Zoar to reconsider annexation of Hickory Lane

At the Aug. 11 meeting of Zoar Village Council, members reconsidered annexing Hickory Lane on Cherry Hill, just outside the village limits. The proposal had been considered before but not acted upon as certain conditions needed to be met.

Mayor Scott Gordon asked councilman Hans Fischer to join him in a meeting with Jon Elsasser, a resident and proponent of the annexation. Councilwoman Gayle Potelicki asked the mayor to also include street commissioner David Irwin in the meeting.

In other business Gordon nominated Zoar resident Patrick Eddy to the Historic Preservation Commission to fill an absence left by the recent passing of long-term member Chuck Knaack. Another nominee, Gay Welty, had declined the nomination. Both nominations were originally given to the mayor by Potelicki.

Fischer claimed the vote was premature and said he wanted to nominate Pat Adamson.

Gordon said he had only received the resume of Eddy and that Adamson had not contacted him to say she was interested in serving. Gordon inquired as to whether Fischer had checked with Adamson to see if she was willing to serve on the committee. Fischer did not answer.

A heated discussion followed in which Gordon said he asked anyone interested in the position contact him. Fischer then asked to see Eddy’s resume. The mayor read from it, saying Eddy is a fire science and EMS graduate who works for the City of Massillon. Eddy volunteers in Zoar for the Zoar Community Association, lives in a historic home in town, is very interested in remodeling his house to meet the village’s historic standards and has performed a good bit of research on how to do that.

Gordon called for a vote. The result was four members in favor and two, Meiser and Fischer, against, with Fischer calling it “illegal voting.”

Other matters concerning the preservation commission included issuing a conditional-use permit for Elsasser, who may buy the property beside the post office and turn it into a bed and breakfast. He also said resident Jeff Eadie wants to build a small garden shed and will need a set-back variance.

There will be two public hearings on those issues to be held Monday, Aug. 31^. The hearing may be held at the Zoar Lake picnic shelter due to COVID-19 concerns.