3-way stop considered at Turner and West streets (correction)

By Alec Keller

The Village of Ada Council held a July 21 regular meeting conducted by Mayor Dave Retterer with all council members present except Jason Campbell. There were two resolutions on the agenda for the evening. The council packet is here.

TURNER AND GILBERT CONCERNS
Shelly Hoff, an Ada resident who lives on Turner Ave., brought up a concern that there is only one stop sign at the intersection of Turner and West streets. Hoff proposed making the intersection a three-way-stop, citing safety issues. Police Chief Alec Cooper said the issue has been evident for a while. Cooper expressed hope of finding some kind of remedy and said he will start investigating. Councilman Lucas Rowe also proposed holding a streets committee meeting following council’s August 4 session.

STRATEGIC PLANNING UPDATE
Sarah Stephens Krupp and Renee Smith from Thrive Community Partners, based out of Van Buren, Ohio, provided council an update on the village’s strategic planning process. Krupp noted that they are still in the data collection process, and kicked off the online community survey on May 8 of this year. They’ve also attended or hosted four community listening discussions, with another one scheduled for this Friday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ada Public Library.

Krupp reports that to date, 90% of adult respondents feel that the quality of life in Ada is good or excellent. Krupp added that in a youth-specific survey directed to 7-12th graders, 85.7% of respondents feel somewhat positive or very positive about Ada as a place to grow up. In reviewing comments from the surveys, Krupp mentioned that Ada’s greatest strengths are the people, the close-knit community and safety. From a priority standpoint, Krupp mentioned that economic development/job opportunities have emerged as a top priority.

Krupp said that once the survey phase is done, a plan draft will be made; then Thrive Community Partners will meet with Village Administrator Casey Smith, get feedback from council, and a final plan will be ready at the end of the year. Krupp expects to establish key strategic priorities  and identify associated funding opportunities.

RESOLUTIONS
Council approved an agreement between the Village of Ada and The Fraternal Order of Police, Ohio Labor Council (FOP) regarding terms of employment negotiated for the sergeant’s bargaining unit. It was passed as an emergency action. 

Council also approved a resolution to update the village’s bank and financial institution accounts. This permits village personnel to open accounts in financial institutions in the name of the Village of Ada and to execute documents requested by financial institutions to transact business.

SAFETY SERVICES
During committee reports, Councilor Sheila Corressel and Police Chief Alec Cooper discussed  free software provided by the Attorney General’s office which would allow the Ada Police Department to issue electronic traffic citations. It also allows automatic wireless transcripts to be sent to the Hardin County courts. Council approved the State of Ohio Law Enforcement Virtual Exchange Memorandum of Understanding to allow the agency access to the no-cost SOLVE software.

BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
Councilor Sean Beck commented that the Village is nearing the end of its Data Center Moratorium, a temporary hold on the construction, permitting or expansion of new data center facilities. Council considered either extending the moratorium or making a permanent restriction on data center construction in the Village. Council agreed to revisit the matter at the next meeting.

POLICE DEPARTMENT
Police Chief Alec Cooper said that since his last report, the department’s officers have initiated or responded to 105 calls for service with 13 incident offense reports and 0 vehicle accident reports.

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR

Village Administrator Casey Smith reported that the Tree Commission and Village Forester have identified 15 trees to be removed next spring. The lowest bid to complete the job was AllTree Tree Care at $10,450. Council approved the motion to award the 2027 Spring Removal Tree project to that contractor.

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