MINSTER — Minster Village Council agreed at their meeting Tuesday night to purchase a new pool water heater at a cost of $40,231.

Village Administrator Donald Harrod said Regal Plumbing had repaired the current heating unit several times. In 2018, he said repair to the current heater was estimated to cost $21,964 and would still leave in place several key components of the current heater that could fail.

The current pool water heater was purchased in 2007 at a cost of $33,000. Harrod also suggested that council members contact local state representatives to support the 18 cent per gallon gas tax proposed by Governor Mike DeWine recently.

He said that if the hike is approved, the village would get an extra $125,000 to be used for street repairs. The current amount available for 2019 is $144,000.

Council also approved a third and final reading to enter into an agreement with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office (OAGO) for the collection of delinquent income taxes. Harrod said the OAGO uses their Collection Enforcement Division to pursue debt collection by several means, including withholding and deducting the amount owed from any tax refund a debtor would receive from the state.

The OAGO then returns the amount owed to the communities at no cost to the community. Any collection fee is added to the delinquent bill and is the responsibility of the individual that is delinquent.

Harrod said the current procedure is to subpoena those with delinquent village income taxes into Mayor’s Court where collection efforts are undertaken.

Council had its third and final reading of a resolution authorizing the village’s participation in the Ohio Department of Administrative Services’ Cooperative Purchasing Program for 2019. The fee for the village to participate in the program is $110.

The primary benefit of this program is that it allows local governments to realize the benefits and cost savings of buying goods and services through state contracts.

A third and final reading of a resolution approved by council authorizes the sale of excess personal property by internet auction called GovDeals.com. Harrod said this allows them to auction excess equipment and vehicles that the village had accumulated.

Notice of a sale would also be published in a local newspaper and put on the village’s website.

Also approved was the third and final reading of a resolution transferring utility accounts to inactive status. Harrod said the single account on their books could not be collected since the case had gone into bankruptcy.

New regulations were approved for the use of village credit cards, limiting who can use them, what could be purchased and how the records would be kept. These new rules were adopted to comply with new requirements set forward by Ohio House Bill 312.

Council also approved the promotions of three village employees. Electric department employees Kyle Wuebker was promoted to lineman and Brian Sextro to senior lineman. Each will receive a 70 cent per hour pay increase.

Patrolman Ben Bonvillian was appointed as a full time permanent police officer after serving one year in a probationary status. His pay will be increased by $1.05 per hour.

In his report to council, Harrod said brush pick-up in the village resumed last Monday.

He said the new brush pick-up truck is due to be delivered, but they decided to improvise a vehicle and began once again picking up brush.

He also reported Vectren has begun replacing the gas line on Second Street. This is something that they had planned to do in the future and were willing to work with the village to replace the line prior to the village beginning their Second Street sanitary sewer reconstruction project this year.

The Parks Department has installed all of the canopy supports at the pool for the upcoming season. Three canopies will be installed at the pool that will provide shelter from the sun. As the opening of the pool gets closer, crews will install the fabric for the canopies.

The village opened up the bids for the steel structures for the Northwest Substation on Feb. 22. Three companies submitted bids to the village. These bids were sent to Encompass Engineering for review and a recommendation.

It is anticipated that council will hear a report at the next meeting.

The Public Works Department fixed a broken drainage tile at the Fire Department last week. New concrete will be poured when weather permits.

The Park Department plans to locate and GIS all of the trees at the Four Seasons Park to create electronic records that will replace the paper map. Eventually, the village would like to have electronic mapping for all of the trees in the parks and along the street right of ways.

The Water Department has completed the annual Consumer Confidence Report for the village’s drinking water. This report is required annually by the Ohio EPA.

Residents can find a link to the drinking water report on the village’s website or can contact the village office for a paper copy.