SWANTON — Marijuana dispensaries and ditch cleaning costs were part of the discussion at Monday’s Swanton Village Council.
In response to resident’s concern about the notice from county commissioners of the proposed cost of ditch cleanup in the Swan Creek drainage area in Fulton, Henry and Lucas counties, there was a question about who would pay the extra monthly $2 or $3 annually for six years per resident.
One council member said he heard the villages of Whitehouse and Waterville were going to pay the bill for residents so would Swanton consider doing the same. Village administrator Shannon Shulters said she would look into the cost.
In regard to recommendations from the planning commission about where a marijuana dispensary could be located, Mayor Neil Toeppe said the only space would be on Airport Highway between the Dollar General plaza and Turtle Creek Drive.
Toeppe also told the council members that, of the 10% excise tax to be paid, the village would receive 3%. He related this would result in an estimate of $30,000 annually on sales of $1 million and he questioned whether such a payout would be worth the costs of maintaining order around the area.
In administrative reports, finance director Holden Benfield said Brightspeed has submitted for the extra Swanton Township phone lines to be removed from the village’s billing list. He said once Brightspeed submitted a proper listing, he would submit the invoice to council for an appropriation change.
Benfield said the new time-clock company will have an online meeting with him to go over the capabilities of the new service.
The water plant improvement loan application is out for approval by the Ohio Water Development Authority and, once approved, Benfield said they should be able to finalize that project.
The police department was awarded $10,900.50 grant to pay for 75% of the cost to purchase new bullet proof vests. Since the village needs to purchase the vests first, then apply for reimbursement, appropriations changes were approved to draw $15,000 from police fund.
The money will be used to purchase a new vest for each full-time and part-time officer. Current body armor is expiring this year or 2025.
Chief John Trejo said the number of traffic citations issued has increased around the construction at the intersection of Airport Highway and Main Street and include stop sign violations, driving on a closed road, failure to obey a traffic control device, overweight commercial vehicle and failure to yield.
In a related matter, Superintendent Neil Tedrow said several problems have occurred at the Airport Highway/Main Street construction.
For example, Tedrow said the water lines in the intersection weren’t mapped out clearly and they wanted to ensure they knew what was located there while the road was closed. Upon further investigation, he said the lines weren’t anything like the map and weren’t set up to be functional so he said he and his staff worked overnight with contractor Hildebrand redoing the main line valves.
Tedrow said they were also working to fix other roads, such as placing dura-patch on East Garfield Street and are working on Munson. He said they are also patching potholes and dealing with some sinkholes.
Shulters said the bid openings for the Hallett Avenue Phase One project were opened June 27, and Ebony Construction bid $830,361.15 and Miller Bros. bid $988,851.
The engineer estimate was $740,900. After discussions with the Ohio Department of Transportation Shulters said it was agreed to separate the bridge part of the project and apply to TMACOG to offset the local share. They will know if the village gets TMACOG funding this week.
Since Ebony’s bid was closest to the estimate and the offset of the bridge work would reduce the project cost, they hope to award the bid at the Aug. 12 council meeting and work would begin in late fall 2024/early spring 2025.
Shulters also asked for patience in regards to the Munson Road project, which is expected to go ahead once the village receives the OK from the Environmental Protection Agency. She expected the work would begin in late fall/early spring.
“I know the road is terrible,” she said, but said the timing should relieve traffic congestion if too many roads are under construction at the same time.
•Set separate dates for Halloween Hoopla and Trick or Treat night. Halloween Hoopla will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26 and trick-or-treat night will be Thursday, Oct. 31.
•Approved an ordinance granting an easement across village property to Martin B. and Elizabeth K. Kaback for a driveway to their property at 503 S. Main St.
•Learned from Toeppe that Woda Cooper Co., had requested to expand the Paigelynn Place, constructing three-story buildings that would add 60 units. The mayor said the planning commission was against the expansion and council agreed. Toeppe said landowner was advised they could build 30 new units, but Woda Cooper said this option would not be cost-feasible.
•Learned from fire chief Cuyler Kepler that the fire division responded to 113 runs in June. Year-to-date totals as of July 1 are 636. Kepler also reported the delivery date for the new truck is expected in mid-August. Equipment for the new truck has already started arriving and will continue to come in over the next three to four weeks. The old truck, Engine 702, has been picked up by new owner, Ney Fire Department.
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