COVINGTON — Covington Village Council heard from the non-profit foster care agency Isaiah’s Place at the beginning of the Monday night council meeting, on Sept. 19.

Represented by Jennifer Knisely and Bob Lybarger, Isaiah’s Place has been traveling the area and presenting their mission and goals with the hopes of gathering enough funding to launch their program in early 2023. Isaiah’s Place has already invested $40,000 into the project, and are requesting $1,000 annually from each local community to aid in their goal of providing a centralized location for interviews, assessments and medical treatment administered when a child is reported as living in a dangerous or abusive environment.

Village Administrator Kyle Hinkelman shared in his report that street work on the High Street project may be completed early, with no official announcement coming from the village. The bidding for Schoolhouse Park was extended to Sept. 20, and animal control plans to address the Rudy Property elevator the week of Sept. 26.

There were several discussion items on the agenda. The first was Geolocation of Infrastructure, which would provide the village with digital mapping of underground utilities. This would cost the village somewhere between $30,000-$50,000, but would aid in the planning and construction of major sites like the wastewater treatment plant.

“We have hard copy maps, where our water lines are, where our sewer lines are, where our storm lines are in the village, those maps were made a number of years ago, and they are approximate. So they are not exact, they are not dialed down to the specific location of a meter or the specific location of, you know, any other piece of that equipment, they are approximate … knowing exactly where those lines are, is very, very important,” Hinkelman said.

There was also discussion regarding the village’s historical district — or lack thereof. Hinkelman shared he had conducted research into the historical district and discovered a clear map defining the district had never been created. The issue was brought to light by local business owners who wanted to paint the outside of their downtown building, but were told their property is historic and therefore they would need to follow specific guidelines set for color palettes within the village’s historic district. The council must now decide whether they want to implement an official historic district, or issue a new ordinance regarding building colors. There was also a discussion regarding potential for enforcing permits and regulations on public, outdoor events. The final discussion item was the 2023 budget. No action was taken on any discussion items.

First readings were held for the sale of surplus items, vacation of a portion of Grant Street and Maple Street, and acceptance of Miami County rates of tax for 2023. The three reading rule was waived and the resolution to accept Miami County rates of tax was approved.

The next village council meeting will be held Monday, Oct. 3.

The writer is a regular contributor to Miami Valley Today.