Mayor Nathan Frisch called the November 22, 2022 Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at 7:35 PM.
Roll Call: Ed Beamer, Tim Bulger, Lynn Love, Louis Sanders, Kirk Stanfield
Others Present: Billing Clerk, Alyssa Mason
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Bulger, seconded by Councilman Beamer to approve the warrants for payment. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilman Bulger to approve the minutes. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Written & Oral Communication: None
Public Safety: None
Streets & Properties: Councilman Beamer stated he received an email about a sign North Central
Electric wants to put up. Councilman Beamer asked if the solicitor had communicated information to anyone about the zoning related to the old bank off of 224. The Mayor offered to review the zoning himself and get back to Councilman Sanders to communicate to the new owners. Councilman Sanders stated he had a request from Smitty’s Pizza to change the parking signs to allow 30-minute parking. Mayor Frisch offered to see what signs were available.
Parks: None
Trees: None
Fire: Councilman Bulger reported the committee met last week and paid bills. There were 17 calls in Oct and 205 calls between January and October of this year. Last year they reported 208 calls. Councilman Bulger asked if there was any covid money left. The Mayor let him know there is money remaining, but the Village will be using.
EMS: Councilwoman Love reported there has been three meetings this month. In December they will meet on December 7th and 21st at 7 pm at the EMA building. The district contracted with Dean Henry to negotiate the contracts with the county.
Cemetery: Councilman Sanders reported the committee met and paid bills.
Personnel: Councilwoman Love asked if the handbook had been presented to employees. FO Hatfield reported they have received the handbook, but she had heard backlash. Councilman Beamer stated he had discussions with Village employees regarding the handbook. He specified the section on overtime states overtime will be calculated according to Federal Wage Standards, but the following paragraph has conflicting information. The holiday pay language was also a topic of concern for employees. The handbook also requires village vehicles to be used for village business only, which is a change from the past several years where the superintendent has been allowed to take the village vehicle home. Council Bulger suggested Councilman Beamer get with the Solicitor to make the amendments he would like. Mayor Frisch mentioned he and Councilman Beamer met with Gary to discuss his tenure after January 1st. The Mayor stated Gary has an offer with another employer starting at 21 an hour with health insurance or 28 an hour with no insurance. The Mayor suggested Council consider a counteroffer. Councilwoman Love stated she thought Gary agreed to go to 21 an hour with the village with insurance after January.
Zoning Commission: Mayor Frisch stated there was a lot going on with zoning. One property owner wants to build an addition to his house. The zoning district does require a 5-foot set back. The Mayor is working through the details.
Finance and rule: Cash balance: $1,487,209.08 All funds includes CDs and reserved or restricted funds, and debt reserve funds. The bank reconciliation was passed for review. FO Hatfield asked council to consider amended appropriations for the purchase of chemicals after receiving a large chemical bill. Also, the general fund was short of covering October’s street light bill.
FO Hatfield asked to move carryover to cover the expenses in the form of Ordinance 2022-17 Amended Appropriations.
Councilman Sanders moved to suspend the three-read rule on ORD 2022-17. Councilman Bulger seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Sanders moved to declare an emergency on ORD 2022-17. Councilman Bulger seconded.
Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Sanders moved to adopt ORD 2022-17. Councilman Bulger seconded.
Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Water & Sewer: Mayor Frisch reported Gary ordered 15 meters over a year and a half ago. Some just came in. The reader for the meters is still back ordered. He doesn’t know when they will be in. Some of our readers have batteries that are starting to go bad and they cannot be changed. The corresponding meters can only be read by the meter reader gaining entrance to the customers basement/ residence and that can be difficult. Alyssa Mason was in attendance to report she had 99 accounts that have not been read for several months.
We also have some accounts with positive balances, but have discontinued service. Therefore, the Mayor and Billing Clerk would like to transfer these funds to an unclaimed funds account.
Councilwoman Love moved to allow the Billing Clerk to create an “unclaimed fund line”. Councilman Sanders seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Mayor Frisch updated Council on Melissa George’s bill. The Billing Clerk recalculated her bill for a new total of $1864.32.
The Mayor asked Council if they thought about what they want to offer Gary. Councilman Bulger stated he would like to hear from Gary what his expectations are as far as wages, health insurance, and company vehicle.
Councilman Beamer did check with Aqua about an operator to run the water plant if Gary does decide to leave. That conversation will continue.
Village Website & IT: none
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: none.
Next meeting: Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 7:30 PM.
Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilman Bulger to adjourn the meeting. Time: 9:00 PM. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
