By Andy Chappell-Dick
For the last Council meeting of spring, casual polo shirts were de rigueur around the table, with Solicitor Elliott Werth making a statement in bright pink. Mayor Rich Johnson spurned the trend in his signature sport coat, and Councilor Joe Sehlhorst was understated in a button-down work shirt.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Beginning with Committee reports, Councilor Jerry Cupples described some minor changes to insurance coverage, and asked that Council approve the renewals. Councilor Ben Stahl had a long list of activities by the Tree Commission, including a neighborhood-wide overhaul of Riley Creek Village and new designs for the layout of soccer fields next to SRK. (The meeting packet is attached HERE.)
LEGISLATION
Four pieces of legislation were up for a vote. Two were emergency resolutions to approve Beaverdam Contracting's bids to perform water main work on Garau and Geiger Streets. The third was the second reading of a resolution that enacts the Village's new gas aggregation, and the fourth, also a second reading, keeps Bluffton in the solid waste management district. All four passed 5-0 (Councilor Mitch Kingsley was absent).
REPORTS
The floor passed to Jesse Blackburn for his Village Administrator's report. Five major street projects are still on deck this year, he said. Two bike and pedestrian pathway additions stretching east and south from the County Line Road/SR 103 intersection are only waiting on utility poles to be finished. New water pipes under Garau and Geiger Streets will go in only if the contractor can finish the job completely before winter. And everyone's still waiting on a start date for ODOT's paving crews to lay down a smart new surface on SR 103 through town.
Blackburn called our attention to the annual Drinking Water Confidence Report for 2022. It's a four-page magnum opus that will be mailed to every household, detailing EPA compliance. Few things in Bluffton receive more scrutiny than a glass of water. Finally, Blackburn reported that mosquito misting has already begun, but with such dry weather it has been every other week. Obviously, the decision to switch to weekly is probably already made due to recent rains.
In Emergency Services reports, Fire Chief Jon Kinn only had a request for a future meeting with Council. It was time, he said, for the Village to begin preparing for next spring's total solar eclipse. (Or perhaps more accurately, begin preparing for people's unpredictable responses to said eclipse.)
Police Chief Ryan Burkholder had many items to highlight, including monthly police activity reports and various public notice sorts of things, all of which can be found in the PDF Council Packet.
Lt. Matt Oglesbee stood to thank Council and the Village on behalf of himself and the five other officers who attended last month's Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) conference in Washington, DC to commemorate and honor their comrade Dominic Francis. The officers found much solemn camaraderie among the other attendees and learned from various seminars and activities. The support of Bluffton "is very much appreciated by all of the officers," he said.
Lt. Oglesbee also pointed to National Night Out, set for Tuesday, August 1 at the Village pool. Council members were once again invited to perform the venerated task of grilling the hot dogs.
Lastly, Chief Burkholder pointed to the new fireworks laws in Ohio. There are now nine holidays encompassing about 17 days in which it is legal to discharge fireworks, and only within very specific hours (generally, 4-11 p.m. except till 1 a.m. on New Year's.) So in addition to Memorial Day and the Fourth of July and the other big ones, enthusiasts should now check their calendars for Diwali and Chinese New Year. Chief Burkholder warned that over-enthusiasts will get a visit from an officer.
For reporting purposes, the meeting ended when it moved into Executive Session to discuss a contract.
