City of Russell
Council Meeting
August 1, 2016 7pm
Mayor, Duane Bedford called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
Council members present were Chris Feehan, Terry Newcomb, Corey Paige, Casey
DeHoedt and Jay Pierschbacher. Also
present were fire chief, Craig Alexander and police chief, Jeff Johnson.
Dolores Carroll was present as a visitor.
The past minutes were read and approved by Chris and
seconded by Terry. Motion carried 5-0.
Income and expense reports were reviewed. It was noted that the money for the sirens
were to come from the city hall budget and not the fire department. It was noted by the clerk to make a
correction. Chris made a motion to
approve the income/expense report and Jay seconded it. Motion passed 5-0.
Jeff reported that a few letters were sent out regarding
junk and debris. There was discussion
on some of the nuisance properties in Russell and how to handle them. There was also discussion on many of the
ditches in town that needed mowed. He also
noted that the council should be considering purchasing a different police car
in the future. He gave some ideas of where to research a newer vehicle. Jeff left the meeting at 7:30pm.
Craig reported that even though new batteries were purchased
for the siren, it still wasn’t working. He thought it might be the circuit
board. He was going to check about having someone come and look at the siren to
see why it wasn’t working. He also reported that he had the supplies needed to
fill in the culvert area outside city hall. He requested some rock be moved to
that area and noted he would need help
when he had time to fix it.
Craig mentioned that the fire department would need two
portable toilets for the fall festival events in September. In the past the fire department paid for one
and the city paid for one. He asked for permission to do that again for this
September. Jay made a motion to approve this and Casey seconded it. Motion
passed 5-0.
The city has received three bids for repairing the sewer on
East Smith Street. The bids were reviewed and Duane was going to find out who
could get the work done the quickest.
It was reported that the shelter house at the volleyball
court has been repaired after being damaged by the storm last month. There was discussion on staining the shelter
house and picnic tables at the volleyball court.
Due to the resignation of Larry, it was discussed that the
city will need to contract someone to do the monthly reports until a
replacement can be hired and licensed.
Duane and Lyle will collect the daily samples required but a licensed
contractor must write the reports. The licensed contractor will be needed from
six months to a year depending on how quickly a new hire would get licensed.
It was decided that the city still needs bids to replace the
community center roof. No bids have
currently been received.
Duane talked to the county about the culvert on Prairie
Street. He indicated that we might get
some help from the county for those repairs.
Chris talked to the body shop about repairs to the passenger
door of the city truck. It was decided that the repairs may be cost
prohibitive. Purchasing a blade for the
city truck was also discussed. Chris has researched the options and the costs
to purchase a blade. The council was in
favor of purchasing a blade for the truck. Chris was going to do more research to narrow
the options down.
Casey wrote and submitted the application for the Vredenburg
Grant. The meeting to decide the recipients of the grant will be on August 5th.
Dolores Carroll requested that Shaw Street in front of the
Southside be closed for the fall festival on September 17th. They plan to have a bags
tournament in the street. Jay made a
motion to approve the closing of that street and Terry seconded it. Motion
passed 5-0.
A resolution was discussed for the Lucas County
multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan. The resolution was reviewed by all
council members. Casey made a motion to
pass the resolution and Terry seconded it. Motion passed 5-0.
Due to the next scheduled council meeting date being on a
holiday, it was decided to hold the next meeting on September 12th.
It is likely that a special meeting might have to be held before then to
discuss the bids for the sewer project and hiring a maintenance employee.
Chris made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:50pm and Casey seconded. Motion passed
5-0.
___________________________
__________________________
Mayor, Duane Bedford Clerk,
Mo White
