Barks, Woofs Welcome on Square
Signs on Chardon Square telling dog owners to leave Fido at home led to confusion and calls to the city asking whether dogs were no longer allowed in the public park.
Signs on Chardon Square telling dog owners to leave Fido at home led to confusion and calls to the city asking whether dogs were no longer allowed in the public park.
“We are dog-friendly,” Chardon City Council member Heather Means clarified during the June 10 meeting.
The signs were set out by city workers during preparation for the June 6 flea market, but were never officially set up by organizers, Means said, adding they will not be set out in the future.
Leashed dogs are, indeed, allowed on the square, but organizers of four events — the Chardon Arts Festival, Chardon BrewFest, Geauga County Maple Festival and the flea market — have petitioned the city for permission to restrict the presence of dogs during their events.
City Manager Randy Sharpe said they have the option to return and reverse those requests at any point.
“There’s a reason for that, which is that in the past, folks had dogs, you know, dogs were urinating in booths, on poles, dog fights,” Means said. “So, for artists who have put their time, money and effort into an event … they don’t want a dog doing its business in their booth. There are very few events … where dogs are not welcome on the square.”
As an example, both Means and council member Chris Grau referenced the upcoming Pics Fur Paws event, which takes place June 21 on the square and will feature professional quality pet photos as a fundraiser for the Geauga County Dog Warden.
Council member Andy Blackley reported the Service Committee considered a report from traffic safety consultant Kevin Westbrooks of GPD Group on the city’s ability to reduce the speed limit on a portion of Wilson Mills Road to 25 miles per hour.
City Engineer Doug Courtney said while the city’s original intent was to reduce just the portion of road from the intersection of Park Avenue and Wilson Mills to where it intersects Water Street, and leave the rest at 35 mph, state law will not allow that change.
“If we’re going to change the speed limit on Wilson Mills Road, it has to be from Water Street all the way to the (corporation) line, which we do not recommend,” Courtney said.
Such a change would set the speed limit to 25 mph all the way to Thwing Road.
Blackley said Ohio Revised Code allows the city to reduce speed on non-state routes within the city, but not state or federal highways.
Another traffic study showed stop signs could be warranted in the future at North Hambden and Grant streets, but are not currently.
Grau updated council on a decision by the Safety Committee to increase holiday pay for part-time police personnel to one and a half times the regular hourly rate, in consideration for inflation, as well as for a long-time officer who has been with the department for close to 30 years.
“When you look at it in-depth, the cost savings to the city could be considerable and also the ability to book those holidays with personnel will be easier,” Grau said.
The committee also upped the uniform allowance for part-time officers from 50 cents per hour worked in the previous year to 75 cents, capped at $550. Part-time dispatchers will get the same increase, capped at $300.
“So there’s an inflation rate there that’s been figured in, but we see both these improvements as being respectful to our part-time police personnel and really making it easier to fill those slots when needed,” Grau said.
Parks and Recreation Director Adam Rogers said program registration is going well, with over 300 kids signed up for the city soccer league, 150 in softball and over 200 in flag football, which was new this year.
Rogers said his department is facing a shortage in lifeguards for the city pool, which has forced a cutback in hours, but the reduction is limited to only four hours per week.
Most years, lifeguards return from working the previous summer. With everything closed last year, it has been a challenge to get new hires, Rogers added.
Geauga County Auditor Chuck Walder approached council with a proposal from the Geauga County Budget Commission to update distribution of local government funding that comes from the state.
Local government funds have shrunk over time, Walder said, adding the formula used since the 1980s to determine the share divided between county, cities, municipalities, villages, townships and parks should be updated to give voters the power to determine where their money goes.
The proposed plan would maintain the county’s 38% share, but eliminate the predetermined proportion of the funds set aside for park districts, which Walder said are already funded by levy monies.
Walder said because the government is distributed to entities like Russell Township’s parks, residents in somewhere like Troy Township are double-taxed for both Geauga Park District levies and Russell parks without having any say in how the local government funds are spent.
Means was the only dissenting vote in approval of the plan. Walder said the county would also have to vote yes for the plan to pass, and if they don’t, the county will continue distributing funds with the current formula.
