Service Department outlines May Clean‑Up Month logistics and infrastructure issues

Service Department Superintendent Jason Walters briefed the council on operational preparations and recent equipment and infrastructure issues.

Walters said the village will place four dumpsters at the Houghton Road facility for May Clean-Up Month; the gate can be locked at night and the single location should reduce police monitoring. There will be no dumpsters at the Chestnut property. The village typically contracts street sweeping in May but the usual contractor was sold; the village intends to rent a street sweeper and have a department employee operate it, which Walter said should lower costs.

A failed pump-station line has been repaired; staff are awaiting a quote for a spare pump to keep on hand (the quote is not yet in the 2026 budget). An 8-year-old front-end loader required repairs that cost $10,000; Walters said the department will consider budgeting for a replacement next year. He reported the village’s new backhoe is not scheduled to arrive until June, so an external contractor will perform an immediate line repair.

Walters said sewer lines near Washington and Lincoln were heavily calcified and required jetting overnight from 11:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m.; those segments will need monthly jetting pending a longer-term solution. Walters also reported that the village received ODOT salt contract documents that afternoon and that Law Director Brad Bryan prepared legislation to allow the village to join the bid that evening.

Walters did not request council action beyond approval of routine legislation already on the agenda.