February 2024
NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES 2-13-2024
Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday, February 13, 2024. 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: Kent Cornett, Brandon Stackhouse, Renee Stackhouse, Shane Stephenson, and Sam Lantz.
Meeting was called to order by Trustee Slack at 6:00 pm.
Pledge to the flag was led by Larken Slack.
Agenda: approved.
Minutes: **Correction** Shaw widening is NOT almost complete. It is a work in progress.
Public Participation: Kent Cornett asked how far behind they were on ditching. They have had some people drive off the road into their ditch and mess it up. It just needs dug up a bit.
Fire Department Business: There were 135 dispatched calls in January with 108 in Muskingum County and 27 in Perry County. This makes the daily average of 4.4.
There were two un-covered shifts in January due to illness.
The new battery-powered tools are in service and on the Rescue and the Ladder.
The training division started an Advanced EMT class.
Jordan (Alex) James has resigned as he is moving out of state. They have two open spots and two that are on leave of absence. There are two that are active / inactive. They have one applicant going through the hiring process. Derek asked if the raise in pay is helping and Craig said the guys were very happy with their raises. He asked Craig if he could check with some departments what their chiefs are making.
Craig is on the county radio committee for upgrading dispatching protocols.
Derek asked if the guys go on a run and there is a fatality for whatever reason, what is the role of the fire chief. Craig said they will call him and let him know if he is needed. They will contact the State Fire Marshall and that is really the only requirement in a fatal fire. With the most recent fatal fire, Craig checked up on the crew that were on scene a few times to check on their well-being after the event.
Derek asked what Allen’s status is on the Fire Department since he has retired as Chief. Craig said he has helped with the computer project and he does pick up shifts on occasion. He goes on runs and was actually on the fatal fire last month. Craig also stated that they have discussed a safety position for Allen, similar to what Larry Geiger does, but it has not been offered yet.
Assistant Chief: none.
Road Report: Jason got prices on fixing the soft spots on the new pavement. Crock Road is 995 sq. feet and comes to $4,000.00. Huggins Rd is 1500 sq. feet and is $6,000.00. The spots that are causing issues are places they have never had problems before. The pavement is crumbling in places. Derek said he would make a call to Shelly to see if they will do anything to fix it.
He has been filling a lot of potholes. The big holes are their focus right now. They have plenty of salt right now.
Randy asked if he fixed the culvert on Jenkins Drive and Jason said he had.
Jason said the culvert on Thompson Run is going to take quite a bit of time to replace. He has a steel plate over it right now until he can get to it.
Old Business: Junk Motor Vehicles – Larken contacted someone at the Sheriff’s office and he told Larken to supply them with the locations that 3rd letters have been mailed to and they will drive by and see if they can catch folks at home.
Derek attended the OTA conference and attended a session that covered ORC §505.87 – Abatement control, removal of vegetation, garbage, refuse and other debris. It is basically a blank check for the township to consider something a nuisance and after 14 days of notifying a resident they can just go to the residence with a backhoe and load up the nuisance and haul it away. Trash can be hauled away and then charged against the property taxes. For garbage, they can write the resident a letter that alerts the resident of the specific section of the ORC that has been violated with as much description as possible, give the location of the garbage, etc. Provides the date and time and place of a meeting where the board of trustees will discuss the resident’s situation and consider passing a resolution to declare the vegetation, garbage, refuse, or other debris is a nuisance. It advises the resident that should the board of trustees determine the vegetation, garbage, refuse or other debris as a nuisance, the resident has 7 days to abate, control or remove the vegetation, garbage, refuse or other debris. Advises the resident that if they fail to do so, the board of trustees can take action against them. Advises the resident of the cost the board incurs in removing or causing the removal of the vegetation, garbage, refuse or other debris may be entered on the tax duplicate and become a lien on the property at the date of entry. *Copy of ORC §505.87 attached to these minutes.
Derek also attended the marijuana law session and said that was very interesting.
New Business: none.
Trustees Reports:
Elson—none.
Dozer—Derek took the Sunshine Law training at the OTA Conference and wanted to note that when going into executive session – only executive session business can be discussed during that session. Also wanted to make sure to note that nothing should be discussed outside of meetings unless it is an absolute emergency that cannot be helped.
Slack—Tad Lantz has an 8’ stainless steel spreader box on a vehicle that he bought. Jason says he can make it fit our dump truck to use as a salt spreader box. Tad would like $800 for the box. Larken would like to sell some scrap and buy the spreader box. Derek made a motion that they sell scrap and purchase the spreader box. Randy seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Porter Run – Larken took some measurements on widening the road at Logan Goins’ property. It is 270’ long. Sidwell’s is going to donate dirt. It will take 2,000 ton of dirt to fill it in. This will be several trips for the dump trucking. It would cost around $15,000 to hire a dump truck to do this. Larken and Jason will get some pricing from a few people. This price is from Bob Mock and he would also bring out his hoe to load trucks with since it is larger than ours. Larken would like to start with getting the dirt out on the location and let it settle over the winter. Jason said there will be two culverts that need replaced there as well. Larken made a motion to appropriate $20,000 to get the dirt and fill to Porter Run to widen the road at the Goins property for approximately 270’ for road widening. Derek seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Fiscal Officer Report:
· Distributed Grassroots Clippings
· Presented mileage certification received from the Muskingum County Engineer’s office, to be signed by the Trustees.
· Noted that the Fire & EMS levy is due to be put back on the ballot for renewal in November 2024. Craig would like it to be moved to a permanent levy instead of a 5-year levy. FO needs to send a letter to the Auditor letting them know he has the authority to obtain financial info from them.
· Presented Resolution 01/2024 to accept permanent appropriations for fiscal year 2024.
Trustee Larken made a motion to pay bills. Trustee Derek 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, March 12, 2024 at 6:00 pm.
Meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m.
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