The Antwerp Village Council met Wednesday, October 9 to discuss village business. The packets were full of items to discuss with all council members present. The guests who were given about 15 minutes of time were from Verano, the dispensary company that intends to rent space in the Village Depot to setup the marijuana dispensary. Ryan Dunne Ewing and Chris Fotopoulos were their representatives ready to answer questions by council.
There were several items of contention on the emergency list for council to vote upon. One was the expenditures needed in the budget to complete the fiscal year. Another was over the leasing of office space that has been occupied by the village administrator for over a month, yet had not been approved by council yet. Multiple council members found in the lease agreement a clause that intended to pay village utilities, not only at the business center, but also for the personal residence of the lessor. The resolution was tabled due to lack of support in current form.
The first readings of resolutions 2024-21 – Adopt Personnel Manual and R2024-22 Authorize transfer to street lighting fund took place.
The first reading of Ordinance 2024-12 Prohibiting Duplexing or Triplexing of Single Family Housing, as written by police Chief George Clemens. Councilman Jason Franks asked if there were statistics on how many houses in the village this involves. Councilman Bryce Steiner asked who the enforcement agent would be, and what would be the penalty for violation. Clemens replied that it would be up to council to decide.
The first reading of Ordinance 2024-13 took place for maintaining water rates.
The first reading of Ordinance 2024-14 establishing a time and place of regular council meetings in 2025.
The first reading of ordinance 2024-15 – Temporary Appropriations for 2025
The first reading of ordinance 2024-16 – Establishing compensation for employees in 2025
The longest part of the meeting took place towards the beginning of the meeting involving the contentious selling of the depot by an emergency resolution – which no guests were allowed to speak on except Verano representatives. The intended buyers were not present to ask questions to. Councilman Steiner attempted to convince the other members that it wasn’t legal nor was it the intention of those that saved the national historic registered building, paid to have the building saved, and revitalized. He compared it to selling the park and the Holly Beach Splash Pad if somebody offered a million dollars. Others responded that the village is in desperate financial position with all of the upcoming projects that need completed. Two council members, Jordan and Franks, who in June voted no on this issue, stated they had met with representatives of Verano privately previous to the council meeting and decided to change their minds. Steiner said the issues are separate – the dispensary is one and the sale of the depot is the other, defending his stance with there are many empty buildings in downtown with owners who would love to fill their spaces. No representative from Zoned Properties Inc was present for questions. The Resolution 2024-19 was a 5-1 vote as an emergency, avoiding public comment.
Administrator Davis gave his report. The waterplant engineering is being fast tracked by the EPA due to being moved to Bowling Green.
Steiner presented a resolution to invalidate the ordinance of 2024-06 to prohibit marijuana sales in the downtown zoned areas of Antwerp, which was brought before council by Councilman Bill Boylan in August, and Steiner had made the motion to pass. Steiner stated that at the September meeting of Zoning and Planning it was brought up that that ordinance did not pass through their committee. Steiner continued that while he agrees with the ordinance, it was not proper by the code, and instead bypassed the proper channels required in ORC 713.07. Solicitor Grigsby wrote a response that in his professional opinion that it was passed acceptably by council by a 3/4 majority. However, Steiner responded that was incorrect as only four of the six council members voted to pass the ordinance, meaning it was only 2/3 approved. Steiner asked that the minutes reflect this. Grigsby was asked to look into this.
The mayor closed the meeting with her report.
Watch the entire meeting by scanning the QR code to the right, visit our youtube channel. Or type in this URL in your favorite browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8yukCiD1Ic
