EDISON — New Village Council Member Jeremie West was sworn in at beginning of the Jan. 8 meeting. West has been a member of the Edison Board of Public Affairs and looks forward to serving the village as a council member.
Street Department Manager Rod Clinger reported that cleaning snow off the streets and applying salt and grit has been the street department’s main job this month. Council member, Ruth Davis thanked Clinger and his men for the good work keeping the streets clean this winter.
Clinger said they have used a lot of salt and bought it twice so far this year. They also replaced a damaged street sign.
Mayor Sandy Ackerman said that she and Fiscal Officer, Bruce Seaburn will soon be working on appropriations for the year. Seaburn said there will be a few tweaks, but other than the $25,000 for the purchase of the fire siren, the budget will be very similar to last year.
Ackerman asked Village attorney, Robert Ratliff to work with council and the village in annexing several residents who have requested to come into the village. Ratliff said he will do that and send information to council on four kinds of annexation that might be possible.
After some discussion, council members agreed that they would like to have Ratliff be at all the meetings, rather than to attend only when requested. Ratliff said he will do that and he will be mindful of the village budget in focusing on the business that is required.
Seaburn presented a letter from RITA, the area tax agency asking about going to court with three of the larger tax delinquencies. Council member, Chris Kneipp suggested that it is “time to get serious about collecting on some of the larger overdue tax balances.” Council voted to take the large past due amount of $3,000 to small claims court.
Floyd Wogan will be working on the safety inventory for the village over the next couple of months. Kneipp asked about attending a training meeting for new members, which will cost $65. Council approved the funding for the meeting for him and asked West if he will attend. He is unable to attend this meeting due to his work schedule, but would like to attend a future training meeting.
Council approved payment of the bills for the month. The next meeting of the Edison Village Council will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12.
