Dover community gardeners seeking a water solution
Volunteers with the nonprofit Dover Community Garden attended the Dover Council meeting on July 15 to update the city on their progress. They thanked council members for the opportunity to create the community garden, which has been in existence for about five years.
“As you guys know, it’s been a really long process to get here where we actually have a team of people working with us. So we wanted to say thank you to the council tonight for allowing us to go forward with this project, for giving us the property (to use) and for being patient with us,” said Renee Nicole, who spoke for the group. “One of the things that we’ve run into, and this is a big hurdle for us to keeping things looking nice down there, is water.”
The city has filled water containers for the group twice. Though the garden is located near the Tuscarawas River at the end of Canal Street, it’s not an option to use water from the river.
“We’re looking into grants for a way to find a water pump,” Nicole said. “Because it is a community garden for the public, we need some form of pump and irrigation system for the garden.”
As of this year, the Dover Community Garden is officially a 501(c)(3) organization.
Mayor Shane Gunnoe thanked the group for their efforts and said he would like to look at ways the city may be able to help.
“It’s great to see everything headed in a really positive direction,” Gunnoe said. “As far as your needs for water, give me a call. Let’s sit down and talk, and maybe we can get some of our department heads to collaborate with you on ways that we can do that. Then once we have a plan, we can look and discuss what grant options might be available.”
In his report Gunnoe said in total, if all grant requests are approved as expected, the city will have been awarded an additional $2.34 million in state and federal grant funding to support the Schaeffler expansion project.
Gunnoe said the basketball court resurfacing project at the park has been completed.
“The court is now open again for public use with a new red and gray appearance,” Gunnoe said. “It’s a significant transformation.”
The city also added a communication board at the Dover City Park playground.
“The board is designed with visuals and graphics to help kids and adults communicate with their peers,” Gunnoe said. “A special thanks to the Ruth Carlson Foundation and other project supporters for donating this board at no cost to the city.”
The tennis courts will be closed for several days while work is ongoing. The courts also will have a red and gray appearance. New benches will be added along Wooster Avenue in the park for pedestrians.
In an update on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail project, Tuscarawas County and the cities of Dover and New Philadelphia are partnering with OMEGA to pursue planning and design funding to complete the project from its current endpoint at Route 416 through the city of Dover to Waterworks Park in New Philadelphia. The grant application will be finalized soon.
“The planning and design funds will allow a consultant to continue the design work beyond what has already been completed, as well as continue community engagement and finalize the routing alternatives through each city,” Gunnoe said.
Letters of support for the project may be sent to Ben Turin at OMEGA. His email address is available on the city’s Facebook page or contact the mayor’s office.
Gunnoe discussed summer events including activities at the park, Jericho Big Band at the amphitheater on July 25, the farmers market every Thursday from 7:30-10:30 a.m., and the 30th annual Downtown Dover Car and Bike Show on Aug. 2.
Safety Director Bob Everett informed council that there will soon be two vacancies in the police department. He asked council to approve Emergency Ordinance 34-24, which would raise the age limit to hire new officers to 50 as it would be helpful in hiring new officers. Council did suspend the rules and pass 34-24 on the first reading.
Council approved to settle with a landowner in an eminent domain case and passed Emergency Ordinance 36-24. The land is needed for the 20th Street bridge project. It was appraised at $8,230. The city and the landowner arrived at a settlement amount of $12,230, which is $4,000 over the original appraised value. The case was set to go to trial this week if it was not settled.
The next Dover Council meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 5 in council chambers, 121 E. Second St., Dover.