NEW PARIS — Village Council voted to move forward with a $540,000 construction project and passed an ordinance regulating “tiny homes” during its regular monthly meeting Monday, July 12.
Susan Laux, of Greenville-based civil engineering firm Mote & Associates, updated the council on ongoing infrastructure improvement projects. Council approved a plan to spend $540,000 to replace curbs, sidewalks and storm sewers on Hutton Street, as well as to install new eight-inch water lines and repave portions of the roadway and stabilize them with concrete.
Funds from the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) will cover 84 percent of the project, according to Laux, with the village expected to raise the remaining 16 percent – approximately $86,400.
Laux also informed the council that the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) plans to repave a two-block portion of S.R. 121 in 2023. The road was previously scheduled to be repaved in 2025.
“They recognize that they missed it last time and it was their fault,” Laux said. “They messed up. I think it was well worth reaching out to them and having them come out. At least we got some improvement on the timeline,” to which Councilman Ralph Dungan agreed.
“We gained two years,” he said.
Also during the meeting, Mayor Kathy Smallwood suggested adopting an ordinance regulating “tiny homes” in the village during council’s June 7 meeting. Under the proposed ordinance, a tiny home would be defined as a towable recreational vehicle covering an area of 500 square feet or less, built on a single chassis, and designed for use as a permanent single-family dwelling.
No additional storage buildings would be allowed, and a skirt or shrubbery would have to be installed within 30 days to cover the vehicle’s wheels, trailer hitch and undercarriage. In addition, the owner of the property on which the vehicle resides would be responsible for installing water and utility lines and providing landscaping and mowing services.
“This all comes from the covenants we signed when we agreed to let them come in in the first place,” Smallwood said during the meeting. “We’re not changing anything, just putting it in our zoning so we can enforce it if we need to.”
Cedar Springs Tiny Village was established in 2017, according to village officials.
Council also voted to discontinue a monthly transfer of $9,000 from the village’s General Fund to the New Paris Police Department’s Operating Fund, with Mayor Smallwood saying the department was “overfunded” due to lack of personnel.
“The General Fund needs the money more than the police,” Smallwood said, though she indicated the transfer could be easily resumed once a new hire is made.
New Paris council meetings take place the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the New Paris City Building, located at 301 W. Cherry St.
