Tuesday, November 29th, 2016
St. Marys to borrow $2M
Electric fund will be repaid
By Jared Mauch
ST. MARYS - City officials are pursuing a $2 million loan to reimburse the city's electric fund and continue with distribution upgrades.
Council members on Monday passed under suspension of rules an emergency ordinance authorizing the reimbursement of expenses for electric meters and substation transformers. Safety service director Greg Foxhoven said about $333,000 would be earmarked for the electric fund while the remainder would pay for the distribution upgrades.
Officials already have borrowed $2.1 million for the first phase of the upgrades, and the new loan would cover the next phase, Foxhoven said. Officials first planned to borrow $6 million up front but instead opted to break it into smaller portions.
Officials have contacted banks and would like to secure the funds by the end of the year, he said.
Council members also heard first reading of an ordinance renewing a three-year contract with the city's four full-time police dispatchers. The new contract with Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association would be effective Jan. 1 and carries a 2 percent raise for 2017, a 2.5 percent raise for 2018 and a 2 percent raise in 2019, Foxhoven said.
Dispatchers are paid an hourly wage that ranges from $16.66-$17.76. By 2019, their wages will range from $18.73-$19.97 per hour, Foxhoven said. The contract does not include the department's one part-time dispatcher.
First reading also was heard of an ordinance allowing the city to pay up to $500 annually toward fire chief Doug Ayers' fitness club fees. Ayers will pay any remaining amount, Foxhoven said.
The city pays full membership fees to the YMCA or Snap Fitness in St. Marys for fire and police personnel as part of a collective bargaining agreement with the union. However, Ayers has chosen since April to go to a cross-fit location in Celina, which has a higher membership fee. The $500 represents the approximate cost of a YMCA membership.
Also on Monday, council members,
• heard first reading of a resolution allowing the continued use of govdeals.com when selling unwanted city property.
• learned the Christmas lighting at Memorial Park will be 6:15 p.m. Sunday.
• met in executive session for 23 minutes to discuss property acquisition and personnel compensation. No action was taken.
