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COLUMBIANA -- Columbiana City Council heard concerns from business owners regarding the recent move of the Dying Breeds Diesels annual truck show from Columbiana to East Palestine during its regular council meeting on Tuesday.
The vintage semi-truck show, known as the Dying Breed Diesels Family Reunion, pulled out of Columbiana after it conflicted with another scheduled event on Main Street that was previously approved by council (the Vintage Market sidewalk sale) as well as the Shaker Woods' Christmas in the Woods. Dying Breeds requested Oct. 12 to keep its annual event on the second Saturday in October. The sidewalk sale was approved for the same weekend to coincide with Christmas in the Woods to draw Shaker Woods patrons to the downtown shops.
Jane Bohrer, owner of the Rustic Birdcage, said losing the truck show means lost revenue for Main Street merchants.
"We were very disappointed in the events that led up to us losing the Dying Breed Diesel Family Reunion which has went on here for the past five years," she said. "The whole city loses money when we lose these events."
Bohrer went on to explain that "road-closure events" -- events downtown that require the closure of Main Street -- lead to an increase of sales anywhere from 30% to 45% for most merchants. Bohrer also said some business owners feel their voices are not being heard and the views of some are being "prioritized."
"The information we were getting is that a street closure takes from businesses and we are hearing now that is not even close to being the truth. There are some very impressive increases during the closures," council president Skip Liston said.
Councilman Dan Dattilio, pointed out that while some downtown merchants are boosted, others see a decrease in revenue and stressed that the city tries to listen to all concerns. He also explained that the decision to move the truck show had nothing to do with prioritizing events over others. The sidewalk sale requested the date first and council approved that request. The truck show requested the same date at a later meeting and that request too was approved. When council realized the conflict, attempts were made to accommodate both events and "thread the needle" but truck-show organizers voiced the need for all of Main Street -- citing safety issues involving the moving and parking of the semi-trucks while another event was taking place.
"I didn't take into consideration when approving events that would be a conflict and it was a safety conflict with the two events. It never occurred to me to say 'hey, this one weekend when Dying Breeds Diesels is here we should not approve that other event' and that other event that ended up being the conflict," Datilio said.
Bridget Wolsonovich, executive director of the Columbiana Area Chamber of Commerce, asked council to consider a system that allows organizers of annual events to retain first claims to the same date as the year before. Datilio said the city is working to make changes to prevent a similar conflict in the future.
"I can assure that I've learned from that and in the future when approving events we will look at is this going to interfere with something that would normally be here," he said. "We are still working on a way to streamline and approve events, and part of that will be looking at the calendar and not approving two events for the same day or time, and if we do, to make sure we are not creating a safety hazard which was ultimately what the problem was."
In other news, City Manager Lance Willard reported the city acquired a $1 million grant to help pay for the construction of a new wastewater lift station at the Lakefront. Willard said the funding was through former Congressman Bill Johnson's office and the EPA's State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) program. The program provides funding to improve drinking water, wastewater, stormwater infrastructure and water-quality protection.
"We just confirmed that we did get $1 million in funds from the Environmental Protection Agency for that lift station project," Willard said. "That means we are going to be able to take out less of a loan, and since we got confirmation we already did the adjustments, and that is huge for us and our citizens for not having to come up with that million dollars over the next 20 years."
Willard also said that the city received more good news concerning the street paving and sidewalk projects. Both projects came in under the engineer's estimates. The paving of Fairfield School Road and Lisbon Street is planned for this year as is the installation of a new sidewalk from Duquesne Street to Columbiana High School.
"We opened up three bids this month and they all came in under the engineer's estimates which is really good for our budget," Willard said. "We already put those numbers in there and we always hold our breath when we open those bids up."
During the last meeting, Willard reported that bids for the lift station were below estimates.
Council also tackled several pieces of legislation -- 20 items in new and old business. In old business, council approved the second reading of seven legislation items. They included a resolution to approve the appointment of Bryce Miner to as the newly-created deputy city administrator/deputy zoning inspector, a resolution to execute a CRA agreement with FIDC regarding the Dollar store and Tractor Supply, an ordinance to make appropriations for expenses and expenditures for the year 2024 and two ordinances for transferring of funds. In new business, emergency resolutions to execute a CRA agreement with LNB Holdings and Arfaras Real Estate were approved as was a resolution approving the county's final 911 plan. Emergency ordinances to enter into contracts with the winning bids reported by Willard earlier in the meeting were also passed. The contracts are with X-Press Underground of Petersburg for labor, materials and equipment necessary for the lift station project, Parella-Pannunzio for labor and materials for the sidewalk project, Howells and Baird for engineering services regarding the sidewalk project, Lindy paving for street paving project and Tri-County Asphalt. The first reading of ordinances setting the salary and other conditions for the city manager, police chief, officer, firefighters, certain appointed city personnel and full- and part-time employees was approved.