Ward Four Commissioner Tom Hohman, left, reads a proclamation recognizing May as Bike Month to Jim Hemmert, president of Bike Piqua.
Eamon Baird | Miami Valley Today
By Eamon Baird
PIQUA — The Piqua City Commission issued a proclamation declaring May as Bike Month during its Tuesday, May 9, meeting.
Ward Four Commissioner Tom Hohman read the proclamation to Jim Hemmert, president of Bike Piqua.
“You can’t beat the scenery, the curves, and the ups and downs of the bike paths that we have here in Miami County,” Hemmert said after receiving the proclamation.
“Thank you to the city for this proclamation, this recognition, it’s appreciated by me and all of the thousands of bicyclists and runners and walkers that use our paths,” he said.
The commissioners also heard its first report from the committee on the Fire Training Facility from Co-Chairs Nancy Roof and David Roth. As of Friday, May 10, the committee has met for four meetings.
“Thank you to the city commission for giving us the opportunity to serve Piqua this way. The five of us take this very seriously and we’re happy to serve the community in this way,” Roth said.
Roth and Roof gave summaries of their first three meetings on the committee, which included establishing a timeline of events, electing chairs, and secretaries to log the minutes, and establishing codes of conduct for meetings.
“We definitely want to say thanks to the citizens. We had good turnout at all of our meetings and people asked good questions. To be honest they’ve done a lot of research and we’re playing catch up. We just really appreciate their input and their willingness to talk to us,” Roth said.
The committee said they will continue to meet every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the fourth floor of Fort Piqua Plaza located at 308 N. Main St. The meetings are open to the public.
In the consent agenda, the commission accepted the resignation of Gary Koenig as a member of the Planning Commission.
The commission also heard second readings of the following ordinances:
• To protect and preserve the Piqua Historical district by adopting chapter 99 to the Piqua municipal code. This ordinance seeks for Piqua to become a Certified Local Government (CLG) working with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).
• To amend chapter 32 of the Piqua municipal code to include the Board of Zoning Appeals and the City Historic Review Commission.
• To amend title XV pertaining to land usage of the Piqua Development Code in multiple sections.
The third and final readings of these ordinances will take place at the next city commission meeting on Tuesday, May 21.
In new business, the commission conducted first readings of the following ordinances:
• To regulate burning activities conducted by city owned properties;
• To repeal and replace section 30.01 of the Piqua Municipal Code which would authorize the city manager to settle various claims under $2,500.
The commission also unanimously approved the following resolutions:
• To award a contract to M & T Excavating LLC for the Ridge Street water main extension project for $219,000 with a 15% contingency. The amount of $100,000 of the project will be paid from a grant for critical water upgrades as part of the Ohio BUILDS water infrastructure grant program.
• To acknowledge a receipt of Miami County’s 911 plan in accordance with section 128 of the Ohio Revised Code.
