Dover teens honored for heroic actions

Mayor Shane Gunnoe presented proclamations to two young men at the Sept. 15 Dover Council meeting. Austin Rooks and Oscar Snyder were honored for their heroic actions during an incident Aug. 4 at Dover City Park.

Robert Springhetti was walking his dog at the park when another large dog got loose and began to attack the man and his dog.

The two boys were at a program Judge Wilgus hosts and, fortunately for Mr. Springhetti, they were able — at personal risk — to pull the dog away from him and his dog.

Wilgus and Springhetti were present for the proclamations. Springhetti is a retired Dover City employee with 63 years of service.

“This is something special, that you guys took it upon yourselves to help somebody,” Gunnoe said. “Had you not been there, the situation could have been much worse.”

In his mayor’s report, Gunnoe provided updates on several projects:

-The North End Powerline Extension Project and the Ohio Avenue Road Widening projects are now complete.

-The downtown public Wi-Fi project should be completed in about a week.

-Asphalt for the new pickleball courts project is being laid this week and that project should conclude in late October.

-The Crown Road reconstruction project and the paving of South Tuscarawas Avenue should begin in early October.

The Schaeffler Company held a topping off ceremony Sept. 15 to commemorate the setting of the last structural beam in place on the building and the transition to the next phases of construction.

“That project continues on schedule, and the company has begun accepting applications for a few plant leadership positions,” Gunnoe said.

In other business news, Dynamic Hydraulic Services on Deeds Drive has been awarded a small business expansion grant from Jobs Ohio to partially fund new CNC machines which will support additional local expansion and job growth.

No details are available yet, but Blazin’ Burgers has announced on their Facebook page that they will reopen their business at 707 N. Crater Ave.

Dover, New Philadelphia and Tuscarawas County have been awarded ODOT funding to complete another seven miles of the Towpath Trail in 2027. The city administration will meet with ODOT Oct. 6 to begin the process for the section of trail in Dover.

The Dover Fire Department will host an open house at their downtown fire station Oct. 8 from 6-9 p.m. for Fire Prevention Week. Refreshments will be served.

In legislation, council approved Ordinance 36-25 concerning the regulation of roll-off containers and dumpster containers in the city. The ordinance sets in place a $10 permit to place containers in city right of way for up to 10 days. There is no fee for private residential properties, but the 10-day limit still applies.

Emergency Ordinance 37-25 was approved. It authorizes additional funding for the improvements to be made to West Seventh Street, the alley extension of Broad Street, and Center Street in an amount not to exceed $56,800.89. Various projects came in over budget leading to the increase.

Emergency Ordinance 38-25 was approved for the East 20th Street bridge project and authorized an additional $4,890.36 for construction and attorney fees for land acquisition of $502.71.

A group of Dover residents attended the meeting to make council aware of safety issues with a home at 324 E. 20th St. Council agreed to look into the matter to see what could be done to alleviate some of the concerns.

The next Dover Council meeting will be held Oct. 6, in council chambers, 121 E. Second St., Dover.