Wednesday, June 17, 2015
POLAND
Village council moved forward with putting a new road levy on the November ballot.
Council had a second reading Tuesday of the resolution declaring it necessary to levy a tax. The proposed levy is a 2-mill, five-year tax to repair roads that would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $70 per year. It would generate $114,516 annually.
Council members say the levy is necessary because of the toll severe winter weather has taken on the village’s 15 miles of roads, as well as a decline in state funding in recent years.
Council members also have expressed hope that voters will approve the levy, as well as a renewal in five years, so that the village can resurface most of its roads over the next 10 years.
“If [voters] don’t want it, they’re saying to us, ‘Keep filling holes,’” council member Linda Srnec said Tuesday.
Mayor Tim Sicafuse said he has heard from at least one resident questioning whether levy funds could be used to repair sidewalks; the answer, he said, is no.
“We can’t do that. It’s specifically for streets,” he said. In the village, property owners are responsible for maintaining sidewalks in front of their property.
The final reading of the resolution will take place at council’s first meeting in July.
In other business, council members discussed the possibility of enacting a grass-cutting ordinance. Such an ordinance would detail property owners’ responsibilities for maintaining their grass, and set fees in cases when the village cuts high grass.
Council also approved a finance-committee report detailing the purchase of a new police cruiser at a cost of $27,271. The 2015 Chevy Caprice will take the place of an old cruiser in the police department’s fleet in the next few weeks.