By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com

Temperatures may have been reaching zero degrees or even colder outside the New Washington Village Hall on Monday. But inside council members were focused on the swimming pool. Maybe it was the only way they could keep warm.

Renovations for the New Washington Pool were given the official go ahead Monday night with the passage of resolution 1238. Paul Forster, who has spearheaded the project, presented bids for the electrical, plumbing, and building work.

DJ’s Electric entered the only bids for the plumbing and electricity. The plumbing portion of the project will see all of the cast iron pipes replaced with plastic and PVC, and the bathrooms will be updated. The electrical hardware will be almost completely replaced as the current is outdated. The bid for the electrical work is $4,100 and the bid for the plumbing is $5,750.

Two bids were received for the construction portion and they contained identical work plans. New concrete floors will be installed in both changing rooms along with new split faced block walls. The west wall of the building will be entirely replaced as will the shingles on the roof. Forster did mention that two to three years down the road the roof will be extended to cover the changing rooms but that in the interim the shingles must be replaced to keep the current roof from rotting any further. Also, all walls that are not split faced block will receive a new coat of paint.

Studer-Obringer made a bid of $36,000 for this work, and Rusty Kehres made a bid of $28,500. Kehres’ bid was accepted along with the two bids from DJ Electric. The work is set to be complete in time for the pool to be open for a full summer season.

Mayor Ben Lash revisited the policy on hearing of the public. At the end of 2013 this policy of needing to be placed on the agenda before being to be heard was voted on and maintained. The vote was a 3-3 tie, with Lash providing the tie breaker to uphold.

In revisiting the issue, Lash stressed council’s role as the “decision makers” and if they thought it should be reversed that action should be taken. He also added that if a tie vote were again attained he would vote to uphold. His reasoning is that he would like to see the policy in place for a year before any changes are made, and March would mark a year of the policy.

The Village has received $3,025 from the Peoples Fund Grant toward the purchase of new benches for around the gazebo. They are seeking $5,800 in total to purchase eight benches. This initial sum will purchase five. The Bucyrus Grant Committee, to which they applied, will meet in March with further feedback following after that.

Lash announced that he intends to select a date for the meeting concerning the tropical birds. Solicitor John Berger has drafted a letter to send to the concerned parties. Lash is of the opinion that the Village has more than done its due diligence in trying to elicit feedback from all of the concerned parties, and that now it is time the meeting takes place.

“I think this has gone in long enough,” Lash stated, “I feel we owe it to the community to make some decision.”

The meeting will consist of Lash, police chief Robertson, solicitor Berger, councilman Joe Blum, and one representative from each of the concerned parties.

The next meeting will be February 10 and new committee assignments will be made official. Also to be discussed will be purchase of new Christmas decorations for the street department.