By Nancy Montgomery

You may have noticed Confidence Cemetery is looking better these days. The village has contracted to have the cemetery mowed once a week and weed-eated every other week. Erosion occurred around the headstones from the use of Roundup. The mowing company has helped to correct that along with the regular maintenance. The cost for mowing every week, weed eating every other week, and cleaning stones is $34,800. To weed-eat weekly would take the cost to $70,000 for the season. Cemetery maintenance is an extremely difficult and expensive process and one that every cemetery struggles with. The village is determined to keep Confidence Cemetery well-maintained. Alternatives to what is being done now will continue to be looked at.

With the sale of the empty lots at S. Main St. and W. Cherry St., the CIC, the Community Improvement Corporation, now has $27,907.60 at their disposal. They received $8,000 from the sale of a village property on Kenwood Ave. and $19,907.60 from the sale of the 2 lots to Merchants Bank. This money can be used for small business loans within the village. The CIC is currently setting parameters for loans and developing the process by which businesses may apply for loans through them. They may also buy property that would be in the best interest in the community. The CIC holds meetings open to the public the second Tuesday of each month at 5:00 P.M. in the Village Council Chamber.

In response to concerns about cleaning up properties in Georgetown, there has been a change in how the junk ordinance will be enforced. Instead of a fine being added to property taxes refusing to comply will now result in a citation to mayor’s court. The property owner will be contacted initially and the village will work with the property owner to get the problem settled before any legal action is taken.

Susan Bean has taken on the task of replacing the organization signs at the entrances to the village. The signs have been neglected and fallen into ill repair over the years. She will be contacting non-profit organizations to share the cost of an organization sign if they would like to be represented on those village entrance signs. She has plans for a more attractive framework to hold the organizational signs which will be a uniform shape and size to present a nicer look.

The Village Council decided not to move forward at this time with investigating a charter for Georgetown. More education is needed for the public to understand what a charter is and what it can mean for the village. Plans are to provide village forums in the spring of 2019 to give information and answer questions. Then a decision will be made if citizens should be put on a ballot to form a charter commission to write a village charter. These open meetings will be well advertised on the Village website and Facebook page, the Georgetown, Ohio Special Events Facebook page, and in the local newspapers.

As promised, the village is digitizing ordinances. As they are digitized, they are being placed on the Village website. If you click on the Menu in the top right-hand corner of the website, you will see Ordinances and Resolutions listed. Click on Ordinances and Resolutions and you will see a list with associated tags. There is a search box at the top by which you search using tag words.

The village council is discussing the application for a grant to make improvements at Kathryn Hanlon Park. New restrooms in the front of the park to replace the old restrooms has already been budgeted for next year. Other concerns expressed have included updating the children’s playground with a safer surface and play equipment for smaller children, water fountains, and resurfacing the walking track and perhaps widening it a bit. If you would like to express what you would like to see improved at the park, feel free to let Village Administrator Art Owens know or post on the village Facebook page. You can also email councilmember Nancy Montgomery, who will be writing the grant, at nmontgomery@georgetownohio.org.

Don’t forget we are livestreaming monthly council meetings on our village Facebook page, Village of Georgetown, Ohio. You are still invited and encouraged to attend in person. Meetings are held the second and fourth Thursdays of every month at 7:00 PM in the Village Council Chamber.