BRADFORD — Bradford Council approved its budget for this year during their recent meeting, going over a few improvement projects still to come.
The village’s total approved budget is approximately $4,291,776, which includes grant funding.
Over at the park, the village budgeted $20,000 for the replacement of electrical boxes, a project for which the village will be applying for funding through the Darke County Parks Grant. The actual cost of replacing the electrical boxes and possibly moving them below ground into electrical pits is expected to be lower than the budgeted amount at around $17,000. If the village is awarded the grant, the cost to the village would be approximately $13,000.
“It’s a safety-related issue,” Village Administrator Rick Looker said.
The village’s administrative offices also need computer maintenance this year. The village’s server along with their utility and budget system need to be updated, and they budgeted $9,000 for each of those two expenditures.
The village also needs asset management software to fulfill a requirement of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is expected to cost $2,500 for the initial purchase and $2,500 for an annual fee to use the software.
At the municipal building, repairs and maintenance are also needed, including repairs to the heating and cooling system. Approximately $15,000 was budgeted for that work.
The village also needs to replace two pickup trucks, which are 12 and 13 years old. A total estimate of $43,000 was budgeted for the replacement trucks.
The village also budgeted $460,000 for the local portion of the cost of the reconstruction of Harrison Avenue, but Looker noted that the village is only committed to paying $360,000. The extra funds were budgeted in case the council decided to include other portions of other streets in that area in the reconstruction projects, such as parts of Vine or Elm. That cost in the budget is not expected to be paid until next year.
Also in regard to street repairs, the village budgeted approximately $30,000 for crack filling and pothole repairs. Other street repairs were budgeted for $15,000.
In their water fund, the village budgeted approximately $30,000 for the replacement of water meters, but the details of the project — such as when and where water meters might be replaced — were not discussed or decided upon during their meeting. The village will also be checking to see if any of their water lines are leaking.
In their sewer fund, the village also budgeted approximately $40,000 to address inflow and outflow to the wastewater plant, as the village is seeing more water coming into the wastewater plant than the water plant is putting out.
Also during their meeting, the village heard from local resident Julie Wombold, who is heading up the veterans’ banners project. Wombold said that she has taken payment for 66 banners highlighting local veterans, and she discussed with the council different options for places to hang the extra banners besides the 50 flag spots that the council previously allotted to the project.
There are an additional eight flag spots being held for the Pumpkin Show, and council member Bob Daughtery suggested Wombold ask the Pumpkin Show committee if those spots could be used for the veterans’ banners project. The council also offered light poles in the park at a previous meeting, but those poles would need to be outfitted with banner arms or other banner-hanging hardware.
Wombold proposed extending the banner arms in town an additional 10 inches in order to hang two veterans banners on each pole. She is expected to come to a future council meeting with a prototype of an extended banner arm.
Wombold also suggested hanging banners from telephone poles, but Looker expressed concerns about how that would appear aesthetically, saying he would be fearful of that taking away “from the professionalism” of the downtown.
Council members Galen Balmert and Randell Nicks were absent during the meeting.
