By Andy Chappell-Dick
On January 9, Bluffton Council met for the first time in 2023, utilizing fourteen fewer ballots to select their leader than their D.C. counterparts. I'm not saying it's a who-drew-the-short-straw, but Councilor Jerry Cupples was expeditiously re-elected Council President as the first order of business. With Mayor Rich Johnson absent, Cupples chaired the rest of the meeting.
COMMITTEES
Councilor Phil Talavina reported on the Safety Services Committee meeting. EMS Chief Jan Basinger had presented a proposal for increasing EMS volunteer incentives. (This meeting is covered HERE).
LEGISLATION
Three bills were up for consideration. The first was an annual ordinance that adopts the latest version of Ohio Basic Code as the Village's code. This is chiefly for the Police Department's day-to-day enforcement of safety and general welfare. The ordinance passed 6-0 as an emergency.
The second was a resolution adopting a new policy called "Complete Streets For All." This document is the culmination of many months of work by a committee of residents, experts, and officials that will guide the Village as new streets are added or existing streets are repaired. Councilor Joe Sehlhorst gave a summary slide presentation describing how streets can be better designed to be useful to cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and other ways of getting around. This policy is not a set of requirements, he emphasized, as each situation must be weighed individually. With buy-in from Council and the public, the ideas put forward can bring many benefits to the community. This resolution passed 6-0, and will move on to a second reading at the next meeting.
The third resolution reaffirmed Bluffton's relationship with Lima-Allen County Regional Planning Commission.
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