Proposed zoning ordinance discussed

TIFFIN –-- Loudon Township Commission President, Bill McAllister, presented progress on a new proposed zoning ordinance Tuesday at the Seneca County Regional Planning Commission. In 1991, a zoning code was written and presented to the township but not passed, and this was used as the basis for the new proposed zoning ordinance, McAllister said. There will be a special meeting on May 1 to further discuss the implementation of this new zoning ordinance. The LTPZC has hosted over 25 meetings and written over 20 drafts for the new zoning ordinance. McAllister mentioned as well that the appropriate parties have verified the integrity of the ordinance. As long as the ordinance is finalized and filed by Aug. 7, it will be on the Nov. 7 ballot, McAllister, said. In other news, when discussing old business Charlene Watkins, executive director of the SCRPC, said the final edit of Subdivision and Regulations is complete. An informal public hearing will be held allowing newspapers the necessary 30-day notice and granting closure on the matter. The meeting date has not been set. There also was mention of setting up a meeting with Fostoria officials to review their CHIP project. Additionally, the Homeless Prevention Program has been finalized and implemented. Lastly, the first committee development meeting took place earlier Tuesday to have an analysis of amendments made to each committee. The next meeting for this is July 1. Moving onto new business, $850.00 was appropriated to Contract Services for IT Block Hours. Additionally, $367.17 was appropriated from travel to Contract Services to reimburse the commissioners for the Melmore Park Project in Eden Township. An invoice has been written and sent to them so the money will be replaced. A discussion about the Regional Planning's Office Hours also ensued, where Seneca CountyCommissioner Bill Frankart pointed out that for the last month, the office has not been open on Fridays and that almost every other government office is open regularly Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Watkins responded that the reasoning for this was that there are only two employees, one part-time and one full-time, with the part-time employee having set hours. Frankart also noted that he has contacted similarly sized counties such as Sandusky, Fulton, and Crawford counties to see how their Regional Planning Commissions are structured. He said that Fulton has moved their RPC to the auditor's office as well as Sandusky. Crawford has completely disbanded its RPC since only three townships are zoned within the county. Seneca County Commissioner Tyler Shuff commented, "In government, we work for the tax-payers." He also suggested that Watkins take a half-day Monday through Thursday instead of closing the office on Friday, allocating her more time to be (available) on Friday. Watkins said she often has meetings on these days and that with the Sewer district gone, Fridays are the offices' lightest day. No decision has been made as to what will be done. Lastly, the commission discussed some of its core values and what could be reshaped, such as the RPC office hours, to cover a recently trending decline in sales tax. Per the last Auditors' Report, Tiffin has seen a $80,000 decline in sales tax since Covid-19. The meeting then went into executive session at 5:35 to discuss matters related to personnel. No action was taken.