FREDERICKTOWN — A busy meeting for the Fredericktown Village Council on Monday night brought the village a few steps closer to a plan to build a community center at the old Dana property on South Main Street.
Scott Smith, a member of the board working toward building the Fredericktown Community Center, was at the meeting to answer questions as council passed two new ordinances which should help the board secure a lease with the village for the building site.
Ordinance 2008-12, authorizing the mayor to partially terminate the lease between the village and the Fredericktown Recreation District, except for a .657-acre tract of land where the tennis courts are located, was passed as an emergency.
Village Solicitor Todd Drown explained that terminating the lease was necessary in order to enter into a lease with the community center board. The tennis courts are maintained with a state grant, and therefore must remain leased to the recreation district.
Council also approved Ordinance 2008-13 as an emergency, authorizing the village to solicit bids for the same piece of land, “for the establishment of a recreational facility.”
The mayor is now authorized to solicit proposals for the lease of the property, and the village has the right to accept or refuse any proposal.
Smith reported that the board met with a pool company from Mansfield to discuss the aquatics area at the future community center.
“We’d like to make that multifunctional for a lot of age groups,” Smith said.
In other business, council heard the second reading of Ordinance 2008-11, which establishes an interim budget for 2009. Village Fiscal Officer Pat Stelzer said the third and final scheduled reading on July 7 will allow the budget to be filed with the county by the deadline of July 20.
Stelzer also reported she is in the process of changing over all village accounts payable to a new computer system. The bills for May, totaling $126,739.77, were approved by council.
Legislation drawn up to enable the village to make street and pavement improvements in the area of West Sandusky Street were also approved by council. Ordinance 2008-14 was passed as an emergency, authorizing the mayor to advertise and solicit proposals for the village to borrow $155,000 to purchase the property at 219 W. Sandusky St.
The village plans to buy the property to use part of the yard for street widening and improvements. This method is expected to be less costly to the village than using eminent domain and litigation.
Ordinance 2008-15, also passed as an emergency, allows the mayor to sign a contract to purchase the house from Diane Blackburn, the homeowner, in order to make road improvements and enhancements. A closing date is planned on or before July 30.
Council President Dave Glass said that once the road improvements are made, the village plans to put the house back on the market.
Village Administrator Gary Gallogly reported that progress at the sewer plant is advancing steadily. He also said the small fenced-in retention pond near the ball diamond is scheduled to be mowed. Some residents have expressed concern to the village about the tall grass and weeds around the pond.
Gallogly also reported that some village street signs and posts are being replaced due to wear.
Glass read a portion of minutes from a 1986 council meeting, during which a property on North Chestnut Street, currently owned by Stelzer, was rezoned from residential to commercial. The building has been used in recent years as an office, and is currently for sale.
Glass said that when the new zoning ordinance was passed earlier this year, the property inadvertently reverted back to residential. Glass and Drown said the issue would need to go back through the planning commission, which will then make a recommendation to council about whether to change the zoning back to commercial. The process should take two to three months. Stelzer wants the property rezoned before any future sale is final.
Councilman Alan Kintner reported on issues raised at June’s Fredericktown Community Development Foundation meeting. Kintner said that FCDF President Earl Bechtel was pleased with the GOBA visitors who had been exposed to the village during the bike ride this week.
The annual car show will now feature a Bluegrass festival on Aug. 16, at the old Dana property.
The Fredericktown Farmers Market will kick off Wednesday, and run each Wednesday afternoon from 4:30 to 6:30 on the village square. Kintner said more vendors are expected this year.
Gallogly thanked Bechtel and the FCDF for their efforts on Beautification Day on June 7. Flowers were planted, and litter was picked up to spruce up Main Street.
“They put a lot of effort into getting that all organized,” Gallogly said.
Kintner brought up the issue of outdoor furnaces or woodburners to council, and asked what other council members thought about introducing legislation to legalize them within the village limits. More inquiries about the furnaces have been received from residents, due to the high cost of home heating fuel.
Glass said the Fredericktown Fire Department should be consulted in the matter. Assistant Chief Larry Schunke said after council that the department would speak with manufacturers, and other fire departments in other municipalities, to investigate any safety issues posed by using the woodburners in town.
Gallogly said Brian Hunter from Ohio Department of Transportation District 5 visited him recently, to report that ODOT is applying growth retardant along Ohio 13. Gallogly said Hunter informed him the village would be responsible for mowing along the mile-long stretch of Ohio 13 within the corporation limits.
Council members promised to investigate the matter further, as an ordinance passed by council giving the state maintenance rights along the state route is believed by council members to include mowing as maintenance.
“It would take a lot of fuel, and a lot of time, to mow that grass,” said Gallogly.
The legality of the District 5 request will be discussed further by Drown, Gallogly and council.
