Village of Edgerton Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 7:00 PM
- Mayor Day called the meeting to order at 7:00PM with the Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer.
- Y – Yes, N – No, A – Abstain, Abs – Absent
- Roll Call:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Thiel, Dean | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | Y |
6 Members Present
Other Village Representatives Present:
- Chris Walker – Law Director
- Denise Knecht – Fiscal Officer
- Dawn Fitzcharles – Village Administrator
- Amanda Herman – Administrative Assistant
Media Present:
- Rebecca Miller- The Village Reporter, Lucas Bechtol-The Bryan Times
Public Present:
- Pam Wampler, Keith Winebar, Ashley Eberly, Gary Plotts
Before approval of the 12.07.2021 Meeting Minutes Council Member Leslie VanAusdale asked for her last name to be corrected and also requested to have the minutes reflect why she voted NO on sick time donation policy being that she did not have all of the information and wanted more time to process. This was noted by Clerk of Council and the 12.07.2021 minutes will reflect this information.
- Motion to Approve Meeting Minutes from 12.07.21, with requested additions/corrections:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | YM |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Thiel, Dean | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y2 |
| Karnes, Tom | Y |
Motion PASSES 6-0
Recognition of Service Awards; Keith Winebar, Roger Muehlfeld, Dean Thiel
- Keith Winebar who will be retiring December 31st, 2021 after 6.5 years with the Village. Keith has a heart for the parks and it showed in his work.
- Roger Muehlfeld (2020) and Dean Thiel (2004) were recognized and thanked for their service and dedication to the community through serving on Village council. This will be their last meeting.
Police Update by Chief Gary Plotts:
- Introduced of full-time officer, Ashley Eberly; currently riding along and training with Justin
- Lexipol Policy & Procedure program has been initiated, will take a couple months to get rolled out to officers
- Spillman Report writing system is up & running; master name list is shared among other agencies
- New Cruisers-waiting on shotgun & rifle racks then will go to be detail on the sides
- Request for hire of part-time officer, Ashlyn Morey; interviewed and checked references; currently on reserves with Napoleon PD
- Motion to hire Ashlyn Morey as probationary part-time patrol officer effective 12/21/21 at a rate of $16.85:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | YM |
| Thiel, Dean | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | Y2 |
Motion PASSES 6-0
Administrator Update by Dawn Fitzcharles:
- We are working hard to get 2021 year closed and get started on 2022. Very excited for things to come.
- Fire Contract presentation later in meeting
Fiscal Officer Update by Denise Knecht:
- Credit card review 11.16.21-12.15.21
- Working to get 2021 year-end finished as Dawn said, final payroll has been completed. Lots of work to complete before year end but we are pushing through.
VanAusdale asked for a reminder of $5,000.00 to Victim’s Assistance on Bill’s List. This amount was requested as a one-time donation due to budget cuts. It was discussed and agreed upon in April of this year.
- Motion to pay bills 12.21.21:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Thiel, Dean | Y2 |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | YM |
| Karnes, Tom | Y |
Motion PASSES 6-0
Discussion- Fire Contracts- Dawn gave a power point presentation providing information on what is taken into account to figure amounts for Village of Edgerton Fire Contracts with Milford, St Joseph, and Center Townships. At the end of 2021 Milford and St Joseph Townships are up for renewal. Our fire department protects roughly 66 miles of territory and as estimated 6,000 lives and provides mutual aid within our county as well as departments across Ohio border. Operating budget for FD is 31-35% taxes, 31-35% fire contracts, with the remaining being transfers from the general fund or grants. When determining the “fair share” across the Village and Townships, the details taken into consideration include operating costs, salaries and pensions, cost of PPE, capital items and costs to maintain, population protected, percentage of department by each location. That figure is averaged out over course of 4 years. Assessed property valuations and types of property (residential, agricultural, industrial) at each location are also looked at during this process. Increases over the past several years are strictly inflationary at 2-3%. Discussion has also been started of the need for a new fire truck. Townships are on board as far as joining efforts. There is a better chance of approval for grants for the Fire Department when there are multiple entities on board. Fitzcharles thanked Chuck Wallace and Tom Karnes for their service to the Fire Department.
- Motion to Approve Fire Contracts for St Joseph and Milford Townships beginning 01/01/2022-12/31/2024:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Thiel, Dean | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | YM |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | Y2 |
Motion PASSES 6-0
Discussion- 3rd reading ORDINANCE NO 1087: This Ordinance will amend residency requirement for Police Chief set May 26, 1982 stating must be resident within 6 months of hire date and extend to August 1, 2022 for Chief Plotts.
VILLAGE OF EDGERTON ORDINANCE NO 1087
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 139.01 OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE VILLAGE OF EDGERTON
- Motion to pass and adopt Ordinance No 1087:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y2 |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Thiel, Dean | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | YM |
| Karnes, Tom | Y |
Motion PASSES 6-0
Discussion-2021 Annual Housekeeping Ordinance: Only 2 items on ordinance are to reduce Issue 1 grant for Laubach Dr; taking out of budget for 2021 and move into 2022; we are looking to decrease appropriations for Capital expenditure $142,000 as well as reduce estimated revenue (grant) for $142,000.
VILLAGE OF EDGERTON ORDINANCE NO. 1091
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR A SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2021 ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS
- Motion to pass and adopt Ordinance #1091:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | YM |
| Thiel, Dean | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y2 |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | Y |
Motion PASSES 6-0
Discussion: CRA termination of CRA areas #1, #2, #3- Chris Walker received a call from the Ohio Department of Development. Walker submitted Village’s CRA to them quite a while ago and they apologized for the delay in certifying the CRA at the state level. They have gone through a number of changes in their department recently (personnel and restructuring). They had previously been the Ohio Development Services Agency and the person Walker had been communicating with was Daniel Strasser who is no longer there. They said everything looked fine with our Ordinance and the information we submitted and they would be certifying it however, they noticed in their records that CRA #1, #2, and #3 had not been formally closed so they needed them closed before they could certify. They understood that the application deadlines had expired quite some time ago but they still wanted a resolution terminating them.
- Motion to suspend the rules for Resolution #2021-013:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Thiel, Dean | Y2 |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | YM |
| Karnes, Tom | Y |
Motion PASSES 6-0
- Motion to pass and adopt Resolution #2021-013:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y2 |
| Thiel, Dean | YM |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | Y |
Motion PASSES 6-0
Council Discussion:
- Christmas Eve, Downtown Park at 7pm there will be a ceremony honoring those that have passed in 2021 that are Edgerton residents or graduates
- Offices closed Friday, December 24 and Monday, December 26
- Vacation payout for 2 employees; good faith efforts were made to get vacation hours under 120 that Council put into handbook earlier in the year; Fitzcharles confirmed with Walker that earned hours cannot be taken away so her suggestion is to pay out instead of rolling over and prolonging the problem
Motion to pay out Denise Knecht and Kip Pahl in order to get down to 120 vacation hours:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y2 |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Thiel, Dean | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | YM |
Motion PASSES 6-0
- Picnic tables taken out of downtown park after reading of names on Christmas Eve
- Roger Muehlfeld welcomed Pam Wampler to Council; he went on to state that he has enjoyed his time on Council and with the current leadership he believes the Village is in good hands
- Tree trimming into next year? Currently finishing up in Bryan, so should be end of year or beginning of 2022
- Gruver commended on end of year appropriations being a single item that was out of our control
- Gruver thanked Muehlfeld and Thiel for their time on Council and wished them the best
- Motion to adjourn at 7:45 PM:
| Muehlfeld, Roger | Y2 |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Thiel, Dean | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | YM |
Motion PASSES 6-0