The talk around Richwood is about what to do with the former town hall/opera house building. Monday night, Council met Sarah Barr, owner “Raising The Barr,” who is offering to talk with village residents about what they would like to see done regarding tearing down or remodeling the building. As of now, council needs more data before making any decisions about the building. Barr is currently working with Marysville on the Avalon Theater project. She has raised two thirds of the money needed to fix that theater, which will be a multi-use facility for the city. She also looks into…
Author: Sherryl Sheets of the Richwood Gazette
Concerned members of the Richwood community and county officials turned out Monday night for a meeting concerning the future of the Richwood Town Hall/Opera House. (Photo submitted) Is the Richwood community defined by its town hall/opera house or is the cost too high to save it? That was the question at the heart of a special meeting Monday night to plan for the future of the historic Richwood structure. Richwood Village Council members have a dilemma on their hands regarding the future of the iconic opera house, located at the corner of South Franklin and East Bomford streets. The structure…
Pictured above is the Richwood town hall/opera house. Mayor Scott Jerew has called for a town meeting Monday at the village administration building, 153 N. Franklin St., at 7 p.m., where the community can share ideas for the future of the structure. (Photo submitted) Richwood Mayor Scott Jerew told council members at Monday night’s meeting that the village needs to decide what to do with the former town hall/opera house before the decision is made for them. The structure is reportedly in very bad shape and if money is going to be put into the building to secure the roof,…
The North Union Board of Education met Monday for its regular board meeting. On the agenda was approving funds for the new athletic field house. Board members voted to purchase weight room equipment from EliteFTS.com in the amount of $73,384.42. This money will be used to buy new, needed equipment that will be used by all North Union athletes. The funds for this purchase will come from the Athletic Facility Furnishings account. The board also approved a change request in the amount of $176,100 to Thomas and Marker Construction for work associated with the main water line going to the…
The Primary Election will be held March 17 and Richwood Village Council had a front row seat to meet some of the candidates Monday night. Three candidates introduced themselves to council and those in attendance. Those who introduced themselves were county commissioner candidates Rod Goddard and Kim Zacharias and county recorder candidate Sal Petrovia. Council members said they appreciated the opportunity to meet the candidates, but asked if they would attend council and township meetings in the northern part of the county if elected. Each candidate expressed their desire to make all parts of Union County a priority and to…
This is the year for the United States Census, Richwood Mayor Scott Jerew told village council at Monday night’s regular meeting. Jerew said that this takes place every ten years and it is very important that everyone in the village be counted. The census helps determine the annual distribution of $675 billion in federal funds to communities like Richwood for services in housing aid, food stamps and funding for infrastructure. Funding also goes to such local programs, like school free/reduced lunch, road striping and bridge replacement. Residents will receive an invitation in the mail to complete the census online, by…
Richwood Council members talked about upcoming projects for the new year at Monday night’s regular meeting. The first order of business was to elect a council president. Reddy Brown was voted in as president. The first project discussed was the Franklin Street Beautification Project which includes installing new street lights from the southern end to the north end of Franklin Street. The delay on installing the new street lamps was due to the poles not having electric outlets installed on the poles. While waiting for the new poles to arrive, Council heard from representative Josh Cross, who is with Ohio…
Richwood Village Council met Monday evening with president Reddy Brown running the meeting in the absence of Mayor Scott Jerew, who was attending the North Union Board of Education meeting. Knowing that residents have been asking about planting trees in the tree lawn, council discussed the current ordinances on the village’s records. Council’s biggest concern is protecting the village infrastructure which was recently installed. For years, tiles have broken down and causing council to repair the tile. In most situations, the tiles have collapsed or broken down due to tree roots getting into them. They want to have all their…
The number one FFA Agronomy team in the nation, was congratulated during the North Union Board of Education meeting Monday evening. North Union Superintendent Rich Baird read a proclamation from the board acknowledging the five-time national agronomy winners. NU FFA member Bailee Amstutz was also congratulated on her accomplishment of earning second place in a science competition through the FFA program. Union County Commissioner Charles Hall presented a proclamation to the group from the Union County Commissioners, along with Ryan Lee, of the Union County Chamber of Commerce and Community Improvement Corporation (CIC). All presentations were to congratulate the accomplishments…
Following the opening of the Monday night’s Richwood Village Council meeting, members went into executive session to discuss employee compensation. When members returned to regular session, a motion was made and approved to increase employee wages two percent, effective Jan. 1. An exception was made eliminating the village zoning officer from this ordinance. Another ordinance for the zoning officer’s salary was approved and it was raised to $3,600 a year, effective Jan. 1. Fiscal officer Sarah Sellers informed council that the village books continue to be updated and that a rough draft of a temporary budget for 2020 will be…
Richwood Council members have discussed the village’s aging water and sewer systems for years. Both systems are 50 years and older and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suggested for years that the village needs to update its aging facilities. During Monday’s regular council meeting, a unanimous vote was taken to increase the water and sewer rates beginning Jan. 1. Rates have not been raised since Jan. 1, 2007, making the village rates some of the lowest in the state of Ohio. At that time, the rate was increased by $1.53 and the money was used to put in…
Presentations on various topics were the main events during the Monday night North Union Board of Education meeting. Richwood Mayor Scott Jerew approached the board to help support a project called a Resiliency Center for the Richwood area. Jerew mentioned that grant money is available and currently there is a proposal that grant money could fund 75 percent of the project with the village and other supporters sharing the 25 percent of the cost. Jerew stated that a committee has been formed to look for grants for a 5,000 square foot center where youth and senior citizens would be using…
Richwood Mayor Scott Jerew told council members at Tuesday’s meeting that after he spoke with Ohio Senator David Burke and State Representative Tracy Richardson, that the village will be submitting requests for grant funds from the Ohio Capital Budget. Senator Burke suggested to Jerew that council should ask for money for several projects to improve areas of Richwood. Jerew told council that he is asking for money for a kayak launch at Richwood Lake, two composting toilets at Richwood Park, an ADA compliant Pedestrian Dock (a dock to fish from, like the one currently installed at the lake), ADA compliant…
State Representative Tracy Richardson will be presenting a request on behalf of the Richwood Village Council for funds from the $15 million statewide Capital budget. Mayor Scott Jerew told council that the village is asking for $64,000 that would be used for items at Richwood Park. Council has applied for money to be used to purchase two ADA compliant composting toilets for the park, an ADA pedestrian dock and a kayak launch where boaters can put their kayaks onto the lake. Jerew also told council the deadline to submit the request for funds is Nov. 14 and he doesn’t expect…
The North Union Board of Education watched a demonstration regarding robotics technology from middle school and high school robotics teams at Monday’s regular meeting. Kristi Matlack, the robotics coach and coordinator stated that North Union is scheduled for 30 competitions this year, hoping to earn their way back to the National World Competition, which North Union has participated in seven straight years. Students told the board the ins and outs of the program, how they have to build and come up with codes to make the robots move and compete against other teams in Ohio and in the world. They…