May 2011

NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES   05-05-2011

                Newtown Township Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, May 05,2011 @7:00 pm in the township meeting room at the fire department.  Those in attendance were:  Craig Knox, Larry Geiger, and Jeff Swingle of the fire department; Larry Taylor, road supervisor; Derek J. Dozer, James R. Smith and Robert J. Stephenson, township trustees; Bernadine E. Swingle, township 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.

               Public Participation; none presented.

                Fire Department business: 

*Stat report for the month of April made available to the board with a total of 3 no responses due to unavailable personnel.

*A concern re; gym rental for a benefit has been brought to the attention of several of the F D officers.  A certified letter of proper use of the facilities will be forwarded to the involved individuals by Knox.

*The new heart monitors have been received and soon will be installed.   Knox will provide initial training on the system on Monday, May 9, 2011.  Physio – Control will provide additional training in June, 2011.

*Knox and D. Lovejoy will begin a new medic refresher course the end of May.  Newton personnel will be taught at no cost, anyone outside of the department will be charged for the training.

*New Lightbars have been installed on the newly acquired brush / grass truck.

*A house fire at 6785 Old Town Road, East Fultonham has become a major concern of surrounding neighbors.  Fire Chief Deaver has done an inspection of same and has deemed it to be an extreme safety hazard.  He further advises the structure needs to be torn down as soon as possible for the health and safety of the neighbors. 

*It was noted to the department the water bill for April was $128.00 which is considerably more than average.

Road Report; Larry Taylor reporting.

*Most all township road culverts have been cleaned out.

*There has been approximately 5T. of cold mix used on township roads in the past 2 weeks.

*A new drain and catch basin has been installed in Avondale.

*The property at 1890 Greenhouse has been mowed and trash removed by the township employees.  Total cost is yet to be determined.

*It was noted to Taylor that possibly cold mix could be purchased from the county highway department.  It will only be allowed to the township via county engineers’ disposal.

Trustees have advised one Terry Elson to be present at the June meeting.  The fiscal officer was advised to include notice of this with his next pay check.

Trustee Reports:

Dozer:  He contacted the Crock road owners.  It was not well received, fiscal officer was advised to send a certified letter to them re; cleaning up the property / township removal of debris will result in assessing taxes.

Smith:  Question was raised as to the notice received from the fire chief re; an estimate for a new roof on part of the fire department building in the amount of $38,111.00.  The issue was tabled at this time.

Stephenson:  Notice has been received from Community Ambulance re; calls and responses to the township in 2010.  Their records indicate they had 122 calls and 83 transports, some of which could have been called by the individual being transported.

                *Mr. Shreve called with a concern with soapy looking bubbles in water draining onto the Bateman property on Nutter Road.  In speaking with Mr. Mechling, county extension agent, this is normal with the amount of rain and drainage this spring has received.

                *Boyd Refuse in Ironspot does not appear to be making much progress on cleaning up the trash / garbage on his property.  Stephenson advised him that a check will be made every 2 weeks.

                *JEDD held a meeting recently and Stephenson was in attendance.  Nothing new has progressed on the Rt. 93 / 22 interchange. 

Old Business:  Nothing more to report.

New Business:  Nothing more to report.

Fiscal Officer Report:

*A county fiscal officer / trustee meeting was held recently at the fire department.  Muskingum County Auditor, Debra Nye and Mike Babcock from the auditors’ office were in attendance to brief all present of some of the things that is to be expected for reports to their office in the future.  Approximately 25 persons were in attendance.

*Copies of the following publications were provided to each trustee:

                May 2011 issue of Grassroots Clippings.

                Notice from Shelly Materials, Inc. of price increase of 0.25/ton due to fuel costs rising.

                Notice from ODOT re; contracting for 2011-2012 sodium chloride for roads.

                Notice of June 1, 2011 meeting of District 18 Public Works .

                Notice of extension of 2011 CD applications for Fiscal Year 2011 for financial aid for community improvements.

                The Ohio LTAP Newsletter for May – June 2011.

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

Next regular meeting of the trustees will be June 09, 2011 at 7:00 pm in the township meeting room at the fire department.

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.