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RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Minutes of West Lafayette Village Council
Regular Meeting on January 22, 2001
Reports:
Fire (Chief Hill) – Chief Hill gave the annual report for Fire Department activities
for the year 2000. A copy of that report is attached to and made part of theses
minutes. After the report Chief Hill brought up the need for replacing the
tanker truck with a newer used one. Doing some preliminary shopping he said
the cost would probably be in the $50,000 to $60,000 range, however the department
would like to take 2 trucks out of service and place them up for sale along
with the 1941 Chevy fire truck we still have. He felt these could generate
approximately half the revenue needed to acquire the used tanker. Bordenkircher/Lusk
made and seconded a motion to have the village administrator place bid advertisements
for sale of the 1941 and 1977 fire trucks. (R.C. 6 yes 0 no) The 1972 tanker
would not be put up for sale until the purchase of a replacement was immanent.
Planning (Lusk) – Council Lusk introduced Teila Cooper Lovell, the secretary
for the Planning/Zoning committee to help present a revised building permit
application and fee structure. The revised application would be considerably
more appropriate and user friendly with the new fee structure based on square
footage instead of construction costs, the current method. There was detailed
discussion with many scenarios presented. It was agreed that the revisions
were needed, but the council wanted a little more detail as to what was an
alteration and how the permit fee would be calculated for those permits.
Village Administrator – Reported
that Jack Mardis had brought in a functional capacity form from his doctor
stating that he was capable of resuming full job duties, including operating
heavy equipment and heavy lifting. Also Gloria Murray has a doctor’s release
for returning to work from her injury. She will be required to wear a leg
brace and avoid stair climbing for up to six weeks. Plans are to get them
back on the job in the next couple of days. Darlene Dyer has requested a
parking place or two be designated to a 30-minute limit in front of her business,
Darlene’s 2000 Salon, on 4th Street. It was agreed that one spot could be designated but
it has to be done by ordinance to facilitate enforcement.
Police (Chief) – The new Coshocton
Co. sheriff has informed Chief Bradshaw that he does not want any deputies
working for the West Lafayette Police Dept. in light of the state attorney
general’s opinion. This will mean we would lose 5 or 6 of our part time officers
so the Chief will be taking applications for replacements.
Utility (Bordenkircher) – Reported
on the meeting held on 1-16-01, which was to discuss upcoming and future projects.
On the schedule for 2001 is the West Main & Johnson Road water main replacement
project and the water & sewer line extension to the Riverfront Estates.
Also in the budget for 2001 is the purchase of a new leaf machine for the
street department. The paving of Russell Ave. and Oak St. are priority projects
and we hope to enter the bid phase of the Russell portion next month. Since
the Issue II funds won’t be available until late 2001 the Oak St. portion
may need a temporary fix until 2002, when the permanent work would be started.
Other expenditures to be considered by the finance committee this year should
be purchase of the payroll software module to go with our new computer and
software system and the purchase of a used sewer jet truck to replace our
old one. The truck will definitely need to be replaced in 2002 if not this
year. Bordenkircher also recommends developing a plan for replacement of 15
to 20 old style fire hydrants in the village that are still in service. This
could be done at the rate of 2 to 4 per year over the next 4 to 6 years. With
the water main replacement project on this years schedule it is also time
to start planning for the next phase that would be a 10” line from the high
school; east on 6th St. To Plainfield road completing the 10” loop
around the village.
Clerk’ Report – The clerk recommended
that Cindy Harrah, having completed her probationary employment period, be
hired as a permanent part time Utility Billing Clerk. Bordenkircher/Lusk made
and seconded a motion to hire Cindy Harrah as the permanent part time Utility
Billing Clerk. (R.C. 6 yes 0 no) We sent out the first utility bills from
the new system on Friday with relatively few problems. Plan to sent out individual
tax forms later this week as well as letters to local tax preparation businesses
with a small supply of forms. The clerk/tax administrator requested some directive
as to what extent he should pursue taxpayers who have not filed and or paid
in the past. It was agreed that anyone who voluntarily registers and files
for the 2000 tax year would not be pursued for years prior to that, but if
we had to expend extra effort and resources to get someone who owes to pay
then we should attempt to collect for as many past years as possible. Later
in the year, after collecting more data the clerk could present council with
reports detailing where and how much revenue is collected by the Village of
West Lafayette and how much our residents pay other municipalities.
Mayor – He has been in contact
with AOL/Time Warner to schedule a meeting to negotiate the cable franchise
agreement and the tentative dates of January 29 and 31 were acceptable to
the others who would be attending on behalf of the village.
Other business – Councilman Rogers inquired
if there had been any development in the smoking policy for village facilities.
The Mayor reported that he and the village administrator had had some preliminary
discussions but nothing formal was prepared at this time.
Committee Meetings Set: Finance
8:30 am 2-10-01 Council Chambers
Planning 6:30 pm 2-13-01 Council Chambers
Bordenkircher/Lusk made and seconded a motion
to approve the bills for payment. (R.C. 6 yes 0 no)
Lusk/Shannon made and seconded a motion to
adjourn until the next regularly scheduled meeting on February 12, 2001 at
7:00 pm. (R.C. 6 yes 0 no)
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