Galion city discusses farmers market regs

By Rachel Mendell

The Galion City Coun­cil met in reg­u­lar ses­sion Oct. 25 to con­sider leg­is­la­tion and dis­cuss city projects.

The agree­ment with Craw­ford County for the OPWC Paving Project was passed and the ordi­nance to apply for the OPWC fund­ing was also passed. Should the city be awarded the fund­ing it would go toward needed paving projects such as Dawsett, North Boston and Jefferson.

The coun­cil con­sid­ered dis­cus­sion about the new pro­posed ordi­nance con­cern­ing farm­ers mar­kets within the city. At present there is only one mar­ket within city lim­its – the God’s Lit­tle Acre Mar­ket on Mar­ket Street. The ordi­nance would extend the time a mar­ket could con­duct busi­ness (from April 15 to Nov. 15) and replace the cur­rent reg­u­la­tions of a 14-day license with only one chance to renew.

One res­i­dent com­mented that the $25 per­mit fee per year per ven­dor was too high and that there is already too much paperwork.

Stephanie Zmuda from the Galion Health Depart­ment explained that this cost is set in place to recoup Health Depart­ment costs, but isn’t enough to break even. Zmuda fur­ther explained that if ven­dors did not pay the per­mit fee, that cost would ulti­mately be passed on to the taxpayer.

The coun­cil passed the first read­ing of the new Farm­ers Mar­ket Reg­u­la­tions. The sec­ond read­ing will be con­sid­ered at the next coun­cil meeting.

Dan Beach was approved as a rep­re­sen­ta­tive to the Galion Health Dis­trict Licens­ing Coun­cil. Funds of $3,000 were trans­ferred into the fire depart­ment funds from an Ohio EMS grant that was received. Funds were also trans­ferred within the air­port fund from money received from the sale of fuel to buy more fuel.

City man­ager Gene Toy reported that the post-audit con­fer­ence with the state went well. “We have a clean audit with no find­ings,” he said. Coun­cil­man Walt Keib thanked Toy for all his work with the Freeze Foun­da­tion board in find­ing a way to com­pro­mise wit hthe state. “For the first time, we have a clean audit,” he said.

The work on the Shu­maker ditch is begin­ning with sur­vey­ing tak­ing place on Hard­ing Way East near the Galion East Apart­ments. The old restau­rant on State Route 61 has requested a liquor license. Coun­cil declined a hear­ing since that restau­rant had already had a license.

At the next coun­cil meet­ing mem­bers will con­sider reg­is­ter­ing con­trac­tors within the community.

Toy reported the own­ers of the Galion East Apart­ments would like a let­ter of sup­port to go after low income tax cred­its to aide in mak­ing ren­o­va­tions to the build­ings. Keib urged Toy that the com­pany be required to use Galion busi­nesses say­ing, “If it’s in Galion, use Galion people.”

Toy also reported on a meet­ing with Hes­se­naur res­i­dents on the pro­posed safe house within their neigh­bor­hood at Keller Hall. He said it was a good meet­ing and that it looks like the project is “dead in the water.”

Toy also said that last week a rep­re­sen­ta­tive of Bob Latta’s office was at the city build­ing to meet with folks need­ing ques­tions answered. There were no visitors.

A rep­re­sen­ta­tive from a san­i­ta­tion ser­vice requested she be allowed to pick up garbage in the area before the required 6 a.m. She said she sees beer and pop deliv­er­ies as well as school buses out ear­lier than 6 a.m. and she needs the extra time to get to all her routes and stay clear of the busy later morn­ing traf­fic. George invited her to come to the laws and ordi­nances com­mit­tee that meets Nov. 8 at 6:15 p.m. The require­ments are an ordi­nance and the ordi­nance would need to be changed to per­mit ear­lier trash pick up, she said.

The coun­cil was reminded that Galion Trick or Treat is sched­uled for Sun­day, Oct. 30, from 2 – 4 p.m. and Trick or Treat Walk You Feet will take place on Thurs­day, Oct. 27, from 4 – 5 p.m.

Coun­cil woman Shirley Clark made the announce­ment that Taber­na­cle of Praise would be serv­ing dough­nuts and cider to neigh­bor­hood chil­dren at the East Park Cabin from 6 to 8 p.m.

Coun­cil mem­bers Roberta Wade and Thomas Fell­ner were excused from the meet­ing. The next city coun­cil meet­ing will be Tues­day, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. in coun­cil cham­bers. The pub­lic is encour­aged to attend.

Posted by Rachel Mendell on Oct 26 2011. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.