Hitchcock receives Key to the City plaque
New Philadelphia Mayor Joel Day, left, acknowledges outgoing New Philadelphia City Council President Sam Hitchcock with a Key to the City plaque.
New Philadelphia Mayor Joel Day presented a Key to the City plaque to retiring New Philadelphia City Council President Sam Hitchcock at the Dec. 23 council meeting. Day cited Hitchcock’s exemplary leadership during his tenure as president and thanked him for his contributions to city government.
Day also reported New Philadelphia Police are continuing to investigate the weekend vandalism of nearly 50 vehicles in the city. Two area teens have confessed to the crime of smashing side-view mirrors. The mayor asked anyone owning a car that may have been vandalized by the teens to report the incident to officer Tessa Pohovey of the New Philadelphia Police Department. If the total damage exceeds $1,000, the teens could face felony charges. Day reported the damage figure is currently estimated to total around $25,000.
Day also announced James and Lisa Lam and Lam’s Oriental Cuisine in the city will end nearly four decades in the restaurant business when they close Dec. 31.
Safety director Greg Popham said the city will establish a volunteer peace officers’ dependents fund board to oversee a trust that will take care of families of volunteer police officers who are injured or lose their lives on the jobs. The board must include two members provided by city council. Council voted to select two members to serve on the board: Dean Holland and John Zucal.
Foreclosures occurred at two properties. The first was a gas station on South Broadway and the second was a house on Fourth Street Northwest with the site then being turned over to Habitat for Humanity. Council recovered more than $16,000 from the two foreclosures.
The board of zoning appeals met Dec. 10 and heard two variance requests, both of which were approved.
John Zucal reminded council members there will be a salary committee meeting in early January to consider an honorary notation of a city street in memory of the late Jim Locker, who served 19 years as New Philadelphia police chief and 20 years on city council.
Mike Scolati reported the city’s adoption of the International Property Maintenance code in 2018 has allowed the effective enforcement of property conditions and violations, resulting in the collection of $18,988 in citations and reimbursements and cleaner properties around the city.
Ordinance 18-2019 was passed to permanently rezone lots abutting the area around the old Zimmer Building on Kaderly Avenue Northwest from industrial to business and declared an emergency fourth reading.
Ordinance 19-2019 was passed to create the New Philadelphia SAFER Grant Fund #224 for managing funds received from FEMA pursuant to the city’s award under the grant program and created an emergency third reading.
Ordinance 21-2019 to make temporary appropriations for current expenses and other expenditures of the City of New Philadelphia during the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2020, and declaring an emergency third reading were passed.
Due to excused council absences, two ordinances could not be passed as emergencies: Ordinance 22-2019 to enact salary rate increases for certain employees and elected officials and Ordinance 23-2019, amending Codified Ordinance Chapter 506 Animals and Fowl by adding a section to the Management of Cat Population Acts. These ordinances will be held for the next meeting, which will be a special meeting on Dec. 30 at 6 p.m.
At this same meeting re-elected council members and new New Philadelphia City Council President Don Kemp will be sworn in.
Council heard from a resident who expressed concerns about council’s proposed ordinance that would allow the Tuscarawas County TNR Project Inc. to trap, neuter and return stray cats in the city. The resident was told there would be two more readings of the ordinance to take place at the next two regularly scheduled council meetings. During those readings, residents who attend can still have input into the legislation.
Council also will contact the New Philadelphia police chief to include the department in developing a plan that addresses the problem without violating any animal-rights acts.