July 2009
Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Thursday July 9, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the township meeting room at the fire department. Meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm by chairperson, James R. Smith. Those in attendance were; Lisa and Craig Childers, Bob Mock, Bob Stephenson, Joey Stephens, Howard Anderson, Martha Sterling and Mr. Crock, township residents; Larry Taylor, township road supervisor; Jeff Swingle, Allen Deaver and Craig Knox of the fire department; Derek J. Dozer, Charles R. Elson and James R. Smith, township trustees; Bernadine E. Swingle, township fiscal officer.
Agenda was approved as presented.
Minutes were approved as presented.
Public Participation was first order of business;
Bob Mock commented the township was doing a very good job to date on Thompson Run Road. He is very pleased with the job at this time. Also, he questioned how a person is hired on the township. Dozer noted a job application / resume is required and kept on file at the fiscal officers’ office until a time when another employee is needed to be hired.
The Childers’ were appreciative of the promptness of getting their driveway surveyed. They also presented in writing a request to vacate an alley between them and their neighbors. One neighbor has been contacted and is in agreement with this, the other neighbor knows nothing about it at the present time. Dozer did explain to them, this will be passed on to the county engineer and then to the commissioners before we / the township can take any action.
Howard Anderson voiced concern of ditches needing attention on Butcherknife Road. Trustees assured him they were very aware of the situation in question and it is on the agenda for repairs.
Martha Sterling was present to question a few concerns re; community days to be held the end of September. First, is the fire department planning to do “fireworks” during the week end in question? Fire personnel determined they were if it was of the desire of community days committee. This was a positive and Friday night was agreed upon to do this. Second, will the department have tables and chairs set up for Bingo on Friday night? Chief Deaver assured her this would be done. Deaver questioned Sterling as to whether a dance would be held at the fire house on Saturday evening. This too was affirmative.
Fire Department Business was next on the agenda; Chief Deaver reporting.
Several members of the department have departed; Pat Gamble is leaving for a tour of duty in Afganistan, Nikki Crippen has accepted a fire-fighter position in South Carolina, and Chas Cosgrave is currently in Texas waiting to report to Iraq as a fire-fighter as a civilian.
Copies of an updated I. S. O. will be made available to the trustees soon. The rating is currently 5.9 and the goal is to get it down to 5.2 if possible. This would be a help to local residents on their insurance premiums. Dispatching time, water availability, equipment on the fire trucks, training etc. all has an effect on this.
The oil has been changed in the “generator” and new batteries have been installed. Bob Mock has agreed to be available when the time comes to start the generator for safety purposes.
An application for a grant has been / being submitted to possibly be made available for approximately $40,000.00 for installing the generator.
The township web site is being upgraded / updated by one Isaac Kelly.
The “Local Sip Trunk” phone system upgrade mentioned at the June meeting was once again discussed. This would replace the AT&T phone service at a much lesser cost. Vote of trustees taken; Dozer – aye, Elson – aye, Smith – aye. Initial cost will be $700.00 with some miscellaneous fees later.
Knox reporting for EMS department; Paper work has been completed to Medicare and they have responded positively that their fees will be forthcoming soon.
A request from a local resident has been received to be allowed to ride on EMS runs during the daytime hours with the possibility of becoming a “volunteer”. This was approved by the board and signed by Mr. Smith.
Dozer noted he will be holding “harassment” training for ALL fire personnel and is requiring every fire fighter / EMT / medic to attend. This will be completed by the end of 2009. Dates are to be determined by the fire department and report back to Dozer at the next
meeting.
Larry Taylor, road supervisor reporting;
All trees needing to be removed on Thompson Run Road have been taken out. Concrete has been poured on two sides as far as the grading has been done. Question; should we dig across the peoples’ driveways? Trustees assured him that they should do that; it will need to be covered long enough for the cement to set up – approximately 3 hours. There is still a deep ditch along the road that needs attention and it will be completed soon. The fence along McConnell’s’ property is scheduled to be installed the week of July 13 with “Hatfield Fencing” doing the work and supplying the materials. Mr. McConnell has requested the fence be extended to the end of his property, but that will be done at McConnell’s expense. Neff Paving has been notified that the road should be ready for asphalt the week of the 20th of July.
Dozer noted to Taylor that there seems to be several road signs of various stages missing. It is best to have back up signs available in the garage at all times, he encouraged Taylor to be sure this is done.
Dozer also mentioned to Taylor that when Thompson Run Road is completed, Crock Road on the East end needs to be broken up and cinders, berm stone or dry cement be applied and mixed to form a more solid foundation. Trial and error to see what works best.
Trustees Reports:
Elson reported there needs to be a STOP sign re-installed at the intersection of Foxfire Road and Stine Road. Also, a “BUS STOP” sign posted at Zella Drive and Foxfire Road.
Dozer noted property at 2895 Pinkerton Road has had a complaint of noxious weeds on the property. Travis Lyon will be asked to mow the area as soon as possible.
Crock, Huggins, Bush Run, and Porter Run roads all need to be checked for the possibility of chip / seal in front of the houses and other trouble spots if financing is available.
Smith noted that stone has been applied to East Darlington Road.
Old Business:
Denis Swierz from the county engineers’ office was out and did the surveying of the Childers property.
The Trumblie property line was also checked by Swierz, he reported that 4th Street is open; Spring Street is open but not maintained. The area at 6805 Old Town Road, the alley is open with approximately 13’of public access right of way. The alley does appear to be non – maintained.
Fiscal Officer report:
Notice has been received from the county auditor that the LGF fund has been revised for the year 2009 to $14260.67. No further action needs to be taken.
Public notice has been received from Maysville Regional Water District showing the latest results of water testing.
Trustees were each given a copy of the following drafts;
Grassroots Clippings for July 2009.
Policy agreement of 2004 for use of the fire house facilities.
Sample of “liability certification” notice for anyone using township facilities.
Print out of the following reports; semi – annual.
Comp. of Disbursements / encumbrances
Comp. of budget and actual receipts.
Combined statement of cash receipts, cash disbursements, and
Changes in fund cash balances.
All records for the years 2007 & 2008 have been delivered to the local state auditor’s office for the 2 year required audit. Mr. Gebhart did note that the amount stated on our original notice was quite low and costs were definitely to be somewhat higher.
Motion to pay bills was called for: Dozer so moved, second by Smith, Elson – aye.
All bills were deemed to be valid expenditures.
The next regular meeting will be held on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the township meeting room.
8:40 pm meeting adjourned.
Newton Township has made every effort to ensure all the information listed on this website is accurate and up to date. This information can and may change without notice. Meeting overviews are meant to serve as short informational updates on township business. We can not be responsible for any inaccurate or omitted information.