Village appoints new member to council

MINSTER — Village councilors appointed a new resident to fill a council seat left vacant by Paul Enneking.

Councilors during executive session approved the appointment of Craig Sherman to fill the unexpired term of Enneking.

Sherman, 62, retired from NK Parts, where he served as executive vice president.

Village Administrator Don Harrod said there were four applicants for the position, with one withdrawing their name from contention before council discussed it.

Also Tuesday, council approved the hiring of part-time police officer Parker Maurer.

Maurer, a Botkins native, is a graduate of Celina High School and he received his two-year degree in criminal justice from Wright State Lake Campus.

He recently graduated from Wright State Lake Campus Police Academy.

“I heard it from the last part-time officer who worked here, Riley Gibson, he highly recommended me apply here,” said Maurer. “He said the community is great, the department was great and everybody in there was nice.”

Also Tuesday, council took the next steps to placing a 3-mill fire emergency medical services renewal on the November ballot. The resolution to permit levying an additional tax was approved at the meeting.

Harrod said that $289,000 will be generated from the levy per year to help with costs of the MinsterJackson Township Fire Department as well as the Minster Area Life Squad.

With the levy, for example, the

owner of a $100,000 home would pay $105 per year if the levy is approved.

In other business:

• Council approved the payment of $36,792 to the law firm of Duncan and Allen for its work in helping the village in a lawsuit with a solar field contract dispute.

• Council heard from Jeff Wuebker, who is an organizer for the Minster Alumni Softball Tournament that’s coming up in August. He was there to request permission to sell beer at Four Seasons Park during the event. He also requested use of the park until 1 a.m. on Saturday, Aug.

14.

• Council approved the purchase

of a new truck for the public works department at a cost of $83,822. Harrod said the new truck will be a Ford F-550, an upgrade from the current F-350 which has began rusting in the bed and on the sides of the truck. The new truck will be outfitted with a stainless steel bed and a salt spreader which will be one of the main uses of the truck in the winter.

• Council heard Harrod say

that crews from the public works department dug between Bud’s and Wagner’s IGA last week to fix a collapsed sanitary sewer line. He said crews made the necessary repairs and the line was returned to normal.

• Harrod informed council that

the correct 14-feet diving boards have been installed at the village’s swimming pool.

• Harrod said that the water tower located on Ohio Street has been completely repaired and is back in operation.

• Harrod made mention that the

village participated in a demand response test that was conducted by CPower. The village was able to operate two of the generators for one hour and to shed electrical load from the administration building and the well field.

The test was to prove that the village was capable of reducing its load during the time and the village received approximately $5,000 for being able to reduce the load.

• Council heard Harrod say that

the rubber material for the rubber surface under the new playground equipment at Four Seasons Park had been delivered and he said that installation would begin soon, depending on the weather.

• Council approved receipts

of $1,962,466.65 and invoices of $1,045,088.92.