City forms search committee for city manager position

July 20, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

CANFIELD

City council announced at a meeting Wednesday that three community members were selected for a city manager search committee.

The committee is composed of council President Don Dragish Jr., Mayor Bernie Kosar Sr. and community members Bruce Neff, Michael Kubitza and Mark Buchenic.

The board is required to select a candidate for the open city-manager position within 120 days of the search committee’s operation. The board is planning to draw up a legal posting calling for resumes from interested candidates.

The committee is bound to an agreement to bring two candidates to the board within the 120 days, but Kosar said that the members are hoping to do so sooner.

In other business, community beekeepers opposed to the city ordinance titled “bees,” passed on July 5, spoke during the council meeting.

Kathryn Young, a veteran of the 82nd Airborne and self-proclaimed “Guardian of the Honeybees,” drafted a document that aims to retract the bee ordinance. The document states the bee ordinance was drafted on biased grounds.

The document presented Wednesday states an apiary belonging to resident beekeeper Mike Bort, built in spring 2016, is on a property that neighbors council member Dragish’s.

In minutes from the Aug. 17, 2016, council meeting, city attorney Mark Fortunato said that he was working on a beekeeping ordinance for the city.

The bee ordinance states that apiaries within the city must acquire a permit from the city and pay a permit fee. Apiaries can have a limit of two hives, and must be placed 10 feet from property lines. If bee colonies are within 25 feet of property lines, a six foot barrier must be built around them for bee flyway. Apiaries with two or more colonies established prior to the ordinance are grandfathered in.

“We took a considerable amount of time drafting this ordinance,” council member John Morvay said. “Where were you people when we were discussing this?”

Fortunato said the bee ordinance was present for the duration of 18 council meetings.

Local beekeeper Bill DeHoff spoke at the meeting, and expressed concerns with the ordinance as well.

“Every ordinance can be modified,” Fortunato said.