POLAND — Council is considering seeking a grant to place an electric-vehicle charging station in the village.

“I was looking into sidewalk money and learned about this Ohio Environmental Protection Agency grant for the installation of a charging station for electric vehicles,” Councilman Sam Moffie said.

He said the grant offers 100 percent funding for the station.

Councilwoman Martha Morgan said, “This would be a big draw for the future.”

She said with more and more electric vehicles entering the market, the village would have a leg up by providing such a station. With all council members agreeing the grant is worth seeking, Moffie said he will send for the Ohio EPA application.

In other business, council President Mike Thompson brought up returning to live meetings at village hall. He said many people have been vaccinated, and it was a good time to bring it up.

“We should be able to return (live) by the next council meeting,” Thompson said.

The decision was made to return to live meetings with Zoom capabilities for those who are not comfortable coming to village hall.

Council also discussed the annual Memorial Day parade. Thompson said as he read Gov. Mike DeWine’s latest guidelines, he believes nothing prohibits parades.

The village’s attorney, Jay Macejko, disagreed and said he expects the governor to issue further guidelines.

“I am taking a wait-and-see approach because there will be more guidelines coming to address parades and gatherings,” Macejko said. “I hope my instincts are correct and there will be additional guidelines.”

Thompson said he disagrees with Macejko and prefers to have the mayor issue the parade permit.

After a discussion and a vote that saw only Thompson and Councilman Chris Graff vote to recommend issuing the permit, Mayor Tim Sicafuse said he would contact the county health department to gather more input.

Morgan said, “Our ability to control the size of the crowd and behavior is nonexistent. I prefer holding off until the numbers are better.”

Councilman Anthony Lattanzio said he would rather leave the legal opinions to Macejko.

For now, nothing will be done regarding the permit until a clearer directive is issued by health officials.

jtwhitehouse@vindy.com