February 2010

                            Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 7:00 pm in the township meeting room.  Those in attendance were; Bob Mock and Todd Stotts, township residents, Art Kunkler of 20/20 Enterprises, Craig Knox and Jeff Swingle of the fire department, Derek J. Dozer, James R. Smith and Bob Stephenson, township trustees and Bernadine E. Swingle, township fiscal officer.

                Meeting was called to order at 7:01pm by Dozer, chairperson.

                Pledge to the flag was led by Dozer.

                Agenda was approved as presented.

                Minutes were approved as presented.

                Public Participation:  Bob Mock noted the new asphalt pavement on Thompson Run Road is beginning to crack along the edge and approximately 12” in from the edge of the road.  Question; is this application under warranty?  Trustees agreed this was an issue and needs to be checked into.  This will be discussed further at the March Meeting.

                                Art Kunkler of 20/20 Enterprises was in attendance to encourage the board to consider early in the season the roads and how many were to be chip / sealed in 2010.  The cost from his company remains approximately the same as 2009.  He stated bidding will begin mid – February and will finish for the season mid – July.  Chip / Seal application would begin approximately June 1, weather permitting and would extend into mid – September.

                Fire Department report:  Knox reporting; a total of 43 calls came in during the month of January, 2 runs were missed. 

                                Josh Bryan is off schedule of paid workers for 6 weeks suspension due to 3 no shows for work as scheduled.

                                A Firemans’ Festival is being planned for June 19 & 20, 2010.      

                                A FEMA grant that has been applied for is in the waiting, correspondence indicates receipt of same is eminent.  This would be in the amount of $89,000.00; to be used for emergency equipment which would most likely include; purchase of new “jaws of life”, thermal imaging camera, training to bring every fire fighter up to state requirements of 240 hours, and physicals.

                                A new state grant cycle is currently open and grants are once again being applied for.

                                Locations for the installation of “Dry Hydrants” are currently being considered with the help of the county engineers office and with GIS mapping.

                                Keys for the storage room containing baseball softball supplies within the fire department were given to Knox per D. Dozer.

                                There still is a problem with locks on several of the doors within the fire department facility.  The lock on the records room being one of them that remains to be secured, the locks on the glass doors in the lower level where the pop machines are located are not secured.  D. Lovejoy and Deaver will be notified by Knox of this so it can be remedied as soon as possible.

                                Fiscal Officer noted a receipt in the amount of $70.00 for EMS testing was needed from the fire department.  Knox stated it would need to come from Chief Deaver.

                                Fiscal Officer also noted a call has been received from one R. D. Fisher, Madison Township Trustee; he was requesting a representative from the Newton Fire Department attend the March 8, 2010 meeting of Madison Township, Perry County to discuss the on going fire / EMS mutual aid contract.  National Trail and Glenford fire departments will also be represented at that time.  Time of the meeting is 6:30 pm.

                Road Report; Larry Taylor reporting. 

                                Requested the Fiscal Officer order four (4) loads of cinders if they are available.

                                He’s been doing “lots” of snow plowing.

                                There was an incident at 3275 Lakewood Drive (Amy Corns) residence with damage to a mailbox.  It has been repaired temporarily and will be checked again in the spring when the weather breaks.

                Trustees Reports:

                                Stephenson reporting; request to road employees to apply repairs to various roads has been completed and the job was well done.

                Mrs. Jenkins on Charles Street in Avondale is concerned about a fence / storage building that is located on a property line in a non-maintained alley.  Trustees agreed this involves neighbor disputes and the property in question is on the individuals’ property, nothing trustees can do.

                A call has been received from Sunset Drive re; several abandoned cars.  The resident was advised a letter of complaint to the trustee board was necessary before any action can be started.  At this date, no such letter has been received.

               Janet Drive resident is concerned about a street light assessment on his taxes.  It was explained that if a property line is within 600’ of a township street light, that owner will be assessed.  This was determined in the original contract when street lights were first installed within the township.

                             Smith reporting:

                An estimate for the purchase of a new 1 Ton dump truck and snow blade was presented to the board for consideration.  This was tabled for the present time.

                Fiscal Officer was asked to send a note of thanks to Terry Goss and Andy for their willingness to come into their shop for township assistance during off hours.

                Jeff Krofft also needs a note of thanks for assisting in pulling a township truck out of the ditch at the intersection of Cimarron and Workman road.

                Notes of appreciation have been mailed to all parties listed above per fiscal officer.

                                Dozer reporting:

                Dozer noted that by the March meeting decisions need to be in place re; chip / seal.  This will include roads to be considered and checking the budget to determine how much revenue is available to apply this treatment to township roads.

                Question to the fiscal officer; attempt to determine the actual cost of the awards banquet for the fire department as each one attending did pay out of pocket a $10.00 fee.  Just exactly how was the final billing determined.

                8:24 pm Requested meeting go into executive session to discuss personnel.

                8:30 meeting returned to regular session. 

                Old Business:  none to report.

                New Business:  none to report.

                Fiscal Officer reporting:

                                A notice has been received from the county commissioners that a public hearing for 2010 “CDBG” Funding (money available in 2011) will be held Monday, January 25, 2010 at 10:00 am in the Probate Courtroom on the first floor of the Muskingum County Courthouse.  This notice was forwarded to each of the trustees via mail on 01-14-2010.

                The first Zanesville / Newton Township JEDD Meeting will take place on Friday February 26, 2010 at 10:15 am at the First Floor Conference Room in City Hall.  In the absence of Elson (no longer a township trustee), Stephenson will attend the meeting.  Motion made by Dozer, second by Smith, Stephenson agreed.

                Notice has been received from the Muskingum County Township Association of the upcoming spring banquet to be held on March 27, 2010 at 6:30 pm at the Coburn United Methodist Church on Maple Ave. in Zanesville.  Township membership cards were delivered with this mailing also.

                A letter from Community Ambulance presenting data and synopsis of service to the citizens of Newton Township during 2009 has been received.

                Copies of Grassroots Clippings for January 2010 and February 2010 were given to each trustee.

                In several recent correspondences with one Andy Franks from Frank Gates Service Company has revealed a sizable refund should be coming soon from OBWC from dues that were paid in 2009.  The fact that the fire department has gone from volunteer to part time paid has lowered the rates considerably, this being the reason for a refund.

                Information has been sought from Huntington Bank re; the possibility of doing direct deposit for township payroll.  Cost for this would be $45.00 per month plus 0.21 for each transaction of payroll.  This was discussed by the trustee board and did not seem cost effective.  Vote as follows:  Dozer, nay, Smith, nay and Stephenson, nay.

                Information also has been obtained re; setting up a “Lock Box” system with the bank for deposits of any / all EMS money coming into the township.  Cost for this would be $80.00 per month and would eliminate all second and third party handling of these monies.  This was discussed by the board and vote results; Dozer, aye, Smith, aye and Stephenson, aye.  Fiscal Officer will proceed with necessary arrangements to put this in place.

                A check in the amount of $400.00 has been received from PERSO for repairs to the slate roof at the township garage.  Charge for completing repairs to the roof was $900.00, there is a $500.00 deductible from the insurance.

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

                The next regular meeting will be held March 11, 2010 in the township meeting room at 7:00 pm.

Meeting adjourned at 9:46 pm.

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