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The Village of Evendale Council met on Thursday, August 9. The first item on the agenda was a Proclamation to the Evendale Eagles Swim Team which won first place in the league. Evendale hosted this year’s event. They had 708 children and over 2,000 people over a two day period. Mayor Don Apking complimented everyone for a job well done.

In his report, Chris Schaefer spoke about how people can treat their own ash trees. The Village’s Service Department is treating the trees that are on Village grounds. They are not treating the street trees. He asked to have a letter sent to residents to say that they are welcome to treat the trees and how to do it. The Village is concerned about the cost to treat all street trees. If the trees get sick, they will need to come down. Information about how to treat the trees came from the University of Michigan who said to use systemic insecticide before the Ash Borer gets in the tree. You can buy the product at a nursery and it can be used to pour at the base of the tree or be injected into the tree. J. Jeffrey Albrinck asked to have the information placed on the Village website.

Mayor Apking explained that new lighting will be put into the island next to Wal-Mart and a new light at Inwood and Reading. The Village put a pole at Wyscarver and Glendale-Milford Road with new sign blades (for street signage). They have one black, one blue and one green blade on poles there for people to check out and see which they like best. Be sure to check them at night too. Then make the Village aware of the ones you prefer by e-mail or calling 563-2644. Mayor Apking said that they intend to replace lighting in some of the residential areas to improve it by brightening up areas where it is needed. Mayor Apking mentioned that the Village is also replacing stop signs to have ones that you can see better at night. These are more reflective.

Stiney Vonderhaar announced that Duke Energy replaced the lights and put in a new transformer on Glendale-Milford Road, perhaps now all the lights will be working now.

Mr. Albrinck said there was a meeting to work on the Master Plan. Their intent is to work on the vision for the Village for decades to come. There were ten to 15 residents who attended the meeting. Everyone worked on priorities. They looked at the survey that was sent out to residents. They are moving forward and making progress.

Doug Lohmeier stated that the Recreation Committee met last month as did the Finance Committee. At the Finance Committee meeting, George Snyder went over financial reports. In the Police Department report the department covered the festival at St. Rita’s as well the training and education personnel has had.

Mayor Apking began the long discussion everyone had about the Civic Center rehab. This will cost $70,000 to improve the building and area to be a Cultural Arts Center. Many on Council wanted more information before moving forward. They wanted to know if programs could be tried first at the Recreation Center to see if they would be successful; to see exactly what programs would be at the new center; a feasibility proposal and to see a plan of action for the Civic Arts program. They also worried about how many hours of work are needed to improve the building. Mayor Apking noted that the biggest cost of the project is due to the elevator that needs put in. Another Council concern was if the building had to be brought up to ADA standards. They were told that at this time, they do not need to do ADA changes.

After the discussion cooled down, Council passed the ordinance to create a Cultural Arts Commission. They will wait for more information before approving work at the building for the commission.

Mayor Apking and Jack Cameron explained the company that wants to put a huge cell tower (disguised as a huge flagpole) on Glendale-Milford and Plainfield. Council felt that this would be ugly and did not want this in a residential area. The Village will inform the company that they will not have the pole/tower put there at that spot.

Mayor Apking wanted to set a date for the Town Meeting for sometime after the election. This was set for Sunday, November 11 at 5:00. Stiney Vonderhaar volunteered to take charge of the event.

Mayor Apking informed everyone that the water tower will be coming down and that they are working to get the work that needs done on the hole at the end of Giferny (entrance to Park Hill). They are working on the rules and regulations at this time.

Peggy Paff reported for Gorman Heritage Farm. The Civil War Enactment was successful as has been summer camp. They are filled with 258 campers. There are some children attending due to scholarships. The Daughters of American Colonists will be at the Farm on September 22. They will honor the Gorman ancestors. The Sunflower Festival is held October 6 and 7.

Mayor Apking informed everyone that they will have the Civil War Enactment again next year, then take some time off.  He also brought everyone up to date about the three homes the Village has purchased in the past few years. They can hire a contractor to tear down two of them for $25,000. The other one can be done by Village staff. They will look to see if the Fire Department can use the buildings for training/burn down. The street program should begin in a few weeks. The company had some equipment to break down and cause delays. Lastly, Mayor Apking noted the people that are running for political office this fall, Puthoff, Schaefer, Smiley-Robinson and John Ranz. Mr. Snyder will be running against him.

Council passed all ordinances on the agenda before adjourning. At the end of the meeting, Council agreed to hold their next meeting on September 20 instead of September 13 (at the usual time). Several members of Council and Administration complimented Kay Divis on her work in this newspaper. She does a great job!

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