The Paden City Common Council met in regular session at the municipal building in the council chambers on Monday, May 2, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. All council members were present along with city recorder Sheila Ervin and Mayor, Steve Kastigar.

Starting off the meeting was the unanimous approval of minutes from the April 4th regular council meeting and the minutes for the April 19 meeting to Lay the Levy.

Mayor Kastigar, advised the water project is coming along and very few hookups are left to be completed and paving should begin after school is out for summer. He also reported this seasons little league kicked off on Saturday with a parade, and it went well.

All bills were approved for payment and an old change order that was approved in February was missing a signature page. The Order was presented and signed by Mayor Kastigar. A citizen in attendance inquired about replacing of the fire hydrant on Witschey street. The hydrant is on the list and part of the project to be addressed and replaced.

The floor was opened for citizen comments. Chris Bowen addressed council about filing complaints, she was concerned about written responses being made to the person filing the complaint. She said not having a privacy act placed on the complaint form opens the complaint information up to any and everyone. The city explained that complaints are public record and council meetings are open to the public and media. Written responses are not common practice and they generally do not send a written response out. Bowen then asked for an update on her complaint over the tree in or near the alley behind her house growing into the sewer. The city is checking into a solution, and about any money left over that could help get the issue resolved.

Moving on council touched base on a prior complaint made a couple months ago by Linda McGinnis over a culvert issue causing sinkage to her yard. Council said it’s still being looked at for a solution.

The complaint presented previously by Charles Laugh over the amount of noise in the River Circle area was addressed a bit and it was stated a louver is being inquired about for residential areas. They are researching the best one that will work at dampening the noise.

Resident Mrs. Leek of 900 N. 9th Ave. addressed council over a tire repair complaint. She recently had to replace the tires on her car costing approximately $800.00. While her tires were being replaced the tire shop told her that excessive travel on gravel has torn chunks out of the rubber. She advised council of the amount of gravel she has had to travel over during this project. She went on to say she has even been attempting to travel alternate routes to and from her home. She stated she canát afford to keep placing $800 tires on her vehicle because of the gravel. She asked what are we gonna do about it? Mayor Kastigar, stated he doesn’t believe anything can be done over it. He said most of the streets have gravel now because of the work being completed and the cities liability insurance wouldn’t cover a claim as such.

At this time Councilman Don Dillaman spoke and stated he has had to replace tires of his own due to picking up chunks of metal. However, he wasn’t asking the city to pay for it but noted it is expensive to have to cover the cost of tires. He believes when they start paving, the areas that have wash out need to be addressed. The gravel and debris seems to be an issue.

The city will speak with the contractors to be sure the street sweeper is being ran. The supervisor for the contractor will be contacted to see about a solution. Leek also gave council the newly signed tree removal agreement. Mayor Kastigar signed off on it and advised he will pass the info on and also will let them know to contact the land owners when the work begins, which should begin in the next couple of weeks.

Zoe Postlethwait inquired about the contamination levels not being on the water bills anymore. She expressed that the citizens are owed that information after everything that has went on. City Recorder Ervin, advised the numbers are not being placed on there because they are at zero. It was stated they have not seen any levels since the stripper has been activated. Postlethwait requested they be reinstated to the bills so everyone knows the levels even if it is zero.

There was discussion about the city speed limits. The ordinance is in place and just needs to be followed. A few on the committee have drove around checking the signage. It was discovered about 20 signs need to be purchased and put up over town. The speed limit will remain 25 mph in the business district of Rural, Robinson, and Main Streets. All other streets will be marked 20 mph, school zone at 15 mph, and the highway is 35 mph. They will talk to Josh Billiter, the Superintendent, for sign pricing.

Under the sewer project discussion There is going to be meeting with the Army Corp of Engineers over some surveyor work this coming week. Councilman Bertozzi addressed a residents yard on Boston Street. The contractors were given permission to park on the property but in the process the yard was torn up. It was stated they will make sure the contractors take care of getting the yard fixed back.

Police Chief Anthony Lauer approached council with a proposal to hire two new officers. He stated the Police Department budget lacks about $5,000 for the salaries of the proposal. He has spoken to the police committee about the request. A decision to hire the two officers was tabled and they will look into it with the finance committee. He also requested the $6,000 from Pleasant County be deposited into the police department’s equipment budget. The motion passed unanimously.

The paper work for the #13 drawdown for the water project was approved and signed by Kastigar.

Paden City Fire Company report was presented by fire chief, Jim Richmond. They responded to one false alarm, two motor vehicle accidents, one service call, and three EMS assists.

Mayor Kastigar stated on behalf of the park and pool committee that everything looks good and is continuing to come along for the season. He also stated that a water line had broke ruining a refrigerator, and microwave belonging to the Little League. The estimated cost is $1300 for replacement. Council made a motion and all agreed to replace the items up to the $1300.00 amount.

Councilman William Bell stated the flea markets on Saturdays are doing well and some improvements have been started at the the industrial park.

Ervin, brought up receiving the $2000.00 sign on bonus check from AT&T, and she needs an approval on which account the check needs deposited into. The approval passed for the funds to be placed into the general fund.

Councilman Richmond made the motion to approve the fiscal year 22/23 water fund and park fund. The motion passed without opposition.

City Recorder Ervin, advised council a request has been made for the city to start accepting ACH payments through Doxo which is an online bill payment service. Council all voted against such payments to be received. This being due to the liability of their banking information being released.

Council went into an executive session over a personnel matter. Meeting was adjourned at 8:10PM as soon as executive session ended.