MOUNT VERNON – DORA events cannot be held on the same night as First Friday events, according to amendments made to legislation during the Monday Mount Vernon City Council meeting.
A Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area or “DORA” is a specified area of land that a local legislative authority, in this case, the city council, has designated as exempt from certain open container provisions as defined within the legislative act that created the DORA, Experience Mount Vernon reports. The local DORA is in the downtown area with exclusions that include Mount Vernon Nazarene University property.
Despite Experience Mount Vernon Board Chair Todd Taylor saying there was no need to ban DORA on First Friday as that group also ran the monthly downtown event, the amendment offered by Councilmember Mike Hillier passed.
“If there was ever even a glimpse of an issue caused by DORA, who do you think would be the first person to pull the plug?” Taylor said. “I am. It’s our responsibility. This is our event that we’re planning and putting together to try to draw foot traffic downtown to support small businesses. The merchants give exposure to people from the county who kind of set their tables up and capture the people walking by.”
The amendment was added to another amendment Councilmember James Mahan made to limit the adoption of a new type of permanent, decal-style sign that will be placed on the sidewalks to designate the DORA boundaries. The city council must review the effectiveness of the temporary versus permanent signs by April 30, 2024.
Woods named president pro tem
The resignation of John Francis from his council seat also left a vacancy in the president pro tem position, which is the council member who leads meetings in the absence of Council President Bruce Hawkins.
Fellow council members picked Tammy Woods to take over that role.
Farmers Co-op gets street vacated for grain scale
After a public hearing, city council voted to approve vacating a section of Lewis Street and South Alley to enable the Central Ohio Farmers Co-op to use that location to make room for a new grain scale and for new offices.
“It’s hard for the drivers and the farmers coming in looking right back at about a 60-degree angle to make sure there’s no traffic coming,” said Jamison Price, manager of the co-op’s Mount Vernon location.
He said the Farmers Co-op intends to support the city and stay there and provide jobs.
City adopts New Community Authority model
The city council approved legislation for the Mount Vernon New Community Authority. This will enable an assessment of designated new developments to provide a special benefit.
“What we’re proposing a little bit later on is a millage charge, similar to a real property tax, but it is not a tax,” Mike Ringle, an attorney with Bricker Graydon, told city council. “So you can use the charge to pay for community facilities, also the cost of land acquisition and land development. You can also do financing related to infrastructure for the community authority. Those charges can be used to pay for that financing.”
A proposed $4 million equivalent assessment would produce $140 annually for each $100,000 of market value. Assuming a midpoint per property type for the market value of two potential developments by Rockford Homes and Highland Real Estate Group, this could bring $7.6 million in revenue over 30 years to the city, Ringle said.
A lot of the city’s typical public infrastructure, such as roads and facilities, but also sewer water, required for the new development could be funded, he said.
“This is not an additional or new tax on any current residents in the city that’s charged would only apply to property that is added to the new community authority,” he said.
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