Dover questions legality of house demolition grant
In the mayor’s report, Gunnoe gave an update on grant funds that were awarded for the demolition of a house located at 114 W. Fifth St.
Nathan Vaughn of the Dover Soccer Association attended the March 6 Dover Council meeting for the passage of Emergency Resolution 5-23. The resolution thanks the Dover Soccer Association for its donation of $130,000 and authorizes them to undertake the tasks necessary to complete the improvements.
“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Dover Soccer Association for raising the funds needed to add two new soccer fields at the former Krantz Berry Farm,” Mayor Shane Gunnoe said. “These fields will be used to provide practice space to the high school boys and girls soccer teams on currently unused city property.”
The donation will cover the entirety of the cost of the project. The initial work can be completed quickly, but the fields have to sit for at least one year before they are able to be used.
Marilyn Graef and Sarah Keplinger of the Tuscarawas County TNR Project gave a report on the group’s efforts. Graef said the nonprofit organization, funded only by donations, is currently very successful and thriving. They began operations in 2019.
“To date 779 cats and kittens have been spayed, neutered, vaccinated and helped by our organization,” Graef said. “That number is broken into two parts: 592 adult cats have been TNR’d and returned to their point of capture (and) 187 cats and kittens were spayed, neutered, vaccinated and we found homes for them. This past winter we made and gave away 78 outdoor cat shelters.”
In the mayor’s report, Gunnoe gave an update on grant funds that were awarded for the demolition of a house located at 114 W. Fifth St.
“It has been brought to my attention that this property is currently owned by the son of former Mayor Homrighausen. To have the city, during the leadership of former Mayor Homrighausen, applying for grant funding related to work on his son’s property raises significant ethical and conflict-of-interest concerns,” Gunnoe said.
Gunnoe has requested the building administrator cease advancement of the demolition project until a proper legal review of the application process can be conducted.
Law Director Doug O’Meara has reached out to a state agency about their position in the matter. He was supposed to have received a return call on March 6 but had not heard back at the time of the meeting.
“The original signed application for this occurred on Feb. 10, 2022, clearly during the prior mayor's administration and also before he was removed on Jan. 19, 2023,” O’Meara said. “So all these things occurred during that period of time when (Homrighausen) still had the title of mayor and the ability to act as mayor. We're investigating. We'll know further down the line here.”
O’Meara also requested and received copies of numerous documents in regard to the request that was made for the demolition of the property by Nick Homrighausen.
“That request has various references in the sub recipient agreement that says you're not allowed to have a conflict of interest with regards to anything involving funds that are federal funds,” O’Meara said. “And you have to comply with the conflict-of-interest requirements because I do not have an answer from the state, nor do I have an answer from the federal agency. I'm not willing to give an opinion at this point in time. But the federal regulations with regards to this matter do define persons covered as an employee, an elected official or an appointed official of the sub recipient that would be receiving funds.”
Gunnoe thanked the Dover Exchange Club for providing the city with $2,500 in funding to provide picnic tables for the new picnic shelter at the Canal Dover Park. Work on the shelter is nearly complete, and it will be ready for use soon.
The results of extra testing on the Dover water supply since the East Palestine train derailment continue to show there are no issues.
The city is currently looking to fill positions of full-time utility line worker, utility meter reader and crossing guards. They also are looking for students interested in summer/seasonal employment including lifeguards.
Other positions were recently filled.
“I am pleased to announce that on Feb. 24 I swore in officer Haley Hiller as our newest police officer. Our new dispatcher, Alisha Cates, joined our staff today,” Gunnoe said. “Officer Hiller and dispatcher Cates will make excellent additions to the Dover Police Department.”
In other legislation, council passed Ordinance 6-23 to make permanent appropriations for the current expenses and other expenditures of the City of Dover during the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2023. The grand total of the appropriations is $71,224,962.75.
Auditor Nicole Stoldt also spoke about a list of projects department heads would like to see completed this year. The list included 48 projects. The city is looking at getting three new police cruisers and to have money in the budget to order them, but delivery will take 1 1/2 to two years. The budget for street paving is $660,000, and any funds from other completed projects on the list that come in under budget will be moved to street paving. The city’s GIS mapping of the entire city is nearly complete.
“Each department has laptops that they're able to find all the streets, telephone poles, electric accesses, manholes, everything. So that's been very beneficial for the city,” Stoldt said.
Council voted to hold Ordinance 5-23, which will rezone four parcels of land on West Fifth Street from M-2 to B-3. A public hearing will be held on the matter on March 20 at 7:25 p.m.
At the end of the meeting, council went into executive session for the purpose of land acquisition and public infrastructure improvements that are directly related to an economic development project with no action to be taken.
The next council meeting is scheduled for March 20 with various committee meetings starting at 6:45 p.m.