Continental Village Council Met August 8, 2023

Jul 26, 2023

August 23, 2023 by Adam Donaldson Leave a Comment

Continental Village Council met in regular session on August 8, 2023 with Mayor Miller presiding. Members present were Knipp, Varner, Bartley, Armey, Streicher and Sullivan. Also, present were Solicitor Welch, Mayor Miller, Administrator Prowant and Fiscal Officer Darby. Visitors: Brad Backhaus, Toby Sullivan, Curt Hedrick, Rowdy & Joyce Howell, Trevor Williamson, Jim Fry and Jennifer Momenee. Mayor Miller opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance.

Varner made a motion to accept the minutes from the regular session meeting held on July 18 and Streicher seconded to approve minutes of the meeting, six yeas, motion carried. Varner made a motion to pay all the bills including the bill from iamGIS for $2625 and Armey seconded, six yeas, motion carried. Streicher made a motion and Knipp seconded to approve the receipts since the last meeting, six yeas, motion carried. Then & Now PO over $3,000, Hohenbrink for Change Order # 2, $17,792.26 and Machinex for $14,344 for Turnout gear washer. Armey moved to approve and Streicher seconded the motion, six yeas, motion carried.

OLD BUSINESS:

OPWC GRANTS: The deadline to apply for next year grant cycle is in September. Mayor Miller proposed applying for funding for the Lakeland storm sewer/paving project. Streicher moved to allow the Mayor to complete any paperwork to proceed with the grant application and Sullivan seconded. Six yeas, motion carried.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: Held the ground breaking for the new home at the corner of Oak and Third Streets in July and now have the foundation poured. They are hoping to acquire a lot close to this for future homes. The lot can be split and they wondered if the Village could put in a stone alley on the greenway between the lots. Council is agreeable since they had already looked into it for the previous owner.

WATER MAIN LEAK: There was a water main leak in an alley between E. Sugar and E. Ash Streets in a 4-inch cast iron line. They had trouble isolating the leak with the valves so they shut off the tower to reduce the pressure on the system and was able to make the repair by cutting out the bad section and replacing the section of line. The tower pressure did not drop far enough to mandate a boil alert. After they began taking samples they found that the chemical feeder could not keep up with the water production that was needed to offset the water lose from the leak and the chlorine levels dropped below EPA required standards so a Boil Alert was issued today until further notice. The water department is taking TC samples throughout the village and monitoring the levels. They will be flushing various hydrants to get the water flowing through the system.

The State has grants available to replace cast iron pipe that we will be applying for to get them replaced.

BUILDING PERMITS: Driveway extension at 502 W. Grove St. and a mobile home removal, new cement pad and replace mobile home at 103 S. Fourth. Bartley moved to approve the permits and Knipp seconded, six yeas, motion carried. Roof Replacement at 209 E. Rice, Streicher moved to approve and Bartley seconded, five yeas and Armey abstained, motion carried.

PEDDLER’S PERMIT: A permit to allow a student to do door-to-door sales has been approved through the Village police office.

ELECTRICITY AGGREGATION RESOLUTION: Darby presented the Electricity Aggregation Resolution for vote as an emergency as it is due in the Board of Election office tomorrow, August 9th to be eligible for the ballot on November 7th. Bartley made a motion to suspend the rules requiring three reads and Armey seconded. Roll call vote: Knipp – Yea; Varner – Yea; Bartley – Yea; Armey – Yea; Sullivan – Yea; Streicher – Yea. Six yeas, motion carried. Bartley made a motion to pass the Resolution as an emergency and Sullivan seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Knipp – Yea; Varner – Yea; Bartley – Yea; Armey – Yea; Sullivan – Yea; Streicher – Yea. Six yeas, motion carried.

SOLAR FIELD: The County Commissioners met again about legislation to regulate the placement of solar fields within the Townships and the County and House Bill 501 allows the Village to make the decision to regulate projects within their corporation limits. Residents reported that someone has been putting stakes in their lawns. Police Chief Hardy has documented the location of the stakes and advised the homeowners not to remove them. At this point in time, no one knows who the company is. Mayor Miller is scheduled for a zoom call with the solar company this week and he will check into it.

HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY RENEWAL: Darby reported that Anthem has issued a renewal with an 8.2% increase. Mayor Miller suggested checking to see if there is a better price available.

PETITIONS: Mayor Miller reminded council that petitions to be on the November ballot are due tomorrow at the Board of Elections.

Bartley made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss pending litigation and Armey seconded. Roll call vote: Knipp – Yea; Varner – Yea; Bartley – Yea; Armey – Yea; Sullivan – Yea; Streicher – Yea. Six yeas, motion carried.

Bartley made a motion to come out of Executive Session and Sullivan seconded. Six yeas, motion carried. Let the record show that no action was taken.

The next meeting will be August 22, 2023.

Bartley made a motion to adjourn with no further business; Armey seconded it. Six yeas. Meeting adjourned.

Filed Under: Community