A mural made up of historic pictures of Bellefontaine was unveiled on the wall in the back of the Bellefontaine City Council chambers during Tuesday evening’s regular meeting.
The mural was created by Ohio Hi-Point Career Center senior student Jacob Hill and two others.
Deb Baker, at-large council member, said she thought the mural looked great.
“I’m even happier to see the final result than what we imagined,” she said.
Mayor Ben Stahler said he was excited for the mural to serve council for many years.
“For a number of years, behind the desk of the president (of council) has been a large blank wall,” he said. “We envisioned this and they made our dream come true. In our bicentennial year we have a mural of 30 historic pictures of Bellefontaine.”
Jacob, son of Matt and Lori Hill, said he never expected to work on something for the city of Bellefontaine that would go up in the chambers and remain there for a long time.
“It’s an experience I haven’t had before — it’s new and exhilarating,” he said.
Tom Karrig, Hi-Point graphics design teacher, said he was very happy his students were allotted the opportunity to experience this kind of project.
“It’s difficult to offer real-life experience so that’s kind of what drives our classroom — these partnerships,” Karrig said. “We have students who step up and do amazing work.”
Matt Hill said he was incredibly proud of his son.
“He does good work and he’s got a pretty good teacher,” he said.
Both Matt and Lori Hill said they were thankful Jacob attends Hi-Point for this opportunity.
“It’s made him grow and become a better all-around person,” Matt Hill said.
In other business, Stahler introduced a new tool communities use during events — a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA).
Stahler said between 30 and 35 communities in Ohio including Marysville, Delaware and Springfield have implemented DORA.
The concept is simple: during three or four events beverages including beer or wine are available to be bought at location, and kept within a path downtown Bellefontaine so consumers can sip and go shopping, Stahler explained.
There are rules to DORA, which will be outlined if council decides to publicize the concept to the community for potential approval. From the time it is publicized council has 60 days to pass it.
Stahler said it is designed to “enhance experiences.”
“People will come to town from maybe an hour away (and) this is one more way to encourage them to maybe have a purchase in special designated cup and enjoy shopping (and) have something else to eat maybe buy,” he said. “It’s one more notch in the entertainment level.”
Stahler said he hopes to have this implemented by summer.
Ben Vollrath, Logan County Chamber of Commerce president, said he’s excited about the possibility of a DORA.
“I want people to experience more than one thing when they come to Logan county,” he said. “This is one of those ways to help in facilitating that … This is good. Our businesses (that are) part of downtown want this — to see people flowing from one place to the next. This is a great way to do that.”
Council also approved the following ordinances:
• authorizing microsurfacing of U.S. Route 33 from Straight Line Mile 15.67 to Straight Line Mile 21.52 with a portion in the city of Bellefontaine;
• authorizing the extension of water utility service outside the corporation line of the city to a property located at 1882 State Route 47 West, Harrison Township;
• Approving the Bellefontaine Community Reinvestment Area Project application to Campbell Landing and to enter into a community reinvestment area agreement with said applicant and directing the housing officer and city auditor to take all necessary actions to effectuate the tax exemptions granted therein; and
• authorizing the service-safety director to seek proposals and/or advertise for bids and to enter into contract with the selected contractor and/or bidders for the 2020 street resurfacing project and declaring an emergency in the city of Bellefontaine.
The street resurfacing project received $800,000 from the Ohio Public Works Commission and the city is contributing $300,000 totaling $1.1 million, said David Henry, safety service director.
There is approximately 47,830 square yards of pavement to be ground prior to resurfacing and then sealed after paving.
A working list of 36 streets to be resurfaced include Mill, Whetstone, Lost Creek, East High, Fulton, Linden, Newford, Broadview, Sloan, Lakewood, East Columbus, East Patterson, Kelly Way, Allen, Elm, Plumvalley, West Patterson, Eaton, Albert, North Detroit, Franklin, Layfayette, Colton, East Brown, Michigan, South Elm, West Chilicothe, West COlumbus, Lawrence, East Brown, Willow, Main, Columbus, Cooper, East Brown and Eastern.
Council also reappointed clerk Bonnie Campbell for another two years.