LEWISBURG — On Thursday, April 7, Lewisburg Village Council met to discuss the community, its future improvements, and activities around the area.
Attendees included Mayor Marsha Jones, Municipal Manager Jeff Sewert, Fire Chief BJ Sewert, Chief of Police Rick McGee, and council members Barb Foster, Chad Woodworth, Belinda Harry, Lori Pheanis, and Dennis Roberts.
During the meeting, two citizens approached council with requests. Maria Flaherty, the chairperson of the Comic Con community event asked permission to hold a parade for their event this summer, scheduled for July 1-2 in Lewisburg.
To avoid any conflict and avoid cutting off traffic, Flaherty requested a route on the less busy streets of Lewisburg. Flaherty’s motion to have the parade on Saturday July 2, at 10 a.m. was approced by council.
The second citizen to come forward to make a request was David Wickham, an attorney for non-profits. Wickham works a lot with the arts in Lewisburg and wished to make it easier to access the arts in the community, he said. Wickham requested council “bring credibility” to the organization of Lewisburg Arts and Recreation.
Wickham wants to make Lewisburg Arts and Recreation an Ohio non-profit corporation, allowing it to open checking accounts, raise money, and be on a tax-exempt charitable deduction basis.
However, Lewisburg Arts and Recreation would not be the only non-profit organization. It would be a parent organization to Lewisburg Arts & Rec Facilities, Lewisburg STEAM, Lewisburg Performing Arts, Creating in the ‘Burg, and Lewisburg Adult Sports & Fitness, all becoming subsidiary LLC organizations which are non-profits.
Wickham explained, a citizen could donate to either the parent non-profit or any of the subsidiaries to focus on a particular type of art.
Councilmembers noted, they were pleased with the reports from the citizens and their efforts to help the community grow in its ideas.
In other business:
•The council meeting continued with members council speaking about donations to the Fire and EMS fund, a fund which raised around $180,000 dollars. Other funds from grants and various other areas helped with items like training for the police and the MARCS tower.
•Council held a first reading of an ordinance amending various revenues, resources, and/or appropriations for the calendar year 2022.
•Council discussed applications for grants and improvements for the village. One was to improve the paving of Western Avenue and the areas between Dayton Street and Anderson Pallet Services to make getting to the new brewery easier. Second, an Ohio Public Works Commission grant application was submitted and is still under review for updates. Third, a grant is being sought to help the Lewisburg Fire Deparment with items which may be needed in the firehouse.
Lewisburg Village Council meets the first Thursday of each month, at 7 p.m.
