By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
“Can you hear me now?” may be a question that no longer has to be asked by cell phone users in New Washington in the near future.
The regular New Washington Village Council meeting was preceded by a meeting of the Planning Commission to consider a possible rezoning of village property. The request is being made by Buckeye Central Local Schools on behalf of Verizon Wireless. Verizon would like to put a cell phone tower on land owned by the school, and would need the area rezoned for this to be possible.
The tower would benefit the town in two ways: the village would benefit from better cell phone service and the school district would receive some rent money for their land. Verizon has also indicated that there would be room on the tower to carry the service of other providers.
The Planning Commission recommended to Village Council to proceed with the rezoning request. The next step in the process will be a public hearing about this issue. This hearing will be held at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22 in the Village Hall. The regularly scheduled council meeting will proceed once the hearing has concluded.
The second quarter tax report was given by Pattie Krebs, and it was good news. The year to date collection stands at $254,707.67, which is $18,832 ahead of last year’s collection. Employer withholdings are slightly down from last year, but business and individual filings are up enough to compensate.
“It’s looking good,” Krebs said.
The various departments of the village have been receiving technology upgrades. Krebs’ computer update is in the final stages. Her previous machine, purchased in 2004, had a long life but it was time for to catch up to the current level of programming. During her tax report she thanked council for her new machine.
Councilman Scott Hiler has been overseeing these technology upgrades, and has been working on a new computer for the Street Department along with Krebs’. On Monday evening, Police Chief Scott Robertson added that his department was in need of one as well. The operating system on his computer has become outdated, and he currently is unable to communicate with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The computer needs upgraded to at least Windows 7, and they are currently operating with Windows XP. Robertson has been using a personal computer to take care of these reports.
Mayor Ben Lash expressed his appreciation that Robertson was using personal equipment to conduct village business, but also stated his opinion that this should not be the way things operate. He added a computer for the Police Department to the list of Hiler’s research.
A bid from Scott Karl of $2,400 was accepted by council to put a concrete floor under the pavilion at the Park that is near the pool building. This work will be done after the roof leveling and pole replacement. Ted Waldock has been contracted to do that work.
Joe Blum asked for permission to reinstall a hand water pump at the Union Cemetery. There was one there in days gone by, but it was removed some time ago. Blum asked for this to assist with concrete pouring when work is being done and for watering the flowers. The well still exists so all that would be required would be to put a pump back on the cap. Council gave the go ahead.