ROSSFORD – City council voted unanimously Monday to place two replacement levies for the Recreation
Department on the May ballot.
Each levy, one for capital improvements and another for operations, collects 0.4 mills. When council’s
recreation committee reported on the request last year, it advised seeking a replacement rather than a
renewal in order to better fund the department’s needs. By replacing the levy, the millage is reset
based on current valuation rather than simply collecting the same dollar amount as the current millage
does.
Possible capital needs include a new roof over the senior center, resurfacing tennis courts and new
asphalt for the parking lot.
According to information provided by the county auditor’s office, each levy would raise $49,211 a year.
If the levy had been renewed it would have raised just shy of $37,000.
Each levy would cost the owner of a house assessed at $100,000 $14 a year, or $28 if both are passed.
Each would have cost $10.38 for the same property owner if the levy had been renewed.
In other action, council approved accepting a $40,000 Ohio Workers’ Compensation Grant to help in the
purchase of two lift cots for the fire department.
The total cost of the cots is $72,000. The manufacturer will extend a three-year, no-interest loan to the
city to finance the balance of the purchase.
Council President Larry Oberdorf said he was impressed at a demonstration of the equipment by the ease
with which it could be operated by one person.
"If this can prevent compensation claims, it’s money well spent," he said. "The cost of
compensation claims is astronomical."
Council also approved a change in the zoning ordinance that allows the placement of a cell tower on
public land as a special use.
The city is talking with Verizon about placing a tower at the public works facility on Wales Road.
Any siting of a tower would require approval by both the zoning board and council.