ONTARIO — Jami Kinton-Sluss said she is always looking for activities to do with her 11-month-old daughter, Allie.
Kinton-Sluss said she, Allie and her husband, Grant Sluss, like spending time in Marshall Park and she thought it would be a great location for a kids festival. After discussing the idea with Ontario Youth Sports Director Kenn Spencer and Mayor Randy Hutchinson, she presented the idea to Ontario City Council Wednesday night.
“We’re not looking for a ton of money to be able to put this on, Sluss will upfront those costs of rides,” she said. “This will probably just be a few hours in the park, and we’re looking at bounce houses, a petting zoo and a DJ also.”
Sluss Realty is tentatively planning the Ontario Kids Festival for June 3. Kinton-Sluss said all money raised will benefit the Humane Society of Richland County.
“We want this event to be mostly free, people can come and have an entirely free experience if they want to,” she said. “We would only charge a small bit maybe to ride a ride.”
Kinton-Sluss said she is discussing potential sponsors and partnerships with businesses and food trucks. Because she is planning for the kids festival to be near the tennis courts close to Rock Road and Mulligan Road, food trucks will need to have their own electric supply.
“Our goal is to build and grow, and help bring people to Ontario and the parks,” she said.
Hutchinson said the city doesn’t allow for-profit businesses to use Marshall Park for their own financial benefit, but nonprofit fundraisers should align with the city’s bylaws.
He said city council members will continue to coordinate issues such as trash and liability insurance with Kinton-Sluss before her proposed festival.
If the Ontario Kids Festival is a success, Kinton-Sluss said she would like to make it an annual event. She said she hopes a range of activities can appeal to toddlers and teenagers.
Anyone interested in volunteering, sponsorship or learning more about the festival can contact Kinton-Sluss at jsluss@slussrealty.com. She said she is also working to build a website dedicated to the festival at ontariokidsfestival.com.
Also at Wednesday’s council meeting:
— City council unanimously approved the service safety director to advertise public bids to build a sidewalk from Ontario High School to Pearl Street. Service Safety Director Kris Knapp said the Ohio Department of Transportation has already approved the sidewalk project.
— Auditor Mary Ann Hellinger requested the personnel committee consider adding additional hours to the deputy auditor position. She said a full-time deputy auditor could make for a smoother transition for the city once she is ready to retire, possibly as soon as next year.
— Mayor Randy Hutchinson requested the city make its employee information change policies consistent. He said the city’s current policies range from three to 10 days after an event such as a marriage, birth of a child or injury is required to be reported for insurance purposes. Hutchinson said he wants to set all personal information change deadlines to 10 days after the event. The request will have to be discussed again in a future council meeting before council members can vote on any changes.
— The streets committee discussed potentially hiring a streets assessor for $4,000 to annually inspect which streets need paving or repair work.
— Hutchinson said he wanted to look into monument signs to add to Ontario’s exits off U.S. 30 to try to boost tourism in the city. He said he will research federal grants for projects like this as a potential project for next year.
— Knapp said he agreed to a gas aggregation program at a rate of $0.618 cost per cubic foot. The program agreement is with Columbia Gas and will start in May.
— Zoning Inspector Michael Morton delivered the zoning department’s yearly report. He said 2022 revenue increased partly due to higher permit fees. The City of Ontario saw 29 new businesses open in 2022 and 11 businesses close.
