by Sue Miklovic
The first Village Council meeting of February, last Tuesday, began with Mike Soltis of Bridge Fellowship offering prayer for the community and the council. He shared that 80-100 people per month are helped through he Community Food Pantry, housed at Bridge Fellowship and expressed thanks for all who help support that effort. He also announced that the NBHS Baccalaureate service will be held on May 20th at the school.
The Council meeting also had plenty of Public Participation. Three different individuals sought permission to speak. There is a 5 minute limit.
Speaking first was Rob Brian, representing the Wood County Park District. He spoke about a flooding issue near the Slippery Elm Trail and East Maple Street, and the circumstances surrounding the efforts to alleviate the problem by tapping in to the catch basin. This is an on-going problem the Village has been trying to rectify for several months.
Another participant was Karl Hoffhiens from Race-o-Rama. He was seeking help and suggestions in order to bring more people in to his downtown business, Race-O-Rama.
The third participant was having a problem with a local business charging them for services they did not receive, and Police Chief Baer suggested they continue discussing that situation with him at the Police Department.
The department heads all submitted their monthly reports. Those reports can be found in separate articles here on theNBXpress.
Village Administrator Allyson Murray encouraged everyone to spread the word of the upcoming Neighborhood Revitalization Grant meeting on February 13m at 7:00pm at council room. The grant has the potential to provide up to $500,000 for projects that are decided by the community. There need to be at least three different projects submitted with the application. There also need to be 5 public meetings held in order to submit an application.
Ms. Murray also asked council to approve the hiring of Caleb Swope for an open position on the water/sewer department. Other topics talked about in her report included: new water tower design, purchase of a new street sweeper (street sweeping is a mandatory law enforced by the EPA), and Scheduled meeting for those wishing to use Village Ball Fields this year (Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018 at 6:00pm)
Several Standing Committees were planning to hold meetings last weekend.
Neither the Village Legal Counsel nor the Mayor had any reports.
Tomorrow evening is the Council of the Whole meeting at 5:30pm.
