(PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
FIRE STATION MAINTENANCE … The Delta Community Fire Station, seen here, is planned to be sold to York Township after several repairs are completed, including concrete pad work the Delta Village Council is currently considering bids on.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
The failure of Village Administrator Chris Frazer to complete a task and provide requested information led to several tense exchanges during Monday’s Delta Village Council meeting.
Chief among council members’ complaints was the fact that Frazer has not yet completed updated job descriptions for the new Public Utilities Department, the creation of which will merge the village’s water and wastewater departments into a single entity.
A final vote on the department’s creation has been tabled indefinitely until the job descriptions are written.
The new job descriptions are to take into account the existing situation, in which water department employees are already performing the work of wastewater department employees – of which there are none.
“If we know what the job duties are, we know what needs to be accomplished already, I don’t understand what the delay is in drafting these job descriptions,” council member Robert Shirer said.
Frazer chalked that delay up to his own time management failures and getting caught up in the day-to-day business that comes into his office.
“Really, at the end of the day, all you do is you take the wastewater and water treatment job descriptions and you staple them together,” Shirer said. “At this point I am fine with that, because that is what we’re doing, correct?”
Council member Lynn Frank also questioned Frazer’s method in writing the job description himself, rather than leaning more heavily on Water Superintendent Jammie Flores.
“I don’t understand why Jammie’s not more involved in writing these job descriptions. She’s the one that works with them. She’s the one that knows the jobs.”
“Chris knows what’s written on a piece of paper, but she’s the supervisor out there that understands what the individuals do and what those jobs entail,” Frank said.
Frazer was instructed to have the job descriptions completed and ready for the council to review at its next meeting.
Frank also took Frazer to task over a pair of information requests he has not yet responded to.
Frank first emailed Frazer in June and then spoke directly with him on Sunday to request the encumbrances for the 2025 budget, which he has still not provided.
Frazer said he is reviewing a spreadsheet she gave him regarding the information, that his staff is checking to see if it is correct, and that he is hoping to get it to her soon.
She also asked for updated information on whether an increase to the village’s property and liability insurance coverage was in the budget, which he was instructed to look into after they voted to renew the policy at its June 16 meeting. Frazer said during Monday’s meeting that he did not yet have an answer.
WATER/WASTEWATER EMPLOYEE BACK PAY
Flores circled back to the current dual work of her employees at the end of the meeting, when she demanded an answer on back pay for the extra work they have already completed.
“I am requesting confirmation that we will either receive retro pay for the time that we’ve been at wastewater or I’m requesting that we stop going down there and operating the facility until everything is finalized,” Flores said.
Shirer immediately made a motion to approve back pay, to be calculated once the surrounding situation including pay rates has been resolved – whether it be as back pay or as a bonus payment covering the full-time water department employees have been operating the wastewater facility. Council member Chad Johnson seconded the motion.
Council member Anthony Dawson voiced strong opposition to the motion, although his opposition was surrounding potential raises for the employees for officially taking on the additional duties through the creation of the new department.
“I do not believe that these employees should have been working for the past five months for free,” Shirer said.
The motion eventually passed 4-1-1, with Dawson voting against and Council member Daphne Demaline abstaining.
Several council members pointed out that this was just another reason why the new job descriptions needed to be completed as soon as possible, so the pay structure could also be confirmed and this issue ended.
FIRE HALL REPAIRS AND SALE
Council members chose to delay the choice of which concrete contractor to use for repairs at the Delta Community Fire Station to ensure both quotes included sealer and concrete after one included only fast-setting concrete, which does not last as long and requires more maintenance.
Quotes were requested from five contractors, but only two responded, with quotes of $53,700 and $43,587. The lower of the two included the fast-setting concrete.
The work is part of ongoing negotiations between the village and York Township, who is looking at purchasing the fire hall from the village at a cost of $1.
In addition to wanting the two quotes to be for the same work and same materials, council members also shared interest in getting further information from York Township officials regarding when they would sign a purchase contract for the building.
Council members shared the concern that the village would complete work requested by the township in order for the sale to go through only to change their mind at the last minute and decline to buy the building at all.
OTHER BUSINESS
The council approved an ordinance certifying to the county auditor an assessment and lien on a property in the village due to a failure to cut grass.
The council discussed the potential annexation of a property contiguous with current village limits which already receives water service from the village and may also tap into a new village sewer line.
If annexed, it would force several other properties to be annexed due to their then being fully encircled by properties within village limits, per Ohio law.
Frazer reported nine residents applied for sidewalk improvement program funding. The applications will now be reviewed and a determination made whether they will receive funding and a concrete contractor contacted for estimates.
Frazer reported old computers running Windows 10 – which will soon no longer be supported by Microsoft – are being replaced throughout the village, with four already replaced in the village offices and two more each to be replaced at the water and wastewater facilities.
Frazer reported he is reviewing proposals for new business phones as some current phones can no longer be updated.
Frazer reported a new village website will be presented at the next council meeting which may include the option to pay water and sewer bills online. It is estimated to be ready to go live on August 1.
The Zoning Board of Appeals will meet Wednesday, July 9, to review a variance request.
Delta resident Kyle Comer questioned the council as to whether continuing to offer property tax abatements for residential construction made sense for the village considering the current deficit spending and demand for housing.
Shirer said there was no guarantee properties without abatements would be purchased and that some properties in town have only been purchased because abatements were offered.
Police Chief Samuel Chappell reported the department will have a booth at the Delta Chicken Festival, with bicycle helmets and gun safes to give away. Officers will also be handing out helmets at a safety village event on Monday.
Chappell reported his department is holding a “Cops and Bobbers” event at the Fulton County Sportsmen’s Club on August 16 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for kids ages 5 to 16.
The event will include fishing, archery, and BB gun shooting, as well as food. The event was made possible through a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and other donors, and the Delta department will be joined by other agencies.
Participation is limited to 30 people, and registration is available on the department’s Facebook page, at its table during the Delta Chicken Festival, or by calling the department.
The council ended the public portion of the meeting by going into an executive session “to consider confidential information related to the marketing plans, specific business strategy, production techniques, trade secrets, or personal financial statements of an applicant for economic development assistance, or to negotiations with other political subdivisions respecting requests for economic development assistance.” 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, July 21, 2025, at 401 Main Street in Delta.