BUSINESS OF THE VILLAGE …With everyone present for the May 16, 2022 Village Council, the camera was turned on for recording of the meeting and business proceeded. In the back from left to right are Village Administrator Al Riegsecker, Fiscal Officer Beth Rediger, Solicitor Kevin Whitlock and Police Chief Steve Schlosser. At the table, are Mayor Joe Beck and coming around from left to right, back to front, Kim Feehan, Sean Ingram, Dusty Potter, Nick Wlasiuk, Dave Benner and President Vicki Cameron. (PHOTO BY REBECCA MILLER, STAFF)
By: Rebecca Miller
Stryker Village Council was held on May 16, 2022 with Council member Sean Ingram opening in prayer and Police Chief Steve Schlosser, Marine veteran, leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
Council approved the minutes for April 18, 2022 and the Finance report as of May 13, 2022. Also approved were the Judiciary Committee Minutes for April 18th which explained the following:
Present for that Judiciary Committee meeting were Mayor Joe Beck, committee members Ingram, Wlasiuk and Feehan as well as Village Solicitor Kevin Whitlock, Fiscal Officer Beth Rediger and Village Administrator Alan Riegsecker.
‘The purpose of the meeting was to discuss updating the Village Employee handbook and Policy and Procedure Manual. Rediger suggested that the two be combined into one updated version.
Wlasiuk stated a concern for missing documents, especially “proper forms for hiring, dismissal, accidents, time off, etc.”.
Rediger said the village has proper forms for such events and her concern is that the polices need to be updated, such as the Village Credit card policy, computer use, pay calculations, and employee job descriptions. “Evaluations either need to be updated or even added into one manual.”
Ingram said he is missing some of the sections in his copy of the Village Handbook which he has, and that he was not aware that there is a Village of Stryker Policy and Procedure Manual.
He said when updating he would like to see the current version of each section from the two books and then the proposed version to compare.
Rediger agreed that any future changes will be presented in that format with proper complete copies.
Whitlock suggested the Village of Stryker department heads work on preparing the Village of Stryker Policy and Procedure Manual updating, section by section, a little at a time.
Then they can present the changes to the Judiciary Committee and to him for legal review before going to Council for final approval, as this would be the most cost-effective way for the village to complete the task.
Rediger said she will coordinate with Riegsecker and Schlosser and Whitlock said that it will not be a quick process, especially since neither document has been updated since 2009. It might take more than a year to have a new completed version.
The Welfare Committee met from 5-6 p.m. prior to the May 16 meeting, to discuss Stryker Fest. The minutes for that will be presented and approved at the next council meeting.
In communications, Riegsecker informed council that the Depot building needed repairs are getting estimates.
Mayor Beck explained to newer members that the village owns the building, as it was donated to the village by Erie Sauder, and is responsible for the repairs but that the Stryker Area Heritage Council also helps. Also, council was given a WEDCO sheet of updates in their packets.
There was no legislation, so council went on to Village Official reports. Reigsecker announced hydrant flushing for the village, north side on 16th and 17th and south side on 18th and 19th.
He recommended as always that no one do laundry whites on those days as the water can have some rust in it. Large Trash pick-up went well and they were down $700 this year.
He shared that the new Alert 86 will be going live on June 1st and anyone who wants alerts will be able to sign up. (Alert 86 will have it set up for the county and each village to have admin rights as notifiers.
Anyone can go online and sign up for what alerts you want to get and even if you have some hours you don’t want them to come through. Any questions can be directed to Apryl McClaine at EMA, amcclaine@wmsco.org .). Anyone needing help to sign up can get assistance at the village hall.
Rediger reported that the revenue for April was $147,300 and expenses were $82,023. She asked if council wants her to go ahead and put flowers in the downtown planters, and they thanked her and said to go ahead. She also said she is working on the handbook but it is slow going.
Solicitor Whitlock said that he called Century Link about the hanging pole by Dollar General but has not heard anything yet. He was told that they have been called multiple times with no action.
He plans to send a Certified Letter to Century Link, with the information that they have now received four official calls and they need to get it taken care of immediately. He also asked for an Executive Session before adjournment.
Chief Schlosser reported that during April there were ten traffic warnings, one citation and four adult arrests.
Council member Vicki Cameron reminded Stryker residents to not blow grass on the roads as it clogs the drains and to please clean up yards of junk cars and other unsightly items.
She also mentioned that when compost is dumped in the dumpster behind the village hall, it needs to be dumped out of garbage bags into the dumpster.
Council member Sean Ingram said he has been approached to see if it is possible to get a Porta John at the cemetery. Riegsecker said he will check into that.
Council then went into Executive Session to discuss possible litigation, with no action taken, and the meeting adjourned.
Rebecca can be reached at rebecca@thevillagereporter.com
