Village of Edgerton Council Meeting Minutes
Thursday, June 9, 2022 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:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y |
5 Members Present
Other Village Representatives Present:
- Chris Walker – Law Director; Denise Knecht – Fiscal Officer; Dawn Fitzcharles – Village Administrator; Amanda Herman – Administrative Assistant; Gary Plotts- Police Chief
Media Present:
- Lucas Bechtol – The Bryan Times; Cindy Thiel – The Edgerton Earth; Dan Cooley – The Village Reporter
- Motion to Approve Meeting Minutes from 05.17.22:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | YM |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y2 |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y |
Motion PASSED 5-0
Mayor Day extended gratitude to Edgerton employees for efforts put forward during power outage with the following statement.
Wow, sometimes in life you walk and sometimes you run… these last three days has been a sprint for the VOE. As we walked into TH at just before midnight Monday night, meeting with VA Dawn Fitzcharles & PWS Kip Pahl to come up with a plan. I volunteered that today (6th) was my anniversary to which Dawn replied, ‘In 15 minutes it will be my birthday!’. And we were off.
Thankfully, in the events that transpired at the CR 5 crossing and what exactly happened may never be known but most importantly, no one was hurt…. But the destruction that was left behind was overwhelming… the miracle is that even though we paid a price in the power side… none of the equipment damaged was ours… divine protection over us.
When life’s trials squeeze us, we find out what is really inside our core. This is the 3rd major crisis event that this village has faced in the last 12 months. The one thing we have found out about our village team is… that throughout the 3 events… as we have been squeezed, we have a great team that has stepped up each time and just went to work shoulder to shoulder and kept at it until the task set before them was completed. This is an exceptional team… and I am going to do what you should never do (hopefully don’t forget someone) but I want to mention each member by name because it is that important… so they are all recognized.
Starting with the Electrical Dept of Troy Nihart & Trevor Lawson, first on the scene. Fire Chief Scott Blue on the scene and his crew standing by… Police Chief Gary Plotts and officers. Street Department members Jeremy Wright, Bo Aldrich, Jimmy Walker.. Keith Winebar… we forget that this event involved heavy rain… Water Dept Ron Brust and Gene Wilson.. Our front line of Yvonne Pierce, Administrative Asst. Amanda Herman, Fiscal Officer Denise Knecht who both were chameleon like, filling whatever role was needed at the time. With on the ground leadership from Public Works Supervisor Kip Pahl to our ‘Top Gun’ Village Administrator Dawn Fitzcharles overseeing and instructing it all…we worked well together and stayed ahead of the fray. Council members were in to check status and help in any way they could.
I also want to thank Toledo Edison for jumping right in… our AMP crew to help get our auxiliary generators fired up and running. The many volunteers that provided food, water and assistance. We had a visit from Mayor Schlade of Bryan, a call from Mayor Kidston of Pioneer, a call from Bob Latta’s office, a call from AMP Headquarters… all providing any assistance that we may need. It is good to know that in our county, we are all available to help one another.. it makes a difference.
The VOE team is proud to serve this community. We truly are ‘public servants’ first and find it a privilege to partner with our residents to do what we can (within reason) to go to bat for them. The way our residents stepped up and offered many things to not only our employees but to TE workers who spent time in our community reveals this community’s heart. Thank you to the those that live in and around Edgerton.
Administrator Update by Dawn Fitzcharles:
- Working to call all business contacts in order to put a plan in place for Sunday 6/12 outage that is expected to last 2-5 hours in order to reconnect to 69k Bryan transmission line
- First Energy has been great to work with and communicate with
- Not expecting to use backup generation Sunday unless absolutely needed, takes too much time to get going for amount of time outage is expected to last
- Lucky & fortunate to have generators in our community that served over 26 hours of power to the Village
- Business community has been great at understanding that we were unable to bring on manufacturers, residents helped to conserve energy as well
- Substation Relays are on order, currently being manufactured; will install as soon as delivered
- Oak Street legal documents to be picked up next week, preconstruction meeting TBD
- Preconstruction meeting on 6/15 for Water Tower project, also planning water tower rescue with Williams County EMA for surrounding communities to attend
- State Bank will be holding Anniversary community cookout on July 19 from 11-1; public invited to attend!
Leslie VanAusdale suggested educating the community on the process of using the generators. The majority of residents were understanding, but in order to clear up any questions information could be put out there on how everything works.
Fiscal Officer Update by Denise Knecht:
- Final documents signed off for 2020/2021 Audit, will be able to view in a few weeks
- May 2022 financials are complete
- Annual RITA retainer refund brought us from cost of 3% down to 1.6% overall for 2021
- Motion to pay bills 06.07.22:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | YM |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y2 |
Motion PASSED 5-0
Police Chief Update by Gary Plotts:
- Requesting removal of probation of Ashley Eberly; evaluation states Eberly has done an exceptional job and is a perfect addition to the Edgerton PD
- Motion to reclassify Ashley Eberly from probationary to regular full-time employee effective 06.06.2022:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | YM |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y2 |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y |
Motion PASSED 5-0
Councilman Gruver asked Chief Plotts about differences between UTV’s and golf cart regulations. Plotts has spoken with the BMV and was provided with a form that says the PD can inspect UTV’s in same fashion as golf carts. Chief recommends an amendment to the current Ordinance that would allow UTV’s to travel on roadway with same stipulations and guidelines as golf carts. Chris Walker will draw up amended Ordinance if that is Council’s desire.
Discussion- Part time general laborer: With the resignation of Elias Carter and approval from Council, we were able to advertise for a part-time general laborer position. Kenneth “Scott” Cheek has gone through the interview process and participated in job shadowing the departments he would be assisting and is excited about the opportunity to join and serve this community.
- Motion to hire Kenneth “Scott” Cheek as part-time general laborer at $14.00 effective 6.13.22:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y2 |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | YM |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y |
Motion PASSED 5-0
Discussion- Advertise part-time utility clerk: With the amount of grant funding that we are currently trying to obtain bringing extra work in to the office, there is a need for a helping hand. This would be an entry level part-time position to assist with answering phone calls, booking payments, as well as assist with navigating through grant resources. This position will be needed through the end of the year at minimum. Position will not exceed 29 hours per week, but may be needed to serve in full-time capacity during the absence of a regular full-time employee.
- Motion to advertise for part-time utility clerk position:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | YM |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | Y |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y2 |
Motion PASSED 5-0
Discussion- Creation of Internship position: We are always looking for ways to get involved in our community. After communication with the school district, we would like to create a position in the office for an Administrative Assistant Intern Trainee and Intern 1. These positions are created specifically with college students in mind, who are interested in government or political practices. Thinking into the future, there are water and sewer internships we would like to create as well that would provide credits that would count toward graduation. These types of internships are a form of succession training that could benefit our Village team in the future. Gruver questioned if these positions will need to be added to the handbook. Fitzcharles stated she worked through Clemans and Nelson to create these positions and are already part of the employee structure schedule.
VILLAGE OF EDGERTON ORDINANCE NO 1103
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE CREATION OF POSITIONS, WAGE AND SALARY ALLOCATION FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT INTERN TRAINEE AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT INTERN 1 POSITIONS AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE
- Motion to suspend three readings for Ordinance No 1103:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y2 |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | YM |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y |
Motion PASSED 5-0
- Motion to pass and adopt Ordinance No 1103:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | YM |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y2 |
Motion PASSED 5-0
Discussion- Administrative Assistant Intern trainee: There has already been an interest shown in the Administrative Assistant Intern position. Trinity Nichols is an Edgerton graduate, attending the College of Charleston majoring in Political Science and Public Policy. She has an interest in understanding how our office works. We are anticipating Trinity to be in our office for approximately 8 weeks.
- Motion to hire Trinity Nichols as administrative assistant intern trainee @ $10.00/hr effective 06.13.22:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y2 |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | YM |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y |
Motion PASSED 5-0
Discussion- Resolution No 2022-012: As we are preparing to get the Water Tower Project #2 started, we request to legally make an Advance from the General fund to the ARPA fund to account for necessary expenses. Once the second ARPA tranche allocation of $104,698.68 is received (in late July) the funds will be advanced back per this legislation. The reason for making the advance is so that we’re able to put the purchase order in place to encumber funds by follow proper accounting procedures.
VILLAGE OF EDGERTON RESOLUTION NO 2022-012
A RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF ONE HUNDRED FOUR THOUSAND, SIX HUNDRED NINETY-EIGHT DOLLARS AND SIXTY-EIGHT CENTS ($104,698.68) FROM THE GENERAL FUND TO THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA) FUND AND PROVIDING FOR THE REPAYMENT OF THE ADVANCEMENT
- Motion to pass and adopt Resolution No 2022-012:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y |
| Gruver, Jason | Y2 |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | YM |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y |
Motion PASSED 5-0
Council Discussion:
Councilman Blinzler notified of a resident reaching out to her regarding a curb, gutter and drainage concern on Vine St. Fitzcharles informed that ODOT will be completing a paving project from 49 to the State line that should address the issue.
Wallace questioned spraying for mosquitos. Mosquito control has already been started.
VanAusdale commented that the trees on Hull Street look very nice. Fitzcharles stated that our team did a great job of picking out and placing the trees.
- Motion to adjourn at 8:14PM:
| Blinzler, Sharon | Y2 |
| Gruver, Jason | Y |
| Karnes, Tom | ABSENT |
| VanAusdale, Leslie | YM |
| Wallace, Chuck | Y |
| Wampler, Pam | Y |
Motion PASSED 5-0