By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

VERSAILLES – Versailles Halloween Trick-or-Treat will be held October 29 from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.

With the safety of the children at the forefront of the mind, the council decided not to stray from the traditional time in order to allow children to be seen during the day instead of worrying about visibility at night.

Brice Schmitmeyer from Access Engineering met with Council to present information concerning the Ohio EPA loan for the Raw Water Transmission Line Project.

Bids were received for the raw water line project Phase #1and #2. Schmitmeye asked the council to approve 23-47 authorizing the Village Administrator to enter into construction contracts with the low bidders once the project financing is finalized.

“We need to get this turned around real quick to get our financing finalized with the Ohio EPA,” Schmitmeyer said.

They are hoping for an October award because if the award is pushed back until December, it runs the risk of having the project end date pushed back as well. Bids had been received on Aug. 29, and the low bidder was Shinn Bros. Inc., with a base price of $1,197,500.

It was the recommendation that Shinn Bros. Inc be awarded as the best bid out of seven for the project for the amount of $1,197,500. Shinn Bros. Inc. will be working on the Reed Road Well Field Transmission Line Phase II project.

For the Reed Road Well Field Transmission Line Phase I, which is the in town portion, it was the recommendation to award Brumbaugh Construction. Inc., with a base price of $1,294,633, a contract for the amount of $1,294,633. Brumbaugh was one of three total returned bids.

Schmitmeyer advised council a resolution needs to be constructed and approved in order to allow the Village Administrator to apply for, accept, and enter into a Water Supply Revolving Loan Account (WSRLA) Agreement on behalf of the Village of Versailles for construction of the Reed Road Well Field Transmission Line Phase 1 and 2 Projects.

He said the grants received for the project were a half of a million dollars, but the rest of the funding will come from a loan that will need to have a designated dedicated repayment source.

“EPA Loan funds come with a little bit of paperwork, but their interest rates were significantly lower,” Schmitmeyer said.

Village Administrator Mike Busse explained why council has to apply for a loan after the project has been started instead of after like one would assume. He compared it to buying a house or car saying when you go to purchase those items, you set up a loan, know your budget, and then you go purchase the item.

“In this case, we did our pre-application, so we knew we were qualified and on the list,” Busse said. “You can’t actually secure these loans until after the budget bids, so it’s a little counterintuitive to people.”

He said he understands the questions and confusion around why they did not go after the loan ahead of time, but he said “there really isn’t a way to do it ahead of time.”

The Klipstine Road Reconstruction project is now complete, and the Street Department is continuing to complete various asphalt patches around the village. They are working on reseeding various summer projects and are working on the Storm Sewer work on Baker Road at Vista Drive.

Assistant Village Administrator Kyle Francis and Busse met with the homeowners along the Homer Street Reconstruction project area the other week and answered any questions they had concerning the project. PAB construction is to begin work on the project the week of the 18th.

Mitchell Kremer was approved and appointed as the Street Department Foreman for a six-month probationary period. Out of all the candidates, he was determined to be the best fit. Kremer comes to the village with a leadership and construction background.

“He’s got construction experience. He doesn’t have any water and sewer experience, and it would be nice if he had those. We think he can learn that though,” Busse said.

He said that Kremer has experience operating heavy equipment and has experience managing construction crews, and it is a good thing because the Village does pour some of its own concrete. He believes Kremer’s personality would be a good fit with the current crew they have.

“He had some good management experience with running crews for the last several years, seems like a really good go-getter, he’s not afraid of computers and technology which is great, and he has some great qualities that lead us to believe he is going to be a really good fit,” Francis said.

The next Versailles Council meeting will take place Wednesday, September 27 at 7 p.m., in EMS Building, 320 Baker Road, Versailles.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].