John Nippert was named president Pro-Tempore when Cardington Village council met for its organizational meeting Monday, Jan. 6.
Mayor Susie Peyton gave the oath of office to newly elected council members Troy Ruehrmund and Steve Burton, the latter being re-elected to his position.
The semi-annual joint meeting with the Cardington Township Trustees and the Glendale Cemetery Board was held and the three entities approved 2020 appropriations of $217,000 for the Cemetery Board.
Cardington Township Trustees present were Doug Heacock, Loren Radel, Mike Patterson and Loren Radel,and Darla Hardwick, clerk. Glendale Cemetery Board members present were Heacock, representing the township; Jim Morris, representing the village and Vicki Ullom, clerk.
In other business:
• Police Chief James Wallace said the department took a total of 912 calls for service in 2019, down from previous years due to short staffing that occurred with military leaves, etc. Wallace said several officers have signed up for training classes for the year. He said the state once again is not mandating training hours but is relying on departments to provide the training for their officers.
• Council accepted the resignation of Joshua J. Kibler as part-time officer, effective Dec. 12, 2019.
• Approved Mark Colburn for the position of auxiliary police officer effective Dec. 23, 2019.
• Fire Chief Gary Goodman said the department had a total of 223 runs in 2019. The department was awarded a grant for the annual usage fees for the MACS’s radios totaling $4,200.
• Approved a resolution establishing the number of firefighters to be employed and/or authorized to served for the calendar year 2020 That includes a fire chief and assistant fire chief on part time basis; and 35 volunteer fire fighting personnel.
• Approved establishing the number of deputy marshals authorized in the police department as one full-time officer and four full-time deputy marshal patrolman, one school resource officer and six additional part time positions for help within the department.
There is an auxiliary force authorized not to exceed 15 officers.
• Charity Edwards’ appointment to the Cardington-Lincoln Joint Recreation Board was approved for the term beginning Jan. 1, 2020 and ending Dec. 31, 2023.
• Danny Wood, village administrator, explained that the area near the railroad tracks on State Route 529 that remains unpaved because as ODOT told him, they are required to have a flagger available to complete this repair. Due to the close timeline finishing the village portion of his project this year, they were unable to get it scheduled.
It will be completed in the spring when they return to complete the SR 529 paving project. Wood also said the fire hydrant hit and damaged by a car on Dec. 24, 2019, has been replaced. There was a water loss of 180,000 gallons from that accident.
