Village of Thurston

Council Meeting Minutes

August 9, 2007

 

Meeting called to order at 7:35 pm by Mayor Mary Barber.  Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 

 

Roll call:          Robert Ortman – Present

Warren Simpson – Present

Ed Vanek – Present

Vickie Carroll - Present

Laura Clark – Present

Detria Hiles – Present

Mary Barber – Present

Aaron Reedy – Present

 

 

Mary asked if any visitors wished to speak.  No one did.

 

Vickie made a motion to approve the July 2007 meeting minutes. Ed second.  All yea, Detria abstaining.

 

Detria made a motion to approve the July 26 2007 special meeting minutes. Ed second.  All yea, Warren abstaining.

 

Robert made a motion to approve the July 2007 financial statement.  Vickie second.  All yea.

 

Bill Arnett, Economic Development Director for Fairfield County was present to discuss the issues of annexation upon the Mayor’s request.  He passed out some information to Council regarding annexing and Joint Economic Development Districts (JEDD).   He said having an income tax is the key mechanism for having a JEDD.  It’s to provide services within the JEDD area.  He said the property taxes could also be negotiated and shared with those entities involved in the JEDD.  A JEDD can’t be residential; it must be commercial and/or industrial.  He said our solicitor must be well involved in the entire process.  

 

He said no two JEDD agreements are alike, they are always negotiated, and can be created for a limited number of years.  He said having a JEDD would not change the borders of our municipality.  He said we should establish what we want to accomplish and then decide what vehicle to use to get there.  He suggested contracting the Ohio Municipal League for more JEDD information.

 

Mary asked if there was a motion to waive pay for council for the July 26 2007 special meeting.  There was none.

 

Robert made a motion to waive the three-reading rule and declare an emergency for Ordinance 2007-14, An Ordinance to amend the 2007 appropriations ordinance and the declaration of an emergency.  This is to appropriate more money to pay the solicitor’s fees for the period of January 1, 2007 to July 31, 2007.  Vickie second.  Laura, Ed & Detria abstained.  Warren voted no.  Motion not passed.

 

Aaron asked for a motion to waive the three-reading rule and declare an emergency for Ordinance 2007-13, An Ordinance to reappoint a Village Solicitor for the Village of Thurston, OH, to fix the compensation to be paid, and the declaration of an emergency.  No one responded.  Aaron pointed out we have no Solicitor as of August 11. 

 

 

Report from Fire Chief – Jim Hite was present and submitted the report.  Jim announced the department received a $6,500 State EMS Grant to pay for the extended version of the Firehouse program, and to reimburse us for training.

 

Jim wanted to know what Council wanted to do about the tanker that went out for bid without the Walnut Township Trustee’s permission, and had to be returned.  Council said we won’t know until Tuesday of next week when the Township Trustees meet to see if they will allow putting it up for bid.

 

Michelle Shumaker, Village Administrator, asked how Council wanted the titles for the fire vehicles to be labeled.  Everyone agreed “Thurston-Walnut Township Fire Department.”

 

Report from the Service Committee:   Robert said they met Wednesday, August 5th.  Present were Laura Clark, Vickie Carroll, Michelle Shumaker, Ernie Harter and Robert Ortman.  Ernie spoke about the condition of the cemetery.  He said a couple plants will be hard to remove, but Jamie Carroll will help out with machinery.  The rest of the discussion was regarding sourcing water for the Village.

 

Report from the Safety Committee:   Ed said they met on Monday, August 6th at the firehouse.  Present were Mary Barber, Robert Ortman, Jim Hite, and Vickie Carroll. Ed Vanek was not present.   The fire department picked up the tanker from Doug Hite on Friday, August 3rd.  They hope to put it back up for bid.

 

They discussed applying for the rest of the Homeland Security Grant, the purchase of a new washer for uniforms and gear, the NIMS class at the firehouse that coming Wednesday, securing the house on High Street that burned, and the nuisance letter regarding the moving of a vehicle on Second. St.

 

They decided they would combine their Safety Committee meeting in September with the Service Committee on September 5 due to the holiday.

 

Report from the Finance Committee:  Didn’t meet

Report from the Rules Committee:  Didn’t meet. 

 

Report from the Regional Planning Representative:  Robert said James Mako, Senior Planner, went over how block grants work.

 

Report from the Village Administrator:  Michelle said that Bob Black put a temporary cover on the hole on the merry-go-round.  It was pretty bad.  Waiting on some return calls from folks who might be able to fix it.  She has a call in to the Window Man to repair a piece of soffit that came off the municipal building.  She said Michael Betts from GGC called.  He just wants to know what we want him to do next.

 

She has been shopping around for options for the historic railroad signs.  What she found on the internet was too expensive.  Looking now at a company from Lancaster.  We’re looking in the $200 price range.

 

Michelle met with the EMA and South Central regarding our new siren.  They agreed the corner of our lot, next to Saturn Lawn Care is the best location.  A pole can be installed there and try to connect to a current electric service.  $306 is still due for the last bit of parts.

 

 

Old Business –  Vickie asked where we are with the water sourcing.  She said we need to meet more often.  Detria asked what we want – what are our goals?

 

Vickie asked what we were going to do with the JEDD information.  Alan Dupler was present and asked Mary about her canvassing outside of town to the west – what did she find?  She didn’t have time to talk to everyone, but knows Mike (Fast Max) wants to be part of Thurston.  He gave a few names of people to Mary who own property along that corridor who wish to be a part of Thurston.  Alan said the procedure for creating a JEDD is complex.  If we could get 100% cooperation, we should do an expedited annexation.  Alan also said it was his opinion that we should enact a 1% income tax in the Village.

 

Vickie & Ed both said we need to ask the people along that corridor how they feel.  Council continued discussing possible annexation options, boundaries, and processes. 

 

New Business –  Detria announced there are 400 kids coming to the Baltimore area in June/July 2008 as part of the Baltimore Area Workcamp Foundation.  This would include Thurston.  They will be doing a bunch of projects for senior citizens and low-income folks in our area.  We will have the applications available in our Village office.

 

Aaron asked Council about the Solicitors invoice.  We need to appropriate money if we are going to pay this.   The services have already been done. 

 

Robert made a motion to waive the three-reading rule and declare an emergency for Ordinance 2007-14, An Ordinance to amend the 2007 appropriations ordinance and the declaration of an emergency.  Laura second.  All yea.

 

Vickie made a motion to adopt Ordinance 2007-14, An Ordinance to amend the 2007 appropriations ordinance and the declaration of an emergency.  Laura second.  All yea, with Warren abstaining.

 

Aaron asked if Council would consider going into Executive Session to discuss water contract with Baltimore.  Detria made a motion, Vickie second, all yea.  The time is 9:32 p.m.

 

At 10:47 p.m., Robert made a motion to come out of Executive Session.  Ed second.  All yea.

 

Michelle said Baltimore billed us for around 1,900,000 gallons of water last month, but we only billed for 1,200,000 gallons.  That is a big gap.

 

Council decided to have a Service Committee meeting at 7:30 p.m. on August 15th at the Municipal Building.

 

Detria made a motion to adjourn.  Laura second.  All yea.  The time is 10:50 p.m.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

 

_______________________________

Aaron L. Reedy, Clerk