(PHOTO BREANA RELIFORD / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
WORKING TOGETHER… Council Members decide how to solve the water meter problem.
By: Breana Reliford
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Montpelier Village Council met on Monday, October 14, 2024, at 6:00pm. The meeting began with roll call. Council members Heather Freese, Nathan Thompson, Chris Kannel, Kevin Motter, Mayor Steve Yagelski, Village Manager Jason Rockey, Clerk of Council Molly Collert, and Director of Finance Nikki Uribes were all present this evening.
Next, there was a moment of silence for prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.
The council went on to approve the agenda for October 14 as well as the minutes from the September 16 meeting. They also approved the September 2024 financial reports.
Montpelier Schools new Superintendent, Travis Lichty, also spoke at the meeting, to introduce himself and share how his first year has been going so far.
He began his term this August after being approved back in March to head the position. Lichty stated that he has been in education for 29 years, also teaching at other area schools such as Antwerp and Hicksville.
He expressed his excitement to be at Montpelier and is looking forward to making connections with the council and community members.
Some Montpelier government students also attended the meeting to observe the process of how elected officials make decisions for those living in the community.
During the council and committee reports, a variety of plans for upcoming projects were mentioned. A few included were the options for paving of the Wabash Cannonball Trail, the Manor Drive Multi-Use Path, which would create a safe bridge for students to use that would be constructed from Municipal Park to the school, and some sidewalks, curbs, and gutters to be placed or repaired throughout the village.
The safety route would run from the Municipal Park across the Historic Tree Grove, across Henry’s Drive, and then run along the back entrance to the school and connect it to the sidewalk at the rec center. This would create a safe route for students to use when walking to and from school.
As the meeting went on, the 2025 council meeting schedule was approved for the upcoming year, and the utility delinquent and termination schedule for 2025 was approved as well.
The council had a lengthy discussion about updates needed for the water system regulations, but ultimately decided to approve the motion.
The current water system regulations have not been updated since 2009, leaving some essential equipment, such as the handheld readers, to become obsolete.
An issue now is that for approximately 50-60 duplexes in the village, the water meters are located in basements of homes, and if there is maintenance required for these meters, they need to be able to get in and check the reading, however, if it doesn’t read correctly, the village would need to be able to get inside the property, which they currently do not have access to do.
For single-family residences, those meters have already been pitted at the road or the right-of-way. The solution discussed for this issue is for the village to provide one meter to these multi-family units at the right-of-way.
A point was made that it would then be up to the landlord in deciding how they want to split the utilities, given that there would only be one meter provided by the village for these multifamily units.
It was also brought up that because some fire hydrants in the village are privately owned by factories, the village does not have authority to flush or maintain these hydrants.
This means that there is a possibility that should there be a situation where a fire truck would need to utilize these hydrants, no water may come out because they are not being properly maintained.
There was also some discussion prior to the meeting with Fire Chief Fritsch on whether or not the village could have those private entities maintain their hydrants, including flushing them, operating the valves, and giving reports to the village so that there is record of routine maintenance for the fire department to reference if needed.
Currently, no other communities in the surrounding areas have this in effect. They decided to postpone this issue for now, and focus solely on the basement meter issue.
The council is in progress of working to draft a list of recommendations and contractors to help landlords understand their options in this process.
The Change Order for the Cranberry Run Storm Sewer Project was approved, adding the 400 block to the project, still falling in the same finance category.
The council was all in favor of both Resolution 1405, authorizing the purchase of an Ariel Truck for the Electric Department and Resolution 1406, amending appropriations for current expenses and other expenditures during the fiscal year ending in December 2024.
Ordinance 2276, vacating Alley Kint and Brodner Addition, was motioned for three readings, meaning the council will revisit this issue at a later date.
The Village of Montpelier was also granted two awards and a resolution for mutual aid at the annual conference:Honorable Mention for System Improvement Award (Southwest Subdivision Project) and the Safety Award (Zero Lost Time Accidents).
They also retained their AMP Board of Trustees Seat, along with other incumbents Bryan, Orville, and Oberlin.
Dakota Benner and Drew Shepard are a two-man crew from the Montpelier Electric Department who are currently working around the clock to restore power in Florida after Hurricane Milton.
They went down early to prepare for the storm, took refuge in Lakeland, near Tampa, while the storm occurred, and immediately began working diligently to assist the community of Lakeland.
Benner and Shepard took the bucket truck from the Electric Department from Ohio to Florida about a week ago, and continue to work long hours.
They have restored transmission lines, installed secondary distribution lines, and connected electrical lines to houses.
The community of Lakeland is made up of about 130,000 people, with 80% of citizens having obtained power after the storm as of Sunday, October 13.
The crew has not announced when they plan to return, but as of this time they plan to keep working to get as many people back with power as they can.
Montpelier is proud of their efforts in the assistance they have given to those in Florida. The meeting adjourned at 7:15pm. The next meeting will take place on October 28 at 6:00pm.