April 2008
NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES 04-10-2008
Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, April 10, 2008 @ 7:00 pm in the township meeting room in the fire house. Those in attendance were: Barbara Wesley from the Ohio Regional Development Corp. – Fair Housing, Tim Swingle of the fire department, Larry Taylor township road supervisor, Derek J. Dozer, Charles R. Elson, James R. Smith, township trustees and Bernadine E. Swingle township fiscal officer.
Meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm by chairperson, James R. Smith.
Agenda was approved as presented.
Minutes were approved as presented.
Barbara Wesley of fair housing was first on the agenda. Barbara was sharing the activities of the fair housing program and encouraged the township officials to stay alert and become involved if someone in the community is not being treated fairly.
Fire Department representative, Tim Swingle was the next order of business. Swingle presented a proposal of hiring part time personnel to man the department during the hours of 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. This was suggested to be allowed for a 3 month trial basis, wages to be paid from the EMS fund as it is the most healthy at this time. Much discussion followed; the trustees asked for more documentation of total runs of the department that are missed, the time of day and an average of how many runs are missed in the period of a month. Issue was tabled at this time.
Fiscal Officer asked Swingle to report back to the fire chief that it has become necessary to begin requiring purchase orders for most all major purchases. It has become very difficult to keep the bills covered with blanket certificates.
Fiscal Officer informed Swingle to relay the message to necessary personnel that invoices have been received from CVS, Staples and Do – It Center, but no receipts have been provided for same. The invoices will remain unpaid until necessary documentation is received by the Fiscal Officer.
Fiscal Officer questioned the rental of a Storage Building when there seems to be adequate storage available with in the fire department building. Trustees agreed this should be paid only on a monthly basis until further notice.
Road Report; Larry Taylor presented a report of the current road conditions within the perameters of the township.
*All alleys in East Fultonham have been stoned and holes patched.
*Larken Slack has reported a catch basin on Yost Road has broken in several places, causing water accumulation in Slacks’ barn. Trustees agreed this was a problem that needs repaired and is the responsibility of the township and will be completed soon.
*Dozer mentioned there is a similar situation in the cul-de-sac area at the end of Dona Drive and has asked Taylor to once again check it out.
*A resident at the intersection of Yost Road / Holbert Lane has asked permission to install a gate across Holbert Lane to stop traffic from coming up to his house all hours of the day / night and turning around in his driveway. Much discussion followed and James R. Smith agreed to go talk to the resident to try to settle the situation.
*Taylor asked permission to install new locks on all doors / fuel tanks at the garage. This was agreed upon by all 3 trustees and will be completed as soon as possible. It was also suggested that all fuel pumps be locked and turned off at the end of every work day.
*Dolings Street in East Fultonham needs a new street sign posted.
*The old (case) tractor and mower has been picked up by Finton Equipment and the new equipment is reported to be scheduled for delivery the week of April 14, 2008.
Trustees Reports
Smith reporting;
*An estimate has been provided on the replacement of the bridge at the bottom of the hill on Workman Road. Total cost will be approximately $5800.00. This was approved by all 3 trustees.
*Smith has contacted the sheriffs’ department regarding the refuse problem with a property in Ironspot. Information according to O R C has been received and Smith was informed resident does have access to the road frontage in front of any / all property he owns. Resident was informed of excess noise after dark could result in him being arrested.
*Smith questioned the other trustees as to what order is followed as to which piece of equipment is dispersed on a fire call. Trustees discussed the situation and were not sure of how this is done.
Elson reporting;
*The trees on Pete Hope Lane have been trimmed and necessary clean up has been done.
Also, the fence on this same road has been repaired from trees falling.
*The ditch at 3451 Linn Drive has been repaired as necessary
*There are repairs being completed by the County Highway Department on 2 bridges on Workman Road.
Dozer had nothing more to report.
Chip / Seal program for the upcoming season was discussed by all trustees. The following roads were determined to be on list for surface application if funding exists; Linn Drive, Jenkins Drive, Mona and Dona Drive, Workman Road, Lower Krofft, Dennis Road, East Darlington Road, Mahon Road, Zella Drive, Malibu Drive, Avalon Drive, Ridgley Road (West end), Porter Run Road, Butcherknife Road and Harlan Road. Smith will be seeking some estimates on same.
8:40 pm, Dozer moved the meeting go into executive session to discuss fire department personnel disciplinary action. Second, Elson.
9:00 pm Executive session closed and regular meeting resumed. Fire Chief Deaver will correspond with each of the trustees at a later date to determine what if any action will be taken against a particular member of the fire department.
Old Business: none to report.
New Business: none to report.
Fiscal Officer report:
*Larry Taylor, road supervisor has completed his 6 months probation period as of April 1, 2008.
*Payment for supplies put up for sealed bid in the fall of 2007 has not been received from the low bidder for the dump bed and subframe. Smith agreed to speak to bidder regarding this situation.
*The annual road inventory from the Muskingum County Engineers’ Office has been received. The road mileage has decreased from 62.11 to 59.16 even though several sub-division roads have been added to our inventory in recent years. This was not adequately reported from ODOT and the agreement was returned to the Engineers’ Office un-signed.
*Notice has been received from OBWC re; a leg injury received by a firefighter.
while responding on a recent fire in East Fultonham.
*Notice has been received from Ross, Sinclaire & Associates, LLC (Fred Overbeck) that payment has been mailed to Southeastern on Friday, April 4th and to John Deere on Monday April 7th for the John Deere tractor and mower.
*South Zanesville Fiscal Officer has notified the township that a portion of their BMV taxes were paid to our township in 2007 and will be reimbursed to them through the state.
*A resolution to transfer $50,000.00 from the fire fund to the capital project fund was presented for approval. This was approved and signed by all three trustees. This fund is to be used to pay off the ladder truck at an earlier date than scheduled.
*The following materials were given to all trustees:
notice from STRAWSER INC. re new materials available from their company.
Frank Gates/Attenta has been bought out by a company by the name of
AVIZENT..
Two informative notices from Buckeye Hills – Hocking Valley.
` The current issue of Grassroots Clippings.
All bills were deemed to be valid expenditures and were to be paid as presented.
The date of the June meeting has been changed from June 12th to June 5th due to conflict in schedules.
The next meeting will be held Thursday May 8, 2008 at 7:00 pm in the township meeting room.
9:40 pm meeting adjourned.
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