(Posted March 28, 2018)
By Amanda Ensinger, Staff Writer
A Mount Sterling village council member raised concerns on March 26 over details of a land survey.
Council member Lowell Anderson questioned the village’s expenditure of $1,800 for a land survey without council approval.
“Rebecca, you preach accountability, but council should have been told about these expenses before today,” Anderson said to Rebecca Burns, council president. “I did not hear anything about this until right now.”
Courtney Bricker, village fiscal officer, said council notification and approval is not required for expenditures at that dollar level.
The land survey was conducted to determine right-of-way related to a housing development planned in the Jedwin Drive and Valleyview Drive area. The 17 lots sit behind the former IGA store.
Potholes and water bills also were discussed at the March 26 council meeting.
“These potholes have been neglected for years,” said Mayor Billy Martin. “We have asked and received patience from the community on this. As soon as the weather breaks, we will look at fixing these, but we also want to look at grants to fix the streets, so we can once and for all get these potholes fixed.”
Misty Vance, utilities clerk, reported that some apartments in the village have one water meter, which means not all residents are paying their fair share for water services.
“Everyone should be paying at a minimum $32.48, and it looks like this isn’t happening for some of these multi-unit apartments,” Vance said. “We are looking at other multi units to see if this is happening there, as well. From the beginning of this, our goal has been to ensure everyone is paying their fair share, no more or less.”
Village leaders also are looking ways to reduce energy usage at the water plant.
“We recently went out to the water and sewer plant and pulled each pump, belt and anything else that has voltage to see if we can save on utilities,” Bricker said. “We also are looking at dead time to see if we can utilize that time instead of operating five or six pumps at a time.”
A recent block watch meeting drew 22 attendees, according to council member Tim Ward.
“I want all the criminals to be on notice. We are taking this community back,” he said.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office announced that deputies will start enforcing the curfew for children 17 years old and younger. The curfew in Mount Sterling is 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
“All of these changes are to make this community safer,” Ward said. “We also invite surrounding communities to participate in the block watch because this just isn’t for Mount Sterling. It is for our neighboring communities, too.”
