LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Lima City Council voted on bringing the issue of electric aggregation to the ballot in May.
From
To
October is Fire Prevention Month, and Lima Fire Chief Andy Heffner was the keynote speaker sharing his perspective. A major high-rise fire 30 years ago was used as an example of what happens when fire protection systems fail. In this case, the alarm did not notify the fire department. After a fire burned for 19 hours, a matter of 10 sprinkler heads on the 30th floor were able to control a fire that 300 firefighters could not. Heffner wants area businesses to understand just how important these sprinklers are.
On Monday Evening, Lima City Council approved an action plan drafted by the Department of Housing and Neighborhoods to allocate funds to services within the city. Following 3 public hearings, the Community Development Block Grant, known as CDBG, has been awarded to city and public services throughout the City of Lima with an approximate total of 1.087 million dollars.
The city has $1,087,241 in the Community Development Block Grant funding, which is a little less than last year, and $316,176 HOME funds to disperse. The Home money goes towards programs that involved affordable housing, and the CDBG funds also are for affordable housing and community development programs. The city got 19 proposals requesting $4.2 million dollars, which is $2.7 million more than the money they have available. So, some programs saw a reduction in their funding or didn’t get approved for funding at all.
Martin has been serving as chief of the Lima Police Department for the last 11 years and attended his final meeting after being a staple at them during his tenure and council members thanked him for his service to the city and he thanked them for the support.
The human resources committee looked at a list of 11 possible criteria that can be used as proof of residency. Some of those include driver's license, tax information, military discharge papers, and mailing address. The committee discussed if there would be a set number of criteria, like four or five, out of the 11 possible that would have to be met for the Allen County Board of Election to declare a candidate a resident of Lima, if it was called into question.
Elstro’s last day on the job is Thursday before he starts his retirement, and councilors each gave their thanks for his guidance and decorum over the years. Elstro says he has attended over 830 council meetings and countless other committees, finance, and citizen meetings. He says it has been a pleasure serving the council, the city, and its people.
Earlier this year, one city council member proposed the idea of a landlord rental registry. Now she says she's open to other options. Third ward city council member Carla Thompson initially presented the idea as a way to hold landlords and tenants accountable. She believes it would be the solution to vacant and dilapidated housing, but, not all her constituents believe this is the best option.