March 2022
NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES 3-8-2022
Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Those in attendance were Craig Knox, Fire Chief; Jeffery Cohen and Jake Lutz, Assistant Fire Chiefs, Larken Slack, Derek Dozer and Randy Elson; Township Trustees and Paula Frank, Fiscal Officer. Also in attendance were, township residents: Todd Thompson, Julie Thompson, Renee Stackhouse, Kent Cornett, M Shilling, Kelly Temple and Brandon Stackhouse.
Meeting was called to order by Trustee Elson at 6:01 pm.
Pledge to the flag was led by Randy Elson.
Agenda: approved.
Minutes: approved.
Public Participation: Foxfire resident, Kent Cornett – he is concerned with the ditches and the need get them cleaned. The debris in the ditch is damaging the new pavement. Elson addressed the issue and said that the road department was aware and it would be taken care of. He let the resident know that there is still berm work to be done on the road but they have to wait until it dries up to get that done.
Fire Department Business: Dispatched calls for the month of February were 114 – 93 in Muskingum County and 21 in Perry County. The yearly total is 231 runs. Craig met with Chief Taylor on responding to auto accidents jointly. If the accident is in Newton Twp, they will send our Medic and the rescue can be sent if additional people show up for the run. South Zanesville will automatically show up with their rescue. If the run is in Springfield / Village of So. Zanesville, they will send their medic and Newton will send their rescue.
Officers meeting – they discussed a possible open house in June as a “Founders Day” since the department was founded in June of 1956. ISO will be in on March 17th for the 5-year review. They are the organization that sets the insurance rates for residents of the township.
Policy manual is together. 24 policies have been issued out to the staff. Procedure manual is next.
The boat needs replaced – there are several leaks where the seams are coming apart. $3000 to $3500 for repairs and shipping. They can get a boat from REDD for $4700.00 near Buckeye Lake. This will be an inflatable boat as well. They have had the seams repaired 2 or 3 times already. Dozer asked if most dept had inflatables. Craig stated that Falls has different boat since they have different water types to deal with. The inflatable will hold 2 safely but could handle 6 – 8 people in a flood rescue situation. Dozer brought up that the old boat was a donation to the department and wanted to know how the donor felt about that. Craig said the donor was aware and was involved in the planning to get a replacement. The new boat can also be used with a motor. The current motor can be used on the new boat as well. Dozer made a motion to purchase a new boat. Slack 2nd motion. Motion carried.
Next FEMA grant has gone into peer review and they have not heard that they have been excluded yet. This grant will be for fire hoses, nozzles and appliances. This grant is just under $62,000 with the department share being around $3,000.
ARPA Final Rule has been issued – and they basically said you can spend the money any way you want – just get it spent. End of April is when delivery would be on the Medic. Discussion followed about paying for the new Medic out of ARPA funds instead of financing it. FO will ask Huntington if the loan could be paid off early, once we receive the 2nd tranche of ARPA funds.
The electronic door lock system on the two exterior doors are both broken and the cost to repair them is around $3600. The repair will not guarantee that they will even work. A new system – adding 3 doors would be $7500 or a little less. The locks are encrypted and have their own network. The new system has the ability to open at certain times for public events, so there would no longer be the need to give out codes to individuals, for those events. Dozer asked if ARPA funds could be used. Craig and FO will investigate that. Elson passed motion to use the ARPA funds and Dozer 2nd motion to use ARPA funds – motion carried.
Resident Stackhouse asked if there were any plans to repair the exterior of the building and Craig stated that was on the agenda for this coming year. Discussion followed on what needs repaired and the best way to do the repairs. He is also looking at repairing a door by the stage that also has some water damage to the door and frame. Dozer recommended advertising for bids to get it taken care of. Larken will work with Craig on getting something together for a bid packet.
County Fire Chiefs met on March 3rd. The county Fire Association will have a new name. It will have a new purpose—a unified command for county events and also putting together policies for county disaster response.
Craig is having surgery on 3/18 and will be out of commission for a few days. Jake and Jeffery will be in charge during that time. Larry Geiger is also available if necessary.
Assistant Chief – Jake – has meeting next Tuesday to close out grant for gloves and hoods that were purchased. The new cot has been installed. The one has been used already and it allowed the transport of a large resident that otherwise they would not have been able to transport. Replacement bumper has been installed on Medic 1082. The department received a $1200 EMS grant that was applied for last year. They are working on a new EMS grant for this year.
Road Report – Drain near Avondale Youth Center – that belongs to the township not a residential drain. The drain needs replaced because it has been damaged. Dozer thought maybe the county would help fund that repair.
They have been applying stone to the soft spots waiting on the rain to end.
Butcherknife has been fixed as best as Jason can.
Old Business – Junk Cars – Dozer stated that he attended the Winter Conference and the ORC Section 505.871– gives authority for a township to remove junk vehicles, via a resolution passed by the Trustees. This is for private property– stating that they need to be removed within 14 days. Notice must be given and received by the resident. If a registered letter is not signed for, notice can be placed on the door / tree, etc. of the residence. Some folks will have a “donor” car that they are using parts off of to repair their good vehicle. A lot of situations in our township are much worse than that. Junk motor vehicles defined: 3 model years old or older, apparently inoperable, extensively damaged, including but not limited to missing wheels, tires, engines, or transmissions does not include a dollar limit on the value of the vehicle. Classic vehicles you would have to be careful with. There is no exception for a collectable vehicle. Tires must be aired up, license plates must be on the vehicle or it must be covered with tarps, etc. Duane Bolyard, in E Fultonham, had a lot of vehicles with trees growing out of. The Sheriff came out and got the VIN’s off the vehicles for them to be removed. The township needs to determine how many are too many. The issue is visible cars – so if you have a lot of property and can hide them, they are not a visual issue.
Mrs. Thompson asked how long a burned-out structure was allowed to stand before it should be removed. Craig said that there are a few things they could try but with the township no being zoned, it ties their hands. There is no code enforcement for remnants of a fire.
The board needs to make the determination on how many cars is to many – Dozer asked for input from the residents in attendance. Mr. Stackhouse asked what other townships do and Mr. Dozer replied that they are all different. Mr. Temple has some disabled vehicles and asked what he would be required to do. Dozer stated he needs to install a fence or buy some land to stow the vehicles out of public sight.
Junk Vehicle Policy is as follows:
A courtesy letter will be sent and the resident has 30 days to dispose of vehicles. This pertains to anything over two junk vehicles per property – inoperable, flat tires, no motor, not operable. Vehicles must be not be in sight of the road. The board will take pictures submitted by township residents and recommended properties. As long as 2 of 3 trustees agree – the letter will be issued. If certified letter is not received, a letter will be hand delivered or posted on the home or a Deputy will deliver it.
New Business – FO will get back with the trustees with figures on what can be spent on asphalt for this upcoming Summer.
Trustees Reports:
Elson— none.
Dozer— none.
Slack— none.
Fiscal Officer Report:
· Distributed Grassroots Clippings
· Bid opening for cemetery mowing – those were due today. One bid was received from Terry Elson for a total of $6500 for the year. Derek made a motion to accept the bid and Mr. Slack 2nd. Mr. Elson abstained. FO will mail letter that this is a one-year contract.
· Resolution 1/2022 – Passing permanent appropriations for 2022
· Resolution 2/2022 – To vacate the ROW on the Thompson family property in White Cottage. FO will forward the Mr. Swierz, with the county.
· Englefield price increase
· Medic financing figures from Huntington, Community Bank and North Valley Bank were handed out. Discussion followed regarding the use of ARPA funds vs. financing this through any lender. This will be tabled until the April meeting so FO can follow up with the bank and find out if there is a large penalty for early payment, if we would finance this and then pay off the loan when the next tranche of funds arrive.
Trustee Elson made a motion to pay bills. Trustee Dozer 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 Tuesday, April 12 at 6:00 pm.
Meeting adjourned at 7:48 pm.
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