Village of Edgerton Council Meeting Minutes
Monday, November 16, 2020 at 7:02 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 (per phone conference)
Media Present:
- Jeremy Scott – Village Reporter
- Cindy Thiel – Edgerton Earth
Public Present:
- Cindy Tingle
- Ted Hill
- Motion to Approve Meeting Minutes from 11.02.20:
|
Muehlfeld, Roger |
Y |
|
VanAusdale, Leslie |
Y |
|
Thiel, Dean |
Y 2nd |
|
Wallace, Chuck |
Y Motion |
|
Gruver, Jason |
Y |
|
Karnes, Tom |
Y |
Motion passed 6-0
In an effort to assist the community due to the pandemic the Village Council decided to assist two local organizations; the Edgerton Senior Center and the Edgerton Food Pantry. Representatives from both organizations were invited to the meeting for recognition.
Cindy Tingle, with the Edgerton Senior Center, was present to accept Coronavirus Relief Supplies for Edgerton Senior Center. Mayor Day presented Cindy with the backpack electrostatic disinfectant sprayer that the Village purchased with CVR funds to donate to the Center. Arrangements were made for Cindy to pick up the rest of the cleaning supplies and PPE items next week. Cindy thanked the Village for thinking of the seniors and contributing. We have to keep the seniors safe.
Ted Hill, with the Edgerton Food Pantry, was present to accept Coronavirus Relief Supplies for Edgerton Food Pantry. The number of families receiving assistance from the food pantry have increased. The Village purchased food items to stock up the pantry for the community. On behalf of the food pantry, the volunteers and the community who use the panty, Mr Hill thanked Village Council for their support. Mayor Day made the presentation to Mr Hill.
Discussion: Appropriation of the interest earned from Coronavirus Relief fund in the amount of $967.42.
VILLAGE OF EDGERTON ORDINANCE NO 1067
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR A SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2020 ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS
- Motion to approve Ordinance No 1067:
|
Muehlfeld, Roger |
Y |
|
VanAusdale, Leslie |
Y Motion |
|
Thiel, Dean |
Y |
|
Wallace, Chuck |
Y |
|
Gruver, Jason |
Y 2nd |
|
Karnes, Tom |
Y |
Motion passes 6-0
Administrator Update by Zach Dohner:
- Leaf pickup– great job to all hands on deck working to pick up leaves
- Tree City USA– application is completed and sent in
- LMI Study– Maumee Valley 1st round sent out by mail on November 6th
- Laubach Dr– project changes went to district executive committee boards and were approved with more details coming for final design; overall cost estimate of $320,000 should not increase
- Asset Management– waiting for more info from PDG
Fiscal Officer Update by Denise Knecht:
- October 2020 Financials– emailed and ready for signatures
- Credit Card Review– most items were CVR supplies
- Housekeeping Legislation– will be ready at next regular meeting
- Motion to pay bills 11.16.20:
|
Muehlfeld, Roger |
Y Motion |
|
VanAusdale, Leslie |
Y |
|
Thiel, Dean |
Y |
|
Wallace, Chuck |
Y 2nd |
|
Gruver, Jason |
Y |
|
Karnes, Tom |
Y |
Motion passes 6-0
Council Discussion:
Mayor went around the table for Council comments/discussion:
Thiel: Great job to Village employees for the quick response to leaf pickup and the Sunday callout for high winds tree damage.
Gruver: Catch Basin by Methodist Church – Mayor responded that we are going to have to put something up temporarily for the winter.
VanAusdale: Habitat for Humanity question directed to Zach – where are we with the project? Zoning R2 or R3? What lot size does Council want to go with? Leslie is curious about the position of the lot and the small piece of land next to it (on Oak Street). Mayor’s vision would be a small neighborhood park with a shaded area containing benches, something simple due to the location of underground utilities. Leslie urged the VA to keep moving on this as to not stall the project. Chuck suggested consistency on lot size of other Habitat homes. Mayor reminded that this lot has to go out to bid so there is no guarantee who would get the lot. Mayor asked Zach what needs to be done at this point to move on. Zach stated he would need to get with Mr Butler and get this to the planning commission. Council decided to have Zach Dohner move forward with R3 zoning. Zach will reach out to Mr Butler and get the ball rolling. No motion was made but direction was given.
VanAusdale: Sidewalks- Yes, of course we want you to look for grants! Move along! Zach will look into safe routes to school and do some brain storming, reach out to other administrators and Maumee Valley and then update Council.
Karnes: What is gained by being members of Tree City USA? Zach commented that we are investing in revitalizing the environment. Proof that the community is beautifying itself. We are 29 year members. Jason Gruver spoke up on the qualifications to be a member of Tree City USA including the Arbor Day planting, action plan to maintain trees, documentation of meetings, and the process to apply and meet qualifications. It’s impressive to be involved for 30 years. The State Forrester will assist with the development of a plan. Previous members put together a map of entire Village and a plan for maturing trees.
Karnes: LMI– Will the second round be sent to the same people? Yes.
Karnes: Sidewalk Grant- If you were to get a sidewalk grant would it include engineering costs as well? Zach answered that it depends on the grant. OPWC covered engineering on previous projects that he has been involved with. Tom would like to understand why we even got the quotes for engineering on sidewalks if all we’re going to do is sit on them? Are we waiting for a grant? Zach stated he was waiting on Council to see how they want to move forward and to see what is budgeted for capital expense and if we need to get a loan or grant. Mayor feels we need to prioritize and would consider proceeding with Ash Street. We need firm numbers. Council Member VanAusdale expressed concerns about the heavy truck traffic on River Street with school walkers. Tom expressed his frustration and suggested getting sidewalks engineered and then bite off what you can do and go with it!
- Motion requesting for Village Administrator to commit to and obtain engineered drawings for 4 blocks of sidewalk on River Street from North Michigan Avenue to Westlake Drive – one side only based on engineers suggestion in regards to infrastructure:
|
Muehlfeld, Roger |
Y |
|
VanAusdale, Leslie |
Y 2nd |
|
Thiel, Dean |
Y Motion |
|
Wallace, Chuck |
Y |
|
Gruver, Jason |
Y |
|
Karnes, Tom |
Y |
Motion passes 6-0
Tom posed another question based on Zach’s Administrator report about fiber at the Electrical Sub Station. It stated we have fiber already in use for communication purposes only. He would like to know what that means “for communication purposes only?” Communication for what and with whom? Zach responded it is communication with AMP for the substation and the generators. Zach will pull the contracts and get more information when he gets back.
Karnes: Do we have Amazon Business Prime? Denise answered that we do not pay a membership for Prime but we do not get shipping charges. Tom will get with us to discuss.
Cares Act Money– This has been a highly debatable and difficult topic of discussion. Edgerton businesses that didn’t get funding through the County- We are late in the game to attempt to get grant money to the businesses that did not get funded. Mayor Day can tell us first hand that he does not know who they are funding but he does know who they did not fund. The application process and necessary documentation was very lengthy. The frustration remains that people need help, there is money but we can’t get one to the other and the whole point of the Cares Act was do that very thing. There is a lack of understanding about expenditures and reimbursements. It’s difficult. We want to do the right thing. We just don’t understand why it seems that the process is made to be so difficult. What can we do to help? How much is in our Revolving Loan Fund? Denise informed that there is currently $51,000 in the fund. Mayor Day would like to give it to small business, legally. Find a way.
Cindy Thiel with the Edgerton Earth requested to comment. Permission was granted by the Mayor. She stated that the application stated that you had to prove past due bills. She didn’t have past due business bills because she paid them out of her own pocket to keep her business operational. She was supplementing herself.
Council talked about the possibility of a special consideration of issuing a credit to utility bills; residential, business or even both. Mr Butler suggested we sit down and take a strong look at this.
By reimbursing wages/benefits in the general fund/police line as part of the substantially dedicated employees wages we have increased the balance. This does free up other money in the GF but we still have to stay within the rules of the general fund guidelines for expenditures.
Muehlfeld: Hydro Seed Project at Miller Park Ball Fields –What is the update? Chuck says everything has been prepped and Farrell’s are planning to begin the seeding on Thursday weather permitting.
Wallace: Update on Miller Park Hydro-seed Project – B&M got the dozing done. Van Hug hauled the dirt. Summer Rec stepped up and did not have to use Village employees for any of the prep work. They went ahead and got the fourth diamond ready. The plan was to only hydro-seed three fields @ $5,000 to be paid for from the Village Park Capital fund. We were only looking at doing three fields. Summer Rec decided to go ahead and hydro-seed the fourth field anyway and they will look for volunteers to pay for it if they need to (approximately $1,200 per Chuck).
Wallace: Tree Commission – Budgeted money has previously been set at $5,000. One of the biggest problems is the volunteers. Tree Commission needs to carry a different role. Members need to communicate back to VA and Chairman and then pass on to the Electric and Street Department. Tree Commission should not be doing this work. Tree commission money should be for fertilizing and planting of new trees, not tree maintenance. Maturing trees need to be taken down. The problem is not enough money budgeted and kicking the can down the road. Chuck thinks trees that need to come down for removal should come out of the electrical fund or street fund depending on the utilities that are located near the trees. We need to get a maintenance program in place with Street and Electric and leave the Tree Commission budget for new trees. Denise informed Chuck that the suggested budget for 2021 is increased to $10,000. From the budget aspect Street and Tree Commission lines both come out of the General Fund. Jason suggested a tree maintenance plan be developed for the Tree Commission to know the number of trees that need to be removed and/or replanted. Mayor Day feels that we have planted more trees for less money than we have spent in the past for planting. It would be great to purchase the trees and get volunteers to do the planting. They are trying to get the balance of the fund spent this year yet by taking down several matured trees.
Christmas Lighting Ceremony has been put on hold due to the Governors new orders.
- Motion to adjourn at 8:16 PM:
|
Muehlfeld, Roger |
Y |
|
VanAusdale, Leslie |
Y 2ND |
|
Thiel, Dean |
Y |
|
Wallace, Chuck |
Y |
|
Gruver, Jason |
Y |
|
Karnes, Tom |
Y MOTION |
Motion passes 6-0