By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com

There was a surprise entrant in the race for the Village Council seat vacated by Paul Forster’s resignation from the New Washington Village Council. Jim Kenny attended the public address portion of Monday’s meeting as a member of the committee to report on the upcoming Hatchery Festival.

He left that meeting tied with Craig Niese for the vacant seat. A new vote will be taken at the June 13 meeting.

Kenny was part of a contingent from the American Legion, the group that has been running the Hatchery Festival for the past two years, including Tim Suver and Joe Niedermeier. They began by giving a final status update on the upcoming festival, which will be June 9, 10, and 11, and they ended with Kenny putting his name up for consideration.

“I’ll throw my name in the hat,” Kenny said, declaring his interest.

Councilman Gary Langjahr put forth the name of Craig Niese, who had expressed interest but was not in attendance. A vote ended 2-2, as Scott Hiler was not present at the meeting. The Solicitor, Tim Obringer, was also not in attendance, and Mayor Ben Lash was reluctant to break the tie without having Obringer around for counsel. He decided to put another vote off until the next meeting, when Hiler would be present to complete the voting.

RELATED CONTENT: Paul Forster resigns from New Washington Village Council

The Hatchery Festival committee did have good news to report, preparations are nearly complete for the festival. An entertainment calendar will be released in the near future, and the familiar attractions that have become staples of the event are all lined up. The rides will pull into town on Sunday June 5, there will be chicken barbecues on Friday and Saturday, and Saturday night will feature the traditional fireworks and Polaris 4-by-4 raffle. Sunday June 12 will serve as the rainout date for the fireworks. The famed banner over St. Route 602 could be erected as soon as Wednesday.

Council officially agreed to move ahead with the codified ordinance book. They ratified a one-time fee of $6,995 to put the laws on the books, with a change fee of $20 per page changed and $10 per page unchanged. The $6,995 covers all ordinances up to May 17, 2016. The change fees will only come into play on ordinances changed or added to the overall code after that date.

Village Council also decided to pay a one-time fee of $1,995 to place the ordinances online, with an annual fee of $390. This does a couple of things. First, the portion of the income tax collection laws that were handed down by the state must be displayed online. This will take care of that. Second, and arguably more important, is that this serves as a great tool for the police department. Chief Jeffrey Shook recommended this use heavily, highlighting the easy to use search features in helping officers do their jobs.

Also from the Police Department, Shook asked council to elevate Officer Dwight Dyer to part-time status from the auxiliary pool. Shook said this move will be necessitated by one of his officers going on active duty in July. Dyer’s elevation will allow for his use in this officer’s stead.