By Matt Clevenger
For Miami County Today
WEST MILTON — Members of the West Milton Village Council have set a timeline to fill a currently vacant village council seat before their regularly scheduled meeting in March.
Five candidates have already applied for the vacant seat on village council, which became available after longtime council member Scott Fogle’s recent departure. Fogle will continue to serve on several boards and committees.
“This is the most we’ve ever had for applicants,” municipal manager Matt Kline said during council’s regular monthly workshop on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Two of the five applicants, Brian Rench and Jessica Jacobe, attended the workshop meeting. Council members plan to interview all the applicants after the council meeting on Feb. 11, and have someone sworn in during their meeting on March 10.
“We’re leaning towards after the next council meeting on Feb. 11, doing interviews that evening for the council seat,” Mayor Anthony Miller said. “We’d like to have everybody who applied; we’ll have a conversation with everybody.”
In other business, council members also discussed several pieces of legislation that will be introduced at council’s next meeting on Feb. 11, including resolutions approving the purchase of a $25,036 replacement hopper for the village’s street sweeper and the lease of a new skid loader.
Council members also plan to introduce resolution approving a contract to refurbish the UV sterilization system at the village’s wastewater treatment plant. “Those UV bulbs are your final disinfectant,” Kline said. “Wastewater goes down that channel, and then flows to the Stillwater river.”
Council members also plan to introduce a two-year renewal contract with the village’s law director, Lenee Brosh. “Lenee has been the law director since 2014,” Kline said. “We have a really good working relationship.”
Village council also announced plans to introduce a resolution to adjust the pay grade for employees at the wastewater treatment plant, and advertise and hire an additional wastewater treatment worker.
“We desperately need a second operator at our plant,” Kline said. “We need a second operator with a wastewater I operation license. We’ll be advertising for that position starting at the end of this week.”
Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11. Council members will also meet with representatives from the Union Township trustees and the Milton-Union board of education for their quarterly tri-agency meeting on Feb. 27.
