Wellsville Council Meeting

Tuesday - December 15: Wellsville Village Council held their regular meeting Tuesday evening at Village Hall. All Council members were present along with Mayor Joe Surace, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis, Village Solicitor Andy Beech and WFD Chief Bill Smith.


We thought it was going to be a rambunctious meeting with the all the people in the audience but it turned out most were there to wish retiring Councilman Don Brown farewell and good luck. We'll have more on that later.


Before moving on to Public Speaking, Mayor Joe Surace recognized former Village Administrator Tom Edgell who was also present.


In the Public Speaking Commerce Street resident Jeffrey Ori wanted to discuss water rates. The Mayor advised that wasn't handled by Village officials and referred him to the Buckeye Water District.


Nina Graves of Commerce Street asked Council about the proposed $40 inspection fee asking if that was per unit or per house. Councilwoman Rosie Goss responded that other than giving Attorney Beech a copy of the EL ordinance for review nothing has been decided on that yet. Graves went on to state that she thought such a fee would "cripple Wellsville since Wellsville does not have that many landlords". She went on to say she has many units but many of those units are empty due to the lack of revenue. She said such a fee would be a hardship to her and she would be forced to board up some of those units.


For Administration Reports WFD Chief Bill Smith said that the call volume is over 170 calls for 2009 which is a little more than last year. Smith noted there is still a little more time to go in this year.


Smith went all to express his appreciation for all the help & assistance Councilman Brown has done through the years. The Chief told Brown that "although you're stepping down as a Councilman you still are part of the Fire Dept." Smith went on to offer Brown an associate membership which is an honor in the department that is not freely handed out.


For the Mayor's Report Surace reported that income from the Magistrate Court for November was $8,760 and year-to-date it was $100,064 which is a new high. He went on to thank, of course the Police Dept., and Clerk Jennifer Soldano who does a lot of work for the Court that includes a lot of paper work.


Surace went on to thank Don Brown for his 12 years of service on Council noting that they have had their differences over the years but there is no end to the respect he has for the man. Surace remarked that 12 years in politics in a small town is tough. He said he applauds Brown and thanks him.


For Committee Reports, Councilman Joe Soldano said the Hammond Park Commission will soon be having a meeting. They have asked him to check into grants for the park and as soon as they meet they will let them know what is needed. Soldano will then check into available grant funding. Surace commented there is talk of putting in an amphitheater up there which he thinks would be great for the Village. He hopes there is money out there.


For the Sewage Committee, Councilman Randy Allmon resubmitted a bill for $790 from LSW that was previously rejected at an earlier Council Meeting. The bill was for jet rodding and camera work for four hours plus labor that was performed 6/4/09. Allmon stated he believed there was a misunderstanding on the previous vote and said the bill was not for water. Goss stated she checked last week and the $807 water bill owed by LSW has still not been paid. Allmon responded that Logan said that bill would be paid when they met with him. With Brown, Goss & Soldano voting no it was left to the Mayor to break the tie. Surace said he believed that if the man did the work then he deserves to be paid. He then asked if the $790 could be deducted from the $807 LSW owes for water. After some discussion it was decided that for book keeping purposes the State Auditors frown on that. Surace voted in favor to pay the bill provided LSW makes good on the water bill. Allmon said he would follow up on that Wednesday morning.

For Legislation, Ordinance 09-15 was passed declaring an emergency to increase the sewage rates a flat fee of $1 per month effective 1-1-10 for the first 3,000 gallons or less. Effective in 2011 the fee will be 25 cents per month for the next four years. This legislation was ordered in at the 7-21-09 Council Meeting. The fee is $6.19 for each additional 1,000 gallons for all five years.

Ordinance 09-16 was also passed declaring an emergency to make adjustments to the 2009 budget. Fiscal Officer Dale Davis said this is essentially a house keeping for financial purposes to finish out the year.

The final ordinance passed, also declaring an emergency, was 09-17 to adopt a budget for 2010.

New Business was devoted to Councilman Brown which we'll cover later.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:22 P.M. That wraps up Council Meetings for 2009. Next scheduled meeting is January 5, 2010.

ole nib