Lighting ceremony set for Dec. 2 at Dover
Mayor Shane Gunnoe and others attending showed their support for the Tusky Valley Community at the Nov. 20 meeting. Those attending wore Tusky Valley colors or T-shirts. Gunnoe extended condolences from the city to Tusky Valley and Buckeye Career Center at the meeting.
At the Dover Council meeting Nov. 20, Mayor Shane Gunnoe gave more information on the annual Dover Christmas Parade and downtown lighting ceremony that will be held on Dec. 2. The Dover High School Choir will perform downtown from 4:15 to 4:30 p.m. A reading of T’was the Night Before Christmas and the lighting ceremony will begin at 4:45 p.m. as the parade steps off from Crater Stadium to bring Santa to the square. The Lions Club will offer refreshments, and a food truck will be available.
“This is a wonderful way to begin the holiday celebration as a community,” Gunnoe said.
To help others, the city will be hosting a Dover Community Blood Drive Dec. 4 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Dover City Park, near the tennis courts.
More information on both the parade and details on how to schedule an appointment for the blood drive are available at the city’s website or Facebook page.
Leaf collection is ongoing in the city. Some paving may be completed in the next two weeks if the weather permits. For more information go to the city’s website or Facebook.
“The park Wi-Fi project has been completed and 11 security cameras are now operational there,” Gunnoe said. “The IT department is now working to add an additional monitoring station for those cameras at the police department.”
Dee Grossman of the Tuscarawas County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau spoke to council on the results of the Travel Tusc Ticket program. The program provided free tickets to 13 participating attractions for residents of Tuscarawas County and surrounding counties.
“We have had an outpouring of ticket use this year. We have done this program since 2018, where we generally reimburse our partners anywhere from $18,000 to $22,000. This year, we reimbursed our partners $79,000,” Grossman said.
Much of this year’s program funding about $60,000 was provided through a partnership between the Tuscarawas County Commissioners and the American Rescue Plan Act.
Dover TTT participants benefited to the amount of $17,509, which was the second highest amount reimbursed.
“I'm also here to ask that you consider helping us with this program next year. The ARPA committee was very specific – this was a one and done grant for us,” Grossman said. “And we would like to continue this. I can tell you that the Warther Museum and the Reeves Museum did very well this year. Without your support for next year, we will have to cut this program back down to about $10,000 to $12,000.”
Grossman also offered to provide her expertise to council when they are ready to tackle issues related to Airbnb lodging.
“Everybody's struggling with this issue right now,” Grossman said. “There is a House Bill 101 that we're looking at that would be a statewide initiative that would tax the Airbnbs at the same level as hotels.”
Airbnb owners would collect the taxes from their visitors and remit them.
“We do care about the money side of it, because it is unfair to our lodging properties that are currently collecting and remitting it, but I'm very concerned about safety,” Grossman said.
Safety is important because there is no regulatory system in place for inspecting Airbnbs. Grossman became aware of safety concerns at an area Airbnb, but currently there is nothing that can be done about it.
“We're working hard on this at the state level through the Ohio Association of Convention and Visitor's Bureau,” Grossman said.
She reminded council of an incident at an Airbnb in North Carolina where a young man was killed in an elevator because it was an Airbnb that was never inspected.
“I do not want to have to come back to any city council or any township trustee and say we have this issue here,” Grossman said.
After the meeting, Gunnoe was asked if there were any updates on Aldi plans to put a store on North Wooster Avenue.
“I've spoken with the management from Aldi’s in charge of their site selection. We had some discussions about other possibilities in Dover, but I believe they are committed to that site and working through the rezoning process, whatever that outcome may be,” Gunnoe said. “I don't speak for council; I don't speak for the planning commission, and I let them know that. They have an agreement with the church at this point, pending approvals.”
At the previous council meeting Nov. 6, Dover residents who live on Jessica Drive and Northwood Drive filled council chambers and voiced their concerns about the proposed project that would be located next to the Dover First Christian Church, located at 3029 N. Wooster Ave.
In addition to preserving the residential character of the neighborhood, the residents had concerns about safety due to the added traffic, reduction of property values, and noise and air pollution.
The property is currently zoned residential, and that designation would have to be changed before a store could be built. Making a zoning change is a multi-step process. There would be public hearing opportunities for residents to address their concerns if a zoning change request were to be received.
The next Dover Council meeting will be held Monday Dec. 4 in council chambers, 121 E. Second St., Dover.