Akron.com

Bath Township regulates transient vendors, expands I-77 patrol



BATH — Transient vendors who solicit door-to-door will now be regulated in Bath following the Board of Trustees passage of legislation July 11.
The legislation defines transient vendors as “any person who opens a temporary place of business for the sale of goods, or who, on the streets or while traveling about the township, sells, or offers for sale, goods, or solicits orders for future delivery of goods…or attempts to arrange an appointment for a future estimate or sales call.”
The ordinance does not apply to door-to-door solicitation by nonprofit or charitable groups, or solicitation and sales from a stationary location by nonprofit or charitable groups.
According to the legislation, transient vendors will be required to register with the zoning office and pay a registration fee of $150, which will be valid for 90 days. The ordinance limits registered transient vendor activity to weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Trustees also approved a resolution expanding the authority of police to include enforcing local laws on interstate highways running through and with access and exit points in the township.
Administrator Vito Sinopoli said the expanded role for police was made possible by passage of Ohio House Bill 206, which expanded police authority on interstate highways to police departments in townships with populations between 5,000 and 50,000 residents. Sinopoli added that this legislation would allow police to take the primary role in accidents and other traffic issues that occur on I-77 in the township.
Sinopoli said concerns about townships establishing “speed traps” on highways in their jurisdiction are unjustified as the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) specifies that speeding fines are paid to the county, not to the townships.
The trustees held a special meeting prior to their regular meeting to approve the 2023 budget of $16,725,500.
Trustee Sharon Troike noted that it was difficult to create a budget six months prior to the start of the budget year, especially during times with fluctuating costs and prices on goods and services, but the ORC requires trustees to file the proposed budget with the county fiscal officer by July 20.
Trustee Sean Gaffney commented on the size of the 2023 budget, saying “we don’t have to spend it all, but we need to have it [adequate funding] in the budget. We want to make sure every resident and our employees are taken care of in the way we are used to.”
In other business, trustees approved:
• extending postings for the positions of part-time fiscal assistant and full-time executive assistant through July 22;
• selling the Fire Department’s 2011 Ford Taurus at the Akron Auto Auction;
• the appointment of Rachel Rexroad as a full-time firefighter/paramedic;
• hiring Nicholas Baker as a full-time Parks Division laborer;
• an $11,387 contract with Fallsway Equipment Co. for the purchase and installation of a new steel Galion dump body for the Park Division’s one-ton dump truck;
• the purchase of a 2022 Chevrolet Colorado pick-up truck from VanDevere Chevrolet at a cost of $33,974 for zoning inspection use; and
• requisitions, regular purchase orders and payments totaling $109,928.
Bath trustees will next meet July 25 at 4 p.m. in the trustees meeting room of the Bath Center Building, 3864 W. Bath Road.