Jerome Township officials are confident in the direction the township is moving and the goals they have for the future.
The Board of Trustees held a special meeting this week to discuss their priorities for the current and upcoming year.
Fiscal Officer Robert Caldwell said he feels work in the township has been particularly productive the past several years.
“Tremendous advancements have taken place,” he said. “We’re finally getting some things off the list we’ve talked about for years.”
Trustee Chair Megan Sloat said a rewrite of the township’s comprehensive plan, which is in its early stages, is her top priority.
“It has been a long time coming,” she said.
Sloat noted that it is a longer-term goal, as the process will “tentatively” last into 2024.
Likewise, she said she wants to ensure updates to the township’s zoning resolution that were labeled as “high priority” during a 2021 joint meeting with the zoning commission are completed this year.
They include the “signs and signage” portion of the resolution and Chapter 500, which addresses planned development districts.
While zoning is often the focus of Jerome Township meetings, Sloat said she is leery of assigning too many more rewrites of the resolution to the zoning department. She said edits to each section of the resolution take between five and six months, on average.
Zoning Inspector Eric Snowden agreed that zoning departments generally take on “no more than two significant amendments in a year.”
For that reason, Trustee Wezlynn Davis agreed that changes suggested last year should be completed before other projects are undertaken.
“I will tell you, my priority is to finish what we started,” she said.
Trustee Barry Adler agreed.
Once work on the “signs and signage” portion of the resolution and Chapter 500 is completed, Adler said he feels “buffering and landscaping issues” should be next on the list. He added that he does not think “it will be as intensive as the other two.”
“We’re all on board to work on that section,” Sloat agreed.
Sloat emphasized that the township had “minimal to no” landscaping standards prior to 2015. She said the goal will be “refining and revising” what is now in place.
Sloat said she feels working on the comprehensive plan rewrite and amending the three sections of the zoning resolution will set the group on the right track for 2022.
“That’s plenty of work for the next year, or two, even,” she said.
While those goals remain at the top of the trustees’ short-term priority list, Adler also shared a number of objectives that the township will continually work toward.
They included enhancing public safety, completing roadway upgrades, improving communication with county and other nearby officials, expanding the parks and trails system, implementing a new website and planning special events for community engagement.
Davis said she feels the township is effectively “doing a lot of these things already.”
For instance, Davis said communication between the trustees and other local officials is improving more over time.
“I think we have spearheaded that as a top priority and it is going beautifully,” she said.
Likewise, Sloat said the township is working with a contractor, Granicus, to update the website. She said she is hopeful it will “launch in July.”
She also noted that Administrative Assistant Sydney Herbert has introduced a number of special events, including a Christmas ornament contest and ice drop challenge.
“Sydney has been phenomenal,” Sloat said.
Director of Departments Douglas Stewart said Herbert’s work is an example of the benefits of the township’s work to grow its staff over the past several years.
“We’re here behind you to support your efforts,” Stewart said.
The Board of Trustees agreed, thanking Stewart for staff’s work.
Ultimately, Sloat said goals will move higher on the priority list depending on what the township needs at the time.
“I think that we’re all very in tune with what is important to our residents,” she said.