JULY INCOME TAX … Montpelier village council members from left: Melissa Ewers, Chris Kannel, and Kevin Motter discuss the monthly income tax report at Monday’s council meeting.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
Montpelier Village Council approved a first reading of legislation on the use of low speed micromobility Devices at its meeting Monday night.
In attendance were council members Kevin Motter, Heather Freese, Don Schlosser, Melissa Ewers, Chris Kannel, and Nathan Thompson. Mayor Steve Yagelski, Village Manager Jason Rockey, Law Director Robert Bohmer, Finance Director Nikki Uribes, and Molly Collert, Clerk of Council, were also present.
Following the roll call, prayer, and Pledge of Allegiance, the council made a motion to approve the August 11 meeting agenda, minutes from the July 28 meeting, and the financial report for July.
Rockey made a presentation of Ordinance 2283, Amending Chapter 371.14, in regards to the use of low-speed micromobility devices in the village, known as E-Scooters.
He noted that Montpelier Police Chief Dan McGee had worked pretty hard on the ordinance in tandem with the law director.
“We’ve been able to propose limiting the usage of those devices,” said Rockey. “The police chief (McGee) is looking to get the first reading at least accomplished before the beginning of school, so he could put out notifications on Facebook informing the people what the requirements are going to be for the riders.”
Freese made a motion to approve the first reading of the ordinance with Schlosser seconding it, and then it was unanimously approved.
Uribes presented the village’s income tax report for July, in which it has already collected $1,443,992.83 since January, including $228,126.14 for the month.
She pointed out the three-year average at the end of July (since 2022) is $1,482,507.73, which is down by 2.6 percent.
In the village manager’s report, Rockey commented that a closing of a lot was completed on the northwest corner of Jonesville and Washington Streets.
Gerken Paving of Napoleon will begin work grinding the streets for this year’s asphalt program on Thursday, before paving next week.
Rockey added that the concrete curb and catch basin work done by the village before paving begins was completed last week.
Council heard the electric department had started setting poles on County Road 13 and Brown Road. This would enable the village to run an electric loop to the south side. This will boost the power as more industries have grown significantly over the last couple of years.
“It has kind of taxed the electrical system on the south side of town,” said Rockey. “This helps alleviate any pressure that they put on. It gives us more flexibility how we can run off different substations and change our load around if we needed to.”
Council was reminded of the fire hydrant flushing on August 18, and the chipping and sealing of village alleys beginning next week.
Kannel informed the council of the upcoming Empire Street Cruise-In on Tuesday and added that there have already been good turnouts this summer.
“A lot of our downtown businesses are staying open late or opening up special to the cruises,” said Kannel. “They’re getting a lot of positive traffic, lots of people coming in from all over the region.”
“At the last cruise-in, we had 15 new people who hadn’t been to a cruise-in in Montpelier before. It also benefits the Farmers Market as well as our local businesses.”
Council then adjourned at 6:18 p.m.