PLYMOUTH – Pipes, pavement and politics shared the spotlight at Monday night’s village council meeting.
Council authorized a bid for up to a $500,000 grant to the Ohio Public Works Commission to help replace the Plymouth Springmill Road water line. The grant would cover 2,860 feet of lining, running out to the last fire hydrant, where a previously installed main line ties back into Springmill.
“It’s the (same grant) I used to get the Plymouth East project done,” Mayor Cassaundra Fryman said. “We’ve also used it for West Broadway Street.
“This is my third time going through this, but we wanted to work on some of the water lines that have been engineered since before I was in office. We need to start tackling that with all the water line breaks we have.”
Council also addressed the village’s pavement situation by passing a temporary easement regarding the Safe Routes to School Project. It’s an Ohio Department of Transportation project that “provides resources, technical assistance and project funding to encourage and enable students in grades K-12 to walk or ride their bike to school,” the project’s website states.
Another ordinance saw Plymouth enter into an agreement with ODOT for pavement maintenance on State Route 61.
The two pieces of legislation look to make the village more navigable by multiple means.
Before legislation, Kevin Rasnick, an independent candidate for Huron County Commissioner, spoke. He is in the same race Mayor Fryman is campaigning in.
“Her and I are not running against each other,” Rasnick said.
He is running against Republican Bob Morgan, while Fryman, a libertarian, runs against Republican Terry Boose.
“I always talk about transparency, and I think all politicians use that word. But for me, what does that look like in practice?” Rasnick said. “There’s a reason why (Plymouth Village Council has) its meetings in the evening … That’s when people can come.
“We should be hosting more town halls and community forums, bringing decision makers – whether it’s county commissioners or people heads of departments – in front of the voters and constituents.”
If elected, part of Rasnick’s constituency in Huron will come from Plymouth, making his presence at the council meeting a natural step as elections approach.
“No matter what you say or do, people aren’t going to like it,” Rasnick said. “But if you can look in the mirror and say, ‘At least we were transparent’ … you should be able to live with yourself at the end of the day.”
