The Ripley Village Council meeting was once again broadcast over Facebook Live on Tuesday, May 12th.
The meeting was kicked off with a presentation. Ripley Police Chief Josh Miller began by recounting the events that happened in Aberdeen on May 3rd beginning with a dispute between multiple vehicles on State Route 52.
Corporal Michael Metzger was the first on the scene. Upon arriving he treated a gunshot victim. The woman’s brachial artery was impacted and she was at risk of bleeding out. “His immediate action was to apply the tourniquet to the gunshot victim,” said Miller.
Due to Metzger’s quick and precise actions, that woman’s life was saved. Miller presented Metzger with the Certificate of Excellence LifeSaver Award, and LifeSaver Pin.
A quiet Metzger accepted the gifts before an audience of council members and other Ripley officials and viewers of the Facebook live feed.
Once the applause subsided, Mayor Dallas Kratzer expressed his belief that Metzger’s actions were only the latest in a positive trend for the village.
“I want to go on record and say we are experiencing, I think, the best police department we’ve had in Ripley in a long time,” he said. “I get zero complaints about the way they handle themselves and the way they respond to calls. And I think that everybody’s doing a good job and we’re proud of you.”
Much of the remainder of the meeting was spent discussing structural improvements to the village.
Administrator Phil White gave a report listing several projects in the beginning stages including potholes, fire hydrant replacements, and guardrails. The Mayor added other properties he held to be especially important: the Ripley-owned buildings on 2nd and 3rd street.
“I think we need to clean our own house up before we start telling everybody else to do theirs,” he said. Estimates are as high as $186,000 to renovate the building on 2nd street, and $13,000 to simply demolish it.
The Mayor expressed that such decisions would be easier with the help of a solicitor. Fortunately, the task of finding a solicitor for Ripley was already underway when all things were interrupted by the response to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Now that those restrictions are being lifted, that search can resume. Multiple council members had recommendations on hand. A decision was made to have interested parties attend council meetings beginning with the next one.
“We’re moving along at a snail’s pace, but we want to make sure that what we do is the right thing to do,” Mayor Kratzer concluded.
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