July 2023
NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES 7-11-2023
Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Those in attendance were Craig Knox, Fire Chief; Larken Slack, Derek Dozer and Randy Elson; Township Trustees and Paula Frank, Fiscal Officer. Also, in attendance were, township residents: Bernadine Swingle, Kent Cornett, Renee Stackhouse, Brandon Stackhouse, Shane Stephenson, Sam Lantz, Donald Longwell, Jessica Swope and Adam Foshee with The Shelly Company.
Meeting was called to order by Trustee Dozer at 6:00 pm.
Pledge to the flag was led by Derek Dozer.
Agenda: approved.
Minutes: approved.
Public Participation: None.
· Paving Bids: Only one bid – The Shelly Company - $1,142,234.20. Adam supplied the Trustees with a breakdown by road so they could determine which roads they will select to pave. Slack asked how much more it would cost if they were to jump around and do sections of roads. Adam said to contact him to discuss further but they would likely be able to hold the same price per unit. The trustees agreed to discuss this and get in touch with Adam.
· Backhoe Bids: Only one bid – Sam Lantz bid $1,800.00. Dozer asked how much they would get out of the hoe at a scrap price. Slack thinks the tracks are worth more than that. Dozer and Elson agreed to accept the bid. Slack was opposed. Sale is final to Sam Lantz.
Fire Department Business: 105 dispatched calls in June. 77 in Muskingum County and 28 in Perry County. Total of 598 for the year. There were 7 uncovered shifts in June due to vacations. They hired Amanda Rush as a probationary employee with FF 1 and AEMT certifications. She is part-time at Crooksville and S. Zanesville. They still have 3 open spots on the roster. Jake and Craig are attending Ohio Fire Chiefs conference next week. The State Senate has removed funding from the state budget for MARCS radios which will cause the cost of use to double. He has asked for a list of radios the dept is being billed for so they can be sure each of them is being used. The price increase is thought to take effect in 2024 but nobody knows for sure.
The walk-in cooler – they have started to get quotes for a new unit. One person that looked at it got it running and said it needs a new motor and two other parts. The parts are $515 and he will be back tomorrow night to fix it. He also is researching the mini-split units to get a cost for replacing those.
Dozer asked for a status of people that have not made a run. Robbie Chambers and Brian Bott have requested leaves of absence. Josh Tilton is doing health / safety wellness getting that up and running. Jeff Swingle said if they need to replace him, he will bow out.
Assistant Chief: none.
Road Report: Signs are up for No Parking and one has been torn down already. He is going to go back and re-install it. Ditching is almost done on Bush and Porter. He graded Ridgley. They have shaved the bank back on Shaw.
Derek asked if anyone had questions for Jason regarding paving quote. Discussion followed regarding pricing. They determined that Bush Run could be cut from the list for the price quoted. Derek asked Jason which of the two hills he spent the most time on spreading stone and grading—E Darlington and Yost. Jason said E Darlington. They discussed that not a lot of people live on E Darlington. Slack says he knows there are several people that do not want Yost Hill paved. Elson says his choices would be Carson and Crock and Huggins. Dozer asked if everyone agrees to opt out of chip and seal and just pave. Jason agreed with that. Discussed budget and where money could be cut and moved to different line items to cover $422,000.00 for paving. Huggins, Crock and Carson would be $349K. The board decided to table discussion until next meeting.
Old Business: Junk Cars – Mr. Hoge is deceased. Donald Jones in Avondale is building a fence but it isn’t quite tall enough. Outstanding issues are Duane Bolyard, Misti Malfe, Christopher Cannon and Robert Cunningham. Discussion followed on what steps to take on these. They will table the 3rd step letters until the next meeting.
New Business: None.
Trustees Reports:
Elson—none.
Dozer— none.
Slack—none.
Fiscal Officer Report:
· Distributed Grassroots Clippings
· Do we want to continue water service at the Crock Road property we purchased from Garrox? We need to put it in our name unless we choose to disconnect. FO to call Maysville Water about options to not use it / disconnect it.
· Resolution 12/2023 Presented to appropriate FEMA money for expenditure.
· Resolution 13/2023 Presented to accept the 2024 Alternative Tax Budget
· Still need to know which landowners need junk car “thank you” letters. Spreadsheet of those residents are in packet.
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 Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Meeting adjourned at 7:15 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.