City Council authorized the use of state purchasing for two new ambulances during its Aug. 22 meeting. Burgess Ambulance Sales of Loudonville will manufacture the units at a cost not to exceed $387,350, one of which will be paid for with a FEMA grant.

Fire Chief Phil Jackson explained the existing ambulances are 2002 models. “We have a great maintenance guy and we’ve pushed [the ambulances] as far as we can,” he said. The ambulance committee checked into 12 vendors and narrowed the list down to four before selecting Burgess. According to Jackson, over the past 12 months there have been 101 instances in which two ambulances were being used at the same time, and 10 instances in which all three were used. The department’s third ambulance, a 2009 model, is used as a backup when another ambulance is out of service.

Council also received a request from Kenneth Fernandez of Boy Scout Troop 106. Fernandez is currently doing an Eagle Scout project to fill bags with non-perishable food items to give to local food pantries. His goal is to fill 100 bags. He circulated bags to those in attendance who were willing to help.

Bags can be dropped off at the following locations: Galion, Bucyrus and Crestline libraries; Galion and Bucyrus YMCA’s; First Lutheran Church; Peace Lutheran Church; and Galion Building & Loan Bank. Food will be donated to a food pantry within the communities they are collected in.

Council also passed legislation approving the rezoning of 5.8 acres of land on Portland Way North. The lot is located immediately north of the Keep It Classy car wash. It is currently used for farming. The rezoning would change the property from Rural Estate to General Commercial. The change is consistent with the zoning of contiguous properties.

Ordinances 2017-44 and 2017-45 rescinded previous legislation that authorized the sale of two notes. One note was $124,000 for the purchase of a boom mower. The note was not needed because the purchase was instead paid out of the Storm Water Fund. The mower has been delivered and a local company is assembling the equipment. In the meantime, Polk Township has agreed to mow some of the road ditches. The second rescinded note was $731,000 for Tax Increment Financing used for infrastructure for the Sleep Inn hotel. TIF payments will be reimbursed annually by the hotel developer.

Ord. 2017-49 adopted replacement pages to the Codified Ordinances. The new pages incorporate changes in state law to various sections within the Traffic Code and General Offenses Code.

Ord. 2017-51 amended 2017 appropriations for increases and reductions in several accounts. Res. 2017-13 approved Matt Horn and Erik Flick as appointments to the Audit Committee. The committee reviews the annual audit of the city.

All legislation unanimously passed as emergencies.