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Village Council | March 4 Meeting
- Published: March 28, 2024
Legislation
• New street lights. By unanimous consent from Village Council members during the group’s regular meeting Monday, March 4, the Village will soon purchase new street light poles for eventual installation on Xenia Avenue, between the intersections at Limestone and Davis streets.
According to the resolution, the nine new poles, costing $53,496, will “provide incentive to drivers to adhere to speed limits and will encourage walkability” near the Yellow Springs Library. Village Manager Johnnie Burns said he has plans to purchase additional poles later this year to illuminate the stretch of Corry Street that connects Dayton Street and Xenia Avenue, thereby “highlighting some other areas of the business district.”
• Mutual aid recognized. When the turbulent storm of Feb. 28 passed through Yellow Springs, downing several electric poles and lines around town, many village residents went without power for several hours. As Burns told Council, that outage could have lasted a lot longer without the assistance from neighboring communities that sent additional linemen to the village to speed up repairs.
The resolution read at Monday’s meeting praised the mutual aid agreement of the American Municipal Power system, which connected the Village with crews from Piqua, Tipp City and Wapakoneta. Burns said he intends to provide a full report on the triumphs and challenges of the Feb. 28 storm to Council at the group’s next meeting on Monday, March 18.
• Village zoning on county maps. Council members approved an agreement to include Yellow Springs’ zoning classifications on the Greene County GIS mapping system. The county’s GIS system — viewable at gis.greenecountyohio.gov — is available to the public and provides property information such as parcel owner, acreage, value, sale history and more. According to a memo penned by Planning and Zoning Administrator Meg Leatherman, the county has been unofficially adding Yellow Springs zoning designations to their mapping program for several years; Monday’s resolution simply made it official.
Police respond to noise complaints
Yellow Springs Police Chief Paige Burge provided Council members with some cursory data regarding the quantity and nature of noise complaints made in 2023.
As Burge noted in her memo, the department’s efforts to mitigate noise complaints are in direct response to mounting concerns over downtown noise from the recently formed group of local residents, the Neighborhood Action Group, or NAG.
According to Burge’s data, 104 noise complaints were made last year — 46 of which were specific to noise emanating from the downtown business district. Of those complaints, 22 were made against businesses — half of which were “unfounded,” according to police data.
“There are several challenges when addressing noise complaints,” Burge wrote. “Many complaints derive from noise sources whose duration is brief, and upon officer arrival, the source of the noise is no longer on the scene.”
She continued: “As with any community concern, the department will continue to be available to all citizens. We are always receptive to feedback and discussion on matters that affect those we serve, and will continue to engage with the NAG group on the matter.”
As previously reported in the News, NAG members’ concerns have been mainly over the occasional commotion from the back patio of the Dayton Street Gulch Saloon and music performances at Trail Town Brewing and Rose & Sal. Several NAG members have claimed that their quality of life has worsened as the result of downtown noise.
Spring Meadows development continues
In his Manager’s Report, Burns told Council that development of the future 90-home subdivision, Spring Meadows, is on schedule.
A model home is being built on the property, and phase two of sewer work is underway. Additionally, gas and electric lines were recently bored into the ground, connecting the neighborhood to the existing lines under Dayton Street. Transformers for the neighborhood are set to be delivered next month.
The next Village Council meeting will be held Monday, March 18, at 7 p.m., in the John Bryan Community Center.
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