Hiram – At the January meeting, Representative Gail Pavliga introduced herself to Council. She explained that as a part of the state’s new redistricting plan, she and her staff picked up Aurora, Hiram, Mantua and Shalersville. She shared that her purpose in attending the meeting was to, “meet everyone and to listen to any immediate concerns”. She introduced herself, noting her earning a PhD in Psychology and serving as a Christian counselor and college professor prior to her role as a State Representative. In that role, she helped work to place $1 million in the State budget for a new dental school at BIOMED. Pavliga also helped pass a program that fully funds a State advocacy program for kids in the foster care system. She asked all in attendance to let her know how she can be of help, to which Mayor Lou Bertrand shared the community’s budget strains, especially relating to the Police Department. She and Bertrand will be meeting to discuss the issue. Pavliga lives in Atwater; for more information, visit GailPavliga.com.
Moving forward, Hiram College President David Haney thanked Pavliga for being a great advocate. He shared his goal to get a community college program implemented in Hiram and noted progress on implementing a Tri-C presence on Hiram’s campus. Haney notes such a program will be a boost to both institutions as well as to workforce development, and a boost to the village as well. In addition to improving workforce development opportunities, strengthening the career center and implementing a business incubator, the College is also selling off some college-owned rental properties. He noted, ‘being a landlord isn’t our mission,’ except relating to student dormitories. He noted the college is striving to increase communication with the village. To that end, they’ve launched a landing page on the college’s website to share community-based information and events at www.hiram.edu/campus-community. Haney noted that plans to provide the village access on college property to accommodate the village’s composting facility will soon be finalized. Lastly, he noted that the college plans to host residents on campus for an informational event in the spring.
Next, Joe Scignrotti from Kimble Refuse & Recycling informed council that the company is ‘still playing catch up from the holidays,’ which will result in Saturday pick-ups in the community. He informed council of an ongoing issue with the Great Northern apartment complex which does not participate in the village’s recycling program. He noted that when Kimble and the village contracted for exclusive trash and recycling services, the services were contracted for residents and businesses within the Village. He noted being unable to reach representatives from the complex throughout the past year in order to begin recycling collection and asked for council’s assistance. After some discussion, the Mayor asked Village Administrator James McGee to provide the name and cell number for the apartment building manager.
During his report, Police Chief Brian Gregory shared details on the efforts that have been made to reduce expenses while trying to provide the same level of service to village residents. Councilman Paul Spencer noted that the chief has put in 2,100 hours of unpaid overtime in 2022. In addition, reductions at the Highway Patrol have municipal officers filling in at incidents in their communities. With no increase in funding to the department, Spencer asked the group, “How long do we want the chief to continue operating this way?” After much discussion, the group determined that the Finance Committee would create three plans or scenarios for council consideration at the February meeting. Per Assistant Village Administrator Steve Schuller, “We’ve done everything we can to reduce the budget. The bottom line is that we need to bring in income.”
The next regularly scheduled village council meeting takes place on Tuesday, February 14th at 7 pm; residents are encouraged to attend.
