By: LeAnn Childress
The Edgerton Village Council Meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, Prayer, Roll Call, and the Approval of the Meeting Minutes from April 20, 2021.
Mayor Day Welcomes State Bank to Edgerton. Introductions began with the senior vice president and marketing executive Tyson Moss to the podium. Mr. Moss began by saying that they have five offices in Williams County with Edgerton having the fifth and they are headquartered in Defiance.
Mr. Moss continued, “We’re a community bank and we are dedicated to the communities that we serve. We are really excited to be here and we’re planning on opening next week and if you get a chance, stop in and I think you will be impressed with how it looks.”
“I want to give a couple of thank you’s, first of all to Bob [Mayor Day] and the Edgerton Development Corporation for reaching out to us and then for facilitating a plan of action that they really helped get through and we’re just really excited to be here and look forward to serving the community.”
“A couple of people that I have here with me are going to be instrumental in doing that. Our philosophy is to Bank Local and we have two great local people here. First is Adrian Fritsch and Adrian currently works in our Edon office and he has a lot of connections here in Edgerton and he will be doing Commercial and Ag. lending and overseeing the two offices.”
“Shelby Gillen is an Edgerton graduate and she is currently working in our Pioneer office managing that but when this opportunity came up she said that she would take on the challenge of coming over here and running this office for us.”
“Thank you for your warm hospitality, everybody has been great to us and this is just the beginning and we look forward to being here for many years and growing with the community.”
Reports and Discussion; Administrator Report
The Fire Department is going to be having the American Red Cross BloodMobile in town on May 27th from 12:00PM to 6:00PM. If anyone is interested in signing up for the event appointments can be made through the American Red Cross or if you need additional information please contact Chief Blue.
Crews have been working to raise or lower manhole covers or valve covers to the grade and they will be laying more asphalt then at a later date they will install concrete collars around the manhole covers and valves.
A couple of areas of focus with the streets, 1. To maintain the streets and the safety of vehicles and pedestrians – to make sure that we can safely travel. A crew is scheduled to come in to paint rail crossings, stop bars, school zones, and crosswalks.
Over the next couple of weeks there will be some minor interruptions to the flow of traffic and it is asked that motorists use extra caution in these areas. 2. There are many streets where the asphalt has deteriorated to the point that it will require that the surface will need to be milled out, regrade, and lay new asphalt.
In the 2021 budget, Council appropriated $65,000 for the paving within the Village. The best plan of action that would benefit the most people is to concentrate on several bad intersections and curbs.
The thought process is to get quotes, address some of the severe areas in town, and be the first in line on the spring schedule when the asphalt plant opens so we can get some work done.
We have additional funds left in the budget but it will be contingent on two big projects that will be awarded, hopefully, within the next couple of weeks.
Then we will have a good idea of the money that we will have left over and if these projects come in under what they are anticipated then we could have more money.
Once there are more details, there will definitely be more conversations. $65,000 is a good shot but when you look at the community as a whole, there is a lot of work to do.
The Water Tower project will be on May 14th and the opening bids will be at 11:00AM.
A notice was received from the Indiana Department of Transportation the city of Butler in Indiana will be working on a sewer project and that section of US HWY 6 will be closed.
It will be closed during June and July. Traffic will be detoured to 49, 249, and back to US 6 depending on the direction of travel. There could be a possible increase in traffic flow.
Creating a strategic planning process that will help Edgerton’s direction and to help Administrator Fitzcharles and her employees on the projects that should be worked on first. It will help to get everyone on the same page.
Once it’s decided and agreed upon, Operations, Administration, Economic Development, and all other departments will be working together to achieve our goals. Fitzcharles thinks that it will help simplify the decision making process because they will already have worked on the priorities.
This will also help in communicating information when asked questions by members of the community, individual employees and departments will know what the priorities are and what has already been worked on and what is next on the list.
Members of the Council are supportive of the strategic planning initiative. The possibility of hiring a Third Party Facilitator would help to put discussions into motion rather than continuing with discussions and possibly vering of course in achieving goals.
Fiscal Officer Report
Overall, day to day expenses as of April 30th were at almost 29% which is a little under budget. Year to date revenues as of April 30th were at 36% collected, so it is a little over budget.
In April the additional award was received that was accepted at the last meeting and the money was received for the grant for the total of $25,533.49 and equipment is being looked at to order.
There are some guidelines that have to be followed and certain dates, that’s being worked on right now. The process of learning and understanding the American Rescue Plan that was enacted on March 11, 2021.
In mid April the treasury released guidelines to local governments to be followed to be able to release these payments.
There are steps that need to be taken for preparation to be able to receive the funds and legislation will need to be brought before Council at the next meeting to be approved to add a separate fund giving us permission to acclimate the fund so that it is ready for when we receive payments.
There is still a question about the amount of payment received. The first payment could be in May, possibly 50% and the other 50% in one year. The amount will need to be figured out before moving forward with purchases.
One area being looked at as a possibility is broadband service and water and sewer upgrade/improvement.
Mayor Report
Mayor Day extended his appreciation for all those in attendance on Arbor Day with the planting and dedication of a tree in remembrance of Jim Bowsher.
The attendance of those paying their respects far exceeded what anyone would anticipate for the dedication and Mayor Day said that the turnout alone is all that is needed to say about Jim. People lingered to talk and to take pictures and it was a special time for Paula, Jim’s wife.
Communications, Petitions and Claims of Public
Williams County Prosecutor’s Office Victims Assistance Program funding request: The County Prosecutor reported that Williams County domestic violence doubled over that last 5 to 7 years and they believe that the violence will increase due to COVID because of people being in their homes.
In the state of Ohio there are 75 programs across 88 counties and with the current funding structure counties have received a distribution of money that equates to 9 cents, meaning that they are supposed to provide services for 9 cents for those in need.
Williams County has 2 fulltime advocates (previously 3) they rotate on-call 24/7 and they respond for rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence calls.
The program was initially funded by federal funds through the U.S. Department of Justice through a grant, The Victims of Crime Act grant. The grant was federally funded and distributed through the state and the state funneled it down through the counties.
In October of 2020 the funding to the Williams County Prosecutor’s Office was cut by 30% through this grant and in October 2021 there will be another cut which will, overall, be a budgeting short-fall of 52%.
They are currently operating on 80% grant and a 20% match funded by the Prosecutor’s Office budget. The Prosecutor has asked for $5,000 for October 2021 to September 2022 program year.
The Prosecutor believes the funding short-fall will be fixed by 2023. They do not take funds from individuals or businesses to remain neutral in the communities that they serve.
The County Prosecutor said they would accept any dollar amount. At the next meeting an appropriation will be brought for the appropriate amount. It will be appropriated and put in a purchase order and go forward.
The week of May 2 through May 8, 2021 was Drinking Water Week – “There When You Need It”
Reports of Committees
There is a Park Board meeting on May 12, 2021 at 5:00PM, everyone is welcome to come in and listen, get involved, or give an opinion. There have been some updates to the bandstand and anything that can be done to get people downtown and use the town park is a positive.
Discussions on updates to Burkhardt Park. The Park Board is interested in looking at the Town Park to see what can be done. The upcoming meeting will look at the parks long term rather than to see how quickly things can be done.
Resolutions/Ordinances/Motion
Motion to approve Bill’s List 5/4/21 – All Approve
Motion to approve Police Use of Force Policy update – Gruver, Wallace, Thiel, Muehlfeld, Karnes, Approve; VanAusdale, No
Motion to approve Police Recruiting and Hiring Policy update – All Approve
Motion to approve Police Handcuffs and Restraints Policy update – All Approve
Motion to approve the purchase of a 2021 police cruiser – Tabled
Village of Edgerton Ordinance No. 1079: An Ordinance Providing For a Supplement to the 2021 Annual Appropriations – Tabled
Village of Edgerton Ordinance 1080: Large Power Electric Rate Decrease – Suspend/Pass: Effective June 1, 2021
Village of Edgerton Ordinance 1081: An Ordinance Adopting Sanitary Sewer Rates Repealing Ordinance No. 969 (1st Reading) – All Yes
Village of Edgerton Resolution No. 2021-005: A Resolution Opposing Sub. House Bill 157 Amending the Law Regarding Withholding Municipal Earned Income Tax For Those Working Virtually and/or At Home – Wallace, Muehlfeld, and Karnes, No; VanAusdale, Gruver, and Thiel, Yes.
Next Council Meeting – Tuesday May 18, 2021 at 7:00PM
LeAnn can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com