By Jan H. Kennedy
FPS correspondent
March 17, 2009
Gifts totaling $300,000 make the economic slowdown easier to digest.
Minerva Administrator David Harp told council at its March 10 meeting two village projects each will receive $150,000 grants through Stark County’s Community Development Block Grant program. The first applies to the $322,000 renovation of Murray Avenue that includes curbs and gutters, sidewalks and a storm sewer system that will eventually provide service a link-up with Jackson St. The work, expected to start late in the year, runs from Line St. to Jackson St.
The other grant is for the Valley Street renovation project, estimated to cost $400,000. That work won’t start for three years, Harp said.
Council also learned residents who are connected to Time-Warner cable will see no increase in their monthly bills, although they could have. Council agreed to a 10-year contract with the company in which the village will be paid a 3-percent franchise fee, including advertising revenue. The package is essentially the same as has been in effect under the old franchise agreement. Time-Warner offered the village an option that would have paid a 5-percent fee, but council chose not to put an extra burden on subscribers when so many are feeling the effects of the economic downturn.
“We’ve never done this to make money, only to provide a reliable service to our residents,” Mayor James Waller said. “Now is not a good time to start when the extra money could get passed on to subscribers.”
The fee brings in about $12,000 per year, Harp said.
In other business, council:
-APPROVED the 2009 appropriations bill that reflects numbers arrived at in discussions in December. Added to it will be one of the two recent grants, and a $25,000 donation to upgrade the electrical system at Colmach will be subtracted.
“We’ll have to keep a good eye on how the economy fares as the year goes along and how it affects our local employers,” Harp said. “But I think we’ll get through the year okay as long as we don’t have any unexpected emergencies.”
-WATCHED as Mayor Waller swore in new Fire Chief Aaron Stoller and Assistant Chief Pat Hudson at the end of the meeting. Both are 14-year veterans of the department.
Stoller is a village native who joined the department the day after he graduated high school in 1995, following in his grandfather and great uncle’s footsteps who served for 41 and 36 years. He has been a firefighter, lieutenant and captain, and is certified as a fire safety inspector, child safety seat installer and conducts fire scene investigations. He is a full-time employee of the Jackson Township (Stark County) Fire Department in the fire prevention bureau as a fire safety inspector, and the current director of the Stark County Joint Investigation Unit.
Hudson has been a firefighter 22 years, the last 14 in Minerva. He most recently was a lieutenant. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a Gulf War veteran, as well as a life member of the VFW Post 4120, the American Legion Post 375 and the Minerva Eagles. He holds certificates as EMT, fire instructor, fire safety inspector, and is a member of the Stark County Fire Investigation team. He is a maintenance supervisor at Colfor Manufacturing in Minerva.
-SET the next council meeting for March 24 at 7:30 p.m. |
