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Boardman trustees consider charging for Internet caf s
BOARDMAN
Township trustees introduced charging fees for Internet sweepstakes caf s at their meeting.
“Our first part of the process is to throw it out there. It’s the first time we’ve really talked about it,” Trustee Chairman Brad Calhoun said at Monday’s session.
The trustees are considering charging a one-time start-up fee to open an Internet caf and an annual registration charge per gaming machine. No ordinances have been drafted yet, and any ordinance that does would have to go through two readings before becoming law.
“We want to make sure they are following the rules and regulations,” Calhoun said. “We’re not opposed to them. They’ve been good neighbors.”
The township has 16 Internet caf s with another expected to open soon, said township Administrator Jason Loree.
Loree said such fees are not unheard of: Salem, Cleveland and other municipalities around the state already have them. As a home-rule township, Boardman would be able to institute such fees, he added.
The fee amounts vary greatly in those municipalities, Loree said. Trustees discussed possibly having a $2,500 one-time fee and a $50-per-machine annual fee.
The fee — and what current Internet caf s would pay — hasn’t been finalized but would be included in the township’s ordinance.
Pending state legislation also seeks to regulate Internet caf s. If the law were approved by state legislators, it would require sweepstakes machines to be certified and licensed by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
The law is supported by state Attorney General Mike DeWine who has called such gaming businesses “consumer rip-offs.”
In other township business, three new firefighters were sworn in. Shaun Serich, 22, of Poland; William Ferrando Jr., 22, of Canfield; and Jessica Kollmorgen, 25, of Huntsburg, Ohio, officially became Boardman firefighters. The hirings were to fulfill the township’s obligation to maintain certain staffing levels, as stipulated in a federal grant.
The firefighters will receive a starting salary of $24,000 annually. Fire Chief George Brown said it was “an exciting day” for the department and the new firefighters are needed as calls for service continue to increase.