July 2011

    NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES:  JULY 14, 2011

                Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 7:00 pm in the township meeting room at the fire station.  Those in attendance were:  Kenny Atkins and John Phillips, township residents; Craig Knox and Allen Deaver of the fire department; Derek J. Dozer, James R. Smith and Robert J. Stephenson, township trustees; Bernadine E. Swingle, fiscal officer.

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

Pledge to the flag was led by Stephenson.

Agenda was approved as presented with an executive session requested via the fire department.

Minutes were approved as presented.

Public Participation was first order of business.

                A request was presented to take action on Sunset Drive with a variety of junk vehicles on Hines property.  At the present time there are 44 cars, 4 school buses, and 2 campers within the perimeters of property.  It was noted by the trustees that the first step is to acquire VIN numbers from the vehicles.  Resident was a bit reluctant to attempt this, Stephenson agreed to get a deputy and together they would attempt to secure the numbers.

                Phillips was present as an observer.

Fire Department Business:

Knox reported:

                *The 2011 grant has been completed.  $7000.00 in a grant for 2012 has been allowed the department for training.  This will be applied to training for Cosgrave and J. Yarger.

                *Harrison Township EMS is currently shut down for various violations; is it acceptable with the board to seek EMS business from that area?  All three trustees agreed this was acceptable if the department officers felt it was feasible.  Additional service to be investigated would be to Brush Creek Township which would incur approximately 6 runs per month.  They would be asked for financial deposit for an annual contract.  This too was acceptable with the board.

                *Medicare is now depositing payments under the ID of; CIGNA DTC.

                *stat reports for the month of May and June were provided to each trustee.    

Deaver reported:

                *The large generator at the department is still not installed.  There has been a local gentleman contacted to possibly assist with this; estimate came in at $8000.00 - $10,000.00 to complete the installation.  The generator would have to be transported to Cleveland to have any / all military information removed.  This would be in addition to the above quoted figure.

                *Four tires on the medic have been replaced.

               *Request for a new computer for the chiefs’ office was made.

7:20 pm meeting went into executive session to discuss some personnel problems with one individual on the fire department.

7:38pm meeting out of executive session; a firefighter will be suspended indefinitely pending investigation of falsification of documents.

Road Report:  Due to Taylor being out of town, no road report was available.

7:40 pm meeting once again went in to executive session to discuss personnel issues.

7:50 pm meeting out of executive session.  Stephenson will address issues road maintenance personnel.

Trustee Reports:

                Dozer; Donna Jennings of 7020 Axline Avenue is complaining about the Stop signs on Axline Ave..  She feels they should be left up all the time.  Agreement was to have them posted only during the time Lake Isabella is open to the public.

                Stephenson; New dollar amounts should soon be coming from the county engineers’ office re; repairs to Foxfire and Malibu roads.  Ditching needs to be completed on Foxfire and some tree trimming is in order.  Jeff Sidwell has agreed to loan a bucket truck to assist township employees to do this.

                The trash situation in Ironspot is showing very small improvement.

                The burned out house on Old Town Road is still standing.  Comments; they were waiting for some finances coming available.

                The Greenhouse Road property is still being kept up fairly well.

                Karen Davis of 3805 Dona Drive has provided Stephenson with a lengthy list of residents in her area that are requesting the clearing of debris and vegetation at the abandoned property at 3765 Dona Drive.  Township employees have mowed the immediate area and it remains satisfactory at this time.

                Smith; the ditch behind Mrs. Cook on Cinema Drive has been cleared per the school facilities.

                The reflectors on McFarland Drive have been removed.

Old Business:

                A lengthy discussion was held re; the street light situation in the Renner Addition (Mona and Dona Drive areas).  It was decided Stephenson would attempt to have an AEP representative present at the next meeting.

New Business:  nothing to report.

Fiscal Officer report:

                *The wrestlers are still leaving the gym floor in very poor condition.  Blood stains and trash are present when they are gone.

                *John Hina called to thank the township workers for the “good” job they did in mowing Payne road.

                *Copies from the Census Bureau Update were provided to each trustee.

                *materials from the county township meeting re; governmental aggregation was presented for consideration of the board.   Papers need to be filed before August 10, 2011 to allow this information on the ballot for township residents to determine if they choose to participate.  A levy / resolution was available, board members agreed and signed the resolution to be presented to the election board.  This was completed by the fiscal officer 7/15/2011.  Further information will be provided by the county commissioners later in the year.

                *The Alternative Tax Budget was presented to the board for their approval.

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, August 11, 2011 at 7:00 pm in the township meeting room.

Meeting adjourned at 9:15 pm.

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.