Village purchases site of old grade school
Mineral City Council voted Dec. 12 to purchase the site of the now-gone Mineral City Primary School from the Tusky Valley Board of Education for $1.
Mineral City Council approved a resolution at its Dec. 12 meeting accepting a purchase agreement with the Tusky Valley Board of Education that allowed the village to buy the old primary school property for $1. The school building was demolished earlier this year.
The village is considering uses for the property, one of which could be to build affordable housing, whether single-family units, senior housing or apartments. Mayor Laurie Green told council she meets regularly with other mayors from Tuscarawas County, and at the last meeting, they discussed working together to apply for grant funding that could lead to housing solutions.
According to Green, 10 villages and cities within the county are coming together to pursue a planning grant that would pay for an engineering design firm to evaluate land and provide advice about what types of housing would work best for their situations.
Green said coming together to pursue grant funding could increase the likelihood of receiving such funds and also would reduce the amount of matching funds each municipality may have to produce.
Zoning
In an ongoing zoning matter, Village Solicitor Cassidy Wahlie advised council a property owner on First Street was arraigned in court on Dec. 11 for multiple violations over the years with unregistered junk cars and trash on the property.
The continuing noncompliance reportedly pushed the village to file multiple criminal charges, to which the property owner pleaded not guilty. It remains to be seen whether the matter will go to trial or not, Wahlie said.
In other zoning matters, Zoning Inspector Sam Moore said another property at the end of First Street should be sent a notice of violation for trash “stacked up all around the house.”
Zoning committee member Beth Nill said trash cans being left out too long after pickup continues to be an issue. However, she also said that with Kimble not always picking up residents’ trash on time, she does not want to issue any violations until the situation changes.
Council then discussed possibly pursuing a contract with a single refuse company for the entire village next year. Costs will be investigated for further discussion at the January meeting.
Parks and recreation
Rick Cain, committee chair, said the village was turned down for NatureWorks grant funding the village was seeking from the state to help build the new park. Cain said he is in touch with the representative from Ohio Mid-East Governments Association, which helped with the grant application, and he intends to resubmit. Cain also said he is going to apply for a grant for playground equipment.
Safety
Moore said he has arranged with AEP to replace the bulbs in the pole lights with LED bulbs along Station Street to better light the area south of the library and Village Hall. Green said she would like to reevaluate the situation after the LED bulbs are in place to make sure an additional light pole is not needed.
Announcements
Cain reminded council of the Mineral City Methodist Church’s community programs. Mary’s Meals takes place the third Thursday of each month from 4:30-7 p.m. and provides takeout meals for families in the community. Martha’s Cupboard starts at 11 a.m. on the third Wednesday of each month and provides families with household items such as toilet paper and cleaning supplies. Both programs are open to all community members.
Council member Darla Daugherty thanked everyone who helped make the fire department’s Christmas auction a success, adding the department was able to completely fill the dive team’s trailers with toys for the Toys for Tots program.
Winter hours for the library are noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.
Council meets the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 5 p.m. at Village Hall. All meetings are open to the public. The Dec. 26 meeting will address reorganization of committees, temporary appropriations and the 2025 budget.