Continental Village Council met in regular session on January 9, 2024 with Mayor Miller presiding. Members present were Varner, Smith, Armey, Streicher and Sullivan. Also, present were Mayor Miller, Administrator Prowant and Fiscal Officer Darby. Councilmen Williamson and Solicitor Welch were absent. Visitors: Jennifer Momenee, Jim Fry and Toby Sullivan. The meeting opened with the pledge of allegiance.
Mayor Miller welcomed new councilman Joe Smith to the Council and administered his oath of office.
Mayor Miller thanked current Council President Streicher for his time in office and opened the floor for nominations for Council President. Varner nominated Mr. Streicher for the position for the next year, Armey seconded the nomination. Hearing no other nominations Miller closed the nominations and with a vote of four and one abstain motion carried.
Armey made a motion and Varner seconded to approve minutes of previous meeting, five yeas, motion carried. Streicher made a motion to pay all the bills and Varner seconded, five yeas, motion carried. Varner made a motion and Streicher seconded to approve the receipts since the last meeting, five yeas, motion carried. Then & Now Purchase Orders over $3,000: None. Management Reports presented, approved by signature.
Old Business
Firewall Quote: Council had approved a quote for $7500 for a new firewall security for the village but due to some recent attacks on small communities, our IT firm suggests stepping up to 24-hour monitoring for the village. The new quote is for $9720 for the equipment and three years of 24-hour a day monitoring and then an additional $1000 for PC Solutions to install here at the Village hall and at the water plant. Armey made a motion to proceed with the upgrade and Sullivan seconded. Five yeas, motion carried.
New Business:
Building Permits: None
Maintenance Department:
There was a water leak on Park Street in July and at the same time their meter stopped working so Prowant charged them for an average bill. The meter was changed out. During this read cycle, it was manually read at 76,000 gallons and this is what was charged to the customer with advice to check to see if they had another leak. They hired Scott Wagner Heating & Plumbing to check for a leak but did not find one. The maintenance department went out to re-read the meter and realized they had mis-read it and it was actually 16,000 gallons. They would like to be reimbursed for the service call since there was not a leak. Council discussed the situation and tabled until an actual bill is before them.
There was an actual leak on Rice and 5th Street. This is one of the homes where the meter is located inside the home. There was no outside shut off but found the curb stop in the front yard. The lid had broken and it had backfilled with dirt, so they hand dug it out and was able to repair it. The maintenance department was already going to relocate the meter into a pit. They will be installing the new meter now instead of waiting until the weather breaks.
2024 Committees: Council reviewed the committee assignments from 2023. Since two council members have left and two new have joined some of the committees need to be changed. Finance & Technology Committee will now consist of Mike Varner and Joe Smith and the Income Tax Review Board Committee will be Trevor Williamson, Joe Smith, Kathy Prowant and Scott Welch. All the rest of the committees remain the same. Streicher moved to accept the Committee nominations and Sullivan seconded. Five yeas, motion carried.
Water Leak Adjustments: The resident at 202 N. Third St. had a leak on their side of the meter and requested a reduction of $120 off of the Sewer portion of their bill. 301 S. Main St., also had a leak on their side of the meter and requested a reduction of $100 on the Sewer portion as well. Varner made a motion and Sullivan seconded, five yeas, motion carried. We will probably see more leaks with all the weather fluctuations.
Homier Annexation: The Mayor received an email from the surveyors for Homier Farms stating they are working with the Engineer’s office on completing the survey plat for the annexation.
Ethics Board: Mayor Miller contacted the Ethics Board concerning a Council member who is also on the fire department and police department. The current Advisory Opinion (No. 2001-01) is that he can serve as a volunteer fireman or police officer and a councilmember but he can not be paid for his fire or police service.
Capital Budget Project: The Village is resubmitting the Buckeye Park project to the State to be included in the 2025-2026 Budget.
Sparling Park: The sign for Sparling Park will be here in the next month or so, the Park Committee will need to decide the placement. Also, will need to place the NatureWorks sign and it was suggested to place it on the wall of the bathroom on the Shelter house side. Future projects include: moving the charcoal grills and putting in a sidewalk from the shelter house to the bathroom.
The next meeting will be January 30, 2024 and will include the State of the Village report. This meeting was moved from January 23rd due to lack of quorum.
Varner made a motion to adjourn with no further business; Armey seconded it. Five yeas. Meeting adjourned.
