Mayor Louis Sanders called the June 13, 2024, Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at 7:30 PM.
Roll Call: Ed Beamer, Owen Best, Keith Hopple, Kirk Stanfield,
Others Present: Superintendent Tom Scott, Administrator Bryan Shock, Dylan Wyatt with Makeever and Associates, Wilbur Pine, Tammy Collins, Joyce Keaton, Rick Gillett
Absent: Nicole Lenhart
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilman Best to approve the warrants for payment. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: No minutes to approve
Written & Oral Communication: Wilbur Pine was present to discuss his water pressure issue that prompted him to attend a meeting a couple of months ago. Supt. Scott indicated he went down to check it out and remove some stone out of the pit. Wilbur reported that helped a little, but the pressure still wasn’t back to what it was. Supt. Scott indicated he would visit the property again. Tammy Collins was present to address a few things, she was upset about the water rate increase, she also wanted to thank Supt. Scott for addressing the catch basin in her yard to avoid injuries to her grandkids. She indicated her neighbors also have grates in their yard but the fill them in with rocks. Supt. Scott indicated he would come check them out. Genevive Price was present with her Grandparents Rob and Tammy Collins; she addressed council with a letter requesting Council consider turning the swimming pool into skate/bike park. She shared that she and her friends spent about 3 hours going door to door to collect 38 signatures of support. While collecting supporting signatures, she accepted donations, or seed money as she called it, to put towards the request. She shared that she was presenting the Village of Attica with $62 for seed money towards a bike park. Councilman Best thanked Ms. Price for coming up.
Dylan Wyatt was present to discuss where things were with the Regionalization project. Dylan shared the project is in the planning stages. The EPA is requiring the Village to replace the water line to Siam. Dylan indicated that moving forward on the design portion would be a cost to the Village of $185,000 for 7.5 miles of full construction documents, bidding, contract, and participation in applying for funding with RCAP, plus $12,500 EPA Fee, for a total of $197,500, which could be covered by design loan. Dylan explained Cindy anticipates using WSRLF for the construction. He indicated the planning and design loans could be rolled into a 30-year 0% interest loan, which would open us up to principal forgiveness and potential Ohio H2O funds. Total project cost is estimated at $3.75 million. Dylan indi. The Siam portion is estimated at $687,000. An audience member asked Council about Rural Water. Councilman Beamer explained that Rural Water gets their water supply from Willard. When Councilman Beamer reached out to Rural Water, they indicated that it would make more sense to just work with Willard, to avoid working with the middleman. Councilman Stanfield asked how much it would cost to decommission the plant, Dylan reported it would cost about $200,000. Councilman Stanfield also asked what would happen with the reservoirs, Dylan indicated the plan would be to keep the reservoirs. Dylan indicated there may be grant funds to use the reservoirs for treatment of some sort, he didn’t want to elaborate more because he wasn’t sure where Cindy was at with talking with the EPA. Joyce Keaton asked if we know what Willard is going to charge us. Councilman Best indicated we do not know yet. Dylan indicated we do know Willard charges Plymouth 1.37 times the intown rate, he anticipates our rate to be similar.
Public Safety: Councilman Best asked Admin Shock if there were any updates from the Sheriff’s Office. Admin Shock indicated there was not anything new
Streets & Properties: Councilman Beamer shared
Councilman Beamer reached out to Bucyrus Road Material again to discuss paving, Chuck was busy paving with the nice weather, but will come up when there is rain in the forecast.
Councilman Stanfield reported talking to Gary and learned that the Village has farmer ground they rent out. Fiscal Officer Hatfield reported she does receive a check for $1800 from Matt Heiser every December.
Councilman Stanfield then shared he spoke with an ODOT representative about planting for erosion control. Councilman Stanfield shared he thought that would be a good idea for the reservoirs and other areas. Councilman Beamer asked Councilman Stanfield if he would reach out to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and see if they would help us.
Admin Shock thanked Julie Adkins for her effort in taking care of the tax issue on N. & S. Woodwind St. The Mayor and Fiscal Officer thanked Admin Shock for his effort too.
Admin Shock indicated Darr’s went down and jetted on Buckeye Drive, after Jason Darling removed 2 root balls when he excavated. Admin Shock shared Darr’s blew out two large root balls. The tile runs under Luann Williams house. Admin Shock shared Darr’s suggested placing two catch basins, one in the back and one in the front. There are current catch basins on the north side. The estimate to install two catch basins was $3115 roughly. Councilman Stanfield asked what account would be responsible for this expense. FO Hatfield indicated she thought sewer, he asked why not streets and properties.
Admin Shock shared he had a message from Nicole with Resolution 2024-14 Resolution to apply for the OSS Solid Waste District’s Competitive Funding Grant. Nicole reported in the letter read by Mr. Shock that she is excited to see this project come to light. She reminded Council it was a 75%/25% match grant. The Village’s share would be $1140 for 4 signs on Route 224 and Route 4.
Councilman Best moved to suspend the three-read rule on Resolution 2024-14, Councilman Beamer seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion Carried.
Councilman Best moved to declare an emergency on Resolution 2024-14, Councilman Beamer seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Best moved to adopt Resolution 2024-14, Councilman Beamer seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Best shared he met with Charlene Watkins on concerning the tax abatement. He asked Council if they were serious about offering it and wanted to move forward. He said Charlene Watkins didn’t have experience with a residential CRA. He did indicate there are many steps required. Mayor Sanders indicated he didn’t really support a tax abatement on residential property. Admin Shock indicated the tires on the tractor used to mow the reservoir need replaced.
Parks: Mayor Sanders shared Bark in the Park will be held this Sunday.
Trees: None.
Fire: None.
EMS: None.
Cemetery: Councilman Hopple shared the cemetery is finishing up the grant request for the mausoleum.
Personnel:
Councilman Best indicated the gentleman Council agreed to hire to mow at the last meeting is unable to accept due to OPERS. Councilman Best also reported he would like to enter executive session at some point to discuss hiring a part time mower.
Councilman Best moved to hire James Postel as a part time mower at $12-15 an hour, Councilman Beamer seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Zoning Commission: Admin Shock shared he tried to get ahold of the LLC for Mr. Legron. Councilman Best shared his thoughts on the matter, he indicated if Mr. Legron would get a petition indicating the rest of the neighbors were not opposed to the project.
Finance and rule: Cash balance: $1,445,161.38 All funds include CDs and reserved or restricted funds, and debt reserve funds. FO Hatfield shared the April Bank reconciliation was presented for review. Fiscal Officer Hatfield reminded Council that the parks tax levy is expiring at the end of the year. This resolution requests tax valuation from the county auditor to move forward with putting the levy on the November ballot.
2nd read RES 2024-12 A Resolution of Necessity on a Tax Levy in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation for providing park operation.
Water & Sewer:
Councilman Beamer asked Supt. Scott how changing out water meters is going. Supt. Scott shared it is going slow. A lot of the issue is gaining access to the current meter due to the hours. He said Will is working on them as he can a
Village Website & IT: None.
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: None
Executive Session: Councilman Best moved to enter executive session to discuss personnel at 8:55 pm., Councilman Beamer seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Best moved to exit executive session at 9:00 pm, Councilman Beamer seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Next meeting: Thursday, June 27, 2024, at 7:30 PM.
Motion by Councilman Best, seconded by Councilman Hopple to adjourn the meeting. Time: 9:05 PM. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
