SIDNEY — The Sidney City Council heard updates Monday on the city’s social media pages, new website and the new open finance web page. The open finance page provides a transparent view of the city’s financial data to Sidney citizens and visitors.

Assistant Finance Officer Renee DuLaney demonstrated and invited council to explore to the interactive charts, graphs and tables that can be accessed on the new open finance web page on the city’s website. She said visitors may view the types of revenue collected and how the city spends public funds to invest in the community and provide the best in public service.

The site is updated weekly and presents current calendar year unaudited financial information. Previous calendar year information is presented based on the actual audited financial information. Sidney’s five-year plan, annual budget, audited comprehensive annual financial report and monthly financial statements can be found under related content on the city’s website at www.sidneyoh.com.

The site became active after the Monday evening meeting.

IT Manager Joel Glass also provided a short presentations on statistics and demographics of social media records since they were established in 2016. The city of Sidney has pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, and the Sidney Police Department also has a Twitter page. He also gave quick display of the new website for council members.

In other business, council was introduced to five ordinances, and they are:

• To assess the cost of weed cutting and removal of junk on private property for outstanding invoices through Aug. 12, 2019, which remain outstanding as of Nov. 21, 2019.

Adams said a total of six properties will be assessed a total of $11,897.80 for junk removal, 93 properties will be assessed $32,838 for weed cutting.

• To make supplemental appropriations for 2019;

• To make an appropriation for expenditures for the year ending on Dec. 31, 2019;

• To amend sections of an ordinance regarding employees policies, procedures and regulations;

• To amend sections of an ordinance regarding employees’ pay classification plan and pay tables for 2020 and declaring it an emergency so that it will take effect immediately.

There was a public hearing and an introduction of an ordinance for the rezoning request of Executive Director Chris North, on behalf of the Shelby County Veterans Services, for two properties located east and west of West Avenue from an R-3, multi-family residence district to B-5, court square business district. The property on the east side of West Avenue is a parking facility for Job and Family Services. The property to the west is a undeveloped lot on which the previous structure was demolished about 10 years ago.

The Planning Commission reviewed the request at its Nov. 18, meeting, and made a recommend for council to approve the rezoning.

Other than North, no other member of the public spoke on the issue.

North told council members Shelby County Veterans Services currently has no place to store its vehicles, which transports disabled veterans to the VA Medical Center. Approving the rezoning would allow the organization to purchase the property in question to allow a three-car garage to be built. This will allow storage of their vehicles to last longer. It will also save time to warm-up them up.

The hope is to have the garage built in 2020, North said.

The matter will return for further consideration at council’s Jan. 13, 2020 meeting.

Also Monday, council adopted four resolutions, and they are:

• To authorize the transfer of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Economic Development Revolving Loan funds to the CDBG Formula Allocation fund. In order to proceed with one of the projects included in the grant, the acquisition and development of a park in the Heritage Manor/Stewart Subdivision neighborhood on South Vandemark Road, the city must transfer $17,486 to the CDBG Allocation fund.

• To authorize City Manager Mark Cundiff to enter into an agreement with the Shelby County Public Defender Commission to provide legal counsel to indigent persons charged with criminal violations in the Sidney Municipal Court.

The 2020 contract will remain substantially the same in content as in the recent past, except only for a few minor technical revisions, Law Director Jeffrey Amick said. The amount to paid to the commission by the city will remain at $55,000 per year.

• To reappoint Don Boerger to the Enterprise Zone Tax Incentive Negotiation Team for a term ending April 15, 2023. He has served as the citizen representative on the team since April 28, 1997. After he was reappointed in 2003, no specific term limit was set for his appointment. It was recently discovered that when the Enterprise Zone Policy was amended in 2004, there was to be a five-year term limit for the citizen representative.

City Manager Mark Cundiff noted Boerger should have been officially reappointed by City Council in 2008, 2013 and 2018. Despite no official action taken to reappointment Boerger, he continued to serve when called upon for meetings. Therefore, to remedy the oversight, the resolution officially appoints Boerger for the remainder of the appointment that should have taken place in 2018.

• To appoint Heather Dunn to the Sidney Planning Commission to fulfill the unexpired term of Steve Klingler which ends Oct. 1, 2022. Klinger was elected to serve on the Sidney City Council in November. This is Dunn’s first city board appointment.

At the end of the meeting, Cundiff reminded the public Sidney City offices will be closed Dec. 24, 25, and Jan. 1 in observation of the holidays. Trash collection will not be delayed on Dec. 24. But trash will not be collected on Dec. 25, or Jan.1, and will be delayed by a day that week.

He also wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.