City of Fairfield City Council met Jan. 28.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
Meeting called to order by Mayor Brent Maguire at 6:00 P.M.
Prayer led by Mayor Brent Maguire followed by the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
City Clerk Tina Hutchcraft called the roll:
Mayor: Brent Maguire
City Clerk: Tina Hutchcraft
City Treasurer: Julie Duncan
City Attorney: Darrin Rice
Aldermen: Ralph Barbre; Brett Coale; Jim Griffith; Tyler Lampley; Jerry Lisenbee; Terry Stahl; Gary Moore
Absent: Alderman Eugene McGill
Also Present: David Mills, Wayne County Press; Ken Otey, WFIW Radio; Keith Colclasure, Police Chief; Andrew Miller, Fire Chief; Silas Eckleberry, Assistant Police Chief; Tyler Lashbrook, Electric Department; Dian Downs; Flo Simpson; and other citizens from the community.
The minutes of the meeting of January 14, 2020, agendas and bills of January 28, 2020 were sent out to those entitled to receive them. Mayor Maguire asked for approval of the minutes for the January 14, 2020 meeting. Motion by Alderman Moore, seconded by Alderman Stahl to approve the minutes of the meeting of January 14, 2020.
Vote yes: Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee
Vote no: none
Absent: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Mayor Maguire asked for approval to pay the bills for the January 28, 2020 meeting. A motion was made by Alderman Barbre, seconded by Alderman Coale to approve the bills for payment.
Vote yes: Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; Moore
Vote no: none
Absent: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Approval of Variance under Section 152.41 of the City’s Mobile Home and Modular Homes Ordinance – Mayor Maguire told the Council that a person involved with construction at Fairfield Memorial Hospital is currently staying in Mt. Vernon but it is inconvenient and expensive for him to travel between Mt. Vernon and Fairfield every day. Steven Griswold owns property at 409 SE 8th Street and he is willing to let this person place a camper on the property to stay in for the duration of the hospital project. However, our ordinance states that no one can stay in a camper for more than 14 days in a 12 month period. Mayor Maguire told the Council that we could grant a variance to allow this person to stay on the Griswold property. The Zoning Board held a meeting previously and recommended the Council approve this variance with the stipulation that it be granted for no longer than a period of 6 months and the variance could be extended with the Mayor’s approval. A motion was made by Alderman Lampley, seconded by Alderman Griffith to approve this variance for 6 months and then the Mayor could approve an extension for an additional period of time.
Vote yes: Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; Moore; Stahl
Vote no: none
Absent: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Appointment of Deputy Treasurer – Julie Duncan will be retiring from her position as Treasurer at the end of April or beginning of May after serving the City for 24 ½ years. Mayor Maguire would like to appoint a deputy treasurer to begin training and upon Julie’s retirement will be appointed as treasurer. The Mayor asked for Council to approve a resolution for the appointment of Kayla Warren to this position. A motion was made by Alderman Coale, seconded by Alderman Barbre to approve this appointment.
Vote yes: Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; Moore; Stahl; Barbre
Vote no: none
Absent: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Resolution No. 20-0128-329 approved and duly adopted. Kayla will begin training on February 17th.
Ordinance Review Update – We have been reviewing our ordinances in anticipation of beginning Municipal Court the first of May. Mayor Maguire will finish a summary of recommended changes to the ordinances from the department heads and personnel. The legislative committee and the attorney will then be given the documents for their review and then ordinance changes will be brought before the Council for approval. Mayor Maguire and City Attorney Rice will be meeting next Wednesday with an attorney that serves as the Administrative Judge over the Flora Municipal Court to see if she might be able to do this for us.
TIF Project Approval for Gas Department Request – The gas department presented a request to the TIF Committee to consider using TIF monies to pay for replacing four aging gas meters. Flo Simpson told the committee that only three of these properties are located within the TIF District. It was the recommendation of the committee for Council to approve paying for the replacement of the gas meters at Kincaids, CVS, and the Frontier Workforce Development facility. A motion was made by Alderman Stahl, seconded by Alderman Moore to approve the request by the gas department to pay for the replacement of gas meters at three locations within the TIF District using TIF funds. The cost will be approximately $3,600.00.
Vote yes: Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale
Vote no: none
Absent: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Request to Pay for Portion of Public Sewer Main Extension – At our last meeting Mayor Maguire told the Council that we have been asked by a developer to help pay for a portion of a sewer main extension for a potential retail development project. This developer will also be asking to have the property annexed into the city. They have presented three quotes for the sewer extension. The lowest quote received for this work was $32,000. A motion was made by Alderman Coale, seconded by Alderman Lampley to approve the lowest quote of $32,000 and to pay for half of the sewer main extension for a total of $16,000.
Vote yes: Lampley; Lisenbee; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith
Vote no: none
Absent: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Miscellaneous – Fairfield residents can now receive important advisories, community updates, and official information by text message and/or email by signing up with Nixle. The 911 Board and the health department will be giving the city access to this notification system and we will be using it for boil orders, street closures, etc. The public can opt into Nixle by going to www.nixle.com or texting 62837 to 888777.
Miscellaneous – The city is in the process of updating our customer contact information. We have recently had issues with water leaks and we haven’t been able to notify the customer because we do not have current contact information.
Miscellaneous – Alderman Moore thanked Chief Colclasure and his department for the work they did due to a recent burglary at the business he manages. He thanked them for their quick response and all their work in making an arrest. Alderman Coale also thanked the fire department for their quick response to a recent fire at the skating rink.
Adjourn Meeting – Motion by Alderman Moore, seconded by Alderman Stahl to adjourn the meeting.
Vote yes: 7
Vote no: 0
Absent: 1
Mayor Maguire declared meeting adjourned at 6:26 p.m.
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