At the regular meeting of the Miami Township Board of Trustees on Monday, Aug. 15, Trustee Chris Mucher, shown at center, reported that the Miami Township Zoning Commission has requested that a change to the Miami Township Zoning Resolution be placed on the agenda for the August meeting of the executive committee of the Regional Planning and Coordinating Commission of Greene County. Also present at the Aug. 15 meeting were trustees Marilan Moir and Don Hollister. (Video still)
Miami Township Trustees propose zoning code changes
- Published: August 24, 2022
At the regular meeting of the Miami Township Board of Trustees on Monday, Aug. 15, Trustee Chris Mucher reported that the Miami Township Zoning Commission has requested that a change to the Miami Township Zoning Resolution be placed on the agenda for the August meeting of the executive committee of the Regional Planning and Coordinating Commission of Greene County, or RPCC. The RPCC will make a determination on the request before it is considered by the Township trustees.
The request from the Zoning Commission concerns the removal of sections 18.51 and 18.52 from the Zoning Resolution. The sections in question, which can be read in full at bit.ly/3zW53Zn, concern temporary structures and property uses.
Mucher pointed out that these sections are the temporary use exceptions cited by the Township Board of Zoning Appeals, or BZA, as the basis for permitting the outdoor shows hosted by Dave Chappelle at the rural Wirrig Pavilion. Temporary use approval from the BZA was necessary because the ticketed shows are a commercial activity, and the land, located between U.S. 68 North and Meredith Road in the township, is zoned for agricultural use.
“The Zoning Commission, of their own volition — this did not come from [the Township trustees] or a private resident — decided to explore the possibility of removing that exemption from the zoning code,” Mucher said.
Trustee Marilan Moir added that, though the RPCC had not yet made a determination on the request, it had, in documents supplied prior to the executive committee meeting, recommended that the executive committee not approve the removal of the sections in question from the Zoning Resolution.
“[The RPCC staff] thought it would create issues … if we pulled being able to do a temporary use from our code,” Moir said. “That means we couldn’t, in the case of a natural disaster, put up temporary [structures]; a circus couldn’t come to town.”
Moir went on to say that RPCC staff had cited the fact that “12 out of the 13” townships in Greene County include provisions for temporary use in their zoning codes. The RPCC opined that it would be “ill-advised” not to have any allowances for temporary uses in the Township’s zoning code, and that “if there is a particular issue,” it should be addressed “specifically.”
She added that the request had originally been on the July agenda for the RPCC, but that it had been removed because it had not yet come before the Greene County prosecutor, and that the recommendation to the executive committee came after consulting with the prosecutor.
The News will report on the RPCC’s determination on the request in a future issue.
Fire and EMS
Chief Colin Altman reported that, since the last Township meeting, the Miami Township Fire-Rescue had received 41 EMS calls, with two of those in Bath Township; and four fire calls, all in Miami Township. He also reminded those present that Bath Township has elected to be serviced by Fairborn Fire Department, an arrangement that will take effect at the beginning of 2023. He added that MTFR’s Engine 82 is out of service with a significant pump leak, but that it would be repaired by the end of the week.
Altman also reported that one of MTFR’s two medical directors, Steve Dixon, had recently retired, and that its other medical director, Linda Bailey, is also nearing retirement.
Medical directors, who are required to be contracted by EMS departments in the state of Ohio, are physicians who serve as “critical liaison[s] between the local EMS agency, hospital administrators and medical staff, local public health and public safety agencies, and the layperson members of the community,” according to the Ohio Emergency Medical Services website.
Altman added that MTFR operates under the medical licenses of its medical directors, who “take on a significant amount of liability by allowing [MTFR] to function on their licenses.”
Bailey has worked with MTFR to hire Travis Taylor as assistant medical director, Altman said, with the aim of taking over as medical director when she retires. Taylor, Altman reported, is an emergency medicine resident currently working in the emergency room at Miami Valley Hospital.
Altman said MTFR is also looking into incorporating mobile integrated healthcare into its services.
Mobile integrated healthcare, also known as paramedicine, provides mobile healthcare services from community paramedics and emergency medical technicians under the direction of a physician. The services are especially useful for providing primary care for patients in rural areas who might not otherwise have access to a primary care physician.
In MTFR’s case, Altman said that mobile healthcare services would be especially helpful for providing extended care to patients who have been injured by falling.
“It’s becoming a bigger thing for fire departments to do, and it’s good for the community,” Altman said.
MTFR’s Levy Task Force will have its first discussion on Tuesday, Aug. 23, via Zoom. The task force, which includes Altman, Assistant Chief Denny Powell, and MTFR members Jeremy Rea, Ted Wasserman, TJ Fries and Alex Wendt, will begin discussing its campaign for an MTFR operations levy that will appear on the November ballot.
MTFR will also have a presence at two events this month: The YS Police Department’s Touch-a-Truck event and an ice cream social in Clifton.
The Touch-a-Truck event will be held Friday, Aug. 26, 5–8 p.m., in the YS High School Parking lot.
MTFR and YSPD vehicles will be on hand, as well as a ladder truck from the Cedarville Fire Department and a Careflight vehicle. The annual event was previously held in the Bryan Center parking lot, but has grown large enough that the additional space provided by the high school’s lot was necessary.
On Tuesday, Aug. 30, 5:30–8 p.m., MTFR will host the ice cream social at the MTFR shelter house in Clifton. Altman reported that the ice cream social, once an annual event, was started more than a decade ago, but was halted during 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, and was brought back due to popular demand.
Cemeteries and roads
Cemetery Sexton and Road Manager Dan Gochenour reported that roads were recently paved in the Glen Forest Natural Burial Cemetery.
Mucher reported that a third columbarium, which will house cremated remains, is expected to arrive later this month. He also reported that he had applied for a vacant position on the Ohio Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission. The commission uses mediation techniques to resolve complaints against cemeteries.
Giving updates on Township roads, Gochenour said mowing and trimming has been completed on East Hyde Road and Grinnell Circle, and will be completed on Harbison, South River and Kyle roads before the next meeting of the Township trustees.
In other Township business:
• Mucher reported that, effective Aug. 1, the Grinnell Mill is no longer being managed by the Township. The historic building is now under the management of Glen Helen, which owns the land on which it is located. The Township still owns the building, and Glen Helen pays $275 per month to rent the building in a 100-year lease, maintaining it as a bed and breakfast and as a space for educational programming. The Glen has also assumed responsibility for paying the utilities and taxes on the bed and breakfast operation.
• Trustees discussed creating a policy for the use of the MTFR community meeting room by the wider community. Trustee Don Hollister cited the need for a Township employee to be on hand for community uses, and a clear distinction on what groups and organizations should be allowed to use the room, as reasons for the creation of the policy. To date, he said, only nonprofit organizations have requested to use the room.
“I would like us to assign somebody to come up with formal policies — I’d be willing to do that,” Hollister said.
Mucher said he supported the drafting of such a policy, as long as it is “in conjunction with the fire department.”
• Trustees reported that the second round of American Rescue Plan, or ARP, funding of $65,000 had been received by the Township. The trustees have not yet publicly discussed how these funds will be used; Moir stated that her fellow trustees have advised that they will wait to “see what the outcome of [the] levy campaign is” before deciding on how the funds will be allocated.
The next meeting of the Miami Township Board of Trustees will be held Wednesday, Sept. 7, following the Labor Day holiday on Monday, Sept. 5.
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