By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green City Council has taken the first step toward providing quicker responses to neighborhood nuisance problems, like litter and unmowed lawns.
A first reading was given last week to an ordinance that would speed up the enforcement of various nuisance issues, such as grass mowing, sidewalk snow clearing, and garbage removal. The change would be more efficient and better insure that complaints do not get missed, Assistant Municipal Administrator Joe Fawcett said at a recent meeting.
The city will also collaborate more closely with the student legal services office on campus to help educate students.
New publications on the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants are in the works, and a new website will be launched to bring together all the information on these issues in one place.
City Prosecutor Hunter Brown said at a recent meeting that the city will continue enforcing these concerns as criminal, rather than civil, complaints. The process to resolve them through a civil process can take as long as a year, while criminal citations move through the system much more quickly.
Fawcett said the process would be education first, then a civil citation, before a minor misdemeanor charge is filed.
Also at the meeting, council agreed to prioritize the following steps for redeveloping East Wooster Street:
- Move forward on a catalytic project to develop upscale, high-quality housing at the northwest corner of East Wooster and Thurstin streets.
- Develop a mechanism for on-going dialogue between the city, Wood County Hospital and BGSU on the creation and development of the proposed “Eds, Meds & Beds” district.
- Create a framework for a stakeholder group to make specific recommendations for the features desired for the proposed “Walkable Hospitality” district.
- Pursue public art. Create a framework for the various artistic groups in BG to meet periodically to recommend a public art program that includes all forms of artistic expression and builds on all the current artistic events, performances, shows and displays in BG.
- Charge the Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee with the task of developing and initiating a detailed implementation plan.
“These seem to be good initial steps,” Council President Mike Aspacher said. “I know all of us are eager to see some movement on these.”
Council member Greg Robinette, who heads up the committee making the recommendations, asked that another meeting on the East Wooster efforts be held July 15, at 6 p.m., prior to the council meeting.
Also at the meeting, the city’s Human Relations Commission presented its annual Honor Roll Award to the organizers of Firefly Nights – downtown business owners Laura Wicks, Kati Thompson, Gayle Walterbach and Stacie Banfield.
The event brings the city together as one community in the downtown area on one Friday each month in the summer.
“Make no mistake, these ladies are a force of nature,” Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter said. “They were really determined to do this for our community” despite all the difficulties in organizing a downtown festival.
In other business:
- Council learned a public hearing on the zoning request for the new Wood County Senior Center on South Grove Street will be held Aug. 5.
- City Council approved appointments by Mayor Dick Edwards of Bob Midden to the Wood County Board of Health, Jason Miller to the Transportation Advisory Committee, and Megan Newlove, Mike Rywalski and Mike Trinity to the Wood County Transportation Improvement District.
- Planning Director Heather Sayler announced that a representative of the Ohio Historical Preservation Office will speak June 28, at 10 a.m., in the county courthouse atrium.
- Sayler reported a multi-faith picnic is being planned in City Park on Aug. 4, from 4 to 6 p.m.
- Council learned recommendations on bicycle accommodations in the city will be discussed on July 1 at 6 p.m.
