By: Lindsay Phillips
Montpelier Village Council began their meeting at 6:00 p.m. at the police department.
The meeting was called to order followed by a prayer and The Pledge of Allegiance. An amendment to the agenda was approved to add an executive session at the end of the meeting.
Minutes from the previous council meeting on September 12 were approved as well as financial reports from September.
American Municipal Power (AMP) awarded Montpelier Electric Department an AMP Safety Award for transmission distribution in recognition of no lost time due to reportable accidents.
Tim Fry, long-time electric department employee, was present during the meeting to accept the awards on behalf of the electric department.
Clerk of Council, Jessica Apple received recognition during the meeting for receiving her Certified Municipal Clerk Certification.
Nathan Stoltzfus gave council an update on the Wetland Restoration Project at State Route 107 and County Road 10.
The drawings for the project were given to council and are ninety percent completed.
One of the main obstacles currently is submitting and receiving the permits, which take around forty-five days to process.
One change to the plans was the removal of a construction entrance off State Route 127.
As council moved to hear from the public, Betty Freese shared, “The orange fence did come down on the 29th so I was hopeful the metal posts would come down by the 30th.”
“On the 1st of the month, I stopped in Chris Kannel’s office to see if council had changed the rules that the posts weren’t to come down and he said, ‘no nothing has changed’ and he said to file a nuisance complaint with the police.”
“So, on the 3rd I filed a complaint I haven’t heard or seen anything, but the metal posts are still there.”
Council informed Mrs. Freese that there is nothing in the codified ordinances that states metal posts aren’t allowed.
When asked if the posts are in the way, Freese explained, “Yes they are, because he positioned two of them right by the concrete foundation that my sheds on which makes it to where to get my bicycle out there’s about 22-24 inches there.”
“With the handlebars and the lawn mower, I have a riding mower, but I also have a small mower with a bag on it for the leaves, the two posts I have to tip the wheels of my lawn mower to get it past the posts.”
After discussion and reading of the ordinances, council agreed they have gone as far as they can and cannot make the neighbor remove their posts.
Hearing no other comments, council motioned to approve the Employee Health Insurance Renewal with Paramount, with the only difference being in the low deductible plan with an increase of two hundred dollars.
The following items were approved by council:
- 2023 Utility Delinquent and Termination Dates.
- Resolution 1354, Authorizing the Purchase of a Pickup Truck for the Parks Department from Whiteside of St. Clairsville, Incorporated.
- Ordinance 2263, Accepting the Ruble Sewer System from the Board of County Commissioners.
- Income Tax Reports
During Village Manager Jason Rockey’s report he shared, “We are in the process of ordering a new storm warning siren to replace the one at the fairground.”
“This is something we talked about in February or March of last year.”
“All the issues with ordering anything and working through the sales process, we do have money in the budget this year to replace the one that has been out of service out there.”
Council moved to an executive session to discuss acquisition of property with no action taken.
Hearing no other business, the meeting was adjourned.
Lindsay can be reached at lindsay@thevillagereporter.com