Middleport Council Continues Disscussions on Fire Protection and Grant Writer Position
MIDDLEPORT – The Middleport Village Council held a meeting on Monday, March 24, and continued the discussions on Salisbury Township Fire Protection contract and hiring a grant writer as well as discussing some new topics.
The minutes from the March 10, 2014 meeting were read and approved, the council also approved the payment of bills totaling $13,023.27. Mayor Gerlach brought forth the Mayor’s reports for December, January, and February. For December total court revenue was $4,438.89 with the village share being $3,783.90. January’s total court revenue was $3,498.00 and the village share was $2,988.33. February’s report showed $11,014.00 total court revenue and a village share of $9,507.70. December, January, and February’s Mayor’s reports were all approved.
Before getting to the items to be discussed for the night Barbara Williams returned after talking to the council at the last meeting about getting her water turned back on and the reconnect fee waved. The council stood by what they said last meeting and again told her there was nothing they could legally do for the matter because they can not make an exception. Williams was not satisfied with the council’s answer and told them she would be; “coming back to use the village hall’s bathroom until her water is turned back on.”
The first topic up for discussion was the Salisbury Township Fire Protection contract with Middleport Fire Chief Jeff Darst present to help advise the council on the matter. His advice was that council approve the contract as is at the $1,100 a year rate for now so the fire department is not going out without a contract while a solution is found. The council inquired how much it costs the fire department per run to service Salisbury Township, Fire Chief Darst said the cost is around $700 per run. Council member Dixon asked if Salisbury could also give $50 per run along with the contracted $1,100 to help make up fuel costs until a raise in the contract is agreed on. Fire Chief Darst said he would talk with Salisbury Township and see if that would be something they would be willing to do. The council did ultimately approve the contract as it was at the rate of $1,100 for now.
The Middleport Fire Department was also looking for council to pass Resolution 195-14 to sell an old fire truck and accept the bid of $45,002 from the Village of Rio Grande for the truck. The council approved the bid for the fire department to be able to sell the truck.
Fire Chief Darst also wanted to address an issue that has come up on the topic of selling the truck so the fire department could buy a new ladder truck. Darst said at a recent council meeting a member of the audience stated that the fire department was getting a new ladder truck to play with. This statement bothered the fire chief and he wanted to clear up the matter. He read a statement to the council and the audience that went as follows, “The village is getting a new truck, we are going to operate and maintain it. We are also the ones who worked so hard to make this possible for the village with the support of our citizens. You don’t realize what a degrading comment this is for the only village department that recieves no pay for being in harm’s way to protect and assist anyone in need. Yesterday, while most of you were enjoying your Sunday dinner, we were busy trying to save what was left of a family’s home that was being destroyed by a fire. I can assure you that there was no “play” involved. As council members, you get regular reports that show the amount of hours and work that our volunteers commit to making this village safe, so I won’t get into the numbers. We take our job very seriously and I think we deserve more respect than to let a comment such as this go unchallenged. While we can’t stop anyone from voicing their opinion, even those who are unfamiliar with the type of work we do and the risks associated with it, I hope that in the future our village officials will have an appropriate response to this type of remark. We are not seeking constant praise, and we surely aren’t in it for the money. All we want is the respect and support of those we serve.”
Next the council was asked to vote to take part in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Summer Youth Program again. Susan Baker said last year the village asked for seven kids to hire and the village was able to get six, she also said it is a great program for the kids and the village. The council approved taking part in the program.
Resolution 196-14 in support of Sate Issue 1 to renew the village’s contract with the State Capitol Improvement Program, or SCIP was also discussed. The mayor said SCIP helps with grant money for things such as small road improvements, sewer improvements, ect. This program helps fund eighty percent of these projects so the expense for the village is only twenty percent of the whole cost. Mayor Gerlach also wanted to let the citizens of the village know this will also be on the primary for citizens to vote on, he wanted to strongly urge citizens to vote yes on State Issue 1 so the village can continue to receive this money to help improve the village. The village approved to renew SCIP.
Ordinance 90-14 to establish a grants administrator/economic developer position was read with the details of the position in what was supposed to be a first reading of the ordinance that soon turned to complete passing of the ordinance. Council member Manly moved to suspend the three readings of the ordinance and claimed it was because of an “emergency situation”. Council member Heighton and Susan Baker did not agree that it met the “emergency situation” requirements, the motion was passed regardless. Manly also believed the council did not have to take the step of advertising the position and moved to approve the ordinance, this motion also passed. Following the passing of the ordinance Manly moved to hire Fred Hoffman for the position, which was approved. Baker was unconvinced going straight to hiring was legal and said they would have to check with the village attorney to be sure before moving further in the matter.
The council approved the purchase of two more microphones for the sound system. They also approved the purchase of an Electrolux vacuum from Lowes for the village hall at a cost of $300.
Christine Coglietti came to the council members with a concern about enforcement of village codes. She says he neighbor has their fence line on her property line and it causes problems with her getting to certain parts of the outside of her house. After viewing some pictures and hearing from Coglietti council wasn’t sure they could help her because they believed it would be a civil suit because it did not seem to violate an ordinance. Council did want to see if there was a way they could help her in the matter and said they would have the building inspector investigate to see if there was any violation of ordinances with the fence.
Council member Sharon Older inquired about the “slow children” sign she asked about last meeting to be put on Hudson street, council found out there was already a sign there and Older moved to make an ordinance to change the speed limit on Hudson street to 10 mph. The motion was passed.
The head of the Village Public Works was in attendance and wanted to clear up a statement made about him at a previous council meeting at which he said he was called a liar and was accused of forcing someone to instal a backflow valve when it was not needed. He said he sent out letters to the owner saying they could contact the village public works if they believed they did not need one and if it had been found there was no need for one, the business would have received a waiver saying they did not have to have one installed. He said this person did not take those steps.
Council member Vaughan asked if there was a need for two stoplights downtown. The council discussed the matter and Baker said it only costs the village about $240 a month to run both lights. The council decided it would be best to leave it in place in case it did help with traffic safety because it would be much more costly to reinstall the light if it was removed and needed again.
Manly brought it to the attention of the council that some of the backboards of the basketball hoops at the park needed replaced and the Mayor said he would look into it. The meeting was adjourned after discussion of the basketball hoops.
