Village of Thurston

Council Meeting Minutes

November 8, 2001

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

Roll call: Robert Ortman – Present; Nona Buskirk – Present; Roger Aubery – Present; Mary Barber – Present; Warren Simpson – Present; Kim Duncan – Present; Jo-Ann Hite – Present; Aaron Reedy – Present.

Mary made a motion to approve the October 2001 minutes. Roger second. All yea.

Warren made a motion to approve the October 2001 financial statement. Robert second. All yea.

JoAnn announced that M&E came on 10/23/01 to stake off where Darby Creek would be working. Darby Creek started digging on 10/30/01. Some complaints have been received about the work.

JoAnn announced that on 10/17/01, Cathy Reynolds of Farmers Home (FHA loan for water system) was here. Cathy said everything looked okay. Nobody had been there to inspect for six years. She said nobody would probably come back for another six years.

JoAnn asked Roger if that blue car had been moved yet. He said he’d have it moved. JoAnn said she would have it moved if he didn’t. She also said that she’s been getting complaints from Mr. Strong about a tree in the right-of-way on the property he rents.

JoAnn announced that we got a letter from Bob Black of the Thurston High Heritage Association requesting that Council approve some electrical work in the building. The Heritage Association will pay for it. He’s not asking the Village for money. Council reviewed the plans. Roger made a motion to allow the Heritage Association to proceed with the plans, as submitted. Nona second. All yea.

JoAnn announced the outcome of the recent election. Warren got 66 votes, and will be back on Council for the next 4-year term beginning in 2002. Lowell got 83 votes and will be back on the Board of Public Affairs for the next 4-year term beginning in 2002. The Fire Levy passed. JoAnn also said that we have two new Township Trustees that will replace Keller and Whitaker. JoAnn told Council that a few months ago Ralph Zollinger told her that Keller and Whitaker wanted the firehouse. She also heard they wanted to put Dempsey in charge of the Thurston department. She told Zollinger she didn’t want to talk about it until after the elections.

JoAnn announced that someone broke a board on the merry-go-round and off the bench out front.

JoAnn told Council that the natural gas supplier for the Fire Department was Energy USA, but it was changed to New Power. She asked if anybody knew of any lower rates than $0.6250 per cubic foot. She said to be thinking about changing the supplier for the first of the year.

JoAnn asked if there was any new business. Aaron brought up the fact that a friend’s business was closing down, and we had a chance to purchase a nice copier for $1000. Everyone felt that since there wouldn’t be any sort of warranty on the machine, so it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. We might look into buying a new machine.

Aaron passed out a list of his accomplishments during the past 12 months as Village Clerk/Treasurer. He asked Council to increase his monthly payment from $605 to $635, just under a 5% raise. He explained to them why he felt he deserved a raise. Kim made a motion to go into executive session to discuss giving Aaron a raise. Nona second. All yea. Council went into executive session at 7:38 p.m.

Council came out of executive session at 7:53 p.m. Robert explained that Council wants to grant Aaron a raise, but would also like to grant one to JoAnn, as Mayor. They want to make sure everything is done legal, so we should check with the Village Solicitor to see if an in-term increase is allowed. Aaron shared a letter from the State Auditor dated April 30, 1993 stating in-term increases were allowed for village clerks, clerk-treasurers, and treasurers. Council agreed they wanted the Village Solicitor’s opinion of the situation.

Lowell said Cathy Reynolds from FHA recommended we raise the water rates every year, like most other entities are doing. The general consensus in Council was not to increase, though no official action was taken.

Mike Jackson passed out a copy of the 2002 budget for the Fire Department. He and Aaron got the numbers finalized. He said they are not going to ask for a new Engine/Rescue at this point due to the change in Trustees. Mike is asking for $89,657.97. Nona made a motion to approve the 2002 budget for the fire department, pending approval from the Walnut Township Trustees. Roger second. All yea.

Mike brought up the issue with the Owen Keller and the water lines. Mike said Owen is not following procedure. Owen didn’t get state approval and didn’t submit plans to fire department. Mike said he couldn’t feed the hydrant off a 3” line. An official notice was sent to him about these issues.

Since there was no other business to address, Roger made a motion to pay bills and adjourn. Kim second. All yea. The time is 8:19 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

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Aaron L. Reedy, Clerk