One of Bexley’s top priorities for the first quarter of 2022 is to engage the community in the search for a new police chief, Mayor Ben Kessler said.

In mid-December, Chief Larry Rinehart announced his retirement after 14 years of service, effective this month. Kessler said the search process will include public input.

“It’s going to be a community-based process,” Kessler said. “It’s going to, obviously, involve a lot of stakeholder input and so that will be a really important decision that we make as a community going into the new year.”

“Chief Rinehart was wonderful, and he was wonderful for Bexley,” said Lori Ann Feibel, City Council president. “Bexley actually isn’t the same Bexley (since Rinehart became chief in 2007).”

The city also will welcome Matt McPeek as auditor and council member Sam Marcellino.

Former auditor Bill Harvey and council member Richard Sharp did not seek reelection.

Feibel said she’s looking forward to working with Marcellino and conducting the city’s business with a new composition of council, which likely will include the installation of a new president.

“What’s so beautiful about our council, it is because we are close; it is because we enjoy each other,” Feibel said. “We are not afraid to disagree with each other and then ask for a ride home.”

Kessler said another priority is completing the East Livingston Avenue plan that Bexley and Columbus jointly have embarked on to improve pedestrian and traffic safety. In early 2022, the cities will continue a series of workshops to gather public feedback about the draft of the plan before it is submitted for final approval by councils from both cities.

Kessler said he anticipates the plan will be approved in the first half of the year.

“What’s really exciting about it is Columbus has already budgeted for some of the changes that are preliminarily coming out of that plan, especially just the short-term pavement markings and pavement changes, which will make a huge difference in the residential district,” Kessler said. “We’ve placed it in our budget for next year. Hopefully, funding that will help us to start working to improve our side of the right of way.”

Kessler also cited recreation and parks developments expected in 2022, including the opening of a pilot program that will include activities for older adults and youths at 420 N. Cassady Ave.; a dog park near Schneider Park in southwest Bexley; developing small “pocket parks” along East Main Street; and the construction of a pedestrian bridge along the Alum Creek trail.

The city also plans to start redeveloping the Commonwealth Park athletics fields in north Bexley in 2022, Kessler said.

“That will also see some of the first pieces of the Commonwealth master plans start to come into place because the infrastructure necessary for the fields requires some of those components in place,” he said. “That’ll be exciting to see start happening. In future years, the rest of that plan will start to fall into place.”

Feibel said she believes some of the strategic plans for Bexley’s parks “are really important.”

“We’ve always treasured our outside experiences, but I think the pandemic has shown us how very important it is to have places to gather outside because it’s healthier and it’s safer,” she said.

Kessler said the city will continue to respond to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and pointed to aid distributed last year through the federal American Rescue Plan.

“We distributed throughout the pandemic – so far to the end of (2021) – over $250,000 in household aid to families impacted by COVID-19, helping with distance-learning expenses, helping with utilities and rent expenses for those families that had direct COVID-19 impacts,” he said. “We gave out over $120,000 in business grants as part of that, as well. I look back on 2021, and we really did a lot.”

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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Preview of 2022: Police chief search, Livingston Avenue plan are focus for new year