December 2022
NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES 12-13-2022
Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday, December 13, 2022. Those in attendance were Craig Knox, Fire Chief, Jake Lutz, Assistant Fire Chief; Larken Slack, Derek Dozer and Randy Elson; Township Trustees and Paula Frank, Fiscal Officer. Also, in attendance were township residents: Bernadine Swingle, Sam Lantz, Brandon Stackhouse and Shane Stephenson.
Meeting was called to order by Trustee Elson at 6:00 pm.
Pledge to the flag was led by Randy Elson.
Agenda: approved.
Minutes: approved.
Public Participation: none.
Fire Department Business: The department had 107 dispatched calls in November. 81 in Muskingum County and 26 in Perry County. Medicare has increased the reimbursement rates for EMS billing again. Resolution was presented for the updated rates. Basic Life Support is now $650.57, Advanced Life Support is now $829.76, Advanced Life Support Type II is $981.56, Mileage is $23.97. These rates are effective January 1st. Derek made a motion to accept the new rates, Elson seconded motion carried. Motion carried.
Instructor class starting in January. Rescue steering tires needed replaced at a cost of $2500. Control module on the tanker went bad it was $3000. They have applied for a BWC grant for battery operated tools and the BWC share is around $28,901. Fire Department share is $9,633.00. The board approved them to proceed with the grant process.
The community days group got called about the flatbed trailer that is sitting in the shelter at the baseball field. They have asked if the trailer could be moved to the FD but they don’t have room. Jason said they can leave it right where it is.
Andy James has resigned from the department. Dozer asked how many people had not been on a run for 6 months or a year. Asking if that is being addressed. Craig said he has spoken with a few people. Josh Tilton is one but he took an infectious control training so he is becoming more involved. He said there are a few others that he may ask to take association positions so the firefighter positions can be freed up for someone that will be active. Derek asked that they keep the board abreast of the status of any shift coverage issues. Craig said Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve have some openings but the rest of month is covered.
Craig found out that the taxes being charged on real estate are actually for the street light assessments.
Firefighter banquet is January 21, 2023.
Assistant Chief: none.
Road Report: The newer dump truck has been aligned and all the tire chains have come in. The salt has been ordered and should be delivered within 10 days. Culverts are all caught up except one on Broadvue and one on Moxadarla. He plans to work on Moxadarla tomorrow.
Jason asked Craig for the regulations for No Parking Signs for a Snow Emergency. After further review, it looks like the Snow Emergency part might not be applicable so they may just want to do No Parking period.
Old Business:
New Business:
Trustees Reports:
Elson—Discussed getting flashing signs for Foxfire near Thompson Run stating there is a dangerous intersection. Jason said he would check on the price for those again.
Dozer— none.
Slack—He tried to contact the owner of the property at Thompson Run and Foxfire to discuss removing some foliage to increase visibility. He is not having much luck making contact.
White Cottage property – Garrox LLC – Larken wanted to start the discussion of possibly purchasing the corner so the township would own the entire property on that side of the creek. Purchase price is $20,000.00 right now. The subject has been tabled until after the first of the year.
Larken asked Craig about the Appalachian Grant and Craig said they are going to try to apply for it through the training division but he isn’t sure that is going to work out. Minimum project is $1M. Training is about the only use he can see a use for it.
Fiscal Officer Report:
· Distributed Grassroots Clippings
· Resolution 15-2022 to adopt new fees for ambulance services
· Resolution 17-2022 Mary Rose Lane
· Letter from MCEO regarding Lower Kroft Road bridge replacement planned for 2023
Trustee Dozer made a motion to pay bills. Trustee Elson seconded the motion. Motion carried.
All bills presented were deemed to be valid expenditures and were to be paid as presented.
Next regular meeting will be held on Monday, December 26, 2022 at 6:00 pm to close out the year.
Meeting adjourned at 6:55 pm.
NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES 12-26-2022
The Newton Township Trustees met to close out business for the year 2022, close the books for same, and organize for 2023. Those in attendance were; Randy Elson, Derek Dozer, and Larken Slack, Township Trustees; Fire Chief, Craig Knox; and Fiscal Officer, Paula Frank.
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by chairperson, Elson.
There was no public participation or other business to open.
Fiscal Officer had requested the following to be updated/closed for the year:
*O.T.A. Conference is scheduled for 2023, at the Columbus Convention Center. Refer to the Grassroots Clippings from December for additional details.
*Trustee to chair the township meetings for the year 2023 was agreed to be covered by Trustee Dozer.
Budgets were submitted for Fire and EMS for 2023 by Chief Craig Knox.
*The following wages were discussed and raises were made accordingly;
All three Trustees will make $1134.00 per month and the Fiscal Officer will make $1984.66 per month, as outlined in the 2023 Compensation Charts supplied by the Ohio Township Association.
Larry Taylor currently is making $18.00 / hour, and will make $18.00 / hour in 2023.
Jason Taylor currently is making $20.00 /hour, he will make $22.50 / hour in 2023.
Diana Latier; fire department custodian is currently receiving $475.00 per month with a cap of 30 hours / month unless otherwise approved. Latier will make $475.00 per month in 2023. Latier is expected to work a minimum of 6 hours each given week, unless extenuating circumstances prohibit it. She should come in on the same day each week, as per Trustees request, and she needs to get her timesheets in on time each month.
Jeff Swingle; part-time Road Maintenance, is currently being paid $15.00 and will be paid $17.00 / hour in 2023.
Sam Lantz; part-time Road Maintenance, is currently being paid $15.00 and will be paid $16.00 / hour in 2023.
The Township will continue to pay the Kimpel family $300 per year to maintain Goshen cemetery. Terry Elson has contracted with the Township to maintain all other cemeteries for 2022 at a cost of $6500 for the year. Mr. Elson has stated he would like to continue this maintenance for 2023, if the Trustees agree. Motion made by Trustee Dozer and seconded by Trustee Slack. Elson abstained.
Craig Knox; Fire Chief receives $1000.00 per month currently. Knox will receive $1000.00 per month in 2023.
Hourly wages for Fire Department personnel are currently at: FF = $11.75, EMT = $13.75, Medic = $15.75, FF/A-EMT $14.75. Wages will increase to FF = $14.00, EMT = $15.50, Medic = $17.00 and FF/A-EMT $16.50. These wages will take effect January 8, 2023.
Motion made by Trustee Dozer and seconded by Trustee Slack to give those raises as noted above. Motion carried.
*All elected officials will continue to receive a $70.00 cell phone allowance per month.
*A resolution, No. 18/2022 was presented for temporary appropriations for 2023, to be presented to the Muskingum County Auditor.
*All township meetings will continue to be held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month with the 1following dates put in place. January 10; February 14; March 14; April 11; May 9, June 13, July 11, August 8, September 12, October 10, November 14 and December 12, 2023, with closing of the books to occur on December 28, 2023. All meetings will begin at 6:00 pm in the township meeting room. Any variance from this will be posted on the “Marquee” in front of the fire department, on the front door, on the Township’s website, and/or will be noted in the local newspaper.
All books were noted to be in order and will be closed.
The next regular meeting of the board will be held on January 10, 2023 in the township meeting room at 6pm the fire department.
Meeting adjourned at 6:40 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.