Put-in-Bay Gazette Online
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FRONT PAGE NEWS
Put-in-Bay High School has seven students graduating on May 22nd. The ceremony will be held at Perry’s Monument at 6:30 p.m. Left to right are Aydyn Mitchell, Jacob Seaman, Elias Wright, Lily Schweitzer, Ava Heineman, Geoffrey Luecke and Richard Scarpelli. Congratulations to the Class of 2025 and best of luck in your next adventures!
Citizens Research Group Community Presentation
Between 50 and 60 people attended the Citizens Research Group’s presentation in the Assembly Room at the Put-in-Bay Town Hall on Monday, April 29th. The meeting was to present the group’s most up-to-date findings about the potential for restructuring of governance on the islands.
A representative from Local Government Consultants (LGC), an independent consulting firm hired by the CRG, went through the seven options that were available for government restructuring based on the research their firm had conducted over the past year. It was then recommended that the options to eliminate either the Village or the Township were not feasible and would be detrimental to the future of the islands. LGC’s recommendation was the option to have Township residents gradually annex their property into the Village in the coming years. By doing this, more people currently in the Township would have representation and a voice about what happens in the Village. A full copy of LGC’s report can be found at www.bassislandstudy.org.
Group members Brian Cultice, Sara Booker, Dave Schafer, Laura Fogg, John Fisher, Kim Stoiber and Billy Market were present to take questions about the pros and cons of the option presented by the consulting firm. CRG member Kate Richardson from Middle Bass was not available to attend the meeting.
Kim Stoiber, who owns Frosty’s and other businesses in the Village, lives in the Township and has no say or vote in how the Village is run. By annexing into the Village, she and others would be able to vote and run for office. Kim said she was already working on having multiple property owners in her neighborhood on East Point agree to be annexed into the Village.
There were many topics discussed during the two-hour meeting and there is still more research to be done on this complicated issue. The meeting was videoed, so those who are interested and couldn’t attend the meeting can view it on the Citizens Research Group Facebook page or find it on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q_130GB-TE. The executive summary of the report given to the CRG can be read on Page 2 of this issue.
The Citizens Research Group will have another presentation at the PIB Property Owners meeting on June 7th.
Charlotte Colley from Local Gov Consultants speaks to a full room of island residents as she presents the executive summary of the Bass Islands Government Restructuring Report. Attendees asked insightfull questions about the report and were provided with a better understanding of how the future of island governance may or may not change going forward. The full executive summary can be found on Page 2.