By Martha Jacob

The Ripley Village Council met in regular session on Dec. 11, before a full council.

One of the main issues facing council is the pending wage increase requested by village employees. Councilman Travis Arnett noted that he had obtained and reviewed November’s employee time cards and noted that there was a lot of overtime being paid out. He suggested looking into purchasing a time clock and he said he was also seeking quotes on costs for a time clock.

Regarding the payroll issues, Councilman Alvin Wallace asked if they were settled. Councilwoman Nowana Bingaman said that with the outcome of the recent employee meeting the issue was not settled. Wallace stated that on-call pay should be paid for those considered on call then made a motion to rescind the last meeting’s motion concerning pay raises and start over in negotiations. Bingaman, Kathy Lewis and Tiffany Regenstein voted no while Poole, Arnett and Wallace voted yes. The tie vote was broken by Mayor Tom Leonard who voted yes.

Mayor Leonard introduced Rob Beglin of USI Insurance, Jane Zachman of the Riverfront Committee, David Poole and Betty Campbell.

Mr. Beglin, shared his company’s proposal with council. He mentioned the history of his company and what it could do for the Village of Ripley. He left copies of his proposal with each council member.

Mayor Leonard then gave the floor to Mrs. Zachman who spoke briefly about the goals of the Riverfront Committee, which included design, funding and contacts the committee was making to seek assistance.

David Poole then spoke about the need in the village for a twenty-five mile per hour speed limit which was needed on Main Street. He spoke about the poor appearance of the town hall building, inside and outside. He also recommended removing the original carpet and replacing it with commercial tiles.

Debbie Scott, Ripley resident, agreed with Poole and said that the village needs to hire someone to clean the building. Mr. Poole added that the village should advertise the position and seek someone to clean the building.

Mayor Leonard said that he was trying to save money for the village and said that anyone interested could volunteer to clean, stating that he came in on weekends to mop the floor. He added that it was his understanding that the office staff had agreed to clean the building, but fiscal officer Brooke Butcher mentioned that while everyone usually was able to do something, many times staff was too busy with primary duties to clean.

Later in the meeting Mayor Leonard said that he had spoken with Andy Arn, the St. Michael’s School headmaster, about making the intersection of N. Fourth Street and Market Streets a four-way stop, and making Hemphill Alley a one-way street.

Karlene Kimball of VFIS (Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance, Inc.) with John Woods Insurance, rebutted much of what Mr. Beglin had presented to council and highlighted the differences between VFIS and USI Insurance, stating that USI’s carrier of public entities pool was not an insurance policy and saying that Mr. Beglin had misrepresented USI proposal.

Mayor Leonard commented that this was a serious matter and urged council to move carefully.

Later in the meeting Councilwoman Nowana Bingaman told council that the county had self insurance and that it was terrible. Councilman Charles Poole noted that the references should be checked and Mayor Leonard noted that there was a lot of information to absorb.

Poole wanted to schedule a special meeting, but Bingaman highly recommended going with VFIS. Councilwoman Kathy Lewis suggested staying with what the village already knows, and made a motion to accept the VFIS proposal.

In the end, when a vote was called, both council members Charles Poole and Arnett voted “no” on the motion while the rest of council voted “yes,” which passed the motion.

Carol Stivers informed council that the Parker House had built a new storage shed, but in the process found an alley from Easton Alley to Front Street that remained open. She mentioned that she thought there was a drain pipe under the alley but asked council if they would consider closing the alley. Village Solicitor Tom Mayes informed council that it could easily be done since the Parker House owned all of the property on both sides of the alley. Council agreed it could be done, but the village would like to maintain some control over the drain tile.

Village administrator Pete Renshaw talked briefly about the ongoing repairs being made behind the wastewater treatment plant and noted that engineer Ron Roberts and contractor Mike Mootz were present to answer any questions. Renshaw said that he had a contract with Moots and that financing the project should be discussed by council.

In other business, Mayes told council that he was still reviewing the lease for Ripley Metalworks.