Public Meetings

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By Liz Gordon-Hancock

The Village of Bluffton Board of Zoning & Building Appeals, which is made up of members Tom Downey, Tony Pinks and Dave Miller, met on Tuesday, January 10 to hear a proposal from Ryan and Jessica Meyer asking for permission to convert the former True Word Tabernacle church at 104 East Elm St. into a multiple apartment facility.

The Meyers’ proposal required permission for variances to certain Chapters and Sections of Village code, involving conditional use (Chapter 153.142), required yardage for a residential property (Chapter 153.123 & 153.145), and off-street parking (Chapter 153.306).

Jessica Meyer gave a detailed presentation on their proposal to convert the church into 8 individual apartment units with modern amenities and private entrances. 

Over twenty community members attended, many of whom spoke in favor of the proposal.

The Zoning Board unanimously approved all three variances required.

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UPDATED 1:00 P.M. JANUARY 11
The Icon is providing expanded and corrected descriptions of two incentive program options provided by EMS Chief Jan Basinger. The proposal document is attached.

EMS Chief went on 486 of 808 calls in 2022

By Paula Scott

On January 9, the Bluffton Council safety services committee met to hear a proposal by EMS Chief Jan Basinger to provide on-call and service frequency incentives for EMS volunteer crew members. He was responding to a 2021 request from the council to create a bonus program for EMS members.

The reason for the new proposal is that calls for service are steadily increasing while EMS volunteer personnel numbers are decreasing.

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New 5-year contract for superintendent

By Paula Scott

At 7:30 p.m. on January 11, the Bluffton Exempted Village Schools Board of Education will meet for a re-organization and regular meeting. Board meetings are held in the Elementary Media Center, 102 S. Jackson St.

The organizational meeting agenda gives a partial view of the duties of the school treasurer and superintendent based on the permissions granted to them by the school board.

In regular business, the board will be asked to approve a new 5-year contract for Superintendent Greg Denecker and the reappointment of Carrie Phillips to a 7-year term as a Bluffton Public Library board member.

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The Bluffton Board of Zoning and Building Appeals will meet at 7:00 p.m. on January 10 in the third-floor Community Room at the Bluffton Town Hall, 154 N. Main St.

Applicants Ryan and Jessica Meyer are asking the Village of Bluffton for permissions to convert the former True Word Tabernacle church at 104 East Elm St. into a multiple apartment facility. Allen County Assessor's records show the 9,844 square foot building was constructed in 1920 and renovated in 2004.

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A packet for the January 9 regular meeting of the Bluffton Council has been issued. The meeting will take place at 7:00 p.m. on the third floor of Bluffton Town Hall, 154 N. Main.

The 33-page document includes:

- Agenda

- Voucher Report

- Covid- 19 Report from Allen County Health Department (community risk level high)

- Proposed Ordinance No. 01-2023 regarding publishing changes to the Code of Ordinances

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The Village of Bluffton has announced the following meeting at Bluffton Town Hall, 154 N. Main.

Safety Committee - Monday, January 9 at 6:30 p.m.

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