By Lexi Corder
SCIO—Scio Village Council held its bimonthly meeting on Wednesday, September 28. The meeting started notably with the presentation of a certificate of appreciation awarded by Mayor Michelle Carpenter to village council member Trish Copeland. According to Mayor Carpenter, Copeland received this award “for her dedication, service, and diligence to the duties of the village for over 20 years.”
In other news, village administrator Jason Tubaugh announced that the village’s waterline project, which had held its final pre-construction meeting in August, officially started work on September 19. Tubaugh reported that the project was going very well so far. The work had started on Maple Street and was moving along very quickly, with tie-ins on that part of the new line to be finished by the end of the week. It was also mentioned that village residents might have to deal with lower water pressure levels as this work is being done, but it should only last around three or four hours before returning to normal. Brown Street was reported to be next on the project agenda, followed by Walnut and Grandview. Tubaugh also mentioned that despite the actual waterline work moving along quite well, the repaving part of the project will not happen until spring 2023.
Additionally, only limited restoration work was planned to be done before the end of this year, depending on the weather, with most of the restoration also scheduled for spring 2023. Tubaugh urged village residents, “Please keep in mind that there will be brand new blacktop come spring, and there will be some restoration work for some of the homeowners. Please bear with us, and keep in mind that there’s no sense in putting grass seed down in December [for example] when you would have to go back in the spring and redo it.”
Moving on, Tubaugh reported that the Wastewater Treatment Plant was dealing with some problems due to a paddlewheel motor freezing up. Because of this, a new motor, paddle, shafts, and bearings have to be ordered, costing the village an estimated $6000-$7000. Furthermore, the wastewater sanitation project was reportedly far behind schedule (despite the already approved extension) and still waiting for funding to come in. The project as a whole was said to be between 18-24 months away from completion.
Lastly, Mayor Carpenter and Administrator Tubaugh brought the council a suggestion to get rid of their credit card machine in the city hall. Since the village had recently created the option to make credit card payments for bills online, it didn’t seem justifiable for the village to continue paying to have a credit card machine in the city building. Council agreed and unanimously voted to get rid of the credit card machine. Residents wishing to use credit cards to make bill payments can do so at the village’s website, www.villageofscio.com. Residents wishing to make payments through checks, money orders, or cash can continue to do so by utilizing the drop box at city hall or dropping payments off during business hours (8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily).