August 2010

       NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES:  08-12-2010

                Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, August 12, 2010 @ 7:00 pm in the township meeting room.  Those in attendance were; Jeff Swingle, Craig Knox, Jeff Lloyd, and Jeffrey Cohen of the fire department; Randy Starner and John Phillips, township residents; Larry Taylor, township road supervisor; Art Kunkler, 20/20 Enterprises; Derek J. Dozer, James R. Smith, and Robert Stephenson, township trustees; Bernadine E. Swingle, township fiscal officer.

                Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by chairperson, Dozer.

                Pledge to the flag was led by Dozer.

                Agenda was approved as presented.

                Minutes were approved as presented.

                First order of business went to public participation; John Phillips had the floor.  He has uncovered the existing culvert in front of his house and the surface water from this culvert in a rain is directed into his front yard.  This has been an existing problem for several months and has become worse since the sewer line has been installed.  Question from his as to what can be done and who is responsible to correct the situation?  All three trustees agreed there is and has been a problem, however completing current road upgrades is at the top of the agenda for the township at this time.  He was assured by all three board members, if he could be patient a little longer, the township would assist him in getting the situation under control.

                Mr. Starner lives on Foxfire Road and is concerned as to what the plan is to retain / maintain his road as he definitely does not want it chip / sealed.  The board shared his concerns; he was enlightened as to the current financial situation of the township and was asked to consider looking at some of the asphalt roads in the township that have previously received chip / seal.  It was mentioned to him that the township is responsible for approximately 62 miles of roads and his is approximately 1.25 miles of that and to please be considerate of that also.

                Fire Department business was next on the agenda with Knox reporting;

                Strauss Fence has been on site and has completed the installation of fencing around the southwest corner of the fire building.  It was noted by Dozer that it would be wise to hang some “no trespassing / stay off” signs on the fence as well.

                The budget has been studied by the department / township fiscal officer; It appears with the transfer of $50,000.00 of the required $100,000.00 per year into the capital projects fund there will be sufficient funding to pay off the ladder truck at the end of 2010.  This would free up $15,000.00 to be moved into salaries for the remainder of 2010.  Also, this would be possible with the approval of the trustee board.  Vote was called; Dozer, aye; Smith, aye; Stephenson, aye.  A new resolution was presented and signed to allow for this adjustment in fire department funds.

                During July, there were a total of 7 missed department runs during the hours of 12M to 6:00 am.  August runs are running approximately the same as years passed.

                White Cottage Community Days committee has come into some issues with the AG office and will not be allowed to function as a community committee for the year of 2010.  The fire department association has stepped in and will attempt to assist the community day’s weekend for this year only.  They (the fire department chief / personnel) have been notified that the A G office and the I R S have stopped everything and all existing officers of the committee have been terminated.  The present / tentative plan is:

                                Community yard sales.

                                Friday night Bingo may not happen.

                                Saturday parade is hopefully a go.

                                Saturday night; a band is currently being pursued.

                                Possibly a “poker run” during and following the parade.

                                Jarretts’ will be contacted to possibly assist in pulling together a car show.

                The individual that was brought before the board at last meeting for possible admission to the fire department has been put on hold until at least April, 2011.

                Road Reports:

                Art Kunkler of 20 / 20 Enterprises was present to present the final estimate for 2010 chip / seal applications.  His first comment was that prior roads have been prepared very well which allows them to do a much better application.  He also remarked that roads with #57 stone applications are much more secure than with #8 stone which is the normal procedure.  His estimate came in at $72, 367.04.  After careful consideration of funds, Dozer moved the remaining $25,000.00 in R & B contract line item be used for chip  / seal along with the remaining available funds of $12,750.00, second by Stephenson and Smith agreed.  Kunkler agreed to hold off on final billing of $50,000.00 until after January 1, 2011.  The remaining work should be completed the week of Labor Day, 2010.

                Taylor reporting; the culvert on MoxaDarla Drive has had the final repairs necessary.

                The Asphalt Zipper has had extensive damage; all necessary repairs have been completed.  According to Taylor, it appears this piece of equipment has had some major repairs done before the township purchased it; it was purchased as “new / demo).  Taylor has spoken with the company re; this and Dozer assured Taylor he too would be contacting the company.

                Work remains to be completed on the remaining chip / seal roads.  This is in progress. 

                Cinders have been added to “zipped” roads and is working well.

                All three trustees reiterated to Taylor how much they appreciate the good work being done by township employees.

                Trustees Reports:  Stephenson noted he did meet with the County Commissioners / their attorney for a JEDD meeting recently.

                Smith; Ms. Brown in Avondale (Roydale Drive) has a dead tree on neighboring property that is becoming a threat to possibly fall on her house.  Smith has attempted to contact the land owner of the tree property to no avail.  This is a neighbor problem totally, out of the hands of the township.

                Residents in the Renner addition are still quite concerned about street light assessments.  Fiscal Officer reported to the board, maps have been obtained as we speak from AEP and the new assessment list will be made available to the County Auditors’ Office in September and will updated before the next real estate tax season.

                Old Business:  none to report.

                New Business:  none to report.

                Fiscal Officer reporting:

                A new resolution was presented, approved and signed re; the stop signs in E. Fultonham.  They will be taken down following Labor Day (at Lake Isabella) and put back in place before Memorial Day each year to help control lake traffic.

                Anthem has sent for renewal the “Health Insurance” for township employees.  The cost increase was acceptable and all three trustees agreed to continue with the present coverage.

                Notification for the 2011 allowance of $14,673.47 for LGF has been received and was signed / approved by all three trustees.

                A firefighter was involved with a fire response with the fire department and Crooksville, became overheated / dehydrated and has filed a BWC claim.  No work hours were lost and he appears to be fine at this time.

                Notice has been received there will be a meeting of Buckeye Hills – Hocking Valley Economic and Community Development Project Planning Conference on September 16, 2010.  Registrations must be in no later than August 20, 2010.

                Several township residents have called / sent notices of appreciation of road work being completed.

                Notice has been received from the State Auditors’ Office re; updating of UAN equipment and software.  This township will not be on schedule for updating until January, 2012.

                OBWC has sent notice that a new BWC Requirement – Two-Hour Safety Training rule has been passed and any public employee in the January 1, 2010 Group Rating Program who had a claim within the two preceding calendar years is to attend this training.  As the township has had one or more claims during calendar years 2008 and 2009, we must meet the safety training requirement.  Several options are available to accomplish this and were presented to the board.

                A copy of the new issue of “Grassroots Clippings” was presented to each trustee.

                All bills presented were deemed to be valid expenditures and were to be paid as presented.

                The next regular township meeting will be held on Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 7:00 pm in the township meeting room.

                Meeting adjourned at 9:45 pm.

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