Village of Thurston

Council Meeting Minutes

August 14, 2003

 

 

Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm by Mayor Hite.  Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

 

Roll call:          Robert Ortman – Present

Nona Buskirk – Present

Roger Aubery – Present

Warren Simpson – Present

JT Hilliard – Present

Josh Prather – Present

JoAnn Hite – Present

Aaron Reedy – Present

 

Keith Doll was present from ME Companies.  He told the Council about the upcoming Issue 2 applications.  He would like to submit the Third Street Storm Sewer project.  He said CDBG approved the project for Long St. drainage, and that will begin in 2004.  Keith estimated it would be in the spring 2004 when design & bidding would occur.  He said we currently have a scope & budget for Long St.

 

Tammy Prather asked if the Long St. project would help the drainage problem in the ally area between Elm & Long St.  Keith said no, he couldn’t put a catch basin in private property, unless there is an easement or right-of-way established.  Keith informed Council that these systems are designed to handle normal rainfall, not like some of the downpours we’ve been having recently.  Keith said a private property-owner’s drain tile can be connected to the Village’s catch basin with the Village’s approval.

 

Keith brought up the Third St. project.  Applications are due October 3rd 2003.  He’d like to revisit the site, run the numbers to see where we need to be.  Josh asked what else had to be done around the Village.  JoAnn said Third Street should have been done before Long Street.  Josh said that wasn’t what he was asking. JT said he’s heard a lot of complaints about Third St.  JoAnn said there’s nothing else that needed done that was as important as Third St.

 

Keith said the Village would have to have a local match, with a 10% minimum.  There’s a scoring as to how much Village will match.  Keith is asking for the Council’s authorization to proceed.

 

JT wanted to know if we could afford this.  Keith said it’s not worth our time unless we put up 21% match.  If this is approved, funds would be released in July of 2004.  Keith said ME’s fee would be $250.  We would know how much the project will be until Keith reruns the figures.

 

Josh made a motion to authorize ME Companies to check into the Third Street project with a $250 fee.  Roger second.  All Yeah.

 

Keith said as a part of the project submission, Council needs to consider their 5-year capital improvements plan.  JT said he’d like to see new sidewalks, curbs & decorative lighting installed along Main St. & High St. Keith said that was viable, but asked Council to put some thought into the plan.  He also suggested getting support letters from residents, photos of the problem areas – anything supporting need of the project.  Keith said the next regular Council meeting would be a good time to review costs and scoring measures. 

 

Aaron asked if Keith had inspected Moline Drive yet.  Keith said he didn’t realize he was authorized to review it.  Lowell gave Keith the plans.  Keith said he would review it.  Council agreed that they only wanted the “25-cent” version of a review.  They want to know if it would benefit the Village, or be a detriment.  Also – check the drainage.  Keith said he’s get back with us.

 

JoAnn opened the floor to other people attending, giving them 10 minutes each to speak.

 

Rochelle Hanson asked about the gravel for the alleys.  Josh said he doesn’t want to just pour gravel, he wants to do it right.  He said there needs to be some grading done and some berm gravel laid.  He said it will probably be more expensive than Council would like, but it would be done right.

 

Bob Black from the Thurston High Heritage Association would like to re-varnish the museum floor, but would need to move everything from the museum into the room across from Council chambers.  He asked if that was alright.  JT made a motion to allow him to use that room to store the property for as long as he needs.  Josh second.  All yea.

 

Bob said he would also like permission to work on the hallway in front of the bathroom.  JT made a motion to allow it.  Roger second.  All yea.  Bob said he would like a copy of the termite inspection.  Aaron said he would get him a copy.

 

Nona made a motion to approve the July 2003 minutes.  JT second.  All yea, except Josh abstained because he didn’t get a chance to read them.

 

Nona made a motion to approve the July 2003 financial statement.  Warren second.  All yea.  JT asked about the charges for $73 by the fire department for electrical bags.  He said he could make it for $20.  He also asked about the Nextel bill.

 

JT asked about the Safety Committee meeting that had been held a few weeks ago without being posted.  Nona said she apologized, she made a mistake.  JT said it was not publicly posted.  Nona said he will be notified about it in the future.

 

JoAnn said the mosquito guy, Homes, called after the last meeting to see if he got the bid on termite monitoring.  He left a message saying he should have got the bid since he was the lowest bidder.  He says he’s going to sue us.  Lowell said he was told he couldn’t ride with Homes anymore if he sprays.  He has only sprayed one time this year.  Josh made a motion to have the Village Solicitor look into the possibility of canceling the spraying contract with R. Homes & Business since he is not spraying.  Roger second.  All yea.

 

Council entertained a bid from Sam’s Pest Control for $100 per spray, but he stated he wouldn’t go down every street.  Josh said we need to find out if he will go down Long Street.  There are no other bids.  Nona made a motion to accept the bid from Sam’s Pest Control if we can cancel the previous contract with R. Homes, and if Sam’s Pest Control will go down certain streets in the Village.  Roger second.  All yea.

 

JoAnn said that one of the fire extinguishers was bad and had to be replaced.  JT made a motion that whenever a fire extinguisher needed replaced, it can be replaced without a vote from Council.  Josh second. 

            Roger – Yes

            Warren – No

            JT – Yes

            Josh - Yes

            Nona – No

            Robert – Yes

 

Josh wants to know what Council wants to do about gravel for the alleys.  How do we decide what’s right?  Aaron said he would like to know how many people would benefit from the graveled alley.  Josh has been learning about the issue from Mr. Dornan.  Josh said some folks don’t want the alleys graveled, so they aren’t needed.  Everyone agreed to hear what Mr. Dornan has to say about the alleys and how they should be done.

 

JoAnn announced that we got a check from Walnut Township Trustees for $10,000.  This is the balance of the fire contract for the first half of 2003.

 

JoAnn asked if anyone heard anything about Long Street.  Josh said he called Heiberger paving several times about the road breaking up.  He has received no response.  Roger made a motion to have the Solicitor draft a letter to Ken Heiberger informing him that repairs must be done.  Warren second.  All yea.  Josh told Aaron to have the Solicitor carbon-copy Heiberger’s bonding company.  He also wants the Solicitor told that this is an urgent matter because of it being warranty work.

 

JoAnn asked if anyone heard anything on the flood planning program.  No one had.  This had been turned over to the Village Solicitor as per the last meeting.

 

JoAnn asked if anyone noticed their Waste Management bill went up due to state sales tax.

 

JoAnn asked if there was any new business.  JT made a motion to look into and begin talking with Walnut Township Trustees about giving them the Fire Department.  Robert second.  JT said we pay double for fire protection and EMS.  He said this is a good idea for the citizens for Thurston.  He said it would just be investigating the idea.

            Robert – Yes

            Nona - No

            Josh – Yes

            Roger – No     

Warren – No

            JT – Yes

JoAnn broke the tie with a No vote. 

 

JT said we should send letters of appreciation to those folks coming back from the Iraq War.  Several members of council disagreed.  Who would we send it to?  What about the WWII vets, the Vietnam vets?  Chaos ensued.  JT dropped the idea.

 

JT asked Lowell if his stuff was out of the First Street building.  Lowell said no.

 

JT said he would like to see us get rid of the power poles in front of the parking lot and replace them with a fence to match the other side of the lot.  JoAnn said Lowell’s not doing it again.  Tammy Prather spoke up and told Mayor Hite that she was rude, obnoxious, and pathetic.  She continued to express her feelings for the Mayor.  Mayor Hite gave her the gavel and told her to leave the Council Chambers.

 

Nona made it known that the Safety Committee was meeting on August 25th at 7:00 p.m. at the Firehouse.

 

Josh brought up the letter received from Chris Whightsel regarding the sign.  Josh said we need to remove the sign.  Josh made a motion to consult with the Village Solicitor about the removal of the sign.  JT second.  Conversation ensued.

Robert – Yes

            Nona - No

            Josh – Yes

            Roger – Yes   

Warren – No

            JT – Yes

 

Aaron said he would send the information to the Solicitor.

 

JT made a motion to allow Josh to keep his fence up on his property with the exception that if the area is needed for Village use, it will be removed.  Robert second.

Robert – Yes

            Nona - No

            Josh – abstained

            Roger – Yes   

Warren – No

            JT – Yes

 

Josh passed around a drawing showing that the road is wide enough for 2 cars to pass with 3 feet of space between them.  He said what Whightsel wrote was completely wrong.  Josh said that in Owen Keller’s police report, Owen said he had the authority of the Mayor of Thurston when he spray-painted Josh’s fence.  JoAnn said it wasn’t true.

 

JoAnn said we’ll have ME come down and check it.  If it’s in the road, we’ll movie t.  Josh and JT said she couldn’t because Council just voted on allowing him to keep it up.

 

Chaos ensued.  A small vein in the Clerk’s head popped.

 

Josh made a motion to pay bills and adjourn.  JT second.  All yea.  The time is 8:44 p.m.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

 

_______________________________

Aaron L. Reedy, Clerk