FAIRGROVE VILLAGE COUNCIL

COUNCIL MINUTES

APRIL 7, 2014

PRESENT:  T. Wassa, J. Gehrls, T. Humpert, D. Maguire, B. Phelps, C. Phelps

ABSENT:  J. VanHove

EMPLOYEES:  D. Englehart, M. Couture, S. Maguire, D. Young

Council meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by President Wassa.

B. Phelps/Humpert motioned to approve the minutes from the March 3, 2014 council meeting; all in favor, motion carried.

B. Phelps/Humpert motioned to approve the minutes from the March 3, 2014 budget hearing; all in favor, motion carried.

Humpert/Gehrls motioned to approve the minutes from the March 7, 2014 fire committee meeting; all in favor, motion carried.

AUDIENCE RECOGNITION

S. Young stated that 2114 Main (the house that had been gutted) has been bought and people are using a generator to work on it.  Young also asked about the pole by the Laundromat near the Bean Fest building that had a sign and light on it that is broken and was told that sign is actually not on village property.     

DEPARTMENT/COMMITTEE REPORTS

Fire – D. Young discussed four fire calls for the month of March – manpower assist to Caro on a chimney fire, tanker and manpower assist to Caro, smoke smell at L. Russell’s, and standby at the Caro Senior Commons.  Repairs on the tanker have been completed.  Brandon Hall welded and did a super nice job.  It took about six hours to cut out the old fill pipe and replace it with new.  That was the source of the leak, so it should be good now.  Doug goes to the FDIC conference tomorrow.  The expo portion is Thursday and Friday, and he will be looking at apparatus to replace the three vehicles through a grant, as well as checking show prices for boots.

DPW –  D. Englehart asked what the council wanted to do with the clock.  It is about $6,000 to replace with an electronic sign./clock combo, which is not feasible right now.  The current clock looks nice, but never works longer than a few months.  Humpert to check with Ellis Aldrich to see who works on his clock to see if we can get an estimate to repair — postponed.

The village sign came down in the wind over the weekend and is broken.  The log base that surrounds the chunk of cement is rotted and would need to be completely rebuilt.  Englehart would like approval to clean up since the sign was not originally put up by the village on village property. 

Humpert/Gehrls motioned for Englehart to clean up the broken village sign and not replace it right now; all in favor, motion carried. 

Spring cleanup – it is too wet to get into the dump at this time and the load restrictions are still on the roads.  Brush pickup is normally in May.  Leaf pickup can probably be done next week, as soon as it dries up enough to use the dump, and street sweeping will have to wait until load restrictions are off the roads.  The meter at the lift station is not fixed yet.  A new one is about $6,000 – still working on it. 

CLERK’S ITEMS – M. Couture requested estimated replacement costs for the Jaws unit, ’79 cube van, and the ’88 Ford Rescue for insurance renewal.  D. Young to advise.  M. Couture explained the error on the analysis sheet for the 2014-15 Fire Department Budget.  An incorrect formula was carried across on the spread sheet in error.  The incorrect total for the Fire Department’s upcoming budget was listed as $51,345.  The correct total is $64,864, which includes $20,789 for the annual tanker payment.  The Fire Department 2014-2015 budget actually increased $4,075 over the 2013-2014 budget.  Additionally, $14,000 was budgeted in Buildings & Grounds to replace the Fire Hall roof.  

CORRESPONDENCE – The Lions Club is hosting a pig roast on Sunday, April 27, 2014, from 11am – 2:30pm at the Akron-Fairgrove High School. 

OLD BUSINESS

Rental Ordinance – discussion held regarding registration fee structure.

B. Phelps/Gehrls motioned to draft a resolution as follows:  an annual registration fee of $40 per rental property if registered through the village clerk, and $20.00 if registered using the online system; a registration fee of $30 per tenant if registered through the village clerk, and $20 if registered using the online system; all in favor, motion carried.

Resolution will be drafted and presented for approval at the May council meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Dangerous Buildings Inspections – can be done through the South Central Michigan Construction Code Inspections (SCMCCI) at a rate of $50 per building.  The village ordinance requires an inspection to enforce.

Humpert/B. Phelps motioned to have the Altizer and Powell homes inspected by SCMCCI at $50 each; all in favor, motion carried.

FINANCES

B. Gehrls/Humpert motioned to approve March disbursements totaling approximately $18,964.91, including annual council wages; all in favor, motion carried.

As there was no other business, meeting adjourned at 7:41 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Melissa Couture

Fairgrove Village Clerk