Moving forward from last month’s discussion, Edon Village Council voted to suspend the three-reading rule and approve Ordinance 02-14 Allocation of Income Tax Funds during its regular monthly meeting held Monday, March 17, 2014 in Council Chambers. In attendance for the evening session were Councilors Roxana Nester, Lee Lawrence, Duane Thiel, Richard Chapin, Chuck Bidwell, Gale Horn, Mayor Darlene Burkhardt, Fiscal Officer Heidi Bidwell, Solicitor Tom Thompson and one guest.
This past January, Fiscal Officer Bidwell requested Council to consider redoing Ordinance 181.09: Disbursement of Income Tax Funds beginning with the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2014. As she noted, collected income tax disbursements were currently allocated at 80.34 percent to the General Fund; 11.33 percent to Sanitary Sewer and 8.33 percent to Capital Outlay. With the Village’s last sanitary sewer loan payment expected in July, future allotments to the department could be eliminated and percentages to General and Capital Outlay Funds be adjusted accordingly.
Upon concluding their final review of the amended Ordinance prepared by Solicitor Thompson, Council approved repealing existing Section 181.09 of the Codified Ordinances of Edon, Ohio and enacting Section 181.09 of the Codified Ordinances of Edon, Ohio regarding the allocation of the original one percent income tax and declaring an emergency.
Effective April 1, 2014, Ordinance 02-14, now allocates 97.5 percent of all income tax receipts (received from the original one percent income tax) to the General Fund to be used for any lawful purposes and the remaining 2.5 percent to be set aside and used in the Capital Outlay Fund.
Additionally that night, Council was informed by Street Superintendent Jim Brigle quotes to repair the backhoe brakes now ranged from $7,500 to $10,000. While speaking to the matter at hand, questions and concerns ~ such as whether the Village could get another ten years of service from the equipment with completed repairs; when the time comes to purchase a new backhoe (estimated at seventy-nine thousand dollars), could costs be possibly shared with Florence Township; would the Village be able to recoup money spent if the backhoe was later sold; could repairs be done in-house rather than contracted out ~ were posed and taken into account before proceeding. With a motion on the table, Council went on to approve repairs to the Village backhoe as initially submitted.
In other action, Council:
• Shared Spring Trash pickup would take place Saturday, May 17.
• Heard Chief of Police Tom Szymczak’s detailed Service Log and Vehicle Report for February. Also noted was his attendance at the recent Mock Crash planning meeting and handling of last month’s bomb threat at the school.
• Noted with current budget cuts, the Park Department would be allowed twenty hours per week for part-time workers.
• Set the Street Committee meeting (Councilors Thiel, Horn and Lawrence) for Thursday, March 27 at 9:00 a.m.
• Learned the Park Board needs to be reorganized by the end of the month.
• Accepted the Minutes, Financial Report and Bills as presented.
• Learned WEDCO’s annual luncheon meeting would be held March 27 at the Williams County Veterans Building in Montpelier; councilors interested in attending should RSVP without delay.
The next regular monthly meeting of the Edon Village Council will be held Monday, April 21, 2014 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Village Chambers.