By: Jennifer Ellison
The meeting began May 24th at 6:00 with prayer, led by Mayor Neil Toeppe and the Pledge of Allegiance. All council members were present and accounted for.
The first order of business was to approve the agenda and minutes for the May 10th meeting.
Public discussion was initiated over the waterline running beneath a for-sale property and an interested family asking about the acreage to the west of the waterline and whether or not a home and specifically a driveway could be constructed over the top of this waterline and whether the waterline could/should be moved into village territory.
Plans to install a new fire hydrant were scheduled for last fall of 2020 and have been pushed to this year, date undisclosed. The line is 83 years old and will need updates regardless.
New Business: The council talked about trying to consolidate the current playground area for the park to bring the structures closer together to make it easier to keep an eye on children.
The council discussed application for a grant for funding. The quotes would include installation and the cost is estimated to be around $27,000 for installation. Further discussion on the matter is on the horizon.
On Airport Highway, there are two different issues at the intersections of Airport and Munson and Airport and Main regarding two-to-one lane merging. The merging time is too short and has become less safe as a result.
Complaints have come in to the police over bad traffic etiquette and road rage. The suggestion of the far-right lane being turned into right-turn only was brought up. Further discussion set to take place at future meetings.
ODOT funding, if applied for this year, September 2021, would not be available until 2025. Members of the council met with ODOT to evaluate the results of traffic studies around Airport, Main, and Munson. Motion to apply for funding was approved.
Mayor Neil Toeppe declared June as Prostate Cancer Awareness month, with the hope of instilling better education and awareness for health and screening by the public toward one of the deadliest afflictions in the country.
Property insurance rates set to increase for certain pieces of property, including for the park, which was listed at a replacement value of $500,000, with a blanket amount of $41 million, for which an appraisal was requested for all items in question. The motion to proceed was approved.
Resolution for a cooperative purchasing program for declaring emergency was approved, with a motion approved to suspend the rules.
Emergency resolution for authorizing the submission of an application in support of the Ohio department of natural resources to the NatureWorks grant program to replace park and playground equipment. Rules were suspended and the motion to proceed was approved.
An emergency resolution for project 8 and 9 sewage separation was rules suspended and approved to proceed by the council.
The administrator report considered of trash pickup being moved to the second Monday of the month up until October when it will resume as weekly.
Swanton is still listed as a COVID rapid testing site.
The governor has ordered public health orders to cease across the state of Ohio with an ease up on the mask mandate. Masks are no longer required, but people may still wear them if they wish.
Project 8 and 9 have approved contractors with EPA documents due by June 15th to have the July loan granted. No issues anticipated. Council warns this project will be inconvenient for the community.
WRF master plan is expected to proceed smoothly with the final report expected to appear at a future meeting. New supplies and materials are needed for the sewage plant as a result of “flushable” wipes causing problems in the sewer systems.
The treatment process, which is lime softening, is expected to change to a reverse osmosis membrane system, which will save on chemical cost and sludge removal. It’s also safer for employees. It must be approved by the EPA before the project can proceed.
Drainage is still planned for Memorial Park, which was seal coated and striped last week.
Phase 2 meter update for installations made on May 12th. As of Friday, 418 were installed and 422 are scheduled for a total of 840 planned meters. Community members are urged to call and schedule their appointments if they have not done so already.
Smith paving is tentatively scheduled to begin in July and finished by August.
Downtown parks contractor is continuing to work on pulling up concrete in preparation for new sidewalks.
Fireworks Fest is set to begin at 6 PM and go till 10 PM on July 3rd.
New office resource assistant Chris Newhouse was introduced to the council during his first week on the job.
The meeting adjourned at 7:08 to begin Executive session. The next meeting will be held at 6 PM on June 8th.
Jennifer can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com