BELMONT ­– Village Council recently voted in favor of a proposal to chip and seal portions of a number of streets and alleys.

Board of Public Affairs President Ken Davis and Public Service Director Justin Kinney addressed council during a meeting held Aug. 4, explaining that they had repeatedly had to replace stone on four alleys after recent heavy rains and outlined the expense to the village required to do that work between labor and hiring in equipment.

Kinney explained that the washed out gravel was getting into the storm sewers or getting ground into the new pavement that was put on a number of village streets as well as State Routes 147 and 149 that run through the village last year.

“Besides that,” Kinney said, “it’s getting old putting the same alleys back in.”

Davis said he had spoken to Goshen Township Trustee J.R. Whitely to find out who does chip and seal work on township roads and had received a quote of $3,000 to have the sloped portions of the alleys in question chipped and sealed, adding that the village would have the additional expense and effort of preparing the alleys beforehand.

Davis said he had also received a quote of $6,000 to chip and seal Third Street and a portion of Gordon as well.

After some discussion council voted to use county-held vehicle license funds as well as the village street and alley fund to do all the proposed work, which Davis estimated would total between $15,000 and $20,000.

Councilwoman Lorie Grobb asked that once a date is known for the work being done that residents be notified either on Facebook or on the bulletin board at the post office.

Davis also informed council that he and Kinney have been working to correct a number of violations after a recent Ohio Environmental Protection Agency inspection, including putting vents on village wells and installing an air brake on a drain by the village water tank.

He went on to say that during the process they had figured out that the village was experiencing water loss of about 34%, whereas the OEPA established goal is under 20%.

After receiving assistance from the Ohio Rural Water Association, seven leaks were found.

Davis said six of the seven leaks had been repaired so far and that they were also planning to smoke test the sewer system to find out where water is leeching into that system.

Davis also explained to council that “in village” mail is now being routed through Columbus and back before being delivered as a means of increasing the post office’s operating budget, which will cause an approximately three-day delay in water customers receiving their bills and that customers who return payment through the mail would experience the delay as well.

Davis said this already caused at least one late fee to be charged and suggested that customers use the drop box at the village offices on Brown Street to avoid the delay.

Mayor Ron Woods thanked Davis and Kinney for all they had accomplished in recent months.

Fiscal Officer Ricky Burkhead informed council that the village’s property and liability insurance premium had gone from just over $20,000 last year to almost $30,000. Burkhead went on to say that he believed this increase was an error, since he felt the assessor had overestimated the replacement values on several pieces of village-owned property.

Burkhead said the assessor had placed a replacement value of $3.5 million for the old Belmont School building that the village has been working toward demolishing for a number of years, and a replacement value of $2.1 million for the old, one-room Town Hall building on Market Street which has been used only for storage for years.

He went on to say he was trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting so the village’s Finance Committee can meet with the assessor to sort out the discrepancies and get the premium reduced accordingly.

Council also voted to increase pay rates in the village for paramedics to $20 per hour, advanced EMTs to $17, and basic EMTs to $15 per hour for 90 days, with Burkhead explaining they would revisit the rates after seeing the impact of income from Belmont EMS doing more transports for Barnesville Hospital.

In other business, council voted to renew the Goshen Township fire contract with no changes, and voted to advertise for an architect to design a new firehouse.

Belmont Village Council meets at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month in the Stan Sobel Village Offices, located inside the gym on Brown Street.

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