Park, street work is ongoing

FORT RECOVERY — With summer heat comes construction.

Fort Recovery Village Council got updates Monday on several road and park projects that are underway or planned for this summer.

Council members also approved an ordinance to split what had been a full-time village position into two part-time positions and got an update on area medical marijuana dispensaries.

Village administrator Randy Diller told council members Scott Pearson, Dave Bretz, Cliff Wendel, Al Post and Greg Schmitz, absent Erik Fiely, that work is going well on the project to reconstruct William Street on the east side of the Fort Recovery High School property. Curbing is scheduled for later this week, with sidewalks to follow.

Paving of Milligan Street and Industrial Drive West have also been completed, in addition to patching of areas of Ohio 49 and Sweet Breeze Drive.

Diller added that Ohio Department of Transportation is planning to pave Ohio 49 from the Darke County line to Ohio 29, with the exception of Boundary and Elm streets in the village. (Those streets were paved within the last few years.)

In terms of projects at Community Park, new tennis/basketball courts are nearly complete. The last major part of the work is to finish the surface of the courts, which is expected in the next couple of weeks.

In addition, village solicitor Erin Minor said work on construction of a new three-season shelter house at the park is expected to begin in the next few weeks.

Minor also noted that the village has applied for a $7,500 grant from the Cooper Family Foundation for a new entrance sign at Fort Site Park.

Council members passed an ordinance eliminating the full-time position of attorney/grants administrator and creating two new part-time positions covering the same duties. Minor, who had held both roles, will remain as the village’s attorney, and Kate Wuebker has been hired as its new grants administrator.

Minor informed council that no organizations in Ohio’s Northwest Region, District 2 — Mercer, Van Wert and Paulding counties — had applied for a license to dispense medical marijuana. (Fort Recovery council has placed a moratorium on dispensaries in the village.) The closest organization to Fort Recovery to be granted a license is in Wapakoneta.

In other business, council:

•Approved a resolution authorizing placing the renewal of a 2.5-mil storm sewer levy to be placed on the ballot. The measure is expected to bring in $65,846.

•Heard Minor thank all those who helped with last week’s Taste of Fort Recovery event.

•Learned from Diller about Ohio House Bill 175, which would allow property owners to keep small livestock on their property and prohibit county and township zoning boards from regulating certain agricultural activities on residential property. Diller said he will be sharing his opinion with legislators that the state should not be eliminating local control on such issues.