Tuesday night’s Galion city council meeting bolted right out of the gate with Ordinance Number 2012-26, which was a second reading of legislation to approve the authorization for the City of Galion to participate in the AMP Blue Creek Energy program.

Galion resident and business owner James Hedges addressed Council with his own research of AMP and brought up several points of consideration. One point that Mr. Hedges made was that there might be extra expenses involved which Council had not considered, such a delivery costs.

City Manager Gene Toy responded by saying that the rate given to the City included all costs and fees. Toy also shared that Galion would receive this energy at a flat rate, which is more attractive than the variable … Read the rest

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The last three meetings of Galion City Council have featured a number of citizen comments and reactions from City Council members and administration officials concerning the ongoing Olentangy River clearing project. On Tuesday, the dialogue escalated to an entirely new level, with high tension, raised voices, and a banging gavel.

In the end, several in attendance left the meeting in protest.

The dialogue began with remarks shared by Galionite Charlie Clark during the citizen comments portion of the agenda. Remarking that he was a fan of trees, Clark asked if the “destroying of beauty” along the Olentangy was completed. He continued by reviewing the history of projects in that area in the last 30 … Read the rest

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Galion Community Center YMCA Director Terry Gribble outlined a proposal for the 2012 swim season at Galion’s municipal pool. Noting that the basic contract between the City and the Center YMCA has remained substantially unchanged, Gribble suggested that there “…is no need to change any of that at this time.” Still, he continued, increased expenses have resulted in a request this year for a $3.00 hourly rate increase. In the time since the last increase, he noted, there have been 3 minimum wage hikes.

The operating plan calls for the … Read the rest

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For many weeks, tension has been in ample evidence as Galion City Council has considered important local issues. Two such matters have been at the forefront of recent debate and discussion, namely the project to clear the banks of the Olentangy River in an area stretching from Harding Way West, across Portland Way North, and continuing to Heise Park. The other, a much longer debate, concerns the question of whether or not the City should raise electric rates as recommended by its consultant.

The first of these issues – that of the river clearing – has largely been a vibrant dialogue between citizens and Council, and focused on choices made by the … Read the rest

1. Short and Sweet
2. Looking at Consolidation
3. Looking at Rates and Perceptions

And at times, the language used by both Council members and those in the audience had been raw and had evidenced strong convictions and emotions.

GalionLive will have coverage of this important meeting in more than one installment in the coming days. We cannot speak for other news sources, but we want to give our readers the best opportunity to gain a sense of the many conversations, disagreements, and areas of consensus that characterized the meeting. Initially, we’ll take a … Read the rest

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Many of those in attendance left in much better spirits than they had when the meeting began.

After an hour and a half of debate and discussion, the Committee voted 3-0 to recommend to the full Council a set of proposals – first, to remove the remaining 4% “adder” currently paid by Galion’s electric consumers, and second, to reject the rate increases recommended by the City’s electric rate consultants, Sawvel and Associates.

Adoption of these two measures by the full Council would result in a net electric bill decrease.

Finance Committee Chair Roberta Wade led off the meeting by announcing that its purpose … Read the rest

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2. Council Raises Water, Sewer Rates; Tables Electric Rate Increase
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During a relatively brief meeting of the Parks & Recreation Committee, Chairperson Ken Bodkins led the group in a discussion of the proposed fence near the children’s play area in the southwest quarter of Heise Park, directly across the street from the Veterans Monument. This idea was initially advanced by Committee member Paul Flannery, who was not present at the meeting.

The fence would go between the area and the Olentangy River, thereby protecting children at play. There was also some talk in previous meetings about having it continue along the wooded area. Committee members noted that sufficient space … Read the rest

1. Other Council Matters: Heise Park Pool, A Resignation, and Good News
2. Heise Park Pool Update, Constitution Project, and Seedling Survival
3. Families in the Park at Heise

Councilman Walter Keib, who is continuing to recover from surgery, was absent and excused.

Only one item of actual legislation appeared on the evening’s agenda, that being a routine measure enacted on a regular basis to take the previous year’s ordinances and transfer them to the form necessary for inclusion in the City’s Codified Ordinances. This process includes making certain that any local ordinances that refer to sections of the Ohio Revised Code are updated … Read the rest

1. Council Talks Airport Lease, Paving, and the Olentangy River
2. Olentangy Confusion
3. Council Committee Looking at Possible New Health Zoning

In the only legislation before Council, the following two items were passed unanimously on an Emergency basis:

• The lease of 3.1656 acres of land in the corporate limits to Ohio Medical Transportation, Inc., the corporate name for MedFlight. The lease includes the house on the premises, with MedFlight plans to transform into its base of operations, as well as a hangar. The five-year lease is set at $500 per month. Councilwoman Roberta Wade queried City Manager Gene Toy about certain contract provisions, including responsibility for ice and snow removal. Toy indicated that the City would be “…committing

… Read the rest

1. Olentangy Confusion
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During the Planning, Zoning, and Utilities Committee meeting, the Committee considered a request by Galion Community Hospital to rezone three parcels of real estate along the west side of Clymer Avenue. The area in question extends from the northwest corner of the intersection of Clymer and Grove Avenue to Westwood Avenue.

The hospital was represented at the meeting by Mansfield architect Dan Seckel. Seckel briefly profiled the hospital’s initial desire to build an clinic building on … Read the rest

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