PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
RAISING CONCERNS … Delta Chamber of Commerce President Kirsten Fruchey addresses the Delta Village Council during its most recent meeting. Fruchey was concerned about comments and behaviors she had seen from the council.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Several residents brought their concerns along with chastising for the Delta Village Council during its meeting Monday.
First among those to chide the council was Delta Chamber of Commerce President Kirsten Fruchey. Fruchey raised multiple issues, including comments disparaging the chamber supposedly made by council member Anthony Dawson in a private conversation and the circumstances surrounding a potential joint chamber/council administrative assistant position.
According to Dawson, his issue with the chamber stemmed from parking lot usage he said the council was not made aware of.
Fruchey said she reported it as required to the village administrator “at the time,” which would have been since-terminated Village Administrator Andy Glenn. Glenn was present at the meeting.
Dawson said nothing was ever brought to the council regarding the notification. Fruchey also questioned the handling of the village finances.
“Why haven’t the books been balanced since September?” she asked. Council member Robert Shirer said that was a question for the administration.
“I know that steps have been taken to bring in an outside firm,” Shirer said. Assistant Finance Director Marlena Allwood reported she was supposed to meet with that firm next month.
The council also got an earful from Jay LeFevre, whose comments were largely focused on recommendations for ways he thought the council could help improve things. One complaint involved the village website.
“We would be better not to have a website if we’re not going to keep it up to date. I’m not trying to complain, it’s just silly to look stuff up and get the wrong information, it’s kind of the opposite of the intent,” Lefevre said, later adding “I think it’s valuable, but if it’s not accurate, it’s more of a deterrent.”
LeFevre also asked about the village’s multiple vacancies – council member Ashley Todd resigned from her position during the meeting in which Glenn was terminated, and Robert Austin resigned as police chief amid concerns. None of the three vacancies were mentioned during the meeting.
“Why aren’t we hearing conversations about these? These are big deals, really important things,” he said.
After LeFevre’s prompting, Shirer reported that there had been meetings with four applicants to fill Todd’s vacant seat, and that a decision was likely during the council’s next meeting.
“I think that everyone in this room would probably agree – let’s work at understanding each other, trusting each other, and knowing what’s going on here in the village so we do feel like we’re making some progress,” LeFevre said.
LeFevre also pushed the council and administration to consider pursuing a long-term plan of 25 to 50 years, setting out the village’s goals for growth and the future.
In particular, he noted the lack of anything to keep each successive council on the same track to provide consistent long-term success.
He received a loud round of applause from the more than 20 in attendance for his comments.
CONCRETE DUMPING ENDED
Interim Village Administrator Edward Ciecka used his time to put a stop to the acceptance of fill – such as concrete – being dumped at the street department.
He first pointed out that there are no scales, and the village is not charging dumpers. From the start, he questioned “the role of the village in being a dumping ground for clean, hard fill.”
“I don’t see a major need for the stone. If we do need stone, we can purchase what we need,” Ciecka said.
“To just have this as a commercial dumping site to be a convenience for contractors who are not necessarily residents of the village – and I think we’re incurring some liability, environmentally, for bringing in that fill because we’re not inspecting it and making sure that it is clean.”
Shirer asked if the village was potentially incurring even more environmental liability by using that fill in municipal projects, if it turned out that it wasn’t actually clean. “Yes,” Ciecka said.
The council voted unanimously to stop accepting fill immediately, with thoughts of reconsidering the issue in the future if an appropriate system could be implemented.
OTHER BUSINESS
The council authorized the village administrator to renew the village’s property and liability insurance coverage with the Ohio Plan. Delta has been covered under the plan since 1994. The vote was made on an emergency basis, making it final and effective immediately.
The council approved a pair of annexation requests from Delta Acres on second reading. A third and final reading and vote will be held at the next council meeting.
The next regular meeting of the Delta Village Council will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 1, at 401 Main Street in Delta.