Mayor Louis Sanders called the September 12, 2024, Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at 7:30 PM.
Roll Call: Ed Beamer, Owen Best, Keith Hopple, Nicole Lenhart, Kirk Stanfield
Others Present: Superintendent Tom Scott, Maintenance Employee Will Gates, Jason Branham- Branham Builders, Buckeye Drive Residents- Cheryl Rando, Paul Jones, Leann Smith, Nate Frisch, Water Contract Operator Jaime Mendoza
Absent:
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Best to approve the warrants for payment, seconded by Councilwoman Lenhart. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilman Best to approve 8/22/24 minutes, seconded by Councilwoman Lenhart. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Written & Oral Communication: Jaime Mendoza gave an update. He indicated he has most of the violations resolved with his response to the EPA. He shared he is working on the water audit report for 2023. He said he is at the point that he needs to sit down with the billing clerk, Alyssa, and figure out what was sold vs what was made. He shared there is quite a bit of discrepancy. A breakdown is necessary to ensure we are collecting what we are making. He then shared the sodium bisulfate needs pumped from the raw building to the sewer plant by the 30th of the month. He then asked Council where they stand on the lead line inventory. He reported the report is due in roughly 30 days and no movement has been made. Councilman Best shared at this point we are going to have to use our employees to go door to door. He said at this point, he doesn’t believe the village can afford to outsource this project. Councilman Beamer offered to also help with in the evenings and weekends. Councilman Beamer than reported the maintenance guys should be inventorying the lines as they are switching out meters. Supt. Scott shared they are checking the material of the lines as they are switching out the meters. Jaime then shared what the EPA expectations are for identifying lead lines. He said by 2027 the EPA wants all the lines identified, which means all unknowns will have to be excavated to determine. By 2037 the EPA will want all the lines replaced.
It was Jason Branham’s turn to have the floor. He indicated he was present to follow up on a potential tax abatement he discussed a few months ago in a meeting. Councilman Best shared that he did meet with Charlene Watkins of Seneca County Regional Planning who indicated she was not aware of a residential CRA in the County. Best indicated the village is already struggling financially, and property tax is our main source of income, he is not supportive of offering an abatement at this time. Councilman Beamer shared he saw posts on Facebook by the builder that indicated the village could use some attention when it comes to beautification and necessary repairs. Councilman Beamer shared with Mr. Brahman that Mr. Branham has acknowledged himself that the village is strapped financially, so he shouldn’t be surprised that the village doesn’t support a tax abatement. Council indicated that they would be happy to see development happen, and don’t want to hamper development, but also must do what is best for the village. Mr. Branham voiced understanding. Residents from Buckeye Drive were present to inquire about the potential development. Cheryl Rando was just wanting information to see if the project was still moving forward. Nate Frisch was concerned about drainage issues and prevention of additional issues. Mr. Branham ensured he would do things properly and only intends on building one house, max 2 at a time. Paul Jones mentioned the potholes on Buckeye Drive. Supt. Scott agreed to go look at, they just bought some cold patch. Leann Smith just had concerns about the properties being sold as rentals or being ran down. She understood the builder could not ensure what happens after the property is sold.
Public Safety: Admin Shock shared there was an incident with a dump truck losing some of their stone around the railroad tracks on E. Tiffin St. He shared he saw a State Highway Patrol and let them know. The State Patrol called ODOT and ODOT came and cleaned it up. Councilwoman Lenhart shared she received a call from a bank employee who indicated they were chased down by a vehicle. She questioned if Council wants to consider solar pedestrian crossing signs. Councilman Beamer said he didn’t think a pedestrian crossing sign would help with that situation. He also pointed out that then they would need one for every crosswalk up there. Councilwoman Lenhart then asked if Council was okay with purchasing shirts for the part time mower, James, she indicated he needs to be in bright colors because he has almost been hit a few times. Supt. Scott shared he has had issues when picking up brush on Route 4, so he has purchased lights to make their vehicle more visible. Council was supportive of purchasing a few shirts for James.
Streets & Properties: Councilman Beamer indicated he has been in touch with Chuck of Bucyrus Road Materials, they should be meeting in the next few weeks. He said he is still working on spreadsheet to for capital improvements, delineating how often certain roads will need paved to build a capital improvement budget. Mayor Sanders spoke up that the village needs, and income tax and the roads would be in a lot better shape. Councilman Beamer reported the streetlight that is on Seneca St in the tree is being moved by the electric company. He said the cost would be minimal. He said the pole will be removed as well.
Parks: Councilwoman Lenhart reported the September Farmers Market went well, she had several vendors. She reported the next one will be held on October 6th. The events committee is gearing up for Autumn Village Day. They have a little over 30 vendors. They will have “Touch a Truck” event and food trucks. She shared the Legion is doing a beer garden. They will also be doing a pie baking contest. The events committee is working on the Christmas event which will be held on November 16th. She indicated the trees that she ordered for the parks will be here in November.
Trees: Councilman Beamer shared there were two trees that came down and several limbs in the last storm. He gave accolades to Tom, Will, and Bryan for their help cleaning up the mess. He indicated they saved the village a lot of money.
Fire: Councilwoman Lenhart shared she has raffle tickets for the cash raffle in November. They are $10 apiece.
EMS: Councilwoman Lenhart shared the ribbon cutting for/ open house for the new EMS facility will be held on September 14th at 10am. She shared the public is welcome to attend.
Cemetery: Councilman Hopple shared the cemetery experienced some damage from the storm. They lost a tree which fell on a hydrant.
Personnel: Councilman Best shared he met with the Class II operator referred by Jaime. The person was concerned about having enough hours to get his class III with potential regionalization. Councilwoman Lenhart asked if Council was okay with keeping James on for a bit longer. He is helping with brush pick up and meter change outs. Council didn’t object. Councilman Best said he was okay with keeping James on for a while. Councilwoman Lenhart shared they could reevaluate his employee in a few months.
Zoning Commission: Admin Shock shared he had an application for 121 N. Main Street he said they want to build a crawl space, and he didn’t see any issue with it.
Finance and rule: Cash balance: $1,469,029.10 All funds include CDs and reserved or restricted funds, and debt reserve funds. FO Hatfield shared she had 3 Resolutions for Council. She shared Resolution 2024-18 Amends Appropriations and Declares and Emergency. She shared this Resolution appropriates money in the State Highway fund to purchase the digital speed signs Admin Shock wants to purchase. And appropriates $65,000 from unappropriated funds in Water Capital Improvement, $35,000 to Utility Distribution Systems, and $30,000 to Transfers Out.
Councilman Best moved to suspend the three-read rule on Resolution 2024-18, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion Carried.
Councilman Best moved to declare an emergency on Resolution 2024-18, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Best moved to adopt Resolution 2024-18, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried
Resolution 2024-19 is Authorizing the Fiscal Officer to Transfer $30,000 from the Water Capital Improvement Fund to the Water Enterprise Fund and Declares an Emergency.
Councilman Best moved to suspend the three-read rule on Resolution 2024-19, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion Carried.
Councilman Best moved to declare an emergency on Resolution 2024-19, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Best moved to adopt Resolution 2024-19, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried
1st reading of Resolution 2024-20 Accepting the Amounts and Rate as Determined by the Budget Commission and Authorizing the Necessary Tax Levies and Certifying Them to the County Auditor.
FO Hatfield made council aware that at the next meeting she would need to amend appropriations for health insurance, water contract services, and also for a few electric lines in various accounts. There were no questions.
Water & Sewer: Councilman Best indicated that he and Councilman Beamer have not met with Willard regarding negotiating rates. He asked Council if they were okay with him and Councilman Beamer proceeding with negotiating. There were no objections. Supt. Scott shared he and the guys installed 19 meters in the last week. Councilman Beamer wanted to ensure they are being changed based on the meters that are not able to be read. He asked if there is a list of where the 130 meters need to be installed.
Supt Scott indicated there is not a list per se, but Alyssa has able to get residents over the phone and scheduling them based on need. Supt. Scott shared they are going to be 200 meters short. Councilman Beamer responded that he had a hard time agreeing to purchasing more when there are still 130 approximately on the shelf. Supt. Scott understood. Councilwoman Lenhart indicated Council should start looking at purchasing additional meters since nothing happens quickly. Councilman Stanfield asked if there has been a pattern in area with the lead lines being identified. Supt. Scott shared yes, mostly in the Route 4/224 area. Stanfield suggested changing out the meters in those areas to also identify the line material. Councilman Beamer disagreed. Indicating the meters should be changed out based on meters that are not reading properly, this will help with revenue.
Jaime shared that he has pulled his contract at Kelley’s Island because he knows he is needed in Attica for an undetermined amount of time. He asked if Council knew when construction would begin for regionalization. Councilman Beamer said he wants it to start sooner rather than later but there is also some grant funding through OWDA and DEFA. Jaime asked can we even go on this way. Councilman Beamer asked if Jaime was working this weekend. They made plans to meet to discuss Jaimes concerns further.
Village Website & IT: Councilwoman Lenhart shared she and Alyssa met with a Cyber Security Company. There was grant funds available, but turnover was 30 days, so she declined interest in moving forward.
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: Councilwoman Lenhart indicated she is waiting to hear back from the Solicitor on auction items. She is going to follow up.
Supt. Scott asked about purchasing the mini excavator and skid steerer if any decisions had been made. Councilman Best shared that he spoke with FO Hatfield and found out that procuring loan funds is not as easy as taking out a loan and Bond Counsel may be necessary. He indicated he could the Solicitor who highly encouraged contacting bond counsel. Councilman Stanfield had a few suggestions for purchasing the equipment. One of them included investing a portion of the $167,000 that is required to be held for the final USDA payment. The portion invested would accrue interest to ensure the final payment was available in 2048 and then a portion could be used to portion the equipment. Everybody seemed to like that idea, but FO Hatfield cautioned going forward without USDA permission. It was decided she would get with them to see if they would allow that. Councilman Stanfield recommending buying the equipment with cash and threw out a few more ideas, including using the CD’s the Village has. FO Hatfield indicated she wasn’t sure which fund those CD’s originated from. Councilman Stanfield voiced that he thought the Village should go ahead and pay off the loan for the village hall building. Supt Scott asked how he is to proceed with the equipment they have. He was confident the village would save money with equipment. Councilman Beamer agreed, the concern is paying for the equipment. There was discussion about looking at other equipment, maybe just buying one of the pieces of equipment as opposed to both. No decisions were made, further research will be done.
FO Hatfield shared she planning to quit and planned to be finished by November 1.
Executive Session: None.
Next meeting: Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 7:30 PM.
Motion by Councilman Stanfield, seconded by Councilman Hopple to adjourn the meeting. Time: 9:45 PM. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
