By Martha Jacob –
Ripley Village Admini-strator Pete Renshaw proudly introduced Dusty Dryden, a new candidate for Ripley water plant operater, to members of council during the June 28 meeting.
Council approved his hiring following an executive session.
Dryden currently works at Cincinnati Works and has a class one license and can operate backhoes and other necessary equipment to run the plant, according to Renshaw, who has been accepting applications for several months, in search of a qualified candidate.
“I have had a chance to go through your facility,” Dryden said, “And I’ve met with Pete and Mayor Leonard last week. The Cincinnati plant goes through 240 million gallons a day, so compared to Ripley’s use, it will be a little bit of a change for me.”
Dryden, an Adams County resident, said he is looking forward to starting his new job.
Later in the meeting, council approved a resolution to accept the current tax rates for Ripley, determined by the budget commission and authorize the necessary tax levys and certify them to the county auditor’s office for the village.
Village Solicitor, Tom Mayes read aloud a resolution to declare the necessity to levying a fire levy for 2 mills for a period of eight years which will be on the November ballot.
Mayes added that after the resolution was submitted to the auditors office they would know how much the levy would generate. Council passed the resolution. The first collection from the levy, if it passes, would begin in January 2017.
Renshaw also told council that every year, Ripley, Georgetown, and Bethel get together and auction off unused or no longer functional equipment.
“I have two pieces of equipment I would like permission from council to sell at the next auction in the fall,” Renshaw said. “We have an old 1996 garbage truck and an a 1982 GMC bucket truck that has some safety issues with using it and it will cost quite a bit to bring it up to safety standards.”
He said he would like to purchase a smaller vehicle for the electric department one that could easily fit through the 10 foot alleys in the village.
“The new vehicle would be less costly to maintain and operate,” Renshaw said. “They currently have the money in their capital outlay account, but I just wanted council to be thinking about it.”
Renshaw also told council about a recent water main break across the street from the Pepsi Company and residents on the other side had no water.
“It took about 7 hours to fix an 8 inch pipe and actually drained our reservoir about 2 feet in 30 minutes,” Renshaw said, “It was a really big hole split about 2 feet and our guys worked until midnight. But they got it fixed.”
In other actions at the meeting, Renshaw said that the village continues to have power issues, and he has launched an aggressive tree trimming campaign.
Council accepted the donation of a flag and flag pole from Jackie Hanson. Renshaw said he hopes to place the flag by the gazebo in the cemetery at Hanson’s request. Council accepted the request to place the donated flag in the cemetery.
The administrator said council needs to appoint a new member to the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Revolving Loan Committee, which must include a banker, a couple council member, and several citizens. Andy Miller, who was on the committee is no longer at Ripley Federal and someone else needs to be appointed.
Renshaw requested that council name a new member. The issue will be revisited at the next meeting.