MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council will return to some form of in-person meetings on April 20, having gone more than a year since its last such session due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Council President David Falquette made the announcement at the end of Tuesday night’s online meeting. The last in-person City Council meeting was on March 4, 2020, just before the novel coronavirus began to sweep across the state.
Falquette said he had contacted other members of council to discuss using “hybrid” meetings, which would allow lawmakers to attend sessions in-person if they chose. Others could continue to participate online.
He said such participation by council members would be “absolutely voluntary” and that facial coverings and at least six feet of social distancing would be required.
Attendance would be limited to maintain the social distancing requirements, he said.
Falquette said such meetings will begin with council members, asking that city administration members continue to participate online.
“Let’s see how it moves forward from there,” he said. “I hope this whole virus thing continues to get better.”
The virus peaked in Ohio in December and has been declining since, according to the Ohio Dept. of Health and Gov. Mike DeWine.
Almost one million Ohio residents have contracted COVID-19 in the past year, with 51,756 hospitalizations and 17,992 deaths, according to the ODH website.
In Richland County, 10,509 residents have gotten COVID-19 with 578 hospitalizations and 195 deaths, according to the ODH website on Tuesday.
COVID-19 vaccinations have also increased with 2.4 million Ohio residents receiving at least one dose, about 21 percent of the state’s population. In Richland County, 21,712 residents have gotten at least one dose, or about 18 percent of the county’s adult population.
Also on Tuesday, City Council:
— unanimously approved a $1.2 million seepage mitigation project at the 72-year-old Clearfork Reservoir dam. The earthen dam, built in 1949, created the 4.4-billion gallon reservoir that supplies the majority of the city’s water. City engineer Bob Bianchi said water has been seeping under and through portions of the dam since the 1970s, but he stressed there is no threat to the dam’s soundness. “There is no potential problem right now,” Bianchi said. “This is to prevent a potential problem. The dam is functioning as intended and we have no concern for any major problems.”
— unanimously approved a proposal to enter into a contract to provide sewer treatment for the City of Ontario. The vote came after an executive session that was called due to “imminent litigation.” The City of Ontario has announced plans to build its own sewer treatment plant and is expected to discuss the contract Wednesday, according to Mansfield officials. The nature of the litigation was not discussed during the public session.
— unanimously approved the city’s 2021 final appropriations budget. The vote came after at-large council member Stephanie Zader and 2nd Ward council representative Cheryl Meier questioned the city administration’s budgeting process that annually leads to a temporary budget in December and a final budget one-quarter into the year.
— voted 5-0 to advance $84,000 from the general fund to the community development fund, providing temporary resources for the West End Neighborhood Plan. Zader and 6th Ward council representative Kimberly Motion abstained from the vote.
— heard a presentation from Destination Mansfield-Richland County President Lee Tasseff on the tourism agency’s new 2021 visitors’ guide, a glossy magazine publication which is also available online. Tasseff told council he is “definitely more optimistic” about the travel economy in 2021, but said “it will take a few years to get back where we were” before the pandemic.
— heard Mayor Tim Theaker express fears the federal government plans to downgrade some cities, including Mansfield, from their metropolitan statistical area status. It was reported by news wire services last week that 144 cities, including three in Ohio, would be affected by a proposal to require MSAs to have at least 100,000 people, double the 50,000-person threshold that has been in place for the past 70 years. Theaker said such a move could “extremely affect” federal funding the city receives in areas such as Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership programs, as well as regional planning and the local transit authority. He asked council members to engage in a letter-writing campaign to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget opposing the plan.
— unanimously approved the appropriation of $25,000 from the downtown improvement fund for benches and trash can areas, excluding the areas of Diamond and Main streets.
— unanimously approved a plan to buy 10 mobile data terminals for the police department at a cost not to exceed $53,792, using funds from the department’s capital outlay fund.
— unanimously approved a proposal to allow the Public Works Director to enter into a three-year contract for natural gas for city-owned buildings.
— — unanimously approved a proposal to authorize the Public Works to advertise for bids and enter into a contract for road salt.
— unanimously approved a proposal to allow the Public Works Director to advertise for bids and enter into a contract for the 2021 sanitary sewer inflow and infiltration reduction project.
— unanimously approved joint use agreement for Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport with the federal and state governments.
— unanimously approved appropriating $250,000 for apron improvements at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport. The federal and state governments are expected to reimburse the city for 95 percent of the project.
