Shaw takes Pyles' place on council
A person with a familiar face was placed on the Village Council last Wednesday.
Dan Shaw was the only Sunbury resident who volunteered to fill the place of Rhonda Pyles who recently resigned from council for health reasons.
Shaw presented himself by saying he has lived in Sunbury since 1967 and told the council how he has served the village in numerous ways.
He was involved in zoning and planning for 18 years, was appointed to the council eight years ago, has served on numerous committees and said he is looking forward to his new term "as much as anyone can look forward to public office."
"I want to make sure the momentum keeps going," he said.
He wants to "preserve the historical character of the town while making it progressive and growing."
Mayor Len Weatherby said Pyles told him she was honored to have Shaw take her spot.
After a quick vote, Shaw was promptly sworn in and jumped right into council business.
One order of business was the building of a new gazebo right next to Town Hall.
Councilman Austin Slattery said the gazebo would be made of brick, be handicap-accessible and be topped by a cupola.
Although the preliminary cost of the structure is about $75,000, Slattery assured the council that much of that will be funded by private donations.
The waste and water committee recommended that an ordinance be created to increase tap water and sewer tap fees as well as require subdivisions to pay half of their tap fee up front.
The numbers on the ordinance haven't been completely ironed out but are supposed to be ready by the first meeting in August.
An ordinance to increase pay ranges for village employees failed but another that authorized a new insurance contract with Medical Mutual of Ohio was approved.
Slattery said he thought it was necessary to get the ball rolling on the insurance application process and proposed a motion to collect the paperwork and deposit.
Slattery wanted to send in about $16,000 to Medical Mutual for the first month's deposit.
Slattery also said, "We will have discussions with city employees," regarding the new insurance policy.
Another large issue that came up was the new contract with Galena for police protection.
Councilman Rob Glaze proposed a three-year contract so that the issue wouldn't have to come up quite so often.
He said council should get the ordinance on record as a matter of timeliness.
He said he thought it would be prudent to "get the record in the book and still have 30 days until it goes into effect."
The ordinance stated that the village would charge Galena $52,000 with a $4,000 annual increase for police protection.
Council also added a stipulation that the village can raise the rates if there is a drastic increase in employee benefits over that period of time.
Later, council agreed not to do any paving until next year.
Glaze brought up the issue of the lack of a curb and sidewalk on Route 37 and there was brief discussion on whether residents or the city should fund the building of sidewalks.
Slattery asked whether the village should "bear the cost of all that."
Glaze said that large trucks sometimes drive up on the curb and that can be hard to ask residents to maintain sidewalks under those kinds of conditions.
"Is it a burden we should take on?" Slattery asked. "We don't want to start a precedent."
In the end, a motion was passed to draw up plans for a curb and sidewalk on the north side of Route 37 from Vernon to Morning.
Also in the meeting, Slattery said the finance committee had met and discussed the annual employee raises.
"A dollar figure has not been come up with yet," he said. "We will begin the budget process in the first meeting of September."
The last item on the agenda was the first reading of an ordinance to approve the purchase of real estate located between East Granville Street and East Cherry Street, otherwise known as the former Baptist Church parking lot.
The area is close to Sunbury Town Square, and council members said it would be very helpful as an area for public parking.
The cost of the real estate was estimated at $60,000.
"It sounds like a great idea," Shaw said.
Continued discussion of the issue will resume at the next council meeting.