NK council accepts CARES funds
NEW KNOXVILLE — New Knoxville Village Councilors accepted additional funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding and discussed some ways to spend that funding during Wednesday’s monthly meeting.
Council passed Ordinance 2020-08-02, increasing appropriations in fund 2151-424 CARES Act funding from $74,577.03 to $106,000 as Fiscal Officer Abby Homan said the village has received three deposits totaling $106,000.
Now the goal is to spend the money on CARES-eligible expenses or give the money back after the deadline. The first round of funds has to be either spent or in a purchase order by Nov. 20.
Homan said one community organization has shown interested in the funding but she has not received that organization’s paperwork for the
funds.
According to Homan, the village has used some of the funds to purchase air purifiers and hand sanitizer stands for the town hall and no-touch paper towel dispensers for the town hall and fire department. All of that totals less than $20,000.
What can add to that total, however, is paying for extra shifts for fire and police departments, according to Mayor Keith Leffel, and Homan added the village is looking into buying laptops so village employees can work remotely if needed.
But the bulk of spending for the funds can come from the fire department.
Homan noted that fire Chief Jerry Merges is looking into purchasing a second set of gear for his 22-member department.
She explained that when members of the department have to wash their gear, that gear must be air-dried — which could take days. Because of that dilemma, firefighters could be out of service if their only set of gear is still drying during that time. She said to avoid that issue, fire departments are buying a second set of gear to keep firefighters in service.
Councilman and firefighter/ EMT Brooks Mason said an extra set of turnout gear would eat up about $3,000 of the funds.
“The stuff they are looking at is lighter weight that we would wear mostly on an EMS run and then that would be easier to wash,” Mason added. “And then if we get our primary and heavy set [gear] exposed, we can clean it here.
“We have a special washer that is called an extractor that is used for fire gear and works a lot different than a washing machine.”
Council also passed Resolution 2020-10-01, authorizing Village Administrator Rex Katterheinrich to prepare and submit an application to participate in the Ohio Public Works Commission State Capital Improvement and/ or Local Transportation Improvement Programs.
The grant from the OPWC will cover paving on Bremen Street as that project continues to move along at an amount of $78,000.
Also on Wednesday, council:
• Approved Colton Shreve for firefighter of the New Knoxville Fire Department.
• Passed Ordinance 2020-0803, authorizing the execution of remaining requirements energy supply schedule with American Municipal Power.
• Went into executive session to discuss property. No action was taken.
• Passed Ordinance 2020-1003, an ordinance to re-align and amend the permanent appropriations in general fund account 1000-800-510 Land & Improvements from $65,000 to $87,000 for village entrance signs.
• Heard updates from members regarding the village’s committees. Homan scheduled a Finance Committee meeting before next month’s village council meeting at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 11. In addition to the committee updates, Councilman Brian Jones said his goal is to update the village’s zoning ordinance by Memorial Day of 2021.