LIMA — A lease agreement with Lima Memorial Health System will have to wait after Lima City Council voted to send the ordinance to a second reading because of a lack of information.
Several councilors, including 2nd Ward Councilman Sam McLean and 5th Ward Councilwoman Teresa Adams, voiced concerns over the fact that no draft lease agreement was included in the docket for Monday’s council meeting.
Lima Memorial is hoping to use the old Fire Station No. 5 to house its facility maintenance vehicles. While many councilors are agreeable to that concept and noted that they have a high regard for Lima Memorial and how the facility has contributed to the community, several wanted to see a hard copy of the agreement.
“Council hasn’t had the information on what the lease entails,” McLean said. “We do know there are some issues with the building, and maybe Lima Memorial is aware of it. It has some heating issues. We just want to make sure we don’t have a worse building in five years than we have now.”
As a representative of the residents of the city, McLean noted that it is the obligation of the council to ensure that any agreement is made in the best interest of those residents.
“I’m sure Lima Memorial is a great tenant, but until I see it, I have to watch our dollars,” he said.
Council President John Nixon expects to call a special meeting of the council next week to reconsider the lease, provided Public Works Director Howard Elstro can provide a draft of the lease by the middle of this week.
Also at the meeting, Lima Police Maj. Pat Coon gave the department’s 2014 annual report, nothing there are several positive trends the department made last year.
“We are going in a very positive direction,” he said. “Crime statistics show that crime is going down for the second or third year in a row. Assaults have gone down a great deal over the past few years.”
According to the report, overall crime in Lima went down 9.3 percent from 2013 to 2014, with assaults showing the largest decline at 22.3 percent. There were four homicides in 2014, compared to three the year before.
Coon also touted the department’s advances in social media, including such outlets as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“We’re not just interacting with people in Lima proper, but we’re getting to a lot outside Lima,” he said. “It’s helping the department and the community come together in a positive way.”
