Sylvania overhauls historical village panel

4/18/2002

Sylvania city council has made changes in the management of its historical village, creating a new and larger board to run it.

Council abolished the Sylvania Historical Village Commission and replaced it with the Sylvania Historical Village Inc.

The corporation had seven members, but council decided that the new board will have a dozen members.

Jim Moan, city law director, said the Sylvania Historical Village, Inc., is allowed to accept tax-deductible donations.

The former board had been made up of members of council. But council, at its most recent meeting, voted to appoint members of the commission as trustees of the corporation that will be a free-standing board.

The commission had responsibility for the day-to-day management of the city's Historical Village on Main Street and also management of the building at Main and Maplewood Avenue, known as the Maplewood Marketplace.

John Billis, city councilman, said he was concerned that the trustees of the new board are people known primarily for their work in public service rather than in business.

He pointed to the eviction last year of caf owners who had owed a total of more than $20,000 in rent for space in the marketplace. He said a management team should be put in place for the commercial building.

Mayor Craig Stough, who will serve a one-year term on the board of the corporation, said that and other issues will likely be discussed at an organizational meeting for the members sometime next month.

Bonita Scheidel, a council member and active with the Historical Village, said the expansion of the board was designed to get “new blood into the group.''

Council appointed Dennis Boyle, John Molnar, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Wharram to terms that end in 2004, and Boyd Montgomery, Mrs. Scheidel, Gaye Gindy, and George Fanning, to terms which end in 2005.

Council will make more appointments in the future to bring the total number of trustees to its authorized limit.