DELIBERATIONS…Council members Connie Salisbury, Bill Turner and President Joel Burt, along with Fiscal officer April McMillan and Mayor Ed Kidston are seen here as half of the room gathered in Covid style, for the November 9, 2020 Village Council meeting. (PHOTO BY REBECCA MILLER, STAFF)
By: Rebecca Miller
Following an Executive Session to discuss Personnel Compensation and Possible Litigation, the Pioneer Village Council asked Engineer Denny Bell to join a conversation concerning the water treatment plant project. Bell explained how it works to gather bids, and said that three bids were received for this project.
Village Administrator Al Fiser stated that the three bids were opened in his office with Bell and the contractors present. Bell said it is a public bid and this was done at 11 a.m. and the clerk stamped them received. (The three bids read were 1,000,000 from Moser Construction; $849,800 from Shinn Bros.; and $912,500 from Zachrich Construction.). The Engineer’s Estimate was $851,287.
Bell explained how they get their estimate and that it is a completely open process. “We ask the bidders to give us a list of their proposed sub-contractors, so we have an idea of who they will have, and Artesian was not listed as a subcontractor on any of the three bids,” Bell said.
The project is not a complete rebuild, but rather EPA asked them to run chlorine through the contact tank. Fiser said they are adding some aesthetics, the tank will be painted, and half of the project is covered by a grant till July 2021.
They discussed whether to pass an ordinance granting the bid of Shinn Bros. or extend what was started on September 29 and goes to November 29. Shinn Bros. has indicated they want to get started in January and the completion is set for June or July of 2021. President Joel Burt requested that from now on the Council needs to be made fully aware of details of engineers estimate and the bids.
Fiser said they were not trying to hide anything and apologized that they did not present the info before the previous vote to move ahead, saying that the previous council did not seem to be as interested.
Soliciter Tom Thompson weighed in when asked to do so, saying that as Artesian did not bid on it and indicated they did not want to be involved in the project, they need to go ahead and vote on the bid they had from Shinn. Fiser indicated that he would like to reopen the bidding and save the village $150,000 if Artesian were to bid on it, but President Burt said he felt they should go ahead with Shinn Bros. bid.
Following further discussion about the need for the project, Council seemed to agree with Burt and the vote was taken to suspend the rules and approve Ordinance 14-2020 “Accepting the bid of Shinn Bros., Inc. for the water treatment plant improvements project, authorizing the Village Administrator to enter into an agreement with Shinn Bros., Inc. and authorizing the Village Administrator to sign all documents necessary to effectuate the agreement and declaring an emergency.”
Also passed was Ordinance 15-2020 “Amending appropriations for 2020 and declaring an emergency” which allows the village to accept the $15,000 of CARES money received from Bridgewater Township, as well as a couple other items.
Agenda was adjusted to move the Executive Session to be held before the Ordinance 14 vote, allowing the Mayor to leave before the discussion and vote. Minutes for previous meeting and adjusted agenda, as well as the Financial report for October were all approved.
Mayor Ed Kidston commented that he is “astounded at the way we have come through this thing with flying colors and I just thank the Lord …as we expected the numbers to be a lot worse by now. I am thankful to be where we are…we are in good shape and doing really well.”
Payment of bills and payment of Hometown Hardware invoice were also approved.
Police Chief Livengood was not present as he was handing out awards at a Jr. High sports event and Fire Chief Fackler was excused as he did not have a lot to report. Mayor Kidston shared that Fackler did ask for approval of Amy Baker as a Medical First Responder and council voted to approve. Fackler’s second request will be handled at the December meeting as it concerned pay raises.
Administrator Al Fiser reported that three benches have been donated by the Chamber of Commerce and the village is making their concrete forms to receive them when they arrive. Insurance is up for renewal and he recommended the council approve it.
Employees pay 10% of their premium and have deductibles that have been close to the same for the past five years. Council voted to approve his recommendation. He also shared that the crew is keeping up well with the leaves that everyone is raking.
Fiscal Officer April McMillen said she will have the budget ready for the next month’s meeting. Another check from Ohio Bureau of Workers Comp came for last year’s premium, totaling $17,000 this year and they will be sending another check for around $10,000 yet this year. She said they will probably use that to pay the premium.
A short discussion occurred between Council member Albert Kwader and Mayor Ed Kidston with Kwader saying, “I am wondering where you came up with the $150,000 that Bill Turner and I cost the tax payers of this town.” Mayor responded, “That was the difference between what I said I would bid it for and what the bids came in as.” He and Kwader disagreed on who it was that was involved.
Kwader stated that the mayor “supposedly already called the Ethics Commission, and I guess they either didn’t give you an answer or told you not to bid on it. Bill and I were not put here to waste the tax payers money.” Mayor Kidston said that he did not want to discuss it, but that there was a $150,000 difference in what he offered and the bid that came in, “and that’s a fact.”
Council member Randy Cochran asked at what point they would get the bill for the street project and McMillan said they have paid part of it already. Connie Salisbury thanked the Veterans for their service and said she felt badly that the school cannot hold their program this year. The tree lighting ceremony has been approved by the Health Dept. as it is an outside ceremony, and it will be held on November 21 at 5:30, with wrapped refreshments.
She recommended that Council postpone or cancel the Senior Dinner as “that group of individuals should not be meeting at this time.” Council passed a motion to suspend the Senior Dinner and do something at a later date, and to definitely keep having it when things get back to normal. Burt commented on the project on the back end of the cul-de-sacs and Bell said they should be done with the main line this week and soon after that the terraces will be leveled off. Manholes will be done with concrete and raised soon as well.
Mayor Kidston thanked all who helped Trick or Treat to go well.
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com