The Richwood Village Council met Monday evening with member Don Ridgeway absent.
Two ordinances were submitted to council for the first reading.
The 2018 budget for the village heard first reading and will appear before council two more times for approval.
An ordinance adjusting the the village pay rates for 2018 was also heard on first reading. Salaried full-time and part-time hourly employees, which includes police officers and village staff, will receive a two percent wage increase if the ordinance passes the next two readings. Village council members, the mayor, fiscal officer and zoning officer are not included in the pay increase.
The mayor’s salary is $5,000 per year and he is afforded an expense allowance of $1,500. The salary has not increase since 2014. Six council members each receive $3,000, a figure that has also not increased since 2014. The fiscal officers’s salary in 2014, was $25,000 and is now at $26,000 per year and the zoning officer receives $2,472, a rate that has not increased since 2014.
In the village administrator’s report, Monte Asher stated that the village received five inches of rain over last weekend, but the streets did not flood. He said the sewer system was overloaded and will hopefully be back to normal by Tuesday or Wednesday. He also said that crews are working on an adjustment and evaluation of the Gill Street lift station.
Asher also stated that a home at 262 W. Ottawa St. has never been to the village sewer system, so village crews will be tapping it in on Wednesday.
Asher gave a report as chief of the police department:
-There will be an active shooter event scheduled in April.
-An interview is scheduled for an auxiliary officer candidate soon.
-The department is securing bids for body cameras for officers.
-Investigation training will be upcoming.
Other council business included:
-Homes in the village are in the process of foreclosure and few of those property owners have begun making payments on back taxes.
-South Franklin Street resident Stanley Meddles approached council about water splashed up into his yard when vehicles drive on the street. He said splashing water floods his yard. His basement was also flooded. He asked council to consider putting a catch basin in front of his property to drain water in the street. Mayor Scott Jerew told Meddles that council will look into their options to see what they can do.
-A property on Landon Road is filling up with trash again and the zoning officer will look into the situation.
-The Planning Committee will hold a meeting Monday, March 12, at 6 p.m., prior to council’s next regular meeting at 7 p.m.