Tammy Ganger poses for a photo surrounded by family during a Botkins Village Council meeting on Wednesday. Ganger was presented a plaque for her many years of service as a fiscal officer.
Megan Lewis | Sidney Daily News
By Megan Lewis
For the Sidney Daily News
BOTKINS — Tammy Ganger, former fiscal officer for the Village of Botkins, has decided to retire after many years of service and was given a plaque from mayor Lance Symonds during the Village Council meeting on Wednesday.
Symonds recognized Ganger for all the work she has done and said he wishes her best of luck in her new chapter of life.
Todd Weigandt attended the meeting to discuss the Weigandt subdivision project that is currently on hold; he just started Phase 2 of the project. Weigandt stated the reason for the pause is because there is another active subdivision project happening right next to his, and there is no need to have two active subdivision projects going on at the same time.
Councilman Craig Brown and Mayor Symonds expressed the need of setting deadlines so the projects don’t stretch out and last years. The Council agreed to look into the matter further. Weigandt agreed that he will plant grass in lieu of sidewalks due to the other active subdivision project, which may damage it once set. He will handle mowing.
The council approved of accepting Wilson rent payments on behalf of the Botkins Community Improvement Corporation, up to $15,000 a year.
The Parks Department has finished digging up the trail for the dog park and will be pouring concrete in the next few days.
Symonds will be swearing in a new auxiliary police officer, Chris Burmeister, soon. He is a retired police officer from Sidney and is currently working as the deputy bailiff at Bellefontaine Municipal Court.
The Council also agreed to renew a five-year contract to provide fire protection services for Dinsmore and Pusheta Township. They have been doing this since the 1980s.
North Mills Street may be paved this week. The residents affected by the E. Walnut and Huber street project have been notified via mail. After that is complete, paving will move to Meadow Street. The Roth Street Detention and South Street projects are ready to be presented to the Planning Commission to discuss how to move those projects forward.
Anna council has expressed some concerns regarding the state Route 25 project. Village Administrator Randy Purdy said if interested, a representative from the Botkins council would gladly attend there next meeting to answer any questions they may have. Wapakoneta is still on board as they had there second reading recently.
The Village received a beautification grant to fix the community bulletin board. The new one will be an art-deco style stainless steel board that is rust resistant.
Councilman Jake Roberts said that a few people in the Village have approached him on how to properly dispose of torn-up bushes and grass clippings. Symonds said he has been confronted about the issue as well and is thinking of setting up a public deposit site for such items. He said the last time this site was set up, people misused it. He said if he does set one up, there will be restrictions in place along with cameras to monitor the site. Symonds said branches no bigger then 3 inches can be deposited into normal trash, but nothing with a root ball can be thrown away, as it can destroy machinery at landfills.
The Village passed an ordinance approving the publication of all the ordinances in one place so everyone in Botkins has easy access to them if interested in reading them through American Legal Publishing. They will also be published on the Village’s website at https://www.botkinsohio.com/minutes/legislation once they pass.
Two hundred and seven parcels of land need to be re-zoned within the Village, most of which are on the main roads in town; they are zoned as Industrial when they should be Residential. All 865 parcels will be double checked though to make sure they are properly zoned. This includes 34 Agricultural, 151 Commercial, 67 Industrial, and 613 Residential parcels. Letters will be sent out to the properties that get re-zoned in accordance to the new zoning laws set by Council to give them a chance to appeal the decision in 90 days. After that, anyone wishing to change zoning status will need to fill out the appropriate forms and pay a $35 fee. These zone changes will have no effect on your property taxes as they are issued by the county.
The recent changes made to the zoning regulations are churches are now declared Public Use Properties and Public Use, Agricultural, and Industrial zones will have an increase in there lot sizes and there setback distance.
