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Regional News
| Article published Thursday, October 10, 2002
Insurance settles federal lawsuit in
Archbold
ARCHBOLD - The village's insurance company paid
$25,000 to Ohio Citizen Action last month to settle a federal
lawsuit the environmental and economic advocacy group had filed
against Archbold over its solicitation rules.
In addition,
the village last month dropped requirements that solicitors for
nonprofit organizations who are not collecting money register with
the village police department and that they carry picture
identification.
Last spring - in an attempt to settle the
lawsuit filed in 2001 - Archbold modified its previous law, which
was approved in 1994 so that:
Soliciting and canvassing were allowed from 9 a.m.
to 9 p.m. - five more hours than the previous ordinance listed,
which allowed people to go door to door from noon to 7 p.m.
The penalty for violations was reduced from a
maximum $500 fine and six months jail to a maximum $100 fine per
offense.
The restriction that only "not-for-profit entities"
could solicit or canvass was removed.
"We felt it was a
reasonable settlement, and our main goal was to get the ordinance
changed which they did," Citizen Action executive director Sandy
Buchanan said.
Village administrator Dennis Howell said last
month's 6-0 vote by village council was done "under
protest."
In addition to the $25,000 settlement, which was
signed Sept. 26 and paid by Coregis Insurance Co. of Chicago, the
village paid $7,200 for its lawyer fees.
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