The Washington City Council will have a new look following the April 1 election.
A new mayor and two new members of the eight-member council will be elected. There are no candidates for a council seat that will be open.
Mayor Gary Manier, the city's top elected official since 2001, is not running for re-election. Neither are longtime council members Brett Adams in Ward 2 and Brian Butler in Ward 3.
Council member Mike Brownfield, whose term in Ward 1 expires next year, is running for mayor against Ward 1 council member Lili Stevens, whose council term expires in 2027.
There are no candidates to replace Butler in Ward 3.
Mike McIntyre is running unopposed for re-election in Ward 4. Paula Johnson and Todd Sluder will compete for Brownfield's Ward 1 council seat. Michael Ernst is running unopposed in Ward 2 to replace Adams.
With the election lineup determined following the Monday afternoon deadline for candidates to turn in petitions, Stevens asked council at its meeting Monday night to discuss delaying a decision on the future of a proposed $12 million amphitheater on the vacant "223" property the city has owned for 11 years until the new council is seated.
Her request failed 5-4, with Manier breaking the tie. Council members Bobby Martin III, Adams, Brownfield and McIntyre also voted no. Council members John Blundy, Jamie Smith, Butler and Stevens voted yes.
While there was no discussion about delaying a vote, there was a lengthy discussion about the project, proposed by former Washington resident Jim Hengst to honor his late wife Dee. Hengst would pay for the amphitheater and the nonprofit Hengst Foundation would build and run it.
Blundy has several concerns about Hengst's proposal, including a $300,000 feasibility study that hasn't been released to the public and the city spending an estimated $3.2 to $6 million for road and infrastructure work on the "223" site.
Other council members pushed back on Blundy's concerns.
"I don't consider this is a gift to the city. I consider it a blessing," Martin said. "We're not being asked to install the road and infrastructure for the amphitheater. It's something we need to do for future development of the land. Once you add the road and infrastructure, the value of the land automatically increases."
Blundy asked for a town hall meeting or non-binding referendum on the amphitheater be placed on the April 1 ballot.
"I don't recall a town hall meeting on the Freedom Parkway extension project we just completed," Adams said. "People elect us to make tough decisions."
The $6.6 million Freedom Parkway extension project, done 11 years after the city installed water and sewer lines along the stretch, was funded by a $2.1 million federal grant and $4.5 million from the city.
Smith asked to have a discussion on term limits for elected officials placed on the Dec. 9 committee of the whole meeting agenda. The motion passed unanimously.
Manier said after it talking it over with his family, "we decided 24 years (as mayor) was enough."
"I'm proud of my service to our great city. We've accomplished plenty during this time," he said. "I plan on finishing strong during the next several months. We need to continue moving forward."
Manier was elected mayor in 2001, and re-elected in 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021.
City Clerk Valeri Brod and City Treasurer Carol Crocker are running unopposed for re-election April 1.
More deterrents installed to stop drivers from trying to get onto old Nofsinger Road
The Nofsinger Road realignment project and the first phase of the Catherine Street reconstruction project are nearing completion, City Engineer Dennis Carr told council Monday in his regular report.
A bump in the road in the Nofsinger project appears to have been smoothed out.
"We've had multiple issues with cars attempting to access the old portion of Nofsinger from U.S. Route 24," Carr said. "Additional traffic control was placed to deter this from happening again."
Carr also said trees have been planted on the city's right-of-way on the Freedom Parkway extension.
"This will aesthetically enhance the road and help with drifting and blowing snow," he said.
Police goal: 'Get people to slow down to 25 mph' on residential streets
In response to residents' concerns, Washington police officers gathered traffic data on the 400 block of Gillman Avenue.
"In five days, we issued four citations, eight warnings, and stopped a bunch of cars," Police Chief Mike McCoy said Monday. "We're stepping up our efforts to patrol all the side streets in the city to get people to slow down to 25 miles per hour. That's no small task."
McCoy also said Becky Harper, the police department's senior police administrative support specialist, will retire in January after 34 years of service in the department.
Her duties are being transferred to other employees.
Work continues on downtown square restaurant
Construction of the downtown square restaurant continues nearly a year after a Dec. 1, 2023 grand opening mandated in a redevelopment agreement with the city.
"Most of the glass has been installed. As a result, the building is now secure so the chain link fencing can be removed," said Jon Oliphant, the city's planning and development director, in his report Monday to the council.
Public works department getting ready for winter
Brian Rittenhouse, the city's public works director, reported Monday to the council that his staff is preparing plow trucks and equipment for snow and ice removal.
About 2,000 tons of salt are in the full salt shed, Rittenhouse said.
Truth-in-taxation public hearing will be held in December
The council approved a resolution Monday that acknowledges a proposed $2,297,352 city property tax levy for 2024 (taxes payable in 2025), an increase of 8.56% to match the growth from $394,272,725 to an estimated $428,000,000 in the city's equalized assessed valuation.
The city's estimated tax rate of $0.53676 would remain the same.
Because the proposed levy increase is more than 5%, a mandated truth-in-taxation public hearing will be held in December.
The city's proposed levy provides the required funding for the police pension fund and other special levies, keeps the general fund levy the same, and increases the fire and ambulance levy by $210,132 to partially cover the increase in the new contract between the city and Washington Fire Department.
The resolution passed 7-1, with Blundy casting the no vote because he believes the proposed levy request is too high.
Votes coming on short-term home rentals, residential ground-mount solar energy systems
Five agenda items received a first reading Monday. Council will vote on them Dec. 2. They are:
- Rules and regulations regarding short-term home rentals, including the requirement of a special use permit for a non-owner-occupied STR in a residential district. The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the rules and regulations Nov. 13.
- A zoning code amendment that allows residential ground-mount solar energy systems in an AG-1 (agriculture) district. The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the amendment Nov. 13.
- A request by Steve and Alissa Vander Naalt to rezone their 2.84-acre property at 926 Dallas Road from R-1 (residential) to AG-1 so they can have chickens and domesticated goats on the property. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning request 3-2 with several conditions on Nov. 13.
- Changes in the zoning code that make it more clear that the council has the final decision on sign variance requests. The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the changes Nov. 13.
- Returning regulations to the zoning code that were inadvertently moved elsewhere in the city code during a recently completed recodification process.
Meeting livestream was 'outstanding;' council board was difficult to read
The council meeting Monday was the first livestreamed on the city's YouTube page. At least one Washington resident was impressed.
"The livestream was outstanding," said John Stromberger. "Clear video and audio, definitely money well spent. Hopefully residents will take advantage of it."
Council votes were shown for the first time on a large screen in the council's new meeting room at Five Points Washington, but council and audience members had difficulty reading them. Brod was asked to read the votes if needed.
