Will borough go wet?

Conneaut Lake Borough Council brought the Conneaut Lake Community Development Committee, (CDC), up to date, in terms of a beach plan, during the February meeting.

CDC representatives have been approaching Council for the past few months, in order to try to get some plans moving along for a Fireman's Beach spruce-up project.

During the January meeting, a CDC spokesman, Bill Eldridge, had made a request for a letter to be sent to two governmental agencies. The Department of Environmental Protection, DEP, was one and the other was the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, DCNR.

The subject of the letter was to set up a future meeting between Borough Council, CDC members and PA governmental officials, to discuss the various grant programs available.

The main objective would have been to garner some funding for the beach.

That meeting contained much back and forth between CDC and Borough Council, especially in terms of possible funding from DEP.

Council members were not inclined to go for any kind of grant from DEP, because of the strict stipulations involved in such an endeavor.

Two years ago, DEP was willing to grant money but it would have seen bio retention areas being placed in regions of the beach which would cut into a large portion of the parking.

There were other reasons why Council balked at the DEP scenario. More information can be gathered about the issue by visiting the Community News online at: www.communitynewslinesville.com.

The issue was bottom lined in January when a motion was made, seconded and carried to hold off on requesting a meeting with either agency, until the Council developed a master plan for the beach.

When Eldridge approached Council during the February meeting, he did so in order to ascertain what steps, if any, had been taken thus far in terms of the plan.

Borough Council President Richard Holabaugh brought the group up to speed by saying that there had been four work sessions since the last meeting.

During the sessions, there are only three members of Council present. If they were to have a number that constituted a quorum, it would be considered to be a public meeting in an official capacity.

Holabaugh said that he had spoken with several Council members but not all of them. He imparted that he would also like to speak with the mayor and the beach manager, Mike Mihoci, about attending some of the sessions.

They are working on a preliminary list of priorities, and have also asked the street man, Mark “Smitty” Smith, to provide them with a list of some projects that have been started but have remained unfinished.

Smitty will also be working with Holabaugh and Secretary Linda Joyce in terms of money spent, needed, etc.

Holabaugh said that they are formulating the list and then would like to chat with members of CDC. He indicated that he would like to do so on an individual basis.

He said that if several people had the same ideas for the beach, Council would take that into consideration in terms of order of importance.

Also, he has gone to individual Council members and asked how they would allocate any kind of monies received via grants, etc. This was all kind of a hypothetical question that he posed to several members one-on-one.

“That way, I have a better understanding of, one, the definition of improvement...” Holabaugh said. He continued by saying that by finding out what each person's definition of “making improvements” was, he could better grasp the situation.

He also threw out another hypothetical in asking how the monies might be spent, if received. For example, he wondered if the money would all go into one project, be divided up, or what exactly could be done in such an undertaking.

According to Holabaugh, the work sessions have consisted of trying to determine costs and priorities.

After all is said and done, with the individual ideas being bantered etc., a list would be given to CDC and then, they could try and seek out any kind of grants available.

Eldridge asked if they might have something together by the March meeting. Holabaugh answered that the goal is to provide a list of what Council determines to be the most important and needed goals, and it should be composed by that time. That way, a comparison between CDC's list and Council's list could take place and then, they would move forward from that point.

Sticking with the same group of people, Bob Moyers, also of CDC, brought up the issue of going from a dry to a wet town.

He said they would like to see some sort of higher-end restaurant come to the borough but, the developers, with whom they've been speaking, made it clear that they would not even consider doing so without it becoming wet.

Moyers said that the goal of CDC is to improve the business climate, and there was some concern about what kind of establishment might open, if the town indeed turned wet.

He had spoken with a lawyer that CDC had used in the past, in order to find out if there would be any way to, more or less, monitor, or control, what type of drinking establishment might open.

The lawyer devised a letter, which was given to Borough Solicitor Jeff Millin. Moyers said he would provide all of Council with the letter, if need be.

He continued by saying that if the measure is going to be put on the ballot, they should try and move along as swiftly as feasible.

Holabaugh imparted that he had spoken on the phone at some length with Moyers about the issue, and that Moyers had requested that a petition be placed in Ralston's Hardware. Holabaugh agreed to do so and, he also agreed to provide a place for a petition for those against the proposal.

Moyers reminded those in attendance, and Council, that the purpose of the petition is only to put the wet or dry situation on the ballot. So, it would only be a way to try and place the measure on the ballot and, in no way, would be anything else but.

Holabaugh stated that they were not to take a political stand on the ballot/petition matter, and if the majority of citizens wanted it, he would stand with them. In turn, he continued, if it happened to go the other way, he would also support the citizenry in that decision as well.

The petition, or petitions, will be located in other businesses, in the borough, and not just in the hardware store.

Councilman Mike Kribbs spoke up and said that he had been hearing very vague and mysterious descriptions of a restaurant, and asked for more clarification.

Moyers basically recounted what had been said before by answering that the Economic Development Committee had spoken with a “prominent developer,” and had been told that there would be no chance of getting an Applebee's or an Iron Bridge, for example, without the liquor license being available.

Moyers said that going from dry to wet would simply open the door for future activities such as the above-mentioned.

Kribbs asked what would happen if it went through, and then no one came forward with a request to open an establishment in the downtown region. He asked if the question posed to the lawyer was if they could keep certain types of bars out of town.

Moyers said his understanding of the letter was that if an ordinance could be crafted in a certain manner and worded correctly, it could specify what kind of facilities might be allowed.