(PHOTO BY AMY WENDT / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
‘TIS THE SEASON … Archbold Village Council Chambers is dressed in its holiday best following the village’s annual Parade of Lights.
By: Amy Wendt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
amy@thevillagereporter.com
On Monday, December 2, the Archbold Village Council met for its first regular meeting of the month with Gary Dominique, Kevin Eicher, Aaron Babcock, and Karla Ball on hand. Councilor Vaughn Bentz was present by telephone while Councilor Chad Kern was absent.
Village Administrator Aaron Alt reported to the council an issue potentially linked to a spring sewer lining project on Lutz Road.
Investigations by village staff revealed that the project possibly caused damage to the sanitary sewer systems of three homes.
Alt noted that he visited one of the affected properties to take a look at the damage firsthand.
The issue appears to stem from the sanitary sewer lining process, which involved the use of steam to cure the pipe and address any wrinkles.
During the project, three homes in the affected section were temporarily blocked off, and high-temperature steam was introduced into the sewer main for several hours.
It is believed that the steam “followed the path of least resistance,” potentially causing damage to the sanitary sewer systems within these homes.
Alt further explained the PVC material used in the residential sewer connections may have been unable to withstand the extreme heat.
“To keep you in the loop, we are continuing to investigate this with the contractor…We’re unsure if there are other situations, we have not heard of anything else.”
“But the company Visu-Sewer, who performed the work, will be onsite to inspect these homes with two different plumbers. One plumber associated with the company, and one local plumber,” Alt continued.
“We are actively pursuing this and trying to figure out what is going on to help these homeowners find a resolution to their issues…Again, we hire companies to do this work for us.’
“We require licensing and bonding. So, we are expecting that, if it’s identified that what they [Visu-Sewer] did, caused this damage and issue, that they stand up and they take accountability, whether that be through their insurance or out of their pocket.”
In closing Alt added, “Hopefully, it is isolated to just these three homes…We are continuing to investigate and understand what the next step is.”
Addressing agenda items, the council approved meeting minutes from November 18 and gave the green light to pay $631,449.70 in bills and payroll.
Council approved Resolution 2024-57, authorizing the 2025 annual renewal of the agreement for the countywide Emergency Management Agency. The agreement, calculated based on the village’s population, comes in at $2,935.40 for 2025.
With the approval of Resolution 2024-58, the Street Department will soon add a 2023 Ford Superduty F-550 truck to its fleet. Alt noted that the brand-new spec vehicle comes fully equipped at a total cost of $110,500.
Reports before the council for review included the Park Board meeting minutes from November 20 and the November 2024 Income Tax Report, which showed a year-to-date increase of 6.91% compared to the previous year.
Archbold Village Council will hold its next regular meeting on Monday, December 16, 2024.