Clermont Council Needs To Fill Council Seat

(posted Oct 1)

Clermont Town Council Seat District 3 still remains vacant after the November 6 election because no one stepped up to the plate to run.

Town Councilor Vonda Kiger chose not to seek re-election which left the seat empty. Now it is the council's responsibility to fill the seat.

The town council decided to accept resumes from registered voters of that district until December 31. The future councilor cannot be a convicted felon. Kevin Pennington of 2945 Tansel Road submitted his resume at the November 8 council meeting.

Town Council President Bob Hinshaw found it humorous that the vacant seat still received 17 votes.

The council also voted to pay $100,000 to Wayne Township as part of its $298,000 contract for fire service. The council has already paid $40,000. Town Attorney Robert Lutz indicated the fire contract may hit close to $360,000 next year for fire service. Hinshaw directed Lutz to talk to Wayne Township Trustee David Baird about the possibility of negotiating some type of alternative method to develop a fire contract because a $360,000 fire bill would be over half of the town's entire budget. Hinshaw was concerned for the approximate 1,400 Clermont residents who would have to cover the bill with their tax dollars.

"Four years ago, $360,000 was more than the town's entire budget," he said.

Resident Linda Lucas thought that was too high for two fires in two years.

In other financial matters, Hinshaw asked the Speedway Gas credit card not be approved until they can check to see that the charges match the fuel consumption of the police department's five patrol cars. Hinshaw said he asked the police chief to look into the difference as to why the patrol officer for shift two spent only $181 for the month while the third shift patrol officer spent $530 for the same period. He noted that for three consecutive days, the third shift officer used $14 of gas each day.

The council also approved spending $21,216 for a patrol car to be delivered in the first quarter of 2008.

The council is also looking into purchasing new Christmas decorations. Sheri Stevens Miller explained the decorations were in bad shape last year and required a lot of bulb replacements.

Town Councilor Nancy Baxter would like to have the Christmas decorations up by Thanksgiving, but doesn't know if the decorations are in good enough shape. Baxter said the decorations are expensive and that a small wreath can cost over $200. Next year, she hopes to be able to use the excess money from the Old Fashion Days to buy new decorations. She will look into buying new banners for this year.

Hinshaw said this has been a council discussion for the last four years and nothing gets done. He recommended they inventory the decorations that need to be replaced in January to start a replacement program because of the expense to replace the decorations all at once.