Mayor: St. Marys' state of the city pretty good

ST. MARYS - Village councilors on Monday were presented with the 2023 annual report, which shows the city on acceptable financial ground and its affairs in good order, said mayor Joe Hurlburt.

He began by citing city accomplishments from 2023, which included Phase I of the East Spring Street revitalization program; the start of construction of a new municipal building; awarding bids for the construction of a treatment train for the Miami-Erie Canal; collaboration with the St. Marys Theater & Grand Opera House; the celebration of the city's bicentennial; and acquisition of the former Ohio Army National Guard Armory building.  

Hurlburt then listed several goals for 2024, which include continued development of Sleepy Hollow Subdivision and additional housing projects; a viable use for the reservoir mill located along the canal; revitalization of the Miami-Erie Canal; implementation of a new trash pickup system; and resolving downtown parking issues.

Hurlburt then went through the accomplishments of each of the city's departments.

The electric department performed upgrades and additions to the system; installed poles at a number of locations; cleared trees; installed 13 streetlights, conduit, wire and a transformer in Sleepy Hollow; and performed tree trimming.

It maintains 56 miles of distribution lines and 8 1/2 miles of transmission lines.

Plans for the second phase of work on Spring Street were made last year. The bid of Hohenbrink Excavating from Ottawa was awarded for $876,809.37 in August, and was partially funded with a grant of $385,000 through the Ohio Public Works Commission.

Resurfacing was done on portions of Webb, Hager, and Sturgeon streets, Meadow Lane, Kimberly Drive and Royal Oak Drive. Reconstruction was done on Sturgeon Street and Meadow Lane.

The pedestrian bridge over U.S. Route 33 near St. Marys Memorial High School was completed.

The municipal building construction began in February 2023 and is expected to be finished by this summer. After that is finished, work will begin on a parking lot behind the building.

Work continues on the restoration of the St. Marys Theater & Grand Opera House downtown. An application for $750,000 in funding has been made to finish the interior of the Reservoir Mill, with an answer expected later this year.

The Downtown Facade Improvement project continued for the eighth year, with eight locations approved. One is on North Front Street and the rest are along Spring Street.

The city had 98 full time employees as of the end of 2023. The city hired 26 employees and had 45 seasonal workers at the pool.

The solid waste department is planning the implementation of automation collection for 2024.

Each resident will have a city approved container. A truck equipped with a robot arm will collect it, meaning employees will not have to handle the trash. The city is currently waiting for delivery of the new truck.

The department collected 8.4 million pounds of refuse in 2023.

Tax commissioner Angie Brown collected $5.43 million in tax revenue, an increase of 11.64% from 2022.

A total of $22.6 million was collected from 14 villages. That was an increase of 26.49%.

In other business:

• approved on final reading a resolution to apply for a Transportation Alternatives Program grant for Phase IV of the reconstruction of Spring Street (the portion from Main Street to the St. Marys River bridge).

According to the annual report, the total project is estimated at $4 million. The city has already received a $2 million grant and is applying for $1.5 million through Ohio Department of Transportation.

• approved on final reading an ordinance to sell 49 acres on the former location of the Doseck farm to the St. Marys Board of Education. The sale price is $808,797.

City council meets next at 6:30 p.m. at city hall.