First, Council will perform a third and final reading on a resolution formally expressing their opposition to the proposed supermajority rule amendment on State Issue 1. Thereafter, Council will vote on ordinances whether to permit Mayor Sharetta Smith to enter a contract with Mercy Health St. Rita's on the construction of a new childcare facility as well as authorizing Mayor Smith to pursue an agreement with the Lima City School Board of Education for matters concerning the Lima Community Aquatic Center. Additionally, Council will vote on the creation of the Lima Aquatic Center Capital projects fund and whether the city will move to pursue a natural gas aggregation program similar to the electric aggregation program passed on the May ballot. Originally, Council was scheduled to vote on these items at Monday night's regular meeting; however, only five councilors were present. At the end of Monday night's meeting, Council President John Nixon explained why voting Monday night was not possible.
At Monday night's regular meeting, Lima City Councilors discussed a drafted resolution that would express council's opposition to Issue 1; however, not all councilors are on board.
LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Lima's First Ward Councilman will enter his name in the running for city council president.
Lima City Council held their second to last regular meeting of the year earlier Monday evening in Council Chambers. On Monday, councilors placed Ordinance 240-22 on second reading, which would authorize the city auditor to pay eligible city employees who worked during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 a one-time discretionary bonus of $1,000.
Lima's City Council President says he will not be running for another term in 2023. John Nixon sent an email to media, announcing his decision not to run for the seat again. Nixon started on city council as the 1st ward councilor in 1990, and then became 2nd ward councilor in 1996. Nixon was appointed president of the council in 2007, when Matt Huffman moved to Columbus to be 4th District State Representative. Over his nearly 32 years in office, Nixon says he has served with over 40 different council members, three council clerks, two different mayors, and two different law directors, saying that all of them had the same goal to make Lima better. Besides council president, lima city council seats on the ballot next year are wards 2, 4, and 6.
The ordinance on Portable on Demand Storage Units, also known as PODS, went before the Lima City Council for its third reading Monday evening. The PODS ordinance was defeated Monday evening by a 7 to 0 vote, which would have required residents to purchase a $60 permit effective for 30 days for the use of PODS on their property. While the ordinance was defeated, the focus on PODS regulation will remain for Lima City Council.
Ordinance 205-22, which designates city parks and outdoor recreational facilities in Lima as smoke and vape-free, went before Lima City Council Monday Evening following a second reading. During their regular Monday session, council members did not act on the ordinance and placed it for a third reading.
Spurred out of the changes they made during the pandemic and at the suggestion of the law director, council is looking to modify their rules on four separate items. Including voting on all communications at once, instead of individually. Also give the mayor the power to send property maintenance code assessments to the Allen County Auditor’s Office, to put on property taxes, instead of going through council.
Council received a letter from the Mayor with proposed usage of $26.5 million dollars from the American Rescue Plan that they will receive over the next year, which they have sent to council as a whole to discuss the issue. In the proposal, there is a proposed $9.5 million for revenue loss, $4 million for a community pool replacement project, $4 million in blight removal and housing and neighborhood renewal, whose ordinance was tabled indefinitely at the council meeting.
Councilors voted to approve an ordinance that authorizes the Mayor to enter into agreement with CMT to perform engineering services on a 6 to 1 vote on its first reading. CMT would provide detailed designs of the Main St. Corridor Improvements that would replace the roundabout with a single lane modern roundabout, lane reduction on Market Street, add parking where possible, provide crosswalk improvements and adding crosswalks.