Canal Fulton mayor outlines city's successes

The Repository
·3 min read

Canal Fulton City Council

Tuesday meeting

KEY ACTION: During council’s work session, Mayor Joseph Schultz enumerated goals the city has achieved over the past year and thanked everyone “for their hard work in getting things done.”

DISCUSSION: Among some of the more notable accomplishments are construction of the St. Helena Heritage Park amphitheater stage, where this year’s inaugural summer concert series were held. Restoration of the St. Helena II canal boat has been completed and a grant for concrete repair to the St. Helena III is being pursued.

Other accomplishments include completion of the Market Street waterline, training utility workers on GIS mapping to identify underground water and sanitary and storm water lines, a project that will be assisted by a recent $50,000 federal grant to identify lead service lines. In addition, researching locations for new water wells has begun. The city also bought the feed mill lot with plans to add more parking for downtown businesses, repaved Cherry Street, built new walking paths at Community Park, and is awaiting the arrival of new playground equipment.

Projects in the works include repairing the eastside water tower and building a westside water tower, working with Lindsay Precast to connect part of their property with the towpath, replacing downtown street lights, working with Stark Parks to restore Lock IV on the Ohio-Erie Canal to a functioning lock, and relocating the multi-piece mural depicting Canal Fulton’s history.

OTHER ACTION:

  • Swore in Shawn Yerian as fire chief. Council also promoted Lt. David Cole to assistant fire chief, Lt. Richard Bibighaus to captain, and firefighter Bonnie Bylene to lieutenant. Cody Rader was sworn in as a probation firefighter.

  • In a 4-1 vote, agreed to hire former Police Chief Doug Swartz as a part-time officer while the department is understaffed. Council member Jeanann VanDenberg dissented, stating current Police Chief Sara Wilson hasn’t had enough time to “make her own space.” Wilson said that the department really needs the help and is not concerned about any conflict as they have mutual respect for each other.

  • Approved a contract with Teamsters Local 24, giving street and utility workers a 6% increase for the first year of a three-year contract and 2% for each of the following years. The Teamsters had already ratified the contract, which begins Jan. 1. Non-bargaining employees received the same increases.

  • Approved rates of pay for part-time safety forces to match those given by Lawrence Township. Hourly rates range from $15.56 per hour for a non-EMT firefighter to $39.90 per hour for the assistant fire chief.

  • Heard that rental rates at city parks will remain the same for residents but could be increased by $25 for non-residents. Parks and Recreation Director Chris Bundy explained his plan to buy chairs and rent them for events, such as weddings and reunions, at the parks.

UP NEXT: Will meet at 6 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Safety Center. The meeting will begin with a work session. Work sessions and meetings are recorded and may be viewed on the city’s Facebook page. Council also cancelled its Dec. 20 meeting.

Joan Porter

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canal Fulton mayor touts city's successes in 2022