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License fees change for fair and festival workers
(by Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor - February 19, 2010)
Ahead of the 2010 fair and festival season, London City Council approved changes to licensing regulations originally implemented last year.
One of the main changes regards fees. Previously, an amusement ride or concession operator was charged $25 for a license to temporarily operate in the city, regardless of its number of employees. Now, the fee is $10 for the first four employees and $1 each for each additional employee, not to exceed 50.
“We found that the majority of the food vendors (at local festivals and fairs) are mom-and-pop operations,” said Safety-Services Director Stephen Hume, who enforces the licensing regulations. The new fee structure is more equitable for these small operations, he said.
The charges offset some of the cost the city incurs to check fair and festival workers for felony warrants and sex offender status.
Another change, suggested by Madison County Fair Board President Tom Fisher, provides for creation of a three-person appeals board for each fair or festival. If the city revokes a license, the licensee can appeal to the corresponding board.
“I appreciate that they let us make our input,” said Fisher, who attended a recent council committee meeting on the licensing legislation. “This time they came and asked the opinion of the people their legislation is going to affect.”
Early last year, Fisher and other fair board members, as well as representatives of the London Strawberry Festival and the Greater Ohio Showmen’s Association, complained that they were not consulted or given enough notice about the new licensing law.
Safe Routes To School
At the Feb. 18 council meeting, Rodney Lauer reported new information about Safe Routes to School, a federal government program designed to improve safety and encourage more children to safely walk and bicycle to school.
The city, county and school district, along with other local entities, are working on a Safe Routes To School travel plan. The plan must include all schools in the area and outline short-term and long-term goals. It must be in place before an entity can apply for funding.
According to Lauer, the plan must be submitted by July 1 to the Ohio Department of Transportation, which administers Safe Routes To School funds. Funding approval won’t be announced until March, after which most projects take another 18 months to complete.
Lauer said the travel plan will set up London for potential improvements, either in the form of construction or safety education. Councilman John Stahl noted, however, that such projects will take time to get rolling.
School Sidewalks
Council appropriated $30,000 for engineering for sidewalks on the west side of Elm Street from the county fairgrounds entrance to the south edge of London City Schools’ new middle school site.
Once the engineers estimate the cost of the whole project, council needs to decide what to do and how to fund it. They likely will focus first on the section from Garfield to the school, then address the county-owned section, Hume said.
One funding possibility is a $40,000 Community Development Block Grant, for which the city already has been approved. Or, council could wait for possible funding through Safe Routes To School. The city is exploring other options, as well.
In addition to funding, timing is part of the decision process. The new middle school is slated to open in the fall of 2011. There’s little chance a Safe Routes-funded project could be done by then.
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