A light agenda at latest Bellville Village Council meeting

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By Louise Swartzwalder, Galion Inquirer

BELLVILLE — The village council meeting last week was one people shouldn’t have missed. Mayor pro tempore (Josh Epperson) presided because mayor Teri Brenkus was sick.

Council member Stephen Edwards was also sick, and council member Jason Guilliams had asked to be excused.

But council valiantly carried on.

The session — minus mayor’s report but with the usual village administrator’s renderings — lasted from 5:30 p.m. to 5:56 p.m.

The session had its light moments.

The usual readings of proposed ordinances occurred, and a voucher was approved. Committee chairmen made reports.

And village solicitor Sarah Mussman reported she was happy to be away from home for a bit.

She said she was happy to “stretch out the only time away from the children.”

Mussman has four youngsters. She said there had been a fight over jello.

Son Bobby, the oldest, had apparently objected to the jello mixes being spread on the floor. He wanted to pick them up and have his mom use them.

Mussman said she told him that wouldn’t work, because some cooking ingredients don’t do well on a kitchen floor.

She furnished a photo, on her phone, of four placid kids lounging in blankets.

The meeting was cheerful, in spite of the fact a lot of people have fallen ill.

Village administrator Larry Weirich said the village might need to insulate the attic in village hall because with freezing and thawing, there have been leaks. This sets off smoke detectors.

Weirich said that happens when no one is in the building, causing some alarm. Putting in insulation could be the “only remedy,” he said.

Weirick said he would get a job quote from NCI, which does insulation.

A move is under way to get a survey company to put pins in the area by River Rock restaurant so that work can get under way for a parking lot, said Weirich.

Committees, under the leadership of new council members, have started work.

The parks committee, chaired by new member Justin Enix, met but the meeting was mostly organizational, he said.

Ian Ball, the other new member, will chair the community development committee.

That group has not met, he said, but he is ready to work on some new ideas.

The cemetery committee has met, with former council member Deb Dickson participating as a new member there.

Weirich said work on the new cemetery is proceeding, and they are getting ready to sell lots. There are 11 grave sites left in the old cemetery, Weirich said.

Council discussed the project at Urban Meadows, south of the village on State Route 13. This came after discussion about the shade tree committee.

Interest has been expressed about care for trees in the village.

Council member J.J. Burkhart handed out a pamphlet on a tree owner’s manual. It contains information about how to handle placement of trees.

Council members said the placement of sidewalks in the Urban Meadows development might need to be looked at, so that trees can be farther from the curb. Sidewalks could be placed closer to the curb, then trees placed in the area farthest from the curb.

Any trees placed on an owner’s property are that person’s responsibility, not the village’s, according to Weirich.

Future meetings in the village include planning commission Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at village hall, a March 3 council meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the police department, and a cemetery board meeting March 9 at 7:30 p.m. at village hall.

Later meetings include a March 17 meeting of council at 5:30 p.m. at the police department and a March 23 planning commission meeting at 7 p.m. at village hall.

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