Waterville’s mayor says he’s setting the record straight on amphitheater

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - At Monday night’s Waterville City Council meeting, residents piled into council chambers to hear members vote on a resolution regarding the controversial amphitheater proposal. The meeting location had a capacity of 48 people but that did not stop some community members from listening in from the outside.

Council voted to pass a resolution that will submit a referendum initiative to the Lucas County Board of Elections to leave the Waterville Amphitheater construction decision to voters. This comes after Waterville Residents collected over 1000 signatures, 950 of which were valid, in hopes of letting the people’s voices be heard.

“We have a process in place, and it’s worked for many years. Granted, this is a much larger I guess discussion point, but we are following the rules,” says Mayor Tim Pedro.

While Pedro says some council members are for the proposal and others are against it, he says all did their jobs properly.

“Every council member did do their due diligence. Granted when it came to a vote, 4 voted for it, and 2 voted against it, I was one that voted against it. But there are conditions on this application and the applicants I believe know that they have to meet those conditions if they want to get the permit to move forward,” says Pedro.

Pedro applauded the citizen’s efforts in getting the signatures, he says that is how the process works. He says what does not work is harassing the council or vandalizing their property, both of which he says have happened.

“I like to think that someone made a mistake, and they wish they wouldn’t have written what they wrote, and said what they said. I’m not going to hold this against anybody. I just want to follow the guidelines, follow the rules. If you don’t like it, or you disagree with it, I’m OK with that, but at least we’re trying to give you the facts,” says Pedro.

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