April 2011
NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES; 04-14-2011
Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 7:00 pm in the township meeting room. Those in attendance were: Jeff Swingle, Craig Knox for the fire department; Larry Taylor, road supervisor; Derek J Dozer, James R. Smith and Robert J. Stephenson, township trustees; Bernadine Swingle, township fiscal officer.
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by chairperson, Robert Stephenson.
Pledge of Allegiance was led by Stephenson.
Agenda was approved as presented.
Minutes were approved as presented.
Public Participation; no one present with any comments.
Fire department Business; Knox reporting in the absence of the chief.
*Record of run stats were printed and made available to each trustee. There was a total of 75 call outs with 3 no responses for the month of March, 2011.
*There is still no response from Community Ambulance as to number and cost of runs made to the township in the year 2010.
*There is a problem with water in several rooms in the southeast portion of the lower level of the fire house. Ceilings have become wet and have come down as well as some interior damage. Whether it be a roof problem, which is a new rubber roof and looks to be fine or some type of drainage problem is yet to be determined. All three trustees agreed when the problem is found, they would appreciate being notified and repairs will go from there.
*A new set of turn out gear is being requested for one of the new personnel (Courtney Grant) at the cost of $2500.00. Vote of the trustees; Dozer, aye; Smith, aye; Stephenson, aye.
*Doors of the fire house; upstairs and downstairs have been repaired as of this date. A new lock/handle was installed on the front entrance door, closures on both front entry doors have been repaired / replaced and repairs to the entry door to the front door of the pop machine room has been made. However, it was brought to attention that the inside lock on the first main entry door is still cracked and is not working properly. The lock smith will be called back.
*The grant purchases are nearly complete; the only item that remains to be received is the walk-about.
*The heart monitors have been ordered and should be arriving soon. Hortons’ has commented that there is a possibility the lock system to hold the monitors in the trucks might not be adequate with the new equipment. This will be determined upon arrival of the monitors.
*Mask fit tester is due for the annual inspection at the cost of $600.00 and shipping. Vote of the trustees; Dozer, aye, Smith, aye, Stephenson, aye.
*A building on Old Town Road that recently received major damage from fire needs attention. It is a safety and health hazard to the public and there is no insurance and the owner is dead. There has been no transfer of deeds after the death so this needs to be worked out legally. In checking for the final demolition; Sidwell Materials rents out their largest dumpster at $500.00 and it is estimated there would be 4 – 5 dumpster loads which would then need to go to the landfill. This along with several other nuisance situations will be discussed by the trustee board later in the meeting.
*The Explorer Post within the department has been disbanded due to lack of interest. Charlie Young will be allowed to ride the medic and fire truck with proper paper work being finalized and with adequate supervision.
*There has been a personnel issue with one of the firefighters; this was discussed with the trustees on a private call.
It was noted by several board members there have been several occasions recently when a member has come into the station to find both front entry doors propped open and apparently no one is present on station. Also, there are times of similar situations that most all lights in the building are lit with no fire personnel / any person on the premises. This will be reported to the chief for proper action to be taken.
There was an occasion when people were found to be playing in the gym, all under the age of 18 with no adult supervision or liability statements signed. This too will be reported to the fire chief.
The “wrestlers” using the gym on a monthly basis have repeatedly left the building a mess. This has been discussed with the persons involved and is supposed to be corrected.
Another issue is the trustee room door is being found unlocked and the TV / VCR have been removed from the room. All of these issues were brought to the attention of the fire personnel in attendance to be passed on to the persons in charge as the TV / VCR are to remain in the trustee room at all times.
Road Report; Larry Taylor reporting.
*Most of the roads have been graded and stone applied as necessary. There remains some patching to be done.
*The necessary road signs needed to be put up when road work is being done has not been purchased as the county is currently not making these signs.
*The issue of driveway culverts in place that have become plugged or rusted out was discussed as to who is responsible for the replacement. It was noted the township no longer installs culverts in new driveways, but following discussion by the board, it was determined the landowner must purchase the culvert, the township will install. This is only on existing driveway entries. Any new driveways going in must be covered by the landowner totally as is the existing township policy.
*It will be necessary to purchase an additional 5 ton of cold mix from S&S Aggregate as the county engineer is still not selling any.
*Discussion of maintenance / repairs / resurfacing of all township roads followed in great detail. It was decided there would be no chip / seal done this season; asphalt will be applied in bad areas of all existing asphalt roads and the remainder of roads will be graded and stoned as necessary.
*The existing situation on Nutter Road with Mr. Shreve and Mr. Elson has been left to the two individuals to determine what they choose to do. They have been advised to not damage township property or make a decision that will cause damage to the road.
Trustees Report:
Stephenson reporting;
*Boyds’ Refuse in Ironspot was inspected by the Muskingum County Health Department, Ohio EPA and Mr. Stephenson on 04-05-2011. Mr. Boyd was advised he has 3 months to clean up the property areas involved or his license will be revoked.
*A resolution was presented for cleaning up a nuisance property at 1890 Greenhouse Road, attention Cheryl Bryant. Notice will be published in the local Times Recorder as there is no known address for Bryant, and then notice will be posted on the property. Failure to comply will result in the township removing any / all debris and expenses will be certified to the County Auditor to be entered upon the tax duplicate and to be lien upon such property per ORC 505.87.
*This same procedure would most likely need to be initiated with the property on Old Town Road and also to the property owner of a dismantled trailer on Crock Road.
*There is apparently nothing further happening with the Sidwell Development at the intersection of St. Rt. 93 and St. Rt. 22.
*Notice has been received from JEDD of a meeting scheduled for 04-27-2011 at 2:30 pm in Zanesville at the City Hall and Stephenson will be attending to represent the township.
*Michelle Sutton of ODJFS has been in contact with Stephenson re; some free help to township work if there is something a person can do. They (ODJFS) cover the persons with workers’ comp. so the township would not be liable. All three trustees agreed this was a win / win situation.
Dozer stated a resident of Workman Road informed him there is money available for installing guard rails where necessary. This will be investigated further.
Smith had nothing further to report.
Fiscal Officer report:
*The trustees and Muskingum County Engineer meeting is scheduled for April 26, 2011 at 4:00 pm.
*Notice has been received from SouthEastern Ohio Joint Solid Waste Management District that scrap tires will be received at the Muskingum County Recycling Facility at 2215 Adamsville Road location, May 2 – 6, 2011.
*A call was received from Verizon (Chris Phillis) on 04-01-2011 that the company will be installing new aerials to two towers within Newton Township sometime in the next 6 months. Parcel # 47-16-01-000; cell phone contact @ 740-260-9710.
*Two firefighters became ill while fighting a structure fire in Perry County on 04-08-2011. Both reported to the ER for testing / OBWC claims.
*All trustees were mailed notice from ODOT re; a statewide transportation improvement program for District 5. The first public meeting to be held 04-12-2011 3:00 – 6:00 pm. All were encouraged to attend.
*Copies of Grassroots Clippings for March and April were provided to all three trustees.
*Notice has been received from Muskingum County Commissioners that a resolution has been passed for the township to authorize refunding of building permit fees by Mid – East Ohio building department in the amount of $50.00 which was issued for a permit for soil being deposited into Jonathon Creek
*Englefield Oil is once again raising petroleum prices in the amount of up to 10%.
*Muskingum County Commissioners passed a resolution to authorize award of bid for the asphalt emulsion to Asphalt Material Inc. for emulsion products for the Muskingum County Engineer. Copy of prevailing pricing was made available to each trustee.
*Payment in the amount of $3393.78 has been received as the first quarter allowance from JEDD>
*Resolutions were presented for approval and signing of the trustees to move funds in the fire fund to cover the heart monitors and to reimburse the FEMA grant fund for money paid out of fire fund.
*All bills presented were proven to be valid expenditures and were to be paid as presented.
*The next regular meeting will be a week early due to conflict of schedules. Date for the meeting will be May 5, 2011 at 7:00 pm in the trustees meeting room.
Meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm.
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