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Local News
North Lewisburg council pushes for liability coverage for ball group
March 05, 2009 at 1:16 pm
By CORINNE BIX
North Lewisburg Council approved a contract for the Triad Jr. Baseball/Softball organization that will require the not-for-profit athletic group to carry liability coverage.
Andy Yoder, village administrator, explained that it has only been within the past five years that Triad Jr. Baseball/Softball (TJBS) stopped carrying liability insurance.
The newly written contract has a “hold harmless” clause to protect the village in the event someone or something is hurt or damaged during one of the league’s baseball games or practices.
In addition, even though the village maintains property insurance for everything in the park, they would not be responsible for any out-of-pocket costs associated with maintaining or repairing grounds, equipment or structures deemed only necessary for the TJBS organization.
Currently the village is working with contractors and the insurance agency for the repair to the lighting and fence at the ball field in the village park.
Steve Wilson, council member, brought up that the village should not be responsible for the equipment solely used for the ball organization.
Yoder agreed with Wilson that TJBS would ultimately be responsible for the insurance deductible and cost for repairs since both the lighting and fence were installed for the purpose of TJBS games.
“I want to make sure the village is covered in the case of liability,” Yoder said. “We would like them to carry a certain amount of liability coverage.”
Council passed ordinance 241(A) that allows for a sewer rebate amendment in the case of catastrophic and unforeseen circumstances.
Last month, Mayor Jason Keeran said within a recent billing cycle, one utility customer had an 85,000 gallon leak with a bill total of $1,685.
The amendment allows for sewer charges to be forgiven one time per property/address/owner on a bi-annual basis for an excessive leak when it is shown that the water passing through the water meter leaked out of a property’s interior plumbing system and did not drain into the village sanitary system. The account holder would still be responsible for minimum sewer charges..
An application for an adjustment of the sewer bill will be required, including a written certification that the water did not infiltrate the sanitary sewer system and must be received no later than the last day of the month for which the utility was billed.
Under the same amendment, council voted to raise the deposit fee for water and sewer to $100, from $78.50.
The village will advertise for bids for solid waste removal and curbside recycling. Currently village residents pay $45.10 quarterly for curbside trash pick-up. Recycling is offered monthly through the North Central Ohio Solid Waste District (NCOSWD) at the village park.
The village will bid the contract together with St. Paris and Mechanicsburg, in addition to bidding as a sole entity. Yoder said the hope is by combining with the other two municipalities, all three communities will benefit from a lower rate.
Gary Silcott, Stantec/village engineer, reported that he is working with Enviroquip to iron out some issues at the wastewater treatment plant as the newly designed system undergoes its second winter. The goal is to optimize the plant’s overall performance and lower electric costs.
Silcott put in several requests for state stimulus funding. The first would extend the existing sewer line along the old railroad bed from behind the Cherry Arbors Retirement Community to the west corporate boundaries of the village. Cost is estimated at $1 million.
The second project, at an approximate cost of $800,000, would provide a new well-field, new wells and piping. The third project would improve Route 559, including pavement, curb, gutter and utility replacement. An approximate cost of this project has yet to be determined.
Silcott said the last time he checked the state Web site, approximately 15,000 projects had been submitted with an estimated cost of $4 billion collectively. The state will only have $228,000 to distribute.
He said although it was unlikely any of the village’s requests would be granted, the Route 559 project was the most likely.
In other news, Deputy McMahill gave the police report for the month of February. It included 10 traffic citations, eight warnings issued for traffic violations, eight incident reports taken, 23 cases of assistance given to citizens, four arrests made, four civil and criminal papers served, 31 follow-up investigations completed and two instances of juvenile contact.
Council also approved the village administrator to sit in the place of the mayor on the Champaign County Health Board and the Champaign County Emergency Management Agency Executive Committee if the mayor is unable to attend.
The next regular meeting will be April 7 at 7 p.m.
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