Oxford Township set to consider final draft of new land use plan
Following review of a draft plan last October, the Oxford Township Trustees will review and vote on a final Land Use Plan at a special meeting in early February.
This brief was contributed by Norma Pennock, Oxford Township Trustee. You can reach her at npennock@oxfordtwpohio.org.
The Oxford Township Board of Trustees held its first regular monthly meeting of the year Jan. 13. The meeting began with election of officers for 2025, as follows: Gary Salmon, President; Norma Pennock, Vice-President. Committee appointments for 2025 are as follows: Roads — Salmon and Pennock; Police — Salmon and Rousmaniere; CIC — Pennock; Finance — Salmon and VanFrank; Coalition for Healthy Community and Age Friendly Oxford — Rousmaniere; EMA Advisory Council — Salmon; City of Oxford meeting liaison — Pennock; Publicity — Pennock and Rousmaniere; Oxford Leadership — Salmon; OATS — Pennock; Oxford Climate Action — Rousmaniere; Township General Emailbox — Pennock.
Emily Leichty from Oxford Seniors and Jennifer Heston-Mullins attended the meeting to present information about senior services provided in the Oxford area and to update the Trustees on the senior services levy that will come before the voters this year.
The Trustees approved Mr. Van Frank's monthly financial reports for the month ending Dec. 31, and approved a Resolution for 2024 Permanent Appropriations. Road Superintendent Johnny Smith reported that salt supply is fairly low at just under 80 tons; 110 tons have been ordered and he will order an additional 50 tons shortly. He noted that the crew uses somewhere between 15 and 18 tons to make a single round of salting the Township roads; a snow event like the one in early January requires multiple rounds to keep the roads safe.
Police Chief Patrick Piccioni reported that department activity in the past month included 122 calls for service, 16 of which were accident-related. Officers took 29 reports, made 15 traffic stops, issued two citations and responded to 10 calls for assistance from neighboring police departments. Department staffing levels have improved with the recent hire of a full-time constable and two part-time constables. Chief Piccioni presented final versions of four revised sections of the Police Department Policy and Procedures Manual and the Trustees approved all four.
The Trustees have received a final document from the residents' committee that worked during 2024 on updating the Township Land Use Plan. The next step in this process is the Trustees' discussion, possible revision and acceptance of the Plan. A special meeting for this purpose will be held at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at Talawanda Middle School, and public attendance is welcome. The version of the Plan that will be discussed is available for review on the Township website.
The Trustees confirmed that the road mileage maintained by the Township in 2024 was 26.218 miles, unchanged from the prior year. This is an annual formality required by the Ohio Department of Transportation for accurate accounting of road mileage in the state.
The next regular meeting of the Oxford Township Trustees will be at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 10 at Township Hall. Virtual attendance is possible.
