MINSTER — Approval of the 2024 village budget and review of new zoning rules for short term rentals were part of the Feb. 20 Minster Village Council meeting.
Approved was budget appropriations of $39,750,301 for village expenses. Village administrator Don Harrod said this 2024 budget was $2 million less than in 2023.
A first reading was given for new zoning regulations for short-term rentals as recommended by council’s planning committee.
Details of the new zoning regulation for short term rentals include that they be restricted to R-1, C-1 or C-2 areas in the village. In order to received an annual permit for a short term rental property, a landlord must provide a tax ID number, a name and phone number of the property owner, the address of the short-term rental, a list of all government entities the owner is registered with, proof of liability insurance coverage for the rental property, a copy of the short term lease agreement, the maximum occupancy of the short term rental property, a description of the parking availability, a statement of advanced registration requirements, a statement as to whether the owner resides on site or not, a listing of all on-line platforms on which the property will be offered, a listing of fire prevention and detection devices at the property and a statement of compliance with all applicable village, county, and state health and safety codes.
In other news, Renee Metz, of the Minster Historical Society, received permission to hold their annual Food Truck Rally on June 1 from 3-10 p.m.
Ordinances passed by council via emergency measures included an ordinance authorizing the issuance of a 10 year note for the 2023 Sidewalk Replacement Project and an ordinance awarding a $207,266 contract to Sunbelt Solomon as the lowest and best bidder for the purchase of two 1500 KVA electrical transformers and one 1000 KVA transformer. Another ordinance passed via emergency measure was to sell to Nidec 0.229 acres of land on Ohio St. for $3,435. The property was the site of the former village water tower on Ohio Street.
Given third and final readings were a resolution authorizing the Village’s participation in the Ohio Department of Administrative Service’s Cooperative Purchasing Program for 2024 and a resolution authorizing the sale of excess personal property by internet sales.
Second readings were done for annexation of 1.006 acres from Jackson Township, at the request of Tim and Shirley Shenk, who own the property along Seventh Street.
Council also approved a $26,800 engineering agreement with Choice One Engineering for the Parkview Curb Ramp Replacement Project which will install new handicapped curb cuts.
They also approved an engineering agreement with Garmann and Miller for the design of a new shelter house at Paris Street Park.
Under new business, council appointed Dawson Oldiges to the Minster-Jackson Township Fire Department and approved a motion to request $5.00 Permissive License Fee from the County Engineer.
Also approved as the January 2024 Income Tax Report for $406,113,28 as submitted by the city of St. Marys.
The village administrator reported various activities in the village.
He said Moody’s of Dayton have drilled the test wells that will be used for the dilution wells and they are now in the process of designing the permanent wells. Production well drilling is expected to start in early March in addition to the water line from the wells to the effluent outflow.
The village is still encouraging residents to sign-up for CivicPlus, the village’s new mass notification system. Civic Plus will allow the village to issue urgent notifications, emergency instructions, warnings and routine communications to subscribed residents via email, text messages and
voicemail to keep people safe and informed. The main intention of the system is to keep the residents of the village better informed about such things as road closures, power outages, water line breaks, inclement weather or other events or emergencies that may impact the community. This program will allow the village to send out mass notifications, by text, voice or e-mail to those who sign up for the service.
The Christmas decorations including the nativity scene and the Santa Claus have been picked up by Bronner’s of Frankenmuth, Michigan. He said both the nativity scene and Santa Claus need to be repaired and repainted before being displayed next year.
The public works department is out repairing fire hydrants throughout the village that were identified as needing repairs during the last hydrant testing session. Some of the components to fix several hydrants are on back order and they do not expect these parts to come in for some time.
He said the electric department has set the new scoreboards at the large diamond complex at Four Seasons Park. These new scoreboards replace the existing scoreboards that have been in service for over 20 years. Crews will continue to wire and program the scoreboards so that they can be put into service this spring.
Harrod reported that representatives of the village and the Oktoberfest committee met with Verizon Wireless Representatives recently to discus the possibility of Verizon installing a temporary tower that can be used to improve cellular service in the community over the Oktoberfest weekend. Verizon Wireless indicated that a temporary tower would be placed in the Village for that weekend. The ideal place to put this temporary tower is in the water plant parking lot. Crews from the electric department are working with Spectrum to get fiber and electric to the site so that the tower can be installed in the future.
Contractor Hohenbrink Excavating continues to make good progress on the East Seventh Street/North Paris Street Reconstruction Project. Harrod said most of the storm sewer has been installed with some laterals and catch basins remaining to be installed. They also have installed some of the water line and will tie the new water line into the existing line by the end of the week.
The water department has cleaned and disinfected well number six at the Four Seasons Park. They have also replaced the motor in this well as they were having intermittent issues with the motor.
This well was placed back into service last week. It is the village’s intention to clean and disinfect multiple wells this year, since it has been a few years since they have done this.
The village will be including articles in the next issue of the Town Crier regarding the upcoming solar eclipse. These articles are intended to help residents and businesses prepare for the influx of people anticipated for the event. We continue to participate in the county EMA’s meetings planning for the event as well as hold local planning meetings preparing for the event. The village also has approximately 1500 solar eclipse glasses that are available for residents of the community. These glasses can be picked up at the village administration building during normal business hours.
Centerpointe Energy continues to work in the northwest quarter of the village installing new gas lines, replacing existing steel lines with plastic main lines and laterals. Currently they are replacing the laterals to homes on Sixth Street and will be installing the main on Sixth Street.
Council approved receipts of $ 1,522,381.63 and invoices: $ 929,803.42.
They then went into executive session to discuss the acquisition of land.
The writer is a regular contributor to the Sidney Daily News.
