By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

ANSONIA — Ansonia Village Council discussed storm clean up and cruiser maintenance.

Ansonia Police Chief John Puckett advised the cruisers are being out fitted with the radios, radar, and shotgun equipment. He plans on also getting them decaled in the next few weeks.

“I would also like to present a contract with the county garage to do our repairs,” Chief Puckett said. “They are doing a lot for us right now pro bono, and I would appreciate it a lot if we could go ahead and sign off with these guys.”

Council member Crystal Reier Gibbs has experience with auto repairs, and she advised the prices listed in the contract are fair. The facility is located at the 1100 block of Martin Street in Greenville, and the contract would conduct services that are preventive maintenance and repairs in compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Regulations.

The county will provide routine preventive maintenance and repairs of engines, drive trains, mechanical parts, and accessories according to the rates as established in the agreement.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I would like to try it for a year and see what happens,” John Middleton said.

The council was in agreement it would be beneficial because the county would know the cruisers and have the part available. Jeff Gariety would like to number check to ensure they are not going to be spending a lot more in the long run than they have before.

“The good thing is we can give a 30-day notice before backing out of the contract,” Chief Puckett said. “We don’t have to commit to a full year.”

Gariety said he just wants to ensure the rates and money spent will be watched in the next year. Chief Puckett ensured the council he would be keeping a close eye on all the maintenances moving forward and would look into the maintenance budgets for the last two years.

After the council approved the contract and entered into it, the Darke County Board of Commissioners met on March 21 to agree to the vehicle maintenance agreement, as well.

The Chief also presented council with various quotes. The first quote being for three new radios.

“Come next year, the radios that we do have are going to be no good,” Chief Puckett said.

The quote comes out to $9,289.23, and Chief Puckett expressed that if the council decided to wait to purchase them until next year, that price could very well go up.

In regards to the Eclipse coming to the area on April 8th, Ansonia has discussed parking in the park and clean up. They are concerned the ground will be too soft and parking would tear up the ground.

“The school is not letting anyone park there, and the Church of God is no letting anyone park there,” Village Administrator Tom Welbaum said. “Parking could be an issue.”

Much of the discussion on where the village would allow people to park will depend on the weather the county will see that day. They discussed that if the ground is soft and wet, it would be hard to direct safe parking that will not cause damage. There was also discussion about charging to park in order to offset costs of clean up.

“I’m not saying we can’t do that, but then somebody has to stand out there all day to take the money,” Welbaum said.

Mike Hackler reminded the council the park is a publicly funded area, so to charge someone to use the resources is probably not the best idea. The Ansonia Fire Department would like to shut down West Weller from 118 to Pearl Street from 8 a.m. The representative from the fire department said, they do not have to shut down the road, but they would at least like no parking signs so they can utilize the space. Their concern is being able to freely move about to respond to emergency calls.

“The problem is, not a lot might happen, but it could be a problem getting somewhere, so we are preparing the trucks.”

The village will also be looking into purchasing porta johns for the event, so visiting guests would be able to have some facilities to relieve themselves. For five johns, the quote would be $660. Welbaum advised, he is not sure if they would need five, but it was the quote they had received.

The village also received a quote for the water tower meters. For 500 residential water meters fully installed and running, the quote came out to $1,099,450. Welbaum answered some questions saying he hadn’t gotten into figuring how much the village would save by switching to meters yet. He said there would be more research to be done to not only figure that out but to know how long before they made it up.

“We would set a base rate, and then anything over x amount of gallons would be so much extra money,” Welbaum said.

He said he’d look into it by next meeting as well as get a couple more quotes by next meeting in order to have more discussion. Lightning also struck one of the flow meters during the storm. It knocked a meter, outlet, the surge protector, and the surge protector back into the building.

“We had a digital rain gauge, and when I went back there Thursday night, it was laying in the drive broke in half,” Welbaum said. “The thermometer was also split in half laying on the drive too.”

To get a new meter, Welbaum said it cost $4,655. With insurance, the village would have a $1,000 deductible.

“Another option I feel is going to be good for us employees concerning the lift station of putting in a unit we can download an app, and it will tell us what is going on back there,” Welbaum said.

This would alert everyone when an issue arises, so they can respond quicker.

“The one we want put back there for the unit itself and a three year subscription will be $3,335.60,” Welbaum said.

The gentleman who would install it will not charge the village for the installation itself. Welbaum said this would be nice to eventually have at the power plant, so employees could know if there was an issue immediately.

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