By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
The New Washington Village Council convened Monday night in a meeting that may have been brief, but tackled several important issues.
Village Clerk Julie Cronau had two issues to discuss concerning the fire department.
The village has an agreement with Cranberry Township for fire protection that was in need of some revision. The five-year agreement began in 2008, so needed to be renewed this year anyhow, and Cronau threw in one change. The previous agreement stipulated semiannual billing for runs the Village provided and Cronau changed that to once a year billing in December. This contract was activated retroactively, and runs from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2018.
The other fire issue dealt with how the volunteer firemen were paid. New Washington previously did not have a uniform way of paying the firemen. It was a hodge podge of by the hour, by the meeting, and by the run.
Council decided to pay flat rates for by the meeting and by the run. The previous hourly schedule for a run was $6 for the first hour and $3 per hour after that. It was decided that a flat rate of $20 per run would be paid per attendee. Fire Chief Dick Ackerman and Cronau concurred that this arrangement would be more than agreeable to the fire department.
Mayor Ben Lash inquired Police Chief Scott Robertson as to the status of the planned meeting about the tropical birds. Robertson reported that the Throckmortons had been out of town but that upon their return the meeting would be able to go forward. This meeting will consist of one member of the plaintiff group, the owner of the birds, councilman Joe Blum, Robertson, Lash, and village solicitor John Berger.
When the new council convenes in January it will have one new face. Gerri Lucius, Paul Forster, and Gert Durnwald all retained their seats, and Brian Agin defeated Roger Throckmorton in the battle of the write-in’s to replace the outgoing Carolyn Kaple.