Mayor Louis Sanders Best called the March 18th, 2024, Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at 7:30 PM.
Roll Call: Ed Beamer, Owen Best, Nicole Lenhart, Keith Hopple, Kirk Stanfield
Others Present: Superintendent Tom Scott, Bryan Shock, Billing Clerk Alyssa Mason, Jay Zeiter Buckeye Drive Resident, Luann Williams Buckeye Drive Resident, Roxanne Bates, Nick Rospert, Clarence Altry, Ed Treff, David Baerschi, Becky Niedermeier, Tony Wurm, Monica Price, Gayle & Dennis Alt- Gayle’s mother, Marlene Cleland’s basement flooded on Buckeye Drive, Kristen Vess interested in open council seat.
Absent:
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilwoman Lenhart to approve the warrants for payment. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilwoman Lenhart to approve the minutes. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Written & Oral Communication: Luann Williams of 518 Buckeye Drive and many others were in attendance due to her basement flooding on March 14th. She reported experiencing 8 incidents of flooding in the last two years. Reporting flooding was not an issue prior to 2 and half years ago. She requested someone to come check it out. Luann reported waterproofing her basement twice. She said she was told she has a tile running by her house, she doesn’t know the exact location. Marlene of 611 Buckeye Drive also experienced flooding. Councilman Beamer and Mayor Sanders said they will visit the properties to see what they could figure out. Tony Wurm was in attendance to see if there is a barking dog ordinance. He reported he has a neighbor who has 4 dogs and two of them are put outside for an extended period where they bark continually. He said he called the sheriff and was told to continue to call where the dispatcher could hear the barking. He had a list of neighbors who he reports are also not happy about the barking. Council reported they know there is an ordinance that limits the number of dogs, they believe there is a limit of 3. Tom Scott shared what he has been working on since the last meeting.
Public Safety: None.
Streets & Properties: Councilman Beamer reported having storm sewers to investigate.
Parks: Councilwoman Lenhart reminded Council of the Easter egg hunt on March 30th at 1 pm at Myers Park. She will be filling 1000 eggs with candy. She also reported she is organizing an eclipse event on April 8th at 1:30 pm. She is partnering with the library who is providing 200 pairs of glasses. She hopes to have food trucks, in which she plans to charge a minor vendor fee. Council had no objections. Councilwoman Lenhart also indicated she wants to host a Farmers Market on the 1st Sunday of the month starting in May from 2 pm – 5 pm. Councilwoman Lenhart reported she will meet with Charlene Watkins again concerning grants for the parks. She is working on the logistics of the community garden. Councilwoman Lenhart shared she is considering doing movie nights. She also wants to work with Tom on cleaning up/ updating the Legion Park. She reminded everyone the events community is holding their spring event, Blooms and Brunch on May 11th. She said she was approached by Lori Richart of Modern Woodman. Lori needs to do a project related to animals. She was thinking about a dog’s day.
Mayor Sanders asked everyone’s opinion on the pool. Kristen Vess said we should close it.
Trees: None.
Fire: Councilwoman Lenhart reported there is a meeting on Wednesday.
EMS: Councilwoman Lenhart reported there is a meeting on Thursday. Councilman Best asked when the grand opening would be for the Joint Ambulance location. Councilwoman Lenhart reported April, she is not sure what day though. She expects there will be an event to allow the public to check it out.
Cemetery: Councilman Hopple indicated the cemetery will be closing the cemetery for the eclipse at the drive entrances from April 5th – 9th.
Personnel: Councilman Best reported he and Councilwoman Lenhart interviewed someone to replace Dakota, Will Gates. Councilman Best indicated initially the offered $20 an hour, but now they are thinking they should consider $18 an hour. Councilman Beamer said he would prefer to bring him at a lower rate and give him a raise if earned. Councilwoman Lenhart reported she would prefer to pay him $20. Councilman Stanfield reported if he is a hard worker we should pay him $20.
Councilman Best moved to hire Will Gates at $20 an hour effective immediately, Councilwoman Lenhart second. Vote: 5-0. Motion Carried.
Mayor Sanders reported he wished to appoint Bryan Shock to Village Administrator. Councilman Stanfield asked if Bryan would be able to fulfill the statutory requirements of the position, then asked if Bryan was the mayor’s friend. Councilman Best reported he believed Bryan would fulfill his job duties and believes it would be difficult to find someone who could fulfill all the ORC requirements. Councilman Beamer asked Councilman Stanfield if he had someone in mind. Councilman Stanfield indicated the duties are being fulfilled by council. Owen Best moved to appoint Bryan Shock based off Mayor Sander’s appointment, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded. Vote: 4-1 with Councilman Stanfield voting no. Motion carried.
Councilman Stanfield nominated Kristen Vess for the open Council Seat, Councilman Beamer seconded. Vote: 1-3 with Councilman Stanfield voting yes, Councilman Hopple abstaining, and Councilman Best, Lenhart, and Beamer voting no. Motion denied.
Zoning Commission: None.
Finance and rule: Cash balance: $1,358,713.02 All funds include CDs and reserved or restricted funds, and debt reserve funds. January bank reconciliation presented for review.
Water & Sewer:
Councilman Beamer reported Councilman Best, Jaime, Mayor Sanders, Cindy Brookes, and himself had a meeting with the EPA today concerning a plan for an operator and regionalization. He thought it went very well. Councilman Beamer and Councilman Best will be meeting with Willard later in the week to discuss regionalizing and a rate for the water we would be purchasing. Councilman Beamer indicated the estimate is just over 3 million dollars to install a line to Willard and replace the line to Siam. One of the audience members asked if regionalization would result in another rate increase. That question is difficult to answer shared Councilman Beamer, but he hopes that the 20% increase would be enough. Councilman Beamer reported the EPA asked what we were doing with water rates. He then shared he doesn’t see the rates going down. Councilman Beamer reported that Cindy Brookes is thinking it might be a good time to explore refinancing of USDA loans. Councilman Stanfield asked how much money would be saved closing the plant. Councilman Beamer listed off some of the expenses for the Water Treatment Operation, indicating the costs that would be saved. He said he didn’t have a number at this time. Councilman Best indicated he and Councilman Beamer met with Jaime. He reported Jaime is offering to renew his contract for one year. Jaime indicated the Village is welcome to continue their search for an Operator of Record, he would scale back his hours if we found someone. Jaime wants $75 an hour to renew the contract. Councilman Best indicated it would have to be voted to approve retroactively to March 1, 2024, since the last contract expired at the end of February.
Councilman Best moved to enter into a contract with ND Solutions retro active to March 1, 2024, to February 28, 2025, at $75 an hour, Councilman Hopple seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried. Councilman Stanfield did ask if Jaime was going to provide the metrics Councilman Stanfield has been requesting. Councilman Beamer indicated Jaime supplies the EPA with all the metrics they need.
FO Hatfield shared that there are two ordinances in front of Council. 2024-7 Amending Water Rates, which only includes the minimum charge. This ordinance will need to be rejected if Council wants to pass Ordinance 2024-8 Amending Water Rates which includes the minimum charge and the 20% increase.
2024-7 Amending Water Rates Councilman Beamer moved to reject 2024-7 Amending Water Rates; Councilwoman Lenhart seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
ORD 2024-8 Amending Water Rates Councilman Beamer moved to suspend the three-read rule, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded. Vote: 4-1 with Councilman Stanfield voting no. Motion carried.
ORD 2024-8 Councilman Beamer moved to declare an emergency, Councilman Best seconded. Vote: 4-1 with Councilman Stanfield voting no. Motion carried.
ORD 2024-8 Councilman Beamer moved to adopt; Councilwoman Lenhart seconded. Vote: 4-1 with Councilman Stanfield voting no. Motion carried.
Councilman Beamer explained to an audience member, even using 0 units you are only paying debt and capital. With the new bill consumers will pay debt and capital even if they have their water shut off temporarily. The minimum usage will be charged at $35.97 for any amount of water from 0 units 2, anything over 2 units would be charged at $13.48 per unit.
Village Website & IT: None
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business:
Executive Session: Councilman Beamer moved to enter executive session to discuss Personnel at 9:20 pm, Councilman Best seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Beamer moved to exit executive session; Councilman Hopple seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Next meeting: Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 7:30 PM.
Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilwoman Lenhart to adjourn the meeting. Time: 9:55 PM. Vote: 4-0 with Councilman Stanfield exiting prior. Motion carried.
