Council approves application to ODOT for roadside grass-removal assistance

At a meeting, council members voted to adopt Ordinance 13 43 authorizing submission of an application to the Ohio Department of Transportation for the agency’s grass-removal assistance and safety program covering fiscal years 2026 and 2027. A member said the town would otherwise pay about $30,000 a year for private mowing.

The measure was introduced as a motion by a committee member and seconded by the presiding Chair. The committee member read the ordinance title aloud, describing the item as authorization to submit an ODOT application for the grass-removal assistance and safety program for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. The Chair led a roll call; members present answered in the affirmative and the motion was recorded as adopted.

Earlier in the meeting a participant described a warrant related to right-of-way mowing on SR 32 and urged the council to pass the item promptly so staff could email the application the next morning and ODOT could begin work. “It’d be about 30,000 a year,” the Chair said when describing the estimated cost if the town contracted the work instead of participating in the ODOT program.

Council members also moved to suspend the rules to consider the ordinance and, following the vote, a motion to adjourn was made and seconded. A member raised a question about the timing for the Apple Street extension before the excerpt ends.

The ordinance authorizes only the submission of an application to the Ohio Department of Transportation; the transcript does not specify the application’s exact terms, the date ODOT would begin work, or whether the program approval requires additional approvals. Those details were not specified in the meeting excerpt.