Mayor Louis Sanders called the April 11th, 2024, Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at 7:38 PM.
Roll Call: Ed Beamer, Owen Best, Nicole Lenhart, Keith Hopple, Kirk Stanfield
Others Present: Superintendent Tom Scott, Administrator Bryan Shock, Billing Clerk Alyssa Mason, Cheryl Thompson, Roxanne Bates, Contract Operator of Record-Water Jaime Mendoza, Cindy Brookes of RCAP, Luann Williams, Ryan Price
Absent:
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilman Best to approve the warrants for payment. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilwoman Lenhart to approve the March 18th minutes. Vote: 4-1 with Councilman Stanfield voting no. Motion carried.
Written & Oral Communication: Cheryl Thompson was present to follow up on her meter horn issue, which she brought to council last fall. She also asked about the hours of the dumping station for yard waste. Supt. Scott agreed to investigate her meter horn. He also indicated the gate to the dumping area would only be open Monday – Friday from 7:30 am-3:30 pm. Ms. Thompson suggested using Facebook to get information about the Village out into the community. Jaime Mendoza was in attendance to let Council know the Village may be receiving a violation from the EPA due to the lab computer failing. There were two days where data was lost, March 26-27. Councilman Best asked what the repercussions would be. Jaime shared the Village may be required to send a letter to residents indicating the village doesn’t have fluoride results for March 26 & 27. He shared they moved to tracking on paper to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Jaime then shared that the lagoons were inspected last month. The EPA sent a violation because one lagoon is full of sludge, and they are overgrown with invasive species. The EPA wants the Village to respond by April 19th. Jaime shared that he believes the Village is approved for a controlled burn to take care of the invasive species. He estimated it would cost $175,000 to clean the sludge out of the lagoon. Cindy Brookes spoke next. She was there to update council on the progress of the engineer with regionalization. She indicated the engineer believes the Village is dealing with infiltration from the old school lot. She suggested a smoke test to investigate. She said there is a grant that would cover the cost of the smoke test. She said she had her Condition Assessment Team prepare an MOU. She said the smoke test could take place on June 17th and would take 2-3 days. If the administrator is granted permission to move forward, notice would need to be sent to all residents with MSDS sheet. Cindy indicated the infiltration issue would need to be fixed before the Village of Bloomville could hook into the village sewer system. Luann Williams was present to follow up on her issue with her basement flooding during heavy rainfall. Administrator Bryan shared he had been in touch with John Martin to excavate. Mayor Sanders shared he and the administrator and superintendent did visit the property. He suggested the tile needs to be dug up. Nobody is sure of the location of the tile causing issues. Supt. Scott indicated he talked to Gary Weis and Gary shared there is a sanitary sewer manhole and storm sewer manhole in the field. Mayor Sanders shared Ms. Williams has some trees in the back that may be rooting into the tile causing issues. Councilman Beamer asked who should be responsible if we find it is tree roots. Councilwoman Lenhart moved to authorize the administrator to hire John Martin to dig for the tile causing issues, Councilman Best seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried. Ryan Price shared he was in attendance to see if there were plans to fix the roadway in Buckeye Village. Councilman Beamer reported there are no plans currently. Councilman Beamer did agree to investigate paving. Supt. Scott attended to update council on his activities since the last meeting. Supt. Scott did indicate that the tractor that mows the reservoir is broken, and needs repaired. He shared that the reservoir could not be safely mowed without it. Supt. Scott also shared the frame is broken on the little truck they use for everyday driving around the village. He said it is not safe to drive. K
Public Safety: None.
Streets & Properties: Councilman Beamer shared he would like to review the grass ordinance and investigate how to contract out mowing of properties that allow their grass to get too tall, assessing the cost to taxes. Council didn’t object.
Parks: Councilwoman Lenhart reported the Easter egg hunt had a great turn out. She also reported the eclipse event went well. She shared that there were about 200 people down in the park. She shared that there were people from Wisconsin, Maryland, and Pennsylvania among others. Councilwoman Lenhart remind Council that the first Farmers Market will be on May 5th 2 pm – 5 pm. She also reminded everyone of Blooms and Brunch, the spring event hosted by the Events Committee on May 11th. She is working on a grant for “Welcome to Attica” signage. She reminded everyone it is a 20 % match. The grant is due in June. Councilwoman Lenhart indicated she would like to make the parking lot bigger at Myers Park. She shared Chad Burger shared he would haul gravel for $15 a ton, only charging for fuel.
Trees: None.
Fire: None.
EMS: None.
Cemetery: None.
Personnel: FO Hatfield shared she had ORD 2024-9 Establishing Rules of Decorum for a 2nd reading. She
Councilman Best shared that he and Jaime met with a Class 3 operator retiring from New London. He toured the plant and said he would reach out, but Councilman Best hadn’t heard back yet.
Zoning Commission: Admin Shock shared with Council that he received two zoning application for the same residence. One for the porch and one for the garage. Admin Shock shared the footprint was not being changed, so he didn’t have a problem with it. Councilman Beamer asked if he reviewed the setbacks because some properties were grandfathered in, but the new zoning guidelines may cause the new garage to be outside of the setbacks. Admin Shock shared the set back requirements are all met.
Finance and rule: Cash balance: $1,379,226.49 All funds include CDs and reserved or restricted funds, and debt reserve funds.
2024-10 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CONTINUED DEPOSITS WITH SUTTON BANK AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY
Councilman Best moved to suspend the three-read rule on RES 2024-10, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Best moved to declare an emergency of RES 2024-10; Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Best moved to adopt RES 2024-10; Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Water & Sewer:
Councilman Best reported that he and Councilman Beamer have been in touch with Matt Dooley regarding regionalization and drafting an agreement. Councilman Best indicated Mr. Dooley would be sending an engagement letter. Councilman Best shared Mr. Dooley seemed very knowledgeable. Councilman Best shared that he and Councilman Beamer along with Jaime had a meeting with 120 Water, which is a software which would help the village compile the lead line inventory which is due in October. The handle verifying where the lines are and storing the data for future distribution line rulings. Councilman Best thought they could help the village stay in compliance. Cindy Brookes suggested that the village’s GIS software would also maintain a database for storing the data but wouldn’t help locate them. Councilman Stanfield asked why the village couldn’t just test resident’s water and if the test came back positive for lead, draw the conclusion it is a lead line. Jaime shared it is not that easy. Even a lead valve in the main could result in a positive lead test. Jaime suggested getting ahead of the inventory. Councilman Best shared the software would be about $6500. Cindy Brookes suggested holding off and checking with her GIS Team before moving forward.
Village Website & IT: None.
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: None.
Executive Session: None.
Next meeting: Thursday, April 25, 2024, at 7:30 PM.
Motion by Councilwoman Lenhart, seconded by Councilman Hopple to adjourn the meeting. Time: 9:15 PM. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
