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Parking, solicitation top council agenda

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At its March 1 meeting, Barnesville Village Council discussed parking and solicitation in the village.

Council discussed the issue of parking in the village owned lots. Village Operations Manager Bill Morgan asked council members to consider establishing permanent permit parking. Mayor Tom Michelli said revenue from parking permits is needed to maintain the lots.

At the request of Village Administrator Roger Deal, two, 15-minute parking signs for water department customers only will be placed in the parking lot between the water department and the post office.

Mayor Michelli led a discussion about prohibiting door to door solicitation in the village, excluding local church and school groups. Mayor Michelli said there have been complaints from residents about solicitations, especially a gas company that has been trying to get customers to sign with them. Mayor Michelli stressed that this company is not Volunteer Energy Services, Inc., the company with which the mayor recently signed a two-year contract allowing the village and its residents to participate in a gas aggregation program.

The action was taken at the Barnesville Village Council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 16 and allows the village to act as a large buying power, putting the community in a better position to negotiate lower prices, resulting in savings. Voters passed the issue by 65 percent last November.

Formed in 2001, Volunteer Energy Services, Inc. is certified as a Competitive Retail Natural Gas Supplier for gas marketing, gas brokering and gas aggregation services and a Competitive Retail Electric Services Provider for aggregation and power broker services by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

Morgan presented council with a production schedule for the waste water treatment plant project from Downing Construction. Morgan added that the company has moved the lab building at no additional cost to the village.

Council authorized Morgan to advertise the sale of a field gymmy, a tanker truck with inflated tires previously used to haul and spread sludge on fields.

Council approved Administrator Deal's recommendation to accept a bid from Doan Ford in the amount of $62,286.50 for a dump truck for the Public Works department.

Morgan also discussed the purchase of a Ventrex tractor for the cemetery department at a cost of $11,500. Morgan said the model would be multi-functional, would cut down on needed mowing and could be utilized in other village departments.

Councilman Brad Hudson discussed purchasing a zero turn mower for the park. Council President Dale Bunting raised safety concerns and no decision was made.

Bunting said a vehicle is needed for the village administrator and suggested pricing trucks within a $6,000 to $7,000 range. Council authorize Deal to price a vehicle, not exceeding $10,000.

Chief Bob Smith requested the removal of Robert Carpenter and Jason Carpenter from the fire department roster.

Chief Smith presented council with year-end reports for both the fire and emergency squad departments.

Police Chief Dave Norris requested council's permission to spend $5,150 recovered from an investigation at the high school in 2005. Norris said the money was recently released by Western Division Court. He said the money was recovered with the aid of school officials, so he requested that half of the money, $2,575, be donated to the school. Norris said he would like to use the other half of the money, along with proceeds from the sale of a recovered four-wheeler, to purchase weapons for the department.

Council approved the donation to the school and the bid advertisement for the four-wheeler. No decision was made on the purchase of weapons.

Mayor Michelli reported that mayor's court receipts for February totaled $4,121.

The mayor and Dale Bunting both apologized for neglecting to acknowledge Kelley Hanlon for her 12 years of service on the park board.

It was brought to council's attention by councilman Hudson that Morgan was not included in a recent uniform allowance disbursement for village employees. Council approved an allowance of $175, the same as given to other employees.

Council approved pay ordinance #4 for $666,563.80. Expenditures of $2,009.14 disbursed prior to the meeting were approved.

Council authorized Dustin Roe to attend a Backflow Prevention Class at a cost of $615.

The financial statement for February was reviewed by council.

Council authorized Fiscal Officer Amy Jackson to contact Compliance Resources regarding education and training for Drug Free Work Place. Jackson said the transition from the current company, Nursing Corp., to Compliance would reduce costs to the village.

In a related matter, council discussed having Morgan obtain certificates to train employees in drug free work place compliance. Morgan said there would be further savings to the village if he educated and trained employees.

Building permits were issued to Rick Bostic, 802 N. Chestnut St., siding/concrete; Virginia Jones, 237 Henderson St., deck and Dennis Thompson, 339 S. Chestnut St., storage building.

Council will hold its next meeting on Monday, March 15 at 7 p.m.