By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
It was not easy to walk into the New Washington Village Council meeting tonight and to see that chair empty. To those who may not be familiar with the layout, the desk of the New Washington Police Chief resides just inside the entrance to the village hall, and every time I walked into that room I was greeted by “Chief”. For there to be no such greeting tonight served as a significant reminder to the considerable loss suffered by our community in recent days. Scott had been our police chief since 1999, and in that time served and protected his community with distinction and honor. When people called him “Chief”, it was said with respect and affection. While he was known in life for the immensity of his stature, he will be most remembered for the immensity of his character. – Andrew Walsh
The New Washington Village Council began the regular meeting for Aug. 25 with flags at half-mast and a moment of silence in honor of the recent passing of Police Chief Scott Robertson. Mayor Ben Lash called for the minute’s silence at 6:59, with the Pledge of Allegiance and call to order commencing at 7.
More steps were taken to continue preparations for the village to join the Crawford County Central Joint Ambulance District. New Washington has already joined, and is receiving service from the CJAD, but for the remainder of the year there is some administrative overlap.
Steve Aichholz was appointed to the post of ambulance administrator to fulfill the vacancy created by Robertson’s passing. After appointing Aichholz to this position, council proceeded to abolish it. With the full integration that is set to take place in 2015, New Washington passed a resolution, on the first reading, to abolish the positions of ambulance administrator, assistant ambulance administrator, and 2nd assistant ambulance administrator. These positions will cease to exist on Dec. 31 of this year. They will be replaced by the positions of first responder administrator and assistant first responder administrator, also passed on a first reading.
Aichholz has been involved with the CJAD and about where the new ambulance outpost will be placed. The CJAD will have a full-time unit at a satellite outpost closer to New Washington when 2015 commences. New Washington’s current rig will provide standby cover at the home Buckeye Central football games this year.
Also in safety services, Fire Chief Dick Ackerman outlined replacements needed for the fire department’s air packs. Seven packs in all are expiring at the end of the year, they have 15 year lives. They will cost approximately $490 per pack, but Ackerman stated that by reusing the existing valve systems, they will save $176 per pack. He has been in touch with the manufacturers and there no immediate plans to phase out these valve systems. If any such move were to be made, it should be to the pumps in the cascade system which is used to fill the portable air packs. The current system is set to become outdated in the near future. Ackerman also reported that all maintenance to fire department vehicles has been completed and logged.
In project news, several bids were entertained for various jobs around town. Joe Blum asked for the village to pay half of the sum needed to paint the library. The bid accepted was for $5,700 from Buckeye Painting, with the Village picking up half that sum and the Friends of the Library the other half. The library was last painted in 2005.
Brian Agin provided bids for the potential paving of the driveway by the water tower, replacing the office lights in the Village Hall, and replacing the outdoor lights at the pool.
The first bid, of $3990, would pave the driveway from the pool parking lot back to the parking lot between the baseball and softball fields. This road would be approximately 310-feet long and 10-feet wide. The bid was provided by Bucyrus Road Materials.
The second bid was for $700 and would replace all of the lights in the office portion of the Village Hall.
The third bid was for $10,250 to replace all of the outdoor lights surrounding the pool and the one posted on the pool house. Lash asked about replacing lights in the pool house as well. It was countered that this might be best served by waiting until the roof is replaced in the upcoming years. This is an issue that council will look into and all three bids were referred to the Finance Committee.