By DAVE SCHULTZ
The ratification process for the Wells County comprehensive plan, Vision 2035, has been approved by all but two of the units of government needed to ratify the plan, but after Thursday night’s meeting of the Wells County Area Plan Commission, the process has gone back to Square One.
Someone in Ossian objected to the phrasing of a section on Page 53 of the 122-page, wishing to add two words. The members of the APC voted to amend the document, which means it will once again have to be approved by the governmental entities that have already approved it.
The paragraph in question is on the page dealing with potential county and state road projects. It currently reads as follows: “A prioritization of efforts should be taken to develop options and complete the goal of connecting Bluffton with a four lane highway to an interstate and Fort Wayne.”
The requested change would add “and Ossian” after Bluffton in the sentence.
The Wells County Council, the Bluffton Common Council, and the town councils of Uniondale, Vera Cruz, and Poneto have already approved the document in its current form. Only Ossian and Uniondale have not done so.
There was several minutes of conversation about whether the change was worth it. County Commissioner Jeff Stringer said the language should remain unchanged, asking if there was enough value to go back. Ben Herman, a Wells County resident who often addressed the APC while Vision 2035 was hammered out, said there had been many meetings on the wording of the plan. “It doesn’t change anything,” he said.
Mike Lautzenheiser, the executive director of the APC, said it would not be a difficult task to return to the units of government that have already approved the plan and ask them to do it again. Lautzenheiser wanted to make sure there would be a unified plan, one that would apply countywide.
The 10 APC members present Thursday night approved the change to the document on a 9-1 vote. Voting in favor were Harry Baumgartner Jr., Jarrod Hahn, Bill Horan, Josh Hunt, Kiera Lance, Jerome Markley, Tim Rohr, Becky Stone-Smith, and Melissa Wordworth. Tyson Brooks voted against the change.
Also Thursday, the APC reviewed the comprehensive plan for the town of Zanesville, Thrive Zanesville, and found it to be in compliance with the county’s comprehensive plan.
Barbara O’Connor, a member of the Zanesville Town Council, and Crystal M. Welsh of the Goshen-based planning firm Obonmarche, presented the 84-age document. The plan has yet to be formally reviewed by the Zanesville Town Council, however.
The vote to accept the Zanesville document was 10-0.
daves@news-banner.com
