City Alesia Ruchert hired as Childcare Navigator

POMEROY––The Pomeroy City Council discussed the Childcare Navigator position, created a planning commission, heard public concerns about nuisance properties and retaliation incidents, and heard requests regarding water service at their meeting on April 9.

Alesia Ruchert has been hired as the Childcare Navigator, to oversee and do the legwork for creating a daycare in Pomeroy. Ruchert also works at Flynn's Electric and has been involved in the community.

Ordinance 938 was passed at the meeting, establishing a planning commission for the city. The commission will be made up of five positions, two of which may be filled by residents of Garfield County who live outside the city limits. "This is going to be a base of solving a lot of community problems," Councilman Jim Harris stated. The planning commission is an advisory board to the council. They will brainstorm solutions and plans to problems that may arise and will present their recommendations for the council's approval.

The council heart public concerns regarding nuisance properties that are lowering the value of neighboring property, as well as incidents of alleged retaliation that have occurred. The city has a policy regarding nuisance properties-a warning letter is sent, followed by a second letter with a copy sent to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office. If the property owners do not comply, a citation may be issued. An incident of alleged retaliation occurred at the beginning of April when a sign for Maggie's Garden Bed & Breakfast was spray painted out.

The council approved a letter stating their intent to provide water service to Mike Moses for his four home lots on the east side of Pomeroy when the booster pump project is completed. They also denied an availability fee appeal and approved two requests for relief from water overage charges. The availability fee appeal was denied based on the need to maintain the water system, as well as the fact that property value is directly tied to the availability of water. The two relief requests were due to leaks caused by broken pipes. The pipes have now been fixed and the council approved relieving half of the water overage costs, one for $72.50 and the other for $347.26.