Council to Vote on Fire Services Funding Study

The Canton City Council may be looking to outside sources to help solve its fire service dilemma.

Councilman Bob Rush will be presenting a motion at Thursday evening's city council meeting that, if passed, would commission a new fire services funding study to be performed by a third party consulting firm.

During the previous city council meeting, Rush was prepared to ask Ecological Planning Group to perform a fire services funding study similar to one they performed for Garden City. Some councilmen thought a funding study was premature, while others believed outsiders would "de-politicize" the issue in the wake of the failed fire bond referendum.

In other business, the council will examine the request made by The Heart of Worship Church to operate out of a building in the 400 block of Kimberly Way that is currently zoned L-I, or light-industrial. Property zoned L-I can serve as a church under conditional use caveats, but any request to operate a church in an L-I zoned structure must undergo a public hearing process. 

The Canton Planning Commission heard the church's request on March 18. Nobody spoke in favor for or opposed to the application, and the commission has passed the application on to the city council for review.

The complete agenda is attached to this article. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at Canton City Hall. If you are unable to attend the meeting in person, Canton-Sixes Patch will be hosting a live stream of the proceedings starting at 6 p.m.