ORWELL – Compliance improvements at the village water treatment plant and new fleet vehicles for the Department of Public Service and Fire Department were discussed during a Tuesday, March 10, work session of Orwell Village Council.
Village Manager Dr. Sean Ratican told council there are several Ohio EPA violations at the water plant and the village has until May to draft and implement a plan to address them and must show continued progress moving forward.
Ohio EPA permits eight wells for a water treatment plant like the one in Orwell, which currently draws on two. Ratican said a subpanel at the plant drawing on another five wells is unlabeled.
A contractor is being brought in to measure flow rates at the plant before a decision is made to cap off any wells, according to Ratican.
Ratican also said he’d like to purchase three Chevrolet 2500 pickup trucks for the Department of Public Service and the Fire Department. A quote from Midway Chevrolet was at $53,905 per truck. A fleet price from Classic Auto Group came in at $51,205 per vehicle.
President of Council Chris Ruks asked Ratican to price the trucks, outfitted with a plow package, which could add as much as $18,000 to the price tag.
Village fleet vehicles valued at or above $1,000 that are being replaced will be listed on govdeals.com, according to Ratican.
In other business, Ratican said Public Services still needs to purchase a front-end loader, a dump truck and a skid steer.
In looking at federal and state capital budget requests, Ratican informed council that the state is not currently funding work at fire halls, but that he would like to apply for funding for a community building.
He estimated the cost at $6 million, with the hope of securing $2.6 million in federal funding and another $1.4 million from the state.
Ratican said he’d also like to partner with local employers to use the space for workforce training. Council member David Hartz said he’d like to get partner commitments before beginning the project.
A deadline for a safety grant from Firehouse Subs is in April, according to Ratican, who added that the grant can be up to $50,000, but cannot be for capital projects.
He listed several options for projects, such as adding an exhaust system at the fire hall, which is already plumbed for it, updating communication equipment at the school campus and that the firefighters always need new turnout gear.
The village has also been offered a $9,800 grant to switch to a .gov domain name, according to Ratican.
The concert committee recently met and reported that many concertgoers use the parking lot at St. Mary Catholic Church and cross the street to see the shows at the park. Ratican said having a police cruiser in the area with its hazard lights on helped to slow down traffic on North Maple Street. He added that putting in speed bumps is a possibility with approval from the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The next work session meeting of Orwell Village Council is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, at 5 p.m. at Village Hall, 179 W. Main St.
