By: James Pruitt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Metamora is going to allow a local man to till 5 newly purchased areas in the park for wheat planting before it is planted with grass.
The Village Council approved the plan at its June 1 meeting.
Justin Simon spoke about the drainage till and that it takes a while for the dirt to settle after tilling. He highly recommended waiting for the dirt to settle.
Eventually most of the property will be planted with grass. Simon could put a crop of beans on the property if it is tilled within the coming week. Then in the fall he would plant wheat.
The following July, when the wheat is harvested, he could plant the grass as the dirt would be mostly settled then.
Simon works for Berkey Farm Center and has the equipment available to prepare the ground for grass and the planting. It was decided to let Simon plant wheat in the fall after the 5 acres have been tilled. In the fall of 2017 he would seed the property with grass. Further development could be done in 2018.
The property could be used for Park-O-Rama parking in the meantime. The village would pay for the grass and fertilizer. There will be no charge to the village for equipment or labor.
Solicitor Alan Lehenbauer reported that Swanton, Delta and Archbold are doing boundary conformity with the townships. The township boundaries sometimes overlap into the villages. They are working on creating ordinances to present to the Commissioner so township residents would be excluded from the village taxes.
The village of Metamora and Amboy Township have a good relationship and council did not see a need to pursue similar boundary conformity.
In other news, Lehenbauer recommended against boating and swimming at the reservoir for liability reasons. The village needs to ensure there are signs at the reservoir stating no boating or swimming.
Under new business, Health Span is being bought out by Medical Mutual effective on Sept. 1. The insurance coverage and cost will remain the same for now. There could be changes in the future.
Gary Loar sent information on the EPA rules on burning. Mayor Ken Wysong spoke to the EPA and the results are no burning. Residential cooking fires are allowed, but the village will no longer be able to burn the branches and brushes picked up in the village.
There is a large pile of brush at the reservoir now. Workers are taking newly picked up brush to Lammon Brothers in Delta for disposal.
The village may need to look into buying a chipper in the future. It could also rent a chipper or hire someone to pick it up and haul it away. The pile at the reservoir will be let go for now.
The village will no longer be picking up the residential grass clippings. Swanton and Lyons do not pick up grass clippings. The village will announce it on the website, Facebook, newsletter.
The original quotes for tilling the 5 acres have substantially changed. Midwest Drainage quoted $3,915 but has since sold the business. It is now Gross Drainage and the quote is $10,795.80, due to piping costs overlooked in the original quote from Midwest. The quote from Steve Schmidt is now $13,204. Council would like to see a couple of more quotes. Tilling is necessary for the improvement of the property.
There is $6,884.90 in Land & Buildings Capital Improvement now so additional funds would be needed for the tilling. Justin Kreischer motioned to move $5,000 from the General Fund to L&B Capital Improvement to cover the cost of tilling the new 5 acres.
Justin Kreischer motioned to approve the expenditure not to exceed $10,800. Targeting to have the tilling completed by July 4.
Mayor Wysong reported Swanton is hiring a zoning inspector for about three days a week at $15 per hour. It may be possible to re-write the job description to fit Metamora needs better and check with their person. Wysong will check with Swanton. The candidate would need to meet with Personnel & Finance.
James Pruitt may be reached at
publisher@thevillagereporter.com