Council denies EDIT request

A local chiropractor’s request for funds to help move his business was turned down Monday. 

Portland City Council decided against giving Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) money to Edward Schmit, owner of Schmit Chiropractic Offices, for his business’s move to the north side of the city. 

Council members also discussed the decision to cut curbside recycling, which ended in Portland last week. 

Schmit is moving from his current location at 207 W. Main St., Portland, to 1607.5 N. Meridian St., next to Greek’s Pizzeria. He was concerned about the conditions of the buildings around the Main Street location he’s been renting, prompting him to buy the new location. 

The building is currently in the midst of a remodel and the extra space will help the business expand, Schmit said. The overhaul, estimated to cost $464,300, will be completed in the next two months.

“It should allow us to offer more services, bring in another doctor and a couple other paraprofessional staff,” Schmit said. 

Schmit purchased the practice from Dennis Spaulding and launched Schmit Chiropractic at the beginning of 2007. He currently has six employees, five of whom are full-time. 

The project has been financed by First Bank of Berne, and Schmit said he personally would provide the rest of the money, but wanted to see if there was any economic development money available for his business. 

Portland’s EDIT advisory committee voted on Monday to recommend that Portland City Council give Schmit $25,000 for the project. He would have three years to fulfill a developmental agreement, after which the loan would be considered a grant. If the project fell through, he’d have to pay the money back. 

Janet Powers was the lone dissenting vote during the EDIT meeting. At the city council meeting, which directly followed the EDIT meeting, she told her fellow council members she didn’t agree with giving him the money. 

“I voted no because I couldn’t see the need. He had financing and he has funds,” Powers said. “Not that I don’t appreciate him being in the community, but I couldn’t find the need and that’s what I thought the EDIT money was for.” 

Council ultimately decided not to give Schmit money from the EDIT fund, which has about $66,000 left for the year. Judy Hedges, Bill Gibson and Powers voted no and Judy Aker and Don Gillespie voted in favor. Kent McClung abstained from both the city council vote and the advisory committee vote because he’s a patient of Schmit's, and Michele Brewster was absent. 

Also on Monday, city officials further discussed the Portland Board of Works decision to end curbside recycling in Portland. 

McClung told Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman he had received several phone calls disagreeing with the decision, and asked the mayor to run through the reasoning behind ending the program. 

Geesaman told council one of the reasons the board of works decided against going through with the three-year contract it had originally signed with Rumpke for recycling service was that the contract included a clause allowing the fees to be raised. If Rumpke wasn’t making enough money to cover its costs, it could charge the city more, Geesaman said, and costs are rising for recycling companies since China isn’t taking as many recyclables as it used to. 

“I hope everyone understands that the board of works spent all spring and all summer struggling with this, it’s the last thing we wanted to do,” Geesaman said. “We were told by Best Way and Rumpke you’re actually doing the right thing, because we have no clue what’s going to happen, even from month to month.” 

Council members also heard from Geesaman that Portland residents will be able to keep their recycling containers. Best Way had originally planned to collect the bins during the final pick-ups but decided to leave them. 

In other business, council members: 

•Learned the city has applied for money from the federal omnibus spending bill allocated for improving rural airports. If the airport receives the grant, which is expected to be announced in the next couple months, its planned runway extension would be funded completely. 

•Voted to move $60,000 to the motor vehicle highway repairs and maintenance fund. The money will be used for repairs on several of the city’s vehicles, including the trash trucks. 

•Shifted $18,614.71 from the park capital outlays fund to park pool repairs and maintenance fund, $4,000 from the park pool capital outlays fund to the park gasoline fund and $1,000 from the park pool capital outlays fund to the park pool equipment fund. 

•Reappointed Kyle Cook and Matt Simmons to the Jay County Visitor and Tourism Bureau Commission. 

•Heard a complaint from Bryan Alexander, a Portland resident who was pulled over by two Portland Police Department officers for failing to use his turn signal. He said he has heard complaints from other residents about similar issues.

“I’ve heard talk around town for the past year or so about actions involving police stop, just anecdotally, and it happened to me on Saturday and it’s concerning,” Alexander said. “I think there’s a difference between community law enforcement and harassment.”

•Paid $23,052 to Jones and Henry Engineering and $392,965 to Jutte Excavating from the State Revolving Fund loan distribution and $138,069.12 to Jutte Excavating from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs grant fund for continued work on the wastewater treatment plant.

•Paid $895,001.11 in claims.