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COLUMBIANA -- The Columbiana City Council approved four downtown street events for the summer and fall at its regular meeting Tuesday.
The city will host Vintage Market Days in historic downtown Columbiana on five Saturdays in August and October from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., which will coincide with the Shaker Woods Festival and the Shaker Woods Christmas in the Woods craft shows.
Patti Roller, owner of downtown businesses Main Street Shop and Legacy Fine Home Furnishings, said she envisions the event to be a craft and antique fair, with vendors set up on the sidewalk, to draw more people into the downtown area. All the streets will remain open, she said.
She mentioned more and more new people are visiting the historic downtown and its 18 retail shops.
"Everybody loves to come to Columbiana. It's a big deal right now," Roller said.
Roller also separately suggested setting up yield to pedestrian signs in the downtown, as it is sometimes hard to see people crossing the street with cars parked in the area.
"It's dangerous," Roller said.
Council also approved plans for three Columbiana Area Chamber of Commerce events. A Chalk on Main event will be held June 22-23, a Christmas in July event will take place July 26-27, and the Witch Walk on Main will take place Oct. 4-5.
Bridget Wolsonovich, executive director of the Columbiana Area Chamber of Commerce, detailed the events to council, starting with Chalk on Main.
"We have some professional and amateur artists who come in and draw on our streets," she said.
All the events were approved by council to close streets downtown for a period of time and for the operation of vendors, food trucks, and designated outdoor refreshment areas (DORAs).
"We're not positive we'll need it, but with ours being on the street when we have it closed, we want to have that opportunity," Wolsonovich said of the DORAs.
Newly elected Councilman Ty Graham mentioned that while campaigning, he heard concerns from "a number of" residents about the name, "Witch Walk." He said some residents are concerned that the name doesn't align with the values of a lot of people living downtown.
Graham asked if there was any way to rename the event.
Wolsonovich said that it is a Halloween witch-themed event that is similar to several other "Witch Walks" around the country.
"I'm not sure how you would go away from that without losing the overall theme of it," she said of the name.
Also on Tuesday, Deann Davis, secretary for the Columbiana Community Foundation, presented two grant awards to the city. One is $3,500 for the Firestone Park Summer Concert Series and the other is $18,785 for Columbiana Youth Baseball.
"The foundation is always glad to support worthwhile projects in the city," Davis said.
In other business, Peggy Oberholtzer resigned as a longtime member of the Board of Zoning Appeals, saying in her resignation letter that she had served since the board's inception, which one council member said must date to 1974 when the city first enacted its charter.
"We want to thank her for her years of service to the city," Mayor Rick Noel said.
Linda Linebaugh was nominated to fill the position on the Board of Zoning Appeals, since she had already submitted a letter of interest in the position previously.
Council also nominated Councilwoman Amanda Banner as liaison to the Park Board.
The next meeting of the Columbiana City Council will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 20.