By Matt Clevenger
For the Miami Valley Today
WEST MILTON — Members of the West Milton village council are still working to fill one vacant council seat, as well as two additional openings on the village’s planning board and board of adjustments.
So far, two applicants have already expressed interest in the vacant village council seat, and council members plan to start interviewing applicants for that position at an executive session before their next council workshop meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
Council members are also searching for applicants to serve on both the village’s planning board and board of adjustments.
“We certainly need appointments to both,” Municipal Manager Jeffrey Sheridan said during village council’s regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 8. “I’d suggest that filling the fifth position at the board of adjustments is probably a little higher priority at this time.”
“We’ve had a couple of board of adjustments meetings,” Sheridan said. “We can hold them with four, but it’s problematic to not have all five. If only one person is absent, that’s not a quorum and they can’t vote, so we really need a fifth member.”
“We greatly appreciate the folks who have stepped forward to serve on both the planning board and the board of adjustments,” he said. “They’re doing a great job, but we just need a fifth person to get involved with the board of adjustments.”
In other business, council members also approved a new social media policy for all village employees.
“It’s a very simple, one-page policy,” Sheridan said. “It spells out the official websites that the village utilizes, and it talks about the responsibilities of our employees, whether they’re using social media on the job or in their personal life.”
“One of the keys is all of our employees, even if they’re on the site personally, need to make it clear that their comments aren’t representative of the village and are their personal views only,” Sheridan said.
Council members also approved a contract with Co-Alliance Petroleum Sales of Avon, Indiana to provide fuel for the village’s municipal fuel tanks during 2022.
“We bid it on about 18,000 gallons of unleaded, around 1,000 gallons of on-road and 500 gallons of off-road, plus the winter blend,” Service Director Ben Herron said. “Whatever the wholesale price is, it’s an extra 30 cents per gallon. Then it’s another 2 cents on top of that for any diesel additive for winter months.”
The contract also includes maintenance for the village’s fuel pumps and fuel tanks, which are provided by the fuel supplier.
“At our service department, we have unleaded, on-road and off-road fuels,” Herron said. “Whoever provides our fuel provides the tanks; they maintain the tanks and the pumps.”
“Co-Alliance was the only bidder,” he said. “Nobody really wants to bid it. They know all the tanks would have to come out; they’d have to furnish the tanks.”
Council members also discussed a new upcoming Community Wellness Survey, organized through a collaboration between the village and the Y.M.C.A. The anonymous survey will be conducted using QR codes, or residents can also participate by contacting the municipal offices.
“I’ve been working with the Y for several months to put this together,” Sheridan said. “Their staff put it together; It’s truly a collaborative effort between the Y staff and myself.”
“We’re very much looking forward to getting the results in,” he said.
Council members also heard announcements regarding two upcoming events planned for downtown West Milton. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26, the shops of downtown West Milton will host a special Sip and Shop event featuring free beverages for customers.
“It’s called a Sip and Shop,” Council Chairperson Sarah Copp said. “We have 10 participating stores, and everybody’s going to have a different type of drink; hot chocolate, coffee, cider and some cold drinks probably, too. The other cool part is each store has a local baker that’s placed in each store, and they’re going to be offering samples and also selling some of their baked goods.”
“It’s all day long, and then we’ll also have a little raffle going on for Bulldog Bags,” Copp said. “The money earned will go to the Bulldog Bag program.”
Council members also discussed the return of the village’s popular “Rock the Hill” concert event this year on Saturday, Aug. 20. “We are bringing ‘Rock the Hill’ Back,” Copp said. “We had it two years ago, and we’re bringing it back.”
“We’re excited,” she said. “It should be a really great event, even bigger and better than last time.”
Village council’s next regularly scheduled meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
