(PHOTO BY JESSIE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
RADIO CHECK … The Delta Police Department, the headquarters of which is seen here, received a $5,000 check from the Delta Eagles at Tuesday’s meeting of the Delta Village Council. The funds will be used to help cover the cost of new radios needed by the department.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
An impromptu department created to fund personnel between the water fund and the wastewater treatment fund is on its way to dissolution following Tuesday’s Delta Village Council meeting.
According to Interim Village Administrator Edward Ciecka, the “distribution department” was created to fund just two employees.
Ciecka reported its existence both caused issues for the bottom line of the wastewater treatment fund as well as for his efforts to balance the village’s books.
“In looking at that fund, we were looking at different alternatives that we could help both clarify operations and help with alleviating some of the expenses in that wastewater fund,” Ciecka said, “and one of the proposals that we were discussing or looked at is the possibility of kind of rolling back the organizational structure prior to this creation of this distribution fund or department.”
He said the option he and Water Superintendent Jammie Flores came up with would be to have both employees taken over fully by the water fund.
With the council’s support Tuesday, Ciecka will be taking the details put together by Flores and creating a resolution to bring back to the council for approval.
“The concept here is that we would, the water fund would assume the two employees, who most of their assignments have been with water.”
“They handle the reading of the meter and the setting of the meters and are looking at distribution issues in that fund. They’ve been very active and have they’re not just sitting around, and the employees are good employees.”
IMPOUND LOT POLICY UPDATE
Ciecka also brought an update on the village’s impound lot policy. He said when the policy was passed in 2020, the council authorized the police chief and village administrator to create the rules and regulations, including fees.
“Policies and procedures should not be created by the village administrator. They can be drafted and suggested, but they need to be adopted and approved by council,” Ciecka said.
“In the setting of that policy they set fees, definitely a fee should be set by the village council. This resolution is partly bringing these policies and procedures to you as a council and setting the rate.”
For example, he said, the prior towing rate had been set at $125, while bills from towing services were coming in at roughly $225, causing the village to lose money.
That rate is now set to conform to whatever the village is charged by the towing service. Storage rates are $20 per day for private vehicles and $50 per day for commercial vehicles.
OTHER BUSINESS
The council approved on first reading a resolution authorizing the chief of police or the village administrator to sell surplus property through the GovDeals website, “including motor vehicles, road machinery, equipment, tools, or supplies that are not needed for public use, or are obsolete or unfit for the use of which they were acquired,” also authorizing them to establish any other terms or conditions of sale as they deem appropriate.
Ciecka reported a letter would be mailed to residents from Energy Harbor for the Electric Governmental Aggregation program giving them 21 days to opt out of the program, which runs through May 2025 at a rate of 6.3 cents per kilowatt hour with no early termination fee.
Delta Eagles President Josh Heinemann presented a $5,000 check to the Delta Police Department to go toward the new radios for the department.
The council passed on final reading a resolution authorizing the village administrator to pay Delta’s share of the Fulton County engineer’s County Road H reconstruction project, an amount of roughly $51,000 according to Ciecka. The council previously encumbered $55,000 to cover the cost.
The council ended the meeting by going into executive session for three hearings – “for the purpose of a conference with the law director concerning disputes involving the public body that are subject of pending or imminent court action,” “to consider the employment of a public employee,” and “to consider the disposition of unneeded property.” No action was expected as a result of the session.
The next regular meeting of the Delta Village Council will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 16 at 401 Main Street in Delta.