At Tuesday’s Mansfield City Council meeting city Law Director John Spon explained that bill 13-296 does not guarantee the conversion of Diamond and Main Streets to two-way traffic if passed.
“Basically we have a request from a private citizen who has done a great deal for the community and has his particular vision of what the city could be; others have a different view. When this request for legislation came across my table originally my initial reaction was that I don’t know why we’d need a resolution if a private citizen is desirous of paying for his own study to be submitted to council,” said Spon. “I saw no harm done. I wanted to make sure that the matter came before council, but that the passage of this resolution does not indicate a position in favor or against and it does not bind the city.”
If bill 13-296 is passed, John Fernyak of Engwiller Properties will be authorized to conduct a study at his own expense. Council would then review the results of the study and if certain key criteria are met, could decide whether or not to move forward with the conversion plan. Passing the bill only authorizes the study, which would be conducted at no cost to the city.
Councilwoman Ellen Haring shared that she has enjoyed reading The Walkable City book, which Fernyak had provided to council members at the last council meeting. She then went on to discuss the positive economic impact of a two-way conversion project in Columbus, Ohio that returned Gay Street to two-way.
She reported that in Columbus the merchants experienced significant gains in traffic to their businesses and sales, so much so that merchants on other one-way streets are now requesting conversions. Several other Columbus streets are slated for conversion in the near future.
Councilman Scott Hazen suggested that the language of the bill is confusing, if not misleading, and there was some discussion about verbiage. Director Spon agreed to revisit the wording of the bill.
On October 23 members of council and the press will take a trip to Wooster to meet with Sondra Hall of Main Street Wooster. Hall will discuss the success and impact of their two-way conversion and answer questions that council or the press may have.
Another key item on the council agenda was the retirement of K-9 partner Aster, who served the Mansfield Police Department for 6 years. He was awarded eight times, seven in narcotic detection and even received national recognition. The dog was a valuable asset and will be greatly missed. Aster will spend retirement camping and enjoying his family. K-9 partners help ensure the safety of their human counterparts and the department is pleased that Aster will be replaced with another K-9 officer.
