Members of the Bellefontaine City Council in a regular meeting Tuesday offered initial approval of a planned housing development on the eastern portion of the city, appropriated funds towards a forthcoming paving project of State Route 540 and finalized plans to return to in-person meetings effective next month.
Approved on first reading only was a 48.686-acre plat that will serve as a housing development containing about a dozen lots ranging in size from half-acre to four-plus acre properties, according to council discussion.
The Pinebrooke development will be located in the area of Township Road 179, situated between Fred Carter Park and County Road 10.
The project’s developer, Richard Moldas, resides on Belle Pines Court, next to where the development would be located. Council president Zeb Wagner read aloud an email during the meeting that he received from Moldas, asking for expedited approval of the initiative, because ground is ready to be broken on the project.
The Pinebrooke proposal received final approval May 11 from the city planning commission, and Bellefontaine city engineer Tim Notestine said during the meeting that Moldas had gone through all the proper channels and plans were, “up to snuff.”
Moldas had indicated in his email that ground was ready to be broken on multiple new builds, with new home costs beginning in the $700,000s.
Approved as a “Planned Unit Development,” roadways to and through the development will be private property, according to discussion during the meeting.
The ordinance will get at least one more reading before the full council at its next meeting, June 8.
Also approved Tuesday was a resolution to partner with the Ohio Department of Transportation for a repaving project of State Route 540 between Madriver Street and U.S. Route 33. The city’s share of the overall cost is $118,984, according to the resolution.
On second reading Tuesday, council approved an ordinance allocating an additional $69,295 towards salaries and wages for the Bellefontaine Fire Department for the purpose of hiring additional part-time firefighters.
Currently, nearly a third of the fire/EMS staff is off work due either to injury or National Guard leave. As a result, the fire department is understaffed, compared with average staffing levels from recent years.
City administration has said it’s, “extremely unusual if not unprecedented” to have five firefighters currently on leave for various reasons.
With the additional funds provided in the ordinance, the city has allocated $1.23 million towards fire department salaries and wages for the year.
With the upcoming lifting of mask and social distancing orders, city council on Tuesday agreed to return to in-person meetings at the Bellefontaine Municipal Building, effective June 8. Additionally, with federally-allocated COVID-19 emergency funding, council has purchased video and audio broadcasting equipment to be set up inside council chambers so that regular meetings may also continue to be broadcast via the Internet.