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LISBON -- Mayor Peter Wilson provided village council with a written document showing funds lined up for the Pritchard Avenue bridge replacement project Tuesday night.
No action was taken though to move forward, pending having an Ohio Department of Transportation representative speak to council about the funding.
"This project I believe is essential," Wilson said, noting the bridge's placement on a state watch list due to its condition.
The estimated cost of the project is $991,000, with grants covering $891,000, according to Wilson. He warned that if the village waits, the costs could go up. He also said the village has a general fund balance of $778,000, saying the money is there. He suggested budgeting $20,000 to $25,000 for the next three years, noting construction would not begin until 2026.
Councilwoman Linda Donnalley asked how much involvement city employees would have, with Wilson saying the contractor would do the work, but city employees would have to check on the project.
"I don't want to wait until the state says that bridge has to close," she said.
Councilwoman Melissa Hiner asked if someone from ODOT could come to a council meeting to give an explanation. She also wanted to call a finance committee meeting to discuss it.
In other business, council approved an ordinance giving village employees across the board a 3.5 percent wage increase. The cost of the raises to the general fund will be $48,500, $35,200 for the water department and $8,100 for the cemetery workers. The ordinance also raised the salary for Fiscal Office Tracey Wonner by $4,200, plus the 3.5 percent wage increase, which Hiner referred as an equity increase due to all the work Wonner does related to village council, including attending the meetings, taking the minutes and preparing the council agenda packages, besides her work as fiscal officer for the village. The vote by council was unanimous.
After passage of the third reading, Wilson said he didn't like the way it was handled, claiming procedures weren't followed and questioning why it wasn't brought up during the first reading. Hiner said it was discussed openly in a finance committee meeting and every council member had copies of the document. It was also explained to council members prior to the council meeting when they had the first reading. Not one council member said no.
In other matters, since the bill for the village hall construction was paid off, Wonner asked for permission to take the $7,500 a month used for that payment from the general fund and transfer it into capital improvements. She also asked for permission to transfer 5 percent of the monthly income tax revenue into the capital improvement fund. She estimated that could accumulate to $15,000 to $20,000 per month from both transfers. Council agreed to the request.
"That will give us money to do some of our projects in the future," Wonner said.
Wilson put out a call for candidates for the Lisbon Board of Zoning Appeals to fill an opening created by Mike Kleinknecht, who stepped down. Letters of interest should be sent to the mayor.
Council gave permission for an application to seek $250,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission for a project to replace the North Market Street sanitary sewer line from Saltwell Road to Lee Avenue. During the report of the Board of Public Affairs, Chairman Bill Hoover reported an issue with the sanitary sewer line on North Market Street this week, but said it's not a leak.
Senior Plant Operator Chris Peterson explained the flow is slow and there had been a collapse of the line three years ago. They're digging down and if they have to replace part of the pipe, that's what they'll do. Service isn't interrupted because of a bypass, manhole to manhole, of about 200 feet. They're checking about 70 feet of the 8-inch line.
Peterson noted that the replacement project will increase the size of the line to 12 inches.
During his report, Fire Chief Mark Hall reported receiving a call from a concerned citizen about the structural condition of a building that kids walk by, saying there are some safety concerns. He said he'll have an inspector from the fire department check the building. When asked for the building location, he didn't want to release the information just yet, awaiting the results of the inspection.
Councilman Jerry Cox reported an issue during work on the street department garage in the form of an unexpected huge concrete wall. Work on the project is on hold at the moment with plans to try to open up the wall. Wonner warned him that the overall cost on the project can't go over $50,000, which is the limit for a non-bid project.
Council also: approved resolutions to sell a 2005 Chevrolet Suburban and a 1998 Ford Truck on GovDeals, a website for governmental entities to take bids on equipment they have to sell, without a cost to the entity, fees are collected from the buyer; approved the purchase of a truck vault/shotlock for the K-9 cruiser at a cost of $3,353; agreed to donate $500 to the Johnny Appleseed Festival; and expressed no problem with the Halloween Dash 5K and Monster Mile to be held Oct. 29 in Lisbon.
The next council meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Sept. 12.