The Cardington Village Council discussed the possible donation and placement of a new sign from the Friends of Cardington at its Nov. 6 meeting.
During community participation, Lee Ann Maceyko from the Friends of Cardington spoke to council about erecting a permanent sign in the park for community announcements. Maceyko explained the sign that is currently used is borrowed and has to be brought out seasonally and changed manually.
“We just really feel it would be nice to be able to sit right from your phone when the weather isn’t cooperating for certain events and be able to update the community about what is going on,” Maceyko said. “We are just trying to figure out a better way to be able to get the word out. The active display area is around 3 feet by 7 feet and will connect to Wi-Fi that is provided by satellite through the company we will be purchasing it from.”
Maceyko further explained that if the Friends of Cardington makes the decision to go into contract on the sign purchase before the end of November, the organization will be given a $2,000 discount on the total purchase price of $22,483.
“That price does not include the installation. Until we get someone from the village to give us permission to proceed, then we can look into where it is going to go and how we would get electric to it and all of those other things,” Maceyko said. “So today, all we are really looking for is permission to continue on to do it. We actually had someone anonymously donate $10,000 to the Friends of Cardington, and we feel like we can use that for part of the sign. I also went and spoke to the CIC and they are on board with helping us also. Basically, we are just going out there and trying to get as much funds together as we can.”
From there, the discussion among council members brought up a variety of questions as to the placement of the sign in the park, the name to be placed at the top of the sign, who would have access to control what is programmed and displayed on the sign, and what entity would be considered “owners” of the sign. Regardless of the questions, all agreed the sign would be a great asset for the community.
Upon discussion with Village Solicitor Jim Dietz, it was determined that he would work out the details and look into what needs to be done to start the process of erecting the sign in an agreeable way for both the city and the Friends of Cardington. Dietz is planning to have something put together by the next council meeting on Nov. 20, which would give the Friends of Cardington enough time to purchase the sign and still receive the $2,000 discount before the end of the month.
Village Administrator Walt Pollock volunteered to work alongside Maceyko and the Friends of Cardington in going through the process of the sign purchase, planning, and placement on behalf of the council to ensure that the process goes smoothly for all.
Prior to the reading of ordinances, Fiscal Officer Deb Fry advised council of some changes to be made to the insurance coverages for village employees. Fry told council that she has been working with her contact at Anthem to come up with a solution to offset inevitable rising costs.
The proposed solution was to establish a deductible reimbursement account, which would be much like a HRA, while at the same time raising the deductible amounts for the individual employees. Fry explained how doing so would offset the cost and allow for no price change to village employees while ensuring coverages and benefits would remain in place.
After some discussion among council members, a motion was made to approve the increase of the deductible with leaving the procedures and percentages that are currently established for village employees the same. The motion passed.
In other business, Ordinance 2023-29 was given its second reading before council. The ordinance is to amend Chapter 182 of the codified ordinances of the village municipal income tax as a result of House Bill 33. The ordinance was passed.
Resolution 2023-34 to accept the resignation of Steve Damron as village representative for the Cardington Lincoln Joint Recreation Board was read and passed by council.
Contact Erin Miller at [email protected].
