The Chester Township Trustees’ special meeting began with a discussion regarding the 2015 road department budget and maintenance priorities.
In a prior meeting, trustees moved to advance $445,000 to the road department to support various projects and contracted services in 2015.
Because an advance is different than a transfer, it is not considered revenue and therefore cannot be included in appropriations for the road department.
After some discussion involving the fiscal officer, motions for April 16, 2015 will be proposed for the re-establishment of these monies to be allocated to road projects.
These expenditures can be made from either the road department via a transfer, or paid directly from the general fund.
Trustee Mike Petruziello and Road Superintendent Rob Pealer, who also participated in the meeting, briefly discussed their plans to prioritize road maintenance tasks and define a schedule, and this information will be presented in an upcoming meeting.
Other business included approval of meeting minutes and other routine financial transactions such as the purchase of fuel and road maintenance materials.
The fiscal officer explained the new payment process of withholding taxes through the Ohio Business Gateway. A number of intra-fund transfers were made to reconcile fund account dollar amounts, originally established as part of the temporary appropriations to be
consistent with the final budget that was recently passed.
Several bonds for our police officers are due, and discussion involved whether to continue bonding our officers and in what dollar amount.
Currently, all officers, the police chief and his administrative assistant are bonded because they may handle money and other valuables associated with their duties. This has been an ongoing practice for many years. Discussions indicate that Russell Township officers and deputies in the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office are not bonded.
The question was asked whether the township’s liability insurance would afford some protection and this is being researched before a decision is made.
Monies were approved for the trash and scrap metal bins for the upcoming Senior (April 13-15, 2015) and Chester Township (June 6, 2015) Community Cleanup days.
No action was taken to approve the purchase of flower baskets because the majority of the board felt the cost, which was approximately $2,800 last year (material and labor) needed to be reduced. Township residents and businesses wishing to support this project may contact town hall at 440-729-7058 for information on how to donate. To date, approximately $1,500 has been pledged.
The board concluded the meeting with an executive session regarding pending court action and compensation of a public employee. These activities both permitted to be conducted in executive session pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code. No actions were taken upon conclusion of the executive session and the meeting was closed at 5:41 p.m.
Submitted by Ken Radtke, Bud Kinney, Mike Petruziello, Craig Richter
Chester Township Officials