Windham – Windham Village Council met recently, with all but one council member in attendance. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Scott Garrett. Council approved the minutes then moved on to the financial report.
Fiscal Officer Cheree Taylor presented the following: Income tax collected year to date 09/30/19, is $401,917.06. The expenditures for the month of September were $126,251.13 in checks and charges. Check numbers 35468-35538 were paid from the primary checking account during the month of September, with no checks voided. Direct deposits vouchers 460-2019 through 488-2019 and 494-2019 -516-2019 were also paid out during the month of September. The all funds reconciled balance for September 2019 was $1,753,329.32. This report was approved.
Police dispatch report summary: There were 127 reports generated for the month of September. There were three physical arrests, six non-physical arrests, and 270 business checks. There were 15 suspicious vehicle/person/activity reported, 10 traffic accidents/violations/complaints, five theft/ burglary/ vandalism, five lockouts, seven welfare checks, three alarms- open doors/gates, four animal complaints, 10 assists with other agencies, seven civil/escorts, two criminal damage/trespassing, 10 domestic violence, three juvenile complaints, and 44 other – custody, verbal disputes/neighbor disputes etc. The police department has 11 employees, five full-time officers, five part-time officers and one safety clerk.
The following committees had no report: village council president, safety, personnel and rules, utilities, service committee, economic development, and the planning committee.
In the mayor’s report, Scott Garrett reported that the Octoberfest was a success, along with the chili cook-off. He thanked those who worked tirelessly on the project and was glad to see it growing year after year. He also thanked Fire Chief Rich Gano for getting the fireworks company for the festivities. It was a great event that the community supported. The parks and recreation report was given by Cheryl Belknap; she reiterated what the mayor stated in his report.
The solicitor Tom Reitz reported that they needed to discuss personnel issues, so council entered into executive session for about a half hour before returning to the business at hand.
Zoning Inspector Tom Brett brought up that he needed to appoint three people to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) to discuss a variance request they have received. The meeting is already scheduled for November 12th. Larry Kuhlmann and Sheila Moore volunteered to serve on the board with one more person to be determined prior to the November 12th meeting. Council approved Moore and Kuhlman to the BZA. The third person wasn’t in attendance to say if they were still interested in serving on the board, therefore the mayor will contact him/her for confirmation before council can approve the appointment on November 12, 2019 prior to the BZA meeting.
Mr. Brett also asked what they were going to do about the dumpster situation on Green Meadow Drive. The Mayor will take another look at the options but they just might have to put it back on village property for safety reasons. The “new” location of the dumpsters, requires people to navigate thru heaved/ broken/settled sidewalks and some of the residents there have mobility issues. The placement of the facilities on village property allowed the residents to avoid the sidewalk area and reach the dumpsters safely. This brought up the question as to why the property owners were not being held accountable for maintaining their sidewalks so they are safe. The mayor said they would have to do a walk around and see what sidewalks are in need of repair and get a cost then see about getting them repaired. He said the village will probably have to initially cover the cost of the repair then assess it to the taxes of property owners. Definitely something they will look into.
Work on the Bauer Avenue critical infrastructure has begun. They are also working on Belden, Blanton and Bright Drives as well.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.
The next meeting is scheduled for November 12, 2019 at 5:30 pm. It will be a special meeting for hiring of personnel and appointment of a third BZA member. Following that meeting, at 5:45 pm, there will be the BZA meeting. Council Committee of the Whole meeting will commence following the BZA meeting. The regular council meeting is November 26, 2019 at 7pm.
