Mayor Louis Sanders called the September 26, 2024, Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at 7:30 PM.
Roll Call: Owen Best, Keith Hopple, Nicole Lenhart, Kirk Stanfield
Others Present: Superintendent Tom Scott, Administrator Shock, Jason Branham- Branham Builders, Isaac King—Makeever and Associates
Absent: Ed Beamer
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Best to approve the warrants for payment, seconded by Councilwoman Lenhart. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: FO Hatfield asked that they held off on the minutes. She shared she forgot some information.
Written & Oral Communication: Isaac King of Makeever and Associates shared Makeever and Associates were approached by Jason Branham to do condos as part of a subdivision where the old football complex was. Isaac reported Makeever and Associates is technically listed as village engineer. Isaac shared Makeever & Associates is looking at what they would need to do the work or whether there's any review for the village. He implied if a review was needed that it could present a conflict of interest. Mayor Sanders reported he didn’t see a conflict. Admin Shock said he didn’t believe it would be a conflict because the county would oversee the plans. Mayor Sanders reported he would check with the Solicitor to ensure there are no issues.
Public Safety: Supt. Scott reported a Kleem representative was in the office today. She had updated price lists. Supt. Scott specifically was referring to the digital speed signs. He said he didn’t realize the speed signs collect information that can be used to apply for grants. Supt. Scott shared the digital signs are advertised at roughly $3600 apiece. Supt. Scott shared the message on these digital speed signs are customizable. Councilman Best stated he thought that there was a grant recently for similar equipment. He is going to follow up with Michelle Cochran of Fostoria Economic Development to see if she knows of any grants. Councilwoman Lenhart shared there is a grant through the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, it is a 3 to 1 matching grant of up to 40,000 for safety equipment. Councilwoman Lenhart reported the Events Committee received a grant through North Central Electric People’s fund for construction cones.
Streets & Properties: Admin Shock reported the drainage issue on Buckeye Drive has been resolved. He reported that the residents indicated that they haven’t had their sump pumps run at all since the catch basins have been installed. FO Hatfield reported that she decided to pay the invoice for the catch basins out of the street fund, she reported she thought about using sewer but thought the street fund made more sense. There were no objections.
Parks: Councilwoman Lenhart reported the final Farmers Market will be held on October 6th. The Events Committee is gearing up for Autumn Village Day this coming Saturday. 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 and chicken and steak feed. They will also be doing a pie baking contest. She also shared the Events Committee will be out and about tomorrow decorating. 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. Councilwoman Lenhart reported she would like to hold trick or treat on Sunday, October 27th from 3 -5 pm. There were no objections. FO Hatfield suggested Council promote the renewal of the Parks Levy for the upcoming election.
Trees: None.
Fire: Councilwoman Lenhart shared there were 20 total calls for August.
EMS: None.
Cemetery: None.
Personnel: Councilman Best stated the Fiscal Officer Position needs posted. Councilwoman Lenhart stated she would work on posting it. FO Hatfield shared she would get it posted on Indeed.
Zoning Commission: None.
Finance and rule: Cash balance: $1,421,237.66 All funds include CDs and reserved or restricted funds, and debt reserve funds. FO Hatfield shared she had 3 pieces of legislation for Council. She shared Resolution 2024-21 amends Appropriations and Declares and Emergency. She shared this Resolution reallocates money for the principal line in the general fund, health insurance in the street fund and sewer fund, and electricity in the sewer fund. This legislation will also supplementally appropriate money in the water fund into the health insurance and other contractual services lines. FO Hatfield shared will council that the money appropriated in water will probably not get the village through the remainder of the year in the contract services line that pays the contract operator.
Councilwoman Lenhart moved to suspend the three-read rule on Resolution 2024-21, Councilman Hopple seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion Carried.
Councilwoman Lenhart moved to declare an emergency on Resolution 2024-21, Councilman Best seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Best moved to adopt Resolution 2024-21; Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried
Ordinance 2024-22 Authorizing the Sale of Unneeded Personal Property and Declares an Emergency.
Councilman Stanfield moved to suspend the three-read rule on Ordinance 2024-22, Councilman Best seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion Carried.
Councilman Stanfield moved to declare an emergency on Ordinance 2024-22, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Stanfield moved to adopt Ordinance 2024-22; Councilwoman Lenhart seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried
2nd 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 shared she had a couple of ideas to purchase the mini excavator and skid steerer Supt. Tom has been presenting. She shared with Councilman Stanfield’s help; they now know that using the some of the remaining 2048 USDA payment isn’t an option. She also reported that she spoke to Cindy McCafferty with Local Government Services with the State Auditor. Ms. McCafferty shared that the departments that will be using the equipment need to pay for the equipment. FO Hatfield also learned a bond counsel should be approached about any type of financing. FO Hatfield shared that parks, streets, and sewer can cover their portion of the equipment. She said the water portion could be covered out of the water capital improvements fund or the general fund, or there are two thirty-thousand-dollar CD’s, one from the water fund, one from the water capital improvement fund that could be cashed in to cover water’s portion. Councilman Best stated if the CD’s aren’t earning more than .75% on interest he would prefer to cash them out as opposed to running the capital improvements fund dry. Councilman Stanfield interjected sharing that an entity called Star Ohio a government run central bank for entities in Ohio has a short-term rate of 5.5%, since then it has dropped to 5.1%. He suggested the village’s funds that have been sitting around could have been earning a fair amount of money. He then said checking with OWDA on refinancing was suggested. Councilwoman Lenhart asked Supt. Scott what Ag Pro is saying. Supt. Scott shared if they don’t have an answer by tomorrow, they are tearing up the purchase agreement. FO Hatfield shared that another meeting will be needed to move the money and approve working with Sourcewell before they could purchase the equipment. Supt. Scott asked how much we have spent already on RA Bores? FO Hatfield reported it was $37,000 prior to the payments being made tonight, now it is probably $43,000. Councilman Best asked how many breaks have been done on Route 4 and Route 224? Supt. Tom stated since he has been with the Village 3 breaks have been repaired on the main roads. FO Hatfield asked how many breaks there were on the side streets. Supt. Scott said at least 10. Mayor Sanders said it is time to do something. Councilwoman Lenhart moved to purchase the new equipment from Ag Pro, Councilman Hopple seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0. Supt. Scott indicated that he would call them in the morning and let them know we are moving forward. FO Hatfield warned that they need to give us 2 weeks to move the money and invoice us. Councilman Stanfield asked FO Hatfield if the payments made on the last payment register have cleared. FO Hatfield replied yes, ensuring that the system would not allow her to make payments where there isn’t enough money. Councilman Hopple asked if FO Hatfield was confident in the numbers. She replied she was very confident, stating she follows the rules.
Admin Shock asked why the village couldn’t have the village cells phones shut off. He said they are more inconvenient to the employees. Supt. Scott agreed with this statement. Council briefly discussed a cell phone stipend, but both Admin Shock and Supt. Scott indicated they wouldn’t need a stipend.
Water & Sewer: Councilman Best reported he has note that a there is a water customer who doesn’t want to pay the $25.25 water fee. Councilman Best indicated in the past we have discussed a fee for pulling the meter, but we never discussed a rate. Supt. Scott indicated it should be substantial. Councilman Best said he was thinking $200 or $250. Councilwoman Lenhart asked if it would be a fee for pulling and reinstalling? Councilman Best shared he thought it wouldn’t cost to pull the meter, but they would be charged to put it back in. Councilman Stanfield asked what about the $17.25 and the $1. Councilman Best reported the $25.25 is only for water. Councilman Stanfield asked doesn’t this person realize there are other charges. He then stated he believes there is something wrong with the rate schedule that misled this person. Admin Shock indicated this person’s property is in the township. Councilman Best shared he received a quote from Jaime to replace the mixer for TTHM’s reduction, reporting one of the EPA Violations is related to replacing the mixer. He said that Jaime also shared that we could change out the mixer for a system specific to TTHM’s, but that would cost more. Councilman Best indicated that Jaime said that the replacement of the mixer could be included in the regionalization project. Councilwoman Lenhart asked if the village would be okay until they could replace it. Councilman Best explained that he is under the impression it can wait because TTHM’s are not above the threshold. Councilwoman Lenhart said she is fine with waiting but worries about the what ifs. No decisions were made. Councilman Best reported speaking with Matt Dooley today. He indicated Willard is agreeable to paying for the portion of line from where it will currently ends to section line 30. Councilman Best reported they wouldn’t be able to pay us with a lumpsum, but they would either take it out in purchased water expense or in payments. Councilman Stanfield asked if what the water rate was. Councilman Best reported the rate is not to be disclosed yet, because they don’t want to hinder negotiations. Councilman Stanfield asked if they could hold ex Councilman Best talked to a company called Acadia about helping with the lead line inventory. Apparently, the state is paying for the whole thing including hydro jetting. Councilman Best stated there is information he would need to collect. Supt. Scott stated he is going to need about 200 more meters. He said in the last week they changed out 40 meters.
Village Website & IT: Councilwoman Lenhart said she will post about trick or treating and the last call for Brush clean up will be November 1st.
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: Councilwoman Lenhart indicated she is waiting to get back the quote for the additional shirts for James.
Supt. Scott reported he got the backhoe running today. He said they installed 40 meters last week, and they have about 80 more left. Councilwoman Lenhart asked if everyone okay with her getting the auction going. There were no objections.
Executive Session: None.
Next meeting: Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 7:30 PM.
Motion by Councilman Best, seconded by Councilman Hopple to adjourn the meeting. Time: 8:35 PM. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
