1/3/12 Millersburg to look for salt savings with ODOT
By Nick Sabo
January 3, 2012
337
SUMMARY: Could lock in county rate in time for next winter
Millersburg will look into a salt purchasing agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation that could result in savings of 20 percent.
Council gave Village Administrator Nate Troyer the go-ahead Tuesday Dec. 27 to pursue an agreement ODOT to purchase road salt at a rate that is offered to all entities located within a given county. According to Troyer, the ODOT 2011 rate for Holmes County was $57.73 per ton, $9.13 less than the $66.86 per ton the village paid for salt this year.
(ODOT) offers a county rate, and thats the rate for Holmes, Troyer said. Apparently, the rate is the same for everyone in the county.
Troyer said he will present a resolution to participate in the program in a future meeting of council. If council approves, the village can begin purchasing salt through ODOT for next winter.
In other business, recipients of the 2012 round of bed tax grants will be encouraged to come back to the Millersburg economic advisory board for discretionary funds after the board distributed $22,500 to five projects that originally requested total funding of $27,250. Working with the $22,500, the board was able to meet 82 percent of the total requests for each project, broken down as follows: Holmes County Antique Festival, requested $4,000, received $3,311; Holmes County Historical Society, requested $6,000, Received $4,951; Antiques in the Alley, requested $3,500, received $2,901; Holmes County Economic Development Council, requested $2,500, received $2,081; Historic Downtown Millersburg, (HDM) requested $11,250, received $9,256.
The bed tax dollars are collected through a three percent tax on all overnight rooming establishments located within the village. Eligible recipients must be non-profit entities and the grant awards must promote tourism and/or economic development. Discretionary funds are also collected through the same tax, and are available for more or less the same purposes, Clerk/Treasurer Karen Shaffer said.
Basically its the same thing as the bed tax grants. Its usually the same people who get (bed tax awards) who ask for them, Shaffer said. Its just a separate fund.
An additional $22,500 is available in discretionary funds, Shaffer said.
The following committee appointments were also approved Dec. 27 for 2012: Finance/Audit, capital improvements, Mike Uhl, chairman, Devone Polen, Greg Hardesty, Jim Beechy, and is to include the sitting village administrator, clerk/treasurer, all village department heads and mayor; Public Works, Jim Beechy, chairman, Ruby Baird, Devone Polen, Junior Vaughn, and is to include the sitting village administrator, clerk/treasurer, utilities superintendent, street superintendent, and mayor; Police, Ruby Baird, chairwoman, Mike Uhl, Junior Vaughn, Greg Hardesty, sitting police chief and mayor; Fire District One representative, Greg Hardesty; Bed Tax representative, Mike Uhl; Personnel, Greg Hardesty, chairman, Ruby Baird, Jim Beechy, and is to include the sitting village administrator, clerk/treasurer, police chief, and village solicitor, as needed; Park/Cemetery/Building, Devone Polen, chairwoman, Junior Vaughn, Ruby Baird, Mike Uhl, and is to include the sitting village administrator, clerk/treasurer, cemetery sexton, pool supervisor, ad mayor; Red Cross representative, Devone Polen; Planning and Zoning, Ruby Baird, Mike UHL, and the sitting mayor; Holmes County Planning Commission representative, Nate Troyer.
