GETTING PREPPED … Montpelier Mayor Steve Yagelski, Law Director Chris Walker, Village Clerk Jessica Apple and village council members Melissa Ewers, Chris Kannel and Kevin Motter are seen here as they got set up prior to the February 14, 2022 council meeting. (PHOTO BY REBECCA MILLER, STAFF)
By: Rebecca Miller
Montpelier Village Council meeting on February 14, 2022 was held in their council room at the Police Station. Council approved the agenda for the meeting as well as the minutes of January 24, 2022 and the January financial reports.
Fire Chief Brian Fritsch went over a printed annual report with council informing them of the following points concerning the Montpelier Fire Department:
-Active Roster which includes himself, Assistant Chief Tim Sanders, Safety officer Chad Lyons, three Lieutenants and nineteen firefighters
-Responded to 178 calls in 2021 (avg. from 2015-202 was 169)
-Incident count and percentage of total calls:
-By type, with vehicle accidents at 28% being the highest
-By response area, with village of Montpelier at 37% being highest
-By chargeable calls, with Village of Montpelier being highest at 45 incidents/31.03%
-Total incidents by Township and Village by Charged and non-charged calls
-Number of calls per month averaged 15, with Tuesdays and Fridays busiest days
Fritsch also covered apparatus usage for the year and training hours of each member. He announced that they have a new member coming on who is already certified with Firefighter 2.
Kevin Sommer, Wastewater Plant Director, reported also, telling council that he felt 2021 was a very good year for his department.
The majority of the 14 calls for the year were weather related. He said that CSO should be “wrapped up” soon. The system is handling everything.
The biggest concern at present concerns storage and disposal and they will consider working on that after the CSO’s are completed.
They will renew disposal rates with landfill this year. He reported on equipment that was repaired, renovated and replaced. The plant is getting 30 to 70 years of service out of all equipment.
The eleven lift stations have had minor wear and tear and some work done on them.
He also made his “annual appeal to residents to Please Not Flush anything down the toilet that is not supposed to be flushed.”
Councilman Chris Kannel pointed out that there were no overflow issues even in October when they had a huge amount of rain.
Sommer agreed and said that they were thrilled by no CSO events. Council member, Melissa Ewers thanked him for the great job that he and his team are doing when they have to react to situations.
The “problem with Menards” was brought up, and Village Manager Jason Rockey said he has been in touch with the company and they are in process of getting that taken finished.
Sommer said that they installed a new pump in January and a rebuild in March. They will be checking on one of them during the month, and are hoping the problem with items being flushed will stop someday.
Mayor Steve Yagelski welcomed the two students there for Government Class. In Committee Reports, Ewers reported that the PSC (Personnel, Safety and Community Engagement) met and went over their purpose and responsibilities. They also want to start doing yearly reviews of employees.
Work on the Job Descriptions, Policy Handbook and Rules for Council and Mayor is also moving on to bring them all up to date. Discussion of a possible newsletter that will go out to all community members, was also held.
Kannel reported that on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, the school in partnership with ECHO, Montpelier Police and Health Department, are hosting an event called “The More You Know.”
It is a free Montpelier Community event to educate parents, educators and caregivers on Trauma, Social Media Apps, and Vaping. Childcare will be provided for Pre-school through 5th grade.
A meal will also be provided and the evening offers “house points for students” and a connection community resources.
Council member Don Schlosser said that he was impressed by the Police Banquet which he attended, adding that it really helps those who attend to understand what they deal with on a daily basis. Mayor Yagelski added that the speaker was excellent.
Kevin Motter, the council member who had informed council previously that the county was pulling out the stops for the National Guard members who were in here to help at the hospital, reported that they left on February 12th.
They told him that they were very touched by the amount of hospitality they experienced in Williams County. He listed all the organizations who assisted and thanked them.
He choked up as he added that it was so impressive the number of citizens who “picked up the tab when these guys were out to dinner.”
There was some discussion concerning “battery issues” and Nikki Uribes, Village Director of Finance, informed them that new ones are being sent.
Mayor Yagelski shared his concern over the residents who are not keeping their sidewalks shoveled during snow times, stating that he witnessed an elderly resident falling on a sidewalk.
It is the responsibility of owners to keep the sidewalk clean during snow. He said he hopes that all those individuals who can get out and rake leaves and want immediate response from the street department, will do their part by getting out to shovel their sidewalks.
He also mentioned that it is part of the snow season to have the driveways plowed shut as the street crews are working hard to get the streets plowed, so he hopes they will not complain and just go shovel it out.
He thanked all the residents who graciously removed their vehicles from the streets to make it easier for the plows to do their job.
As part of the passage of legal items, Rockey informed council that he had checked on the cost of a pickup from the local car sales, as a Resolution was tabled to get a second quote.
The Darrel-Shirkey quote came in at $4600 higher than the quote from Estle Chevrolet, as D-S does not “typically deal in fleet vehicles.”
He recommended that council authorize the purchase from Estle, for $36,558. Council voted to suspend and approve Resolution 1336 “Authorize the Village Manager to purchase a pickup truck for the Parks Department.”
Council also approved a Then and Now Certificate for Fire Safety Services, Inc. in the amount of $2,041.20 and Resolution 1337 “Reactivating and Renaming a Previous Fund.”
In her income tax report, Uribes let council know that the amount collected for January 2022 was $279,034.42 (2021 was $90,227.09 and 2020 was $174,091.38.)
Rockey gave his Village Manager’s Report, informing council of the following:
-He received the Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Program grant agreement, forwarded it to legal to be signed and returned.
-J&M Excavators is clearing Log Jams on the St. Joe River (which Kannel said is paid for by Maumee Conservancy and which Fritsch, as County Drainage Engineer, clarified is using the $6 a year that residents are assessed on their property taxes for St. Joe River watershed). Kannel said that any residents who will let them access the river through their property, should let him know and he will connect them.
-Meeting scheduled for turn lane project in front of the school
-Returning to possibility of Electric Charging Station – there does not seem to be any funds available for that right now. They will continue to look for that money.
With no further regular business, council went into an Executive Session to discuss Personnel – Employment of a public employee, and Acquisition of Property. There was no action taken.
Rebecca can be reached at rebecca@thevillagereporter.com