City Council members discuss new position, parking, and more during meetings Tuesday

SHELBY - Many issues were covered in Tuesday's Public Works & General Operations committee meeting for the City of Shelby.

Joe Gies, project coordinator for the city, told the committee that the City Hall main entrance will be closed for the remainder of this week and into next week. The temporary entrance is on Water Street.

Gies also mentioned the Black Fork Commons will continue development this fall, leaving the space open for summer festivities including Bicycle Days.

Mayor Steve Schag brought to the committee a rough draft of the new Code Enforcement Officer position.

When the position is finalized and posted, it will be a part time/intermittent position where the person will assist the zoning inspector, perform field inspections, and enforce the City of Shelby Ordinances including the Exterior Property Maintenance Ordinance and the Weeds Ordinance.

Schag also mentioned that a presentation was made to the park board for camera surveillance of the parks because of the recent vandalism that resulted in injury.

If the park board decides to go ahead with the project and present the issue to the City Council, there is a potential for ARPA funds to be used.

Rounding out this committee meeting was the proposed revision of the Maintenance of Stormwater Drainage Facilities and Control Structures Ordinance.

The revision will include new guidelines regarding the building and maintenance of the structures.

Property owners will also be required to obtain an elevation certificate to ensure the structures are installed properly.

Ad Hoc Parking Committee

Lance Combs, Shelby's police chief, brought to the attention of the Ad Hoc Parking Committee the discrepancies between the Shelby City Parking Ordinances and the Ohio Revised Code.

Shelby's ordinances reference the Ohio Revised code but the language of the two does not coincide.

Combs proposed the committee look at these discrepancies and make suggestions and/or edits.

For example, there are outdated and irrelevant Shelby City ordinances that the committee will look at for the next meeting.

Combs is currently collecting ordinance literature from other municipalities to help mold Shelby's.

However, he said, "I want to take a careful look at our own ordinances first to see what can be modified, changed, or removed."

He also suggested a fine and fee system be organized for violations of the 2-hour parking ordinance.

Combs has also been in contact with Civic Smart, a company that produces and installs vehicle detection sensors for Smart Parking.

Civic Smart's software would work with the Shelby Police Department's systems to print citations from police vehicles in the field without having to purchase any additional software or hardware.

The citations would also include QR codes to be scanned so violators would be able to pay fees quickly and conveniently on their mobile devices.

In addition, Smart Parking through Civic Smart would allow community members to see available parking in the city by downloading a mobile app.

The parking project won't begin until paving is done at the end of the Downtown Revitalization Project this coming fall or spring.

The Ad Hoc Committee ended the meeting by discussing more issues on street parking, private parking lots, and street cleaning.