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New Bremen council accepts $150,000 ARPA grant, advances meter upgrade and adopts employee health plan
Summary
At its April 24 meeting the New Bremen council accepted $150,000 in ARPA funds for a State Route 274 waterline replacement, advanced a $431,942.50 bid for a live meter-reading system (First Reading), approved employee health insurance for 5/1/2023–4/30/2024, and held an executive session on property with no action.
NEW BREMEN, Ohio — At its April 24 meeting the Council of the Village of New Bremen accepted $150,000 in Auglaize County ARPA funds to help pay for a State Route 274 West waterline replacement project, advanced a procurement for a village meter-reading system and approved employee health insurance for the coming policy year.
The council moved quickly through routine business. Council member Larger reported total expenditures for April of $1,235,358.96 and total receipts for March of $1,918,071.95; the finance committee reviewed March bank reconciliations and the report was approved. The April 10 minutes were approved on a motion by Council member Larger, seconded by Condon, with five ayes and one abstention by Council member Lomakin.
Village Administrator Richter provided several infrastructure updates. Richter said cleaning of water wells No. 1 and No. 3 is scheduled for June–July and that Synagro had removed “approximately 765 dry tons of sludge from Lagoon 1” and completed equipment removal for that lagoon. He also reported that Margaret Street construction is underway and Eastmoor Drive is closed at the tie-in to Margaret Street.
On utilities procurement, Richter said the village solicited sealed bids to upgrade its meter-reading system so water and electric meters can be read live from the utility office, notify staff of outages and allow remote disconnects for nonpayment and final reads. The village received a single sealed bid from Anixter for a Tantalus overlay at $431,942.50. Council recorded the First Reading of Resolution 2023-04-06 to purchase the Anixter Tantalus overlay; the resolution was introduced for consideration pending further action.
Auglaize County Commissioners awarded $150,000 in ARPA funds to assist New Bremen with the State Route 274 West waterline replacement. Council voted to suspend the rules (motion by Burnell, second by Elshoff), declared Resolution 2023-04-07 an emergency to accept the county funds, and passed the resolution (motion by Wuebker, second by Elshoff; six ayes).
On employee benefits, the council reviewed Anthem renewal options: a 6.90% increase that raises the individual deductible to $3,000 and the family deductible to $6,000, and a second option with a 3.89% increase and lower deductibles. Council decided to move forward with the 6.90% renewal option, with an estimated monthly cost of $24,276.34. On Third Reading, Ordinance 2023-03-11 to purchase health insurance for village employees for the period 5/1/2023–4/30/2024 passed (motion by Burnell, second by Larger; six ayes).
Council member Lomakin made a motion, seconded by Wuebker, to enter executive session at 6:57 p.m. to discuss property purchase or sale. The council exited executive session at 7:09 p.m. and took no action. The meeting adjourned at 7:09 p.m. on a motion by Larger, second by Burnell (six ayes).
What’s next: Resolution 2023-04-06 (Anixter Tantalus overlay) remains at first reading pending further council action; the SR 274 waterline project will proceed with ARPA funding acceptance formalized by Resolution 2023-04-07.
