Village of Edgerton Council Meeting Minutes
Monday, December 7, 2020 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:

  • Charles Butler – Solicitor
  • Denise Knecht – Fiscal Officer
  • Zachary Dohner – Village Administrator
  • Amanda Herman – Administrative Assistant

Media Present:

  • Cindy Thiel, The Edgerton Earth
  • Lynn Thompson, The Bryan Times
  • Rebecca Miller, The Village Reporter

Public Present:

  • Scott Hartley
  • Tyler Perry

Mayor Day asked for questions, comments, or motions to approve Meeting Minutes. Charles Butler commented that he noticed on November 24th Special Meeting Minutes that he was listed as present but he was not. Denise apologized and will correct. Knecht also mentioned that Jason Gruver brought a typo to her attention on page 3 of the November 24th minutes; the electric building cost is listed as $23,000 and should be $230,000. She has corrected.

  • Motion to Approve Special Meeting Minutes from 11.16.20 :
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y
VanAusdale, Leslie Y 2ND
Thiel, Dean Y
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y MOTION
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

  • Motion to Approve Regular Meeting Minutes from 11.16.20 :
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y 2ND
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y MOTION
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

  • Motion to Approve Special Meeting Minutes from 11.24.20 with corrections:
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y MOTION
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y 2ND
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

  • Motion to Approve Special Meeting Minutes from 11.30.20 :
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y MOTION
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y 2ND
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

Discussion: Increase from $500 to $600 per month. This agreement will be on a month to month basis and will cease the month following certification by one of our own. Charles Butler reviewed the extended contract before Dohner entered into the agreement. The motion on the table is for the sake of record keeping. Councilman Karnes recently emailed and asked if there are training opportunities available. Dohner responded that he has been in communication with Kip Pahl, and right now COVID has halted in person training sessions but he plans to look into attending a Zoom training. Wallace thinks that getting the guys into a class to help with training is a great idea. Karnes added that a workshop or training specifically for this certification basically prepares one to pass the test. Hands on experience isn’t necessary. State level testing is based on knowledge in general. Mayor Day added that he believes they have done some remote training already and going forward that is most likely the way that trainings will be taking place.

  • Motion to allow Village Administrator to extend Wastewater Operator of Record agreement with Village of Edon:
Muehlfeld, Roger Y
Thiel, Dean Y
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Wallace, Chuck Y 2ND
Gruver, Jason Y MOTION
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

Discussion: Dohner is seeking approval from Council to execute Amendment #2 engineering contract for the Laubach Dr project. Dohner asked Council to recall the agreement made between the Village and Jack Jones at PDG following the project on Hull St that there would be a certain amount taken off of the Laubach Dr project. This amendment also shows the engineering increase for additional surveying on Laubach Drive. Again, this motion is for record keeping purposes as the agreement has already been signed. This amendment was dispersed to Council on November 24, 2020.

  • Motion to allow Village Administrator to execute amended engineering contract for Laubach Dr Drainage Project(Amendment #2):
Muehlfeld, Roger  Y
Thiel, Dean  Y MOTION
VanAusdale, Leslie  Y
Wallace, Chuck  Y
Gruver, Jason  Y 2ND
Karnes, Tom  Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

Discussion: Denise sent an email to Council with information pertaining to all that would be included in an annual rate review. It is estimated at $2000-2500 annually to review water, sewer, storm sewer and electric rates. The review would be based on prior year financials, operating budget, billing figures, updated model of cash flow, review of current year budget & 5 year plan, and would also include reviewing with Council on annual basis. Knecht believes it would be a beneficial tool to have, especially when setting up the budget each year and would allow us to know where rates are compared to financials every year and would give a detailed idea of what the Village should or shouldn’t do as far as rates go. Jason Gruver stated the time span between the most recent rate reviews was around 5 years and cost approximately $12,000 so his opinion is to move forward with an annual review, for the sheer benefit of having up to date information and a quick presentation of information as well, it’s possible the Village would even save money by switching to an annual review. Denise added that this is a one year agreement and we could exit that agreement at any time if it is decided to not be a tool we need. The first year is quoted slightly higher due to having to obtain 2 years of electric data while water, sewer, and storm are up to date.

  • Motion to approve entering into an annual rate review agreement with Courtney & Associates:
Muehlfeld, Roger  Y
Thiel, Dean  Y
VanAusdale, Leslie  Y 2ND
Wallace, Chuck  Y
Gruver, Jason  Y MOTION
Karnes, Tom  Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

Discussion: Requesting Council approval of 2021 schedules. Denise commented that with Christmas falling on the weekend, we are requesting to use the following Monday, December 27th as our Holiday, opposed to Thursday-Friday. VanAusdale asked if Friday & Monday work for office purposes; Yes.

  • Motion to approve 2021 Holiday Schedule (adding Monday December 27 as the 10th holiday):
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y
Thiel, Dean Y 2ND
VanAusdale, Leslie Y MOTION
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y
Karnes, Tom Y

 Motion PASSES 6-0

Discussion:  Denise commented that we have two pay periods in 2021 where the payroll pay date falls on a holiday so we will pay one day early in those cases.

  • Motion to approve 2021 Payroll Dates:
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y
Thiel, Dean Y 2ND
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y MOTION
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

  • Motion to approve 2021 Council Meeting Dates:
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y MOTION
Thiel, Dean Y
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y 2ND
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

Mayor Day will work on committee assignments for the next meeting. If Council has any questions or comments regarding assignments, they should see the Mayor.

Discussion: The contents of Ordinance No 1068 have been discussed multiple times over the last couple meetings as well as by email and consists of year end housekeeping items that need to be done in order to meet or correct the budget. Denise previously sent an email with all items listed in this Ordinance. A last minute addition is for the Tree Commission and the removal of 9 trees. Dohner was in communication with the contractor who claimed the removals will be done before the end of 2020. The other large balance decreases include Laubach Dr Project as this is being transferred from 2020 to 2021; there was also a redistribution check from the County for Coronavirus funds that was received late last week. Since this is a current year appropriation, it can be adopted and passed without emergency.

VILLAGE OF EDGERTON ORDINANCE NO 1068
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR A SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS

  • Motion to pass and adopt Ordinance No 1068:
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y 2ND
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y MOTION
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

Discussion: Ordinance No 1069 lays out the annual salaries and wages that explains how pay is to be distributed and who is in charge of payroll, as well as the listing of job titles and wage ranges. The only difference this year is the portion of Section 3 that allowed wage increases was removed. Denise explained the options for passing this Ordinance; suspending the rules and passing by emergency tonight or giving a first reading tonight and then suspending and passing at the next Council meeting while stressing the importance of having a quorum in order to pass by emergency.

VILLAGE OF EDGERTON ORDINANCE NO 1069
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE SALARIES AND WAGES FOR THE EMPLOYEES OF THE VILLAGE OF EDGERTON, OHIO, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY

  • Motion to suspend three reading rule for Ordinance No 1069:
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y 2ND
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y MOTION
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

  • Motion to pass and adopt Ordinance No 1069:
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y MOTION
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y 2ND
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

Discussion: Ordinance No 1070 is presented as the permanent appropriations for 2021. This listing groups fund lines as follows; personal services, contractual services, materials and supplies, and capital. This covers all funds for expenditures in the 2021 budget year.

VILLAGE OF EDGERTON ORDINANCE NO 1070
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE PERMANENT APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2021 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY

  • Motion to suspend three reading rule for Ordinance No 1070:
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y 2ND
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y MOTION
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

  • Motion to pass and adopt Ordinance No 1070:
Muehlfeld, Roger                             Y MOTION
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y
Wallace, Chuck Y 2ND
Gruver, Jason Y
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

Administrator Update by Zach Dohner:

  • Leaf pick-up is officially complete; leaves that were not picked up can be taken to the compost pile at the Street Department.
  • SCADA- sewer side is nearly complete, finalizing configuration and coding, will be looking to train staff on how to utilize program; looking forward to being able to monitor assets
  • Asset Management- meeting tomorrow with RCAP to discuss mapping system and compare with Poggemeyer. RCAP has in house capability to be more hands on
  • Catch Basin in front of Methodist Church- discussed with Kip Pahl, will be placing a temporary heavier barrier to get through winter months and alleviate hazard, will tackle in Spring for permanent fix
  • Sidewalks – Council previously asked Dohner to obtain preference from Superintendents on which side of River St they felt comfortable with placing sidewalk. Pahl explained the North side houses water, sewer, and storm sewer utilities; there has been storm sewer issues that Kip potentially planned to tackle in 2021 so the excavating during a sidewalk install would be a good time to accomplish addressing the storm sewer utility. Nihart’s concern with the North side would be the fact that Toledo Edison’s power lines are placed on that side of the street. This provides many unknowns, which could include a cost to move electric poles. Wallace confirmed the stretch of sidewalk would be from St Rt 49 to Westlake Dr and asked if Council would entertain running sidewalk on both sides of River St, on the South side until Airway then crossing to the North side and continuing to Westlake Dr. The reason being Airway having two large parking lots that cars and semis pull in and out of all day long. Mayor Day stated the issue with the North side is the drop off and what it would take to build that area up. There is also a tile in that area that we wouldn’t want to disrupt. Day stated, “We knew there was going to be issues, but we will work through them.”
  • Water tower- engineering results are in, have not had time to digest information along with Kip. Towers are going to require some work. Cost for one tower is $557,000, second tower is $505,000, combined $1,062,000. Pictures were taken of the inside and outside and are going around if anyone is interested in seeing those. There is potential for completing work in phases.
  • TH3 Lighting- Been in touch with Green Earth and Efficiency Smart to look at updating lighting in the gym, hallways, and offices. There are potential rebates available.
  • LMI study update- As of November 30th, 350 letters have been sent; 59 responses were received, of those 24 qualified. The second round of letters has gone out, we are hoping for more responses. The third round will consist of going door to door to urge residents to respond. Community input is huge for this study to be successful.

Mayor Update by Robert Day

  • Mayor thanked the individuals that helped work on and donate items at Town Park; the electric department for their assistance and equipment; Chuck Wallace donated and placed decor by the pavilion; Chamber donated a 12 foot tree that Colleen managed to fit in the front office and looks very nice. In these times, we have to self-encourage ourselves and it seems that the town has done a great job of decorating this year.

Council Discussion:

SCADA- Tom Karnes asked if anything has been started with the other departments. Dohner spoke with the project manager of the individuals that are here working on the sewer project, and he wanted to speak with them to discuss the final cost that they had in the current project before sending updated proposals. In regards to connection of fiber vs. radio frequency, Dohner has reached out to AMP to see potential of there being an internet drop to utilize for the electric side of SCADA at substation. There has not been a response from AMP at this time.


SECURITY SYSTEM AT SUBSTATION-
Karnes questioned if anything has been done for security yet. Dohner responded they are waiting to see if an internet drop can be placed there. Troy wants to potentially do a live feed in order to be notified immediately. Discussion was had between Karnes and Dohner on pictures that were sent of the fiber going into an electrical box at the substation. Tom believes MetaLink should be able to cross connect the current fibers in place already.


FARRELL’S INVOICE-
Roger Muehlfeld mentioned the discrepancy in a Farrell’s invoice for work done at Miller Park and wondered if it had been resolved. Chuck Wallace said he received an email from the gentleman at Farrell’s shortly before the meeting with a corrected invoice for the Village in the amount of $4900.00 that was previously agreed upon by Council. Dohner confirmed a new invoice was sent by email for $4900.00.

TREE COMMISSION BUDGET- Chuck Wallace wanted to reiterate his position of thinking that tree removals should be taken out of the respective utilities department budget, not the tree commission to ensure the full budget for TC gets spent on the replanting and maintaining of new trees. There are a lot of trees with issues in the Village right now and need to come down. The cost of a new tree is approximately $700-$800 per tree. There is not enough in the budget for the tree commission to effectively replace trees when half of the budget is spent removing them. Wallace wants everyone to understand the importance of why he feels the removal should be billed out of street, electric, or utility department budgets.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART- Leslie VanAusdale wants to see an organizational chart at the meeting in two weeks that contains all employees. In addition she wants to know evaluations are being done by the appropriate person. VanAusdale expressed the frustration of evaluations not being done when Council asks if employees deserve wages, as being a big piece of the puzzle when making that determination. The second part is these annual evaluations should be completed at the time of each employee’s anniversary date. We need to get on top of tracking when evaluations should be completed and making sure these annual reviews are done within 30 days of the anniversary date. This will eliminate getting to November next year and not having evaluations done when it’s time to discuss wage increases for the budget in 2022. Leslie would like to get an organizational chart on the agenda in 2 weeks. Knecht recalls a draft organizational chart that was drawn up a couple years ago and had the appropriate job titles but does not believe it ever made it farther than a draft. Denise added that she feels it belongs in the policy book so if a chart is drawn up and approved then it should be added to the introduction and placed in the employee handbook. Mayor Day liked the idea of holding annual reviews on anniversary dates.

COUNCIL COMPUTERS– Denise recently reached out to Leslie VanAusdale as she played a huge role on behalf of the Rules Committee in preparing the updated employee policy handbook, on including language regarding the new Council computers, ie. Personal use, employer provided equipment, etc. VanAusdale would like to have a conversation with Robert to find out what is already installed. Mr Karnes may also be able to assist. VanAusdale said she will have something written up before the next meeting.

Fiscal Officer Update by Denise Knecht:

  • November 2020 Financials – ready for signatures
  • Motion to pay bills 12.07.20:
Muehlfeld, Roger Y
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y MOTION
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y 2ND
Karnes, Tom Y

Motion PASSES 6-0

Before adjourning, Tyler Perry asked if anyone at the Village was in charge of actively looking for grants to help with funding; Perry is curious if anyone is searching, understanding, and applying for them properly. Mayor Day said most grants are related to income in the area. Perry has come across grants that he feels the Village may be eligible for. Day asked Tyler to forward to Zach. Denise stated we just received a grant for bulletproof vests for the Police Department.

Scott Hartley addressed Council as well. He explained why Edgerton Summer Recreation decided to have the 4th field Hydro-seeded when only 3 were originally planned. Since the dirt and equipment was already there, they decided it would be cost effective to complete the 4th at the same time. Since no recreational sports were played in 2020, there was obviously no income, so Summer Rec took a huge hit. Summer Rec is asking the Village to cover the cost of the work done to the 4th field, by reallocating the money for the work that was to be done at Gerhart Fields in 2019, instead of carrying it over another year. Leslie asked how the auditor would view that scenario. Denise explained it wasn’t quite that simple as that purchase order was coming out of another budget year and was made to a specific vendor. Therefore it would go back to the fund it was taken out of and a new purchase order would have to be put in place. Hartley explained that Summer Rec does have a good amount of ‘skin in the game’ and is not just coming to the Village asking for them for a handout. Mayor Day said that it is something Council will discuss, but there won’t be a decision made tonight.

  • Motion to adjourn at 8:04 PM:
Muehlfeld, Roger Y
VanAusdale, Leslie Y
Thiel, Dean Y 2ND
Wallace, Chuck Y
Gruver, Jason Y
Karnes, Tom Y MOTION

Motion PASSES 6-0