May 2022

NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES 5-10-2022

Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday, May 10, 2022.  Those in attendance were Craig Knox, Fire Chief; Jeffery Cohen, Assistant Fire Chief; Larry Geiger, Deputy Chief, Larken Slack, Derek Dozer and Randy Elson; Township Trustees and Paula Frank, Fiscal Officer. Also, in attendance were, township residents:  Brandon Stackhouse, Kent Cornett, and Renee Stackhouse.

Meeting was called to order by Trustee Elson at 6:00 pm.

Pledge to the flag was led by Randy Elson.

Agenda:  approved. 

Minutes:  Corrected as noted.

Public Participation:  Mr. Cornett asked about ditching on Foxfire.  He said there were cars off the edge of the road during the Thompson Run Road bridge closure.  He is just concerned that the edge of the pavement is being undermined.  Discussion about the possibility of the County maybe helping ditch it, with the Type II monies available to the Township.  Derek will call the County and see what they say.

Fire Department Business:  In March there were 104 dispatched calls.  77 of those were in Muskingum County and 27 in Perry.  In April there were 108 dispatched calls.  75 of those were in Muskingum County and 32 in Perry County.  The total for the year is 443 calls.

Madison Twp. meeting was last night and Craig met with them and Chris Helser, Hopewell Township Fire Chief and Tom Roberts, Fire Chief National Trails.  National Trails, Glenford and Newton all provide mutual aide to Madison Twp.  Glenford receives about $400 - $500 per call, National Trail receives $230 per call.  Craig figures of the 32 Perry County runs last month, probably 20 to 25 of those were to Madison Twp.  Madison Township’s most recent levy is from the 1980’s for fire protection and they only bring in around $45,000 per year for fire protection. The want to run a 2-mil levy for this November.  They plan to revise 3 old levies, in future years, so they can afford to pay the 3 departments more money for mutual aid.

Tires need replaced on the ladder truck.  They are the original tires.  $7125.00 is the state bid price for new ones.  Dozer made motion to replace tires not to exceed $7125.00.  Larken seconded the motion. Motion carried.

John Deere had to be serviced.  Electronic door locks are installed and all locks are working properly.  Craig asked Jason if he could get the back fill done along the new concrete.  Craig also asked if the old zero turn is still in working order, that was used previously for cemeteries.  He was going to offer to store the mower at the FD so they could have more than one person mowing at a time.  Jason said he was fine with that but it does need some repairs.

Training Charter needs renewed.  Level II and Advanced EMT are finishing up. 

Craig will be out of town for the June and July meetings but someone will be here in his place.  FDIC went well.  Larry Geiger and Todd Hensley went and they said there was a lot of good classes offered.

Assistant Chief:  none.

Road Report:  Jeff may start mowing on Monday.  The tractor and mower needs some repairs first.  Discussion about the grass in the lot, off Limestone, needing cut, but the fire department guys will take care of it.  They have been filling holes and ditching.

Old Business:  Larken has a quote for redoing the other areas on the fire department building.  Prices were roughly $13,000 and $28,000 for the other two walls.  Discussion followed regarding the pricing and the fact that supply prices raise daily. Derek made a motion that they accept the bid for the East and West walls for a total of $42,050.00.  Randy seconded the motion.  Motion carried.  Derek is going to call Paul Construction tomorrow and see if they will come down a little on the price.

New Business:  Paving project for summer 2022 – Rucker Rd, Shaw Rd (from Moxadarla Rd to Greenhouse Rd, Payne Rd (to finish road from blacktop last year), Crock Rd (from Limestone Valley to Huggins Rd), Roberts Addition both sections, Jonathan Dr, Maple St, Orchard St and Mill St.

Chip and Seal for 2022 – Leffler, Payne, Ironspot Roads, Porter Run Rd, Butcherknife Rd, Bush Run Rd, Harlan Rd, Huggins Rd, Crock Rd, Yost Rd, Mahon Rd, Holbert Ln, Stiers Ln, Workman Rd, Slack Rd, Ridgley Rd, and Opera Rd, E Darlington, Shaw Rd, and Dennis Rd

Trustees Reports:     

Elson— Cemeteries are being kept up by Terry Elson.

Dozer— none. 

Slack—Discussion about widening Shaw Road prior to paving.

Fiscal Officer Report:

·         Distributed Grassroots Clippings

·         Presented a Policy #1-2022 regarding junk cars in the township.

·         Resolution 07/2022 – To state that the township was accepting ARPA funds as lost revenue and to explain what all the money was being spent on.

·         Notice of receipt of bucket truck from Kessler’s to be signed.

·         ARPA report has been submitted to the United States Treasury.

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, June 14th at 6:00 pm.

Meeting adjourned at 7:47 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.