Mazzi thanks Council, police for visibility

By LENNY C. LEPOLA

News Assis­tant Man­ag­ing Editor

Big Wal­nut Local School Dis­trict Super­in­ten­dent Steve Mazzi attended last Wednes­day evening’s Sun­bury Vil­lage Coun­cil meet­ing to thank coun­cil mem­bers and the Sun­bury Police Depart­ment for added police vis­i­bil­ity dur­ing the days fol­low­ing the mass shoot­ing at Sandy Hook Ele­men­tary School in New­town, Connecticut.

“We were all shocked and sad­dened by the events of last Fri­day in Con­necti­cut, but we want every­one to know what a great com­mu­nity this is,” Mazzi said to coun­cil mem­bers. “Three phone calls – to Sun­bury Mayor Tommy Hat­field, to Sun­bury Police Chief Pat Ben­nett and to Delaware County Sher­iff Russ Mar­tin – brought a level of col­lab­o­ra­tion in a time of need that is part of what makes this com­mu­nity so spe­cial.” (See story, Page 2)

Sun­bury Police Depart­ment Lieu­tenant Tom Daniels, in cham­bers rep­re­sent­ing Chief Ben­nett, who was unable to attend the meet­ing, said it was the police department’s priv­i­lege to work with Big Wal­nut schools.

“At times like these we will do what it takes to make things like this hap­pen,” Lieu­tenant Daniels said.

In other busi­ness, coun­cil mem­bers held a first read­ing of Res­o­lu­tion 2012–18, a res­o­lu­tion in sup­port of the Big Wal­nut Water­shed Bal­anced Growth Plan. The water­shed plan is part of a Mid-Ohio Regional Plan­ning Com­mis­sion water­shed plan­ning partnership.

Coun­cil mem­bers held a sec­ond read­ing of Ordi­nance 2012–19 that, if approved, would estab­lish a three-way stop inter­sec­tion near the school bus stop where Mill Run Drive con­nects to Sun­bury Mead­ows Drive.

Coun­cil mem­bers held a first read­ing of Ordi­nance 2012–20, an ordi­nance reduc­ing the inter­est charges on unpaid vil­lage income taxes from 24 per­cent to 8 percent.

Under terms of the new ordi­nance, if approved, the inter­est amount on unpaid income tax will be 8 per­cent per year, plus a 15 per­cent penalty of the amount of the unpaid tax.

Vil­lage solic­i­tor David Brehm said when the ordi­nance becomes effec­tive — after three read­ings, an up or down vote, plus a 30-day statu­tory wait­ing period — inter­est on all over­due accounts would begin accru­ing at the new rate. The ordi­nance does not have retroac­tive lan­guage, Brehm said. Inter­est accrued at the 24 per­cent rate has been earned at that rate and will remain due.

Coun­cil mem­bers held a first read­ing of Ordi­nance 2012–22, a renewal of the four-year agree­ment with the Ohio Depart­ment of Nat­ural Resources Divi­sion of Wildlife for pro­vi­sion of a fish­eries man­age­ment pro­gram at the village’s two up-ground reservoirs.

Sun­bury Mayor Tommy Hat­field said the vil­lage has been in an agree­ment with the ODNR to man­age the reservoirs.

“Our agree­ment with them expired,” Hat­field said. “The renewal agree­ment had more than four years on it. We told them we liked four years.”

In clos­ing the final vil­lage coun­cil meet­ing of 2012, Hat­field said his first year as Sunbury’s mayor had been a whirl­wind experience.

“I’ve apol­o­gized to (for­mer Sun­bury Mayor) Len Weath­erby at least three times,” Hat­field said. “I con­tinue to learn and appre­ci­ate your support.”

There will be no com­mit­tee meet­ings pre­ced­ing the 7:30 p.m. coun­cil meet­ing on Wednes­day, Jan­u­ary 2. Coun­cil mem­bers will hold their annual reor­ga­ni­za­tion ses­sion dur­ing the reg­u­lar coun­cil meeting.

Sunbury’s web­site is located at < sunburyvillage.com >.

Sun­bury Vil­lage Coun­cil meets the first and third Wednes­day of every month at 7:30 p.m., third floor coun­cil cham­bers, Sun­bury Town Hall. Coun­cil com­mit­tees meet one hour before reg­u­larly sched­uled coun­cil ses­sions. All vil­lage coun­cil and coun­cil com­mit­tee meet­ings are open to the public.

Posted by Gary Henery on Dec 26 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.