Council Approves Ordinances, Water Project Tuesday

The Sullivan City Council approved two ordinances, a water main replacement project and approved the promotion of an employee in the building department.

The meeting was held Tuesday, August 3, and began with a request from resident Raymond Vogt, Elizabeth St., who voiced concerns on nuisance violations in the area and offered some examples feeling that some people are exempted.

City Attorney John Downad replied that while the complaint process appears to be slow, it follows actions imposed according to ordinances.

Under City Administrator J.T. Hardy, per a request by Water and Sewer Commissioner, John Garner, the council approved replacing some six-hundred feet of water main along North Olive St. from North Service Rd. to Mervin St. The cost of the project is estimated at $35,000.

Two ordinances were approved 5-1 with Alderman Mark Dalton casting the no vote on Ordinance 3929 and 3930.

Ord. 3929, approved a 60-day contract with CE Contracting for ADA complaint upgrades to the sidewalks along West Main and at the Community Center for a cost of $61,140;

Ord. 3930, approved a 15-day contract with N.B. West Conracting for paving West Main St. along that portion of the ADA sidewalk upgrade project.

Under Alderman Input, Alderman Tony Wessler spoke about city’s role in how fire insurance is handled following the Tuesday night fire at 316 North Church St.

Hardy reported that city code dealing with the deposit and release of covered claims for structure losses that are in excess of 50 percent of the face value of the structure. The deposit assists the city for compliance and cleanup.

City Clerk Jan Koch reported that the public hearing for the tax for 2021 will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 27, at City Hall.

Koch reported that the proposed rate is $0.3987 per $100 assessed valuation on real estate which is a drop of 5.34 percent with the previous rate of $0.4212.

Koch reminded residents that the city does not have a personal property tax as it was repealed by voters in 1993.

The council did go into closed session for one matter of personnel where they promoted Dave Dawson to Building Commissioner/Code Administrator following his completion of the Residential Code training and testing for Building Inspector. The move also came with a raise from $18.46 per hour to $21.68.