By DAVE SCHULTZ
It had been, in the words of Wells County Area Plan Commission President Jerome Markley, “quite a journey,” as the APC members approved the county’s updated comprehensive plan, Vision 2035, Thursday night.
A formal public hearing was held during the meeting, which was held in the Commerce and Visitors Centre. Four people addressed the commission, seeking clarification of items in the final draft of the report. APC members were thanked for their willingness to listen to public input and listened to questions about the Poka-Bache Trail, among other things, and they had to consider the definition of the word “around.”
On Page 57 of the 122-page document, under the heading of Wells County Traffic, the report recommends the county “look into completing improvements to assist traffic flow around Bluffton and Ossian.” That brought Marielle Lael to the podium to ask what that sentence meant. Wording that referred to the potential for a bypass around Ossian was removed from the plan after objections from several residents, including Lael. She wanted clarification on the statement.
Michael Lautzenheiser, the APC’s executive director, indicated that the wording referred to the area and not to a direction. That proved satisfactory, and the meeting continued.
Everything went quickly after that. The nine members of the APC present Thursday night — Becky Stone-Smth, John Schuhmacher, Tim Rohr, Markley, Josh Hunt, Bill Horan, Jarrod Hahn, Tyson Brooks, and Harry Baumgartner Jr. — all voted in favor of the final draft. (Two members, Cory Elzey and Melissa Woodworth, were not present.)
The plan covers several items relating to life in County No. 90 — the community itself, land use, project funding, transportation, infrastructure, quality of life, and preparing for natural disasters. It also has a section dealing with coordination with Markle. Part of that town is in Wells County, but for planning purposes, the town is aligned with the Huntington County.
On Page 5 of the document is a count of 29 meetings that were held to discuss the plan. The work began Jan. 2, 2020, and was stymied by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now the plan goes to the various units of government within Wells County that are signed on to the APC — Wells County itself, the city of Bluffton, and the towns of Ossian, Zanesville, Uniondale, Vera Cruz, and Poneto. Should any of those boards or councils demand a change, the plan will go back to the APC for discussion. All of the signatories must agree to all aspects of the plan before it is put into effect.
The APC also approved a spec building that has been proposed for the south side of Ossian. OD Ind. and Ossian Spec I requested approval for a potential 30,000-square-foot structure that would face Wells County Road 850N west of Ind. 1. The plan was approved with conditions, one of which that the town of Ossian support the development plan as presented. If that’s not the case, the plan must be amended to include the town’s requests.
The APC also granted extensions regarding two violations — one of 60 days to Joseph and Jennifer Foss, 7564S-150E, Poneto, and another of 30 days to Denny and Aimee Foss, 6010 S. Ind., Bluffton.
daves@news-banner.com
