By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
On a light night of legislation, Mayor Tom O’Leary delivered an extended address to Galion City Council, offering a wrap up of the 2015 high points, and mixing in some points of direction for 2016.
Starting in the Safety Services Department, O’Leary explained that the police force has been restored to full strength. O’Leary particularly noted that the addition of a third officer put the police department back to full strength. These detectives will focus on drugs and property crime. Looking forward to 2016, the city wants to work closely with Galion City Schools for the possibility of an addition of a school resource officer.
O’Leary noted that the street department oversaw some enormous projects this past year, and went over a few significant structural changes. First, there was the merging of the street and maintenance departments into one service unit. This allowed for greater flexibility in managing various workloads throughout the year.
The other innovation in this merger was maintaining billing to the appropriate departments that were being serviced. If work was being done on a street project, the cost of those man hours was being billed to the street department budget. If work was being done to repair a water main, that bill would go to the water fund.
A further innovation that is looked at being implemented in 2016 would be to also include the cost of fringe benefits in this pro-rating of work costs. As of right now, benefits are still being paid entirely by the department into which such an employee was hired.
The mayor acknowledged the large scale street projects that had gone on in 2015, and expressed his satisfaction at what had been achieved.
“I feel pretty good that we hit some of the most necessary targets.” O’Leary said.
Paving and street maintenance is certainly a never ending task, but looking forward to 2016 O’Leary said there would be a smaller budget than 2015. Although, on the schedule are the Church Street overpass resurfacing and rebuild.
In utility services, O’Leary referred to the lowering of the water rates and was pleased at the “slow erosion” of the water fund balance. This bodes well for keeping water rates at a lower level for a long foreseeable amount of time. Stormwater rates will go under consideration in 2016 for a similar type lowering.
The electric department underwent the first cost of service study in 25 years in 2015. The last study took place when Galion’s electrical landscape was much heavier on industry. For 2016, the last two phases of the power upgrade system are under contract to go ahead.
The legislation that did go ahead was an alley vacation on the Avita Health Services property. This is part of their long term property development plans, and the alley is surrounded completely by property that Avita controls.
The final piece of legislation was to reappoint Joice Hayden-Cating to the Freese Foundation. She has been a long time member of this board and it was recommended by the Freese Foundation that she be appointed again.