Mayor Nathan Frisch called the October 26th, 2023 Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at 7:33 PM.
Roll Call: Ed Beamer, Owen Best, Keith Hopple, Kirk Stanfield
Others Present: Solicitor Heather Niedermeier
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilman Best to approve the warrants for payment. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilman Best, seconded by Councilman Beamer to approve the minutes. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
Written & Oral Communication: None.
Public Safety: None.
Streets & Properties: None.
Parks: None.
Trees: Councilman Beamer shared that he received a phone call last week that a buckeye tree on Mill St. has limbs hanging low scrapping buses. He said he went and looked at it to see if she could do anything. Unfortunately, he thought a bucket truck was needed to safely trim them. He also reported the alley between Liberty St. and Main St. has some shrubs grown up blocking the street sign. He was not sure if they were on Village property or the property owner’s property. He was going to ask Councilman Sanders to look into it.
Fire: None.
EMS: Councilwoman Lenhart told Mayor Frisch that the tentative schedule for moving into the new EMS location is April.
Cemetery: None.
Personnel: None.
Zoning Commission: Mayor Frisch let Council know he had received an application for an inground pool and also an application for a garage. He is working on both of them.
Finance and rule: Cash balance: $1,429,024.45 All funds include CDs and reserved or restricted funds, and debt reserve funds. FO Hatfield let Council know she paid two bills since she obtained the balance so it is roughly $4800 less.
Water & Sewer: Councilman Beamer let Council know they water committee interviewed a gentleman from Sandusky. A class III operator. He really liked the guy. He said he believes we the water committee needs to meet to see what they can afford as far as wages. He reminded Council that Jaime is on until March. Mayor Frisch spoke up stating we are reviewing all avenues, regionalization or running our own plant. It was the Mayor’s opinion that it makes more sense to try and run our own plant, although personnel is a concern. Councilman Beamer reported Dylan with Makeever’s office has pulled back on the study to research the financial feasibility of both options. Dylan reported to Councilman Beamer that since the numbers from RCAP started coming in, he thinks it may be in our best interest to keep the water operations/ distribution in Attica. Councilman Beamer thinks the Village will be in a better place once the new meters are installed. He believes there are several meters currently not reading correctly. The Mayor reminded everyone one that the village would be required to run a new line to Siam. Councilman Beamer reported that he asked Dylan to look into the cost and what would need done to install the pressure limiting valve. Councilman Beamer said not to quote him, but he believes Dylan told him roughly $50,000 to install the pressure limiting valve. Councilman Hopple asked about the customers who share a valve with the neighbor, Councilman Beamer said they are looking at replacing them with individual valves. Councilman Best asked what Council thought about holding a special meeting to discuss what we could afford or did they want to hold a committee meeting. It was decided to hold a committee meeting and bring the decision to council.
The conversation circled back to the individual the water committee interviewed. Councilman Beamer reported he may be interested in the Administrator duties and is also looking into getting his class I sewer licenses.
It was mentioned again that the Village would have to replace the line to Siam. Mayor Frisch thought the Village may even be forced to run sewer to Siam one day. Councilman Hopple suggested checking with the residents of Siam to see if they even want to be serviced by Attica. Councilman Beamer thought that was a great idea. Councilman Stanfield asked if anyone knew how many Siam customers the village has. Nobody knew, but Councilman Beamer thought it would be easy to run the numbers.
Councilman Beamer asked the Solicitor if she reviewed anymore concerning the shut off policy. Councilman Beamer wants to shorten the amount of time allowed before shut offs are conducted to avoid being left with huge bills. At this point, the customer owes two bills before they shut off. He reported Willard allows days. Councilman Beamer believes 10 days would be fair. Councilman Hopple asked if there is a policy in place to turn the customers back on. Councilman Beamer replied yes. Councilman Stanfield asked if Council was really considering shut offs after 10 days. Councilman Beamer said when we are trying to figure out how to keep the plant operating, people need to pay their bill. Councilman Hopple asked what other utility companies do. The Solicitor reported it varies. FO Hatfield reported in Bucyrus, the bill is due on the 20th, if it is not paid by the 25th you are shut off on the 26th.
Village Website & IT: None.
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: FO Hatfield reported checking with the Auditor on Verda Swartz property concerning the foreclosure. They Auditor reported the money made first goes to cover the court costs. Councilman Stanfield reported there was $12,000 on that tax bill due to the Village. He believes it was from a leak and accrued compound late fees. Councilman Stanfield asked rhetorically, how much water was involved. Councilman Beamer asked how long this leak went on. Councilman Stanfield didn’t know. He said the meter was on the curb. Councilman Beamer asked, isn’t the service line the customers responsibility. Councilman Beamer went on to say we should have a meter pit at every house because when there is a leak and the meter is inside the house the village is pumping water into the ground and nobody knows.
Executive Session: None.
Next meeting: Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 7:30 PM.
Motion by Councilman Hopple, seconded by Councilman Best to adjourn the meeting. Time: 8:12 PM. Vote: 4-0. Motion carried.
