By Eamon Baird
PIQUA — At its meeting on Tuesday, March 5, the Piqua City Commission appointed five members to its Commissioners Committee on the Fire Training Facility.
According to a Feb. 6. resolution, this committee will create a report detailing the events from the Energy Safety Response Group’s (ESRG) lithium-ion burning at the Fire Training Facility between 2017 and 2023, and, if necessary, make recommendations to the City Commission.
The members serving on the new committee are David Roth, Joe Thompson, James Roth, Jerica Drapp, and Nancy Roof.
Paul Simmons, ward one commissioner, objected to the process of voting for the new committee.
“On Feb. 6, we voted to have this committee made to investigate things with the fire training facility and at that time we had discussed with the public that each commissioner was going to get one vote for one representative on that committee. Later on, it was decided by four commissioners that each of the commissioners was going to vote for five people and the one holdout commissioner said, ‘no we should each vote for one,’” Simmons said.
“Every commissioner had a chance to vote for five, and every commissioner voted,” Mayor Kris Lee said.
Piqua resident Jeff Grimes expressed disappointment in selecting the committee and suggested an additional Miami County committee be formed.
“The people that worked the hardest to figure out what is going on with this battery burning aren’t on any of these committees,” Grimes said.
“They can come to every meeting and give them the information,” Lee responded.
Other board appointments included Cindy Pearson and Patrick Kleman to the Parks Board, Adam Seas and Terry Wright to the Planning Commission, and Eva Silvers and Debbie Stein to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
“I want to thank everyone who applied, not just for the fire training committee, but for the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Park Board and the Planning Commission,” Ward Five Commissioner Frank DeBrosse said. “We had a significant amount of applications for each of those boards and committees and there were a lot of new names and folks who have not been involved in the past.”
“We appreciate the amount of volunteerism that goes on in the city of Piqua and we thank you for your time and your effort,” Mayor Lee added.
In other business during the meeting:
• Don Smith, president of the Piqua Caldwell Historic District, presented to the commission about the district’s history and upcoming events.
On January 11, 1985, the Piqua-Caldwell Historic District (PCHD) was registered with the National Register of Historic Places. Located in Piqua, Ohio, the area includes North Main, Wayne, North Downing, Caldwell Streets; and West Ash to Camp Streets.
“The important thing to know is this is nationally recognized; this is not something that you find all over the state of Ohio or all over the country. It’s a special place,” Smith said about the district.
More information about the Piqua Caldwell Historic District and upcoming events can be found at piquacaldwellhistoricdistrict.org/.
• MaryLynn Lodor, general manager and interim secretary for the Miami Conservancy District (MCD), also presented to the commission. The MCD was established after the Great Dayton Flood of 1913.
Lodor said the company is conducting a unit assessment, which is expected to increase rates for properties protected by the MCD. More information on the Miami Conservancy District can be found mcdwater.org/.
• Kevin Krenjy, director of the utilities department, gave an update.
“Piqua utilities has three main departments: the water department, the sewer department, and the storm water department. We like to say we take care of anything related to water in the city of Piqua,” Krenjy said.
• In new business, the commission approved a resolution authorizing a purchase order for a new Camel Max 1200 Hydro excavator from MTech company for the underground utilities department, worth $568,358.25. This excavator will replace the 1995 excavator, which will be auctioned off on Govdeals.
The city hopes to receive the new excavator by October.
