQueen updated Council on the recent conversations of the Village Manager’s Housing Advisory Board about developing housing on the Glass Farm.
MacQueen said that the group ended with “more questions than answers” about the mix of housing on the Village-owned property along King Street.
Housh argued that the Village should make a “very strong commitment to affordable housing” on the property, suggesting that 80 percent of the housing be affordable.
Council member Kreeger suggested that while she agreed with Housh “from an aspirational perspective,” she thought that other factors such as topography and economics may affect what is ultimately built.
Council also briefly discussed whether it would be a conflict of interest if Home, Inc. was the Village’s advisor on the project.
Upcoming discussions
In future meetings, Council will discuss light pollution regulations, a transient guest lodging zoning change, an assessment of the local police department, a new comprehensive land use plan and a possible change to Council rules and procedures that would explicitly not allow clapping or the display of signs in Council Chambers. It will also take up legislation to rezone the MillWorks property
Council’s next meeting is March 18, at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers.
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