(PHOTO BY JESSIE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
DEBRIS DISPOSAL DIALOGUE … Resident Roger Ward addresses the Delta Village Council regarding disposal of concrete from the sidewalk in front of his house during the council’s meeting Monday evening.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
A $3.2 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved in February of last year for work on Fernwood Street may be rescinded after having been lost in the details of other Delta administrative work.
The loan, approved by the USDA at 2.25 percent interest over 40 years, contained a requirement that the project be completed by the end of 2024.
Interim Village Administrator Edward Ciecka said he first became aware of the loan when he received an email from the USDA asking about the status of the project and indicating they were looking to deobligate the funds.
The project in question included construction of a new sanitary sewer along Fernwood Street as well as separation of the sanitary sewer and storm sewer, new water lines, and restoring the street.
Based on the date the loan was approved; the application was filed during the tenure of prior village administrator Brad Peebles. “I really can’t explain why the village applied for the loan and then did not take any action with it,” Ciecka said.
Councilwoman Lynn Frank asked whether they had confirmed that Peterman Associates filed the original application for the loan, and Ciecka said he had not, although the firm had provided certain key information to the USDA as part of the application, including a cost analysis.
Ciecka also said representatives from Peterman and Associates had been trying to meet with him for some time.
“Peterman’s been calling and occasionally stops in and wants to see me and … I was not realizing there was this USDA loan application pending out there.”
“I kind of put them off because I didn’t see us having multiple million dollars in your capital budget to do Fernwood. So, this was correspondence that caught me off guard,” Ciecka said.
The admission of his failure to follow up with Peterman and Associates comes after several instances in which Ciecka has brought issues to the council’s attention and, when asked for additional information, said he did not have anything in front of him or was unable to answer those questions at that time.
Assistant Finance Director Marlena Allwood said Ciecka works approximately 20 hours per week varying from week to week, but that she was unsure about the actual details of his work requirement due to his being contracted through an outside agency. He was initially retained in May after the ouster of former Village Administrator Andy Glenn.
Ciecka has been adamant since beginning work about the “interim” in his title and declined participation in an upcoming online training during Monday’s meeting due to his coming replacement with a permanent administrator.
Interviews with candidates for the permanent position are still being conducted. According to councilman Chad Johnson, a recent home income survey was completed as part of an application for a grant to cover part of the cost of the project in an effort to make it financially feasible.
Prior to the survey, Johnson said the village was not eligible for the grant. He also said the village was denied the grant earlier this year.
In total, the village has been denied grants for the project three times, with the final application being outsourced to another agency, Johnson said.
In addition to the actual loan repayment cost of approximately $126,000 per year, the project would incur other costs such as engineering. “There’s no way we can afford this loan, period,” Frank said.
Ciecka said he responded to the USDA email by asking them to not deobligate the funds while the village prepares a response.
2025 BUDGET
Immediately after the loan conversation, Ciecka presented an early draft of the fiscal year 2025 village budget.
During the limited conversation on the draft, council members and Ciecka agreed to plan for an approximately 3 percent growth in income taxes.
Chief among the concerns was how to handle the general fund versus separate line funding for departments and what councilman Robert Shirer called “non-necessary funds.”
While some on the council called for a greater percentage of village funds to be held in the general fund to allow for more flexibility, Shirer was concerned that limiting these “non-necessary funds” such as parks could result in the money that would go to fund them being used up on other projects and costs under the general fund.
In particular, Shirer shared his support for ensuring the sidewalk 50-50 program in which the village shares the cost of replacement with property owners remain at $10,000, and that money be set aside for water and sewer rate studies.
Frank shared her concern regarding the potential excessive purchasing of vehicles and equipment such as mowers. In particular she pointed out that the village was too small to need “five, let alone six mowers” and that departments should find more ways to share vehicles.
Frank said the council could, if it chose, provide all village employees with a vehicle, but that if they did, she would resign from council. No one on the council appeared to be making such a recommendation.
The council also discussed optimal staffing levels for the police department, water and wastewater departments, as well as the option of moving cemetery and park employees back under the street department.
PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBER INELIGIBLE
During discussion on an ordinance to change the Delta Municipal Code regarding the Planning Commission, it was determined that one of the members of the commission was ineligible to be a member.
Council members believed they had chosen to waive the requirement for the individual, who was not named, but were told by Ciecka that there was not an option in the code to allow for such a waiver.
In addition to the changes recommended in the ordinance, the council added a change altering the word “electors” to “individuals,” eliminating residency in the village as a requirement for commission members.
According to the village website, the Planning Commission reviews new subdivision plats or lot splits of parcels greater than five acres. The ordinance was passed on an emergency basis.
CONCRETE DUMPING
Resident Roger Ward addressed the council about the sidewalk in front of his home he was having repaired and what he could do with the waste concrete since the village instituted a ban on dumping concrete at the street department.
In response to questions asked by Ward, Law Director Kevin Heban said the sidewalk was on Ward’s property, but within a village easement, and that it was Ward’s responsibility as a resident to maintain the sidewalk.
Dumping of concrete on the village property was banned following a request from Ciecka, who said the village was taking on a liability because it was using the concrete – once ground up – in village projects.
If concrete contaminated with some unknown pollutant was used by the village, they could be held liable for any remediation or damages.
However, Ciecka has also pushed back against the village grinding up or disposing of the concrete that is still left at the site, citing it as an unnecessary cost for the village.
In the end the council authorized Ward to, in this one instance, dump his concrete, with Shirer saying anyone who is maintaining their sidewalk should be allowed and councilman Chad Johnson saying all such instances should be taken on a case-by-case basis.
NEW POLICE CHIEF
Contract negotiations will now begin with Samuel Chappell of the Columbus Police Department after he was selected to be the next chief of police. Once finalized, the contract will be brought to the council for approval.
The selection was made following an executive session at the end of Monday’s meeting. Delta has been without a permanent chief since the resignation of Robert Austin following controversy regarding his allegedly being married to two women at the same time and misrepresenting the relationships on an official benefits form with a previous employer.
Sgt. Drew Walker has been serving as interim police chief during the vacancy.
OTHER BUSINESS
The council approved on first reading an annual agreement with Fulton County to provide court representation to indigent defendants.
The council approved on an emergency basis the annual alternate plan of apportionment of local government funds for the Village with Fulton County.
The council approved the resignation of Park Board member Jay LeFevre and voted to appoint Craig Elton in his place
The next regular meeting of the Delta Village Council will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, November 4, at 401 Main Street in Delta.