WORKING THROUGH THE ISSUES … Swanton Mayor Neil Toeppe (center right) addresses the Swanton Village Council during its meeting Monday. Also pictured are Finance Director Holden Benfield (left), Village Administrator Shannon Shulters (center left), and Council Member Derek Kania (right).
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
The Swanton Village Council voted to increase pay for future Council members and mayors, amid a wide variety of other actions and reports.
The increase, previously discussed at length and argued on both sides by members of the Council, will still leave Swanton paying below the median for the roles.
The proposed rates would see pay for the mayor following the next election to rise from an annual rate of $5,520 to $9,600 (with a $400 expense account), and council pay increasing from $3,000 to $4,800 when those seats are up.
DELTA FIREFIGHTING AGREEMENT
The Council authorized Fire Chief Ed Dziengelewski to enter into an aid agreement with the Delta Community Fire Department.
According to Dziengelewski, the mutual aid contract is just a renewal of an agreement that has been in place for a long time but was outdated.
He said a similarly updated renewal agreement for fire service automatic aid with Fulton County would likely be coming at the next Council meeting.
He added that the new agreements will mesh with a new system coming online in the near future that will help with such callouts.
“We will be able to pick what departments are coming our way with what apparatus right off the bat as soon as they get the call,” Dziengelewski said.
DIGITAL BLOCK WATCH PROPOSAL
Toeppe told the Council he had become interested in establishing a “voluntary and confidential registry” of Village residences who had surveillance camera equipment like Ring-brand doorbells. He called the potential of such a program a “block watch on steroids.”
“So, if cars are getting tampered with or whatever the incident might be in the neighborhood – once that’s reported to the police, the police know immediately where to go and start looking for surveillance,” Toeppe said.
He said it stops officers from needing to go door-to-door in each instance, trying to find out who had such systems. “Now … miscreants would know they’re being surveilled,” Toeppe said.
NEW EMERGENCY PERSONNEL
The Council authorized the hiring of four new part-time emergency personnel, including paramedic Michael Sharp, EMTs Grace Oakes and Damien Boyer, and firefighter/EMT Dalton Richard. All the hirings are pending drug screening, physical, and background checks.
OTHER BUSINESS
The Council approved on first reading a measure to purchase at the cost of $130,000 the property located at 419 South Main Street. The location could be used for future Division of Public Service Operations storage.
The Council approved on first reading a measure to rezone the “West Park” property from “central business” B3 to “light industrial” M1.
Toeppe reported he had been contacted by ten volunteers wanting to be a part of a new park board, including a pastor, someone with the Swanton Recreation Association, and moms and dads.
He called it a “broad cross-section” of the community. The board will be tasked with recommending a future path for Village parks and its associated department.
Village Administrator Shannon Shulters reported brush pickup is no longer done on a quadrant-based system with different areas being cleared on different days.
All brush must now be on the curb or side of the road by 7 a.m. on the second Monday of each month from April through October.
Jesse can be reached at jesse@thevillagereporter.com