By Marty Cornelison
The village of Sardinia held their regular council meeting Monday night. The items discussed at the meeting indicated a return to business as usual, a welcome development after a series of emergency meetings, cancelled events, and dormant committees.
Council devoted time to discussing the reopening of village offices. Mayor Tina Coday-Townes explained that social distancing would not be possible in such a small lobby area. The building will have to be closed to walk-ins until federal and state requirements are eased.
Fortunately, she reported that using the drop box and mail to collect payments has been working really well. In addition, they will allow residents in the building by appointment only.
For vulnerable populations, the village has offered to come out and receive payments from the parking lot. An online payment option is also in the works and may be available later in the summer.
Regarding payments, utility revenue has not fallen as far behind as council may have feared given the sudden shutdown of businesses.
Fiscal Officer Karen Miller said that 80 to 90 disconnect notices per month was average. According to records 100 current residences have not paid either their March, April, or May bills. However, some of those accounts are now three months behind, and residences are still responsible for those balances even though the late penalties are being waived.
The council decided to continue waiving late fees for utilities through the month of June, and Miller has been mailing bills as many as two weeks early to counteract the slower delivery times. In May, overdue account holders will receive financial forms in the mail. If they wish to continue without making on-time payments, they must fill out the forms and contact village officials to provide proof of hardship.
Committee meetings will resume and are on the schedule for the last full week of this month. The finance committee will meet Tuesday, May 26th at 7pm. The public safety committee will meet Wednesday, May 27th at 7pm, and the public works committee will meet on Wednesday, May 27th at 8pm.
Police Chief Jim Lewis also had a report for the council.
“It’s pretty much status quo,” he began, “but we did have four B&Es [breaking and entering], one in a garage, one in an out-building, and two in residences.”
They have suspects for one of the cases, and evidence that all four are related is inconclusive. In at least two instances a padlock was cut. Chief Lewis assured the council that they are working on calling more people in for questioning.
“I guess it’s due to people not having anything better to do… Other than that it’s been pretty nice,” he said.
Finally, the meeting attendees had a conversation about events.
“The seniors have gotten robbed this year,” the Mayor expressed. Because of that, she announced a cruise for 3pm on Saturday, May 16th. A route will be determined taking them through the center of town to be announced while staying in their vehicles.
“It’s just to give them something, tell them that Sardinia is backing them,” she said. The fair, the antique car show, and the yard sale are still up in the air.”
The Memorial Day parade was originally cancelled by the American Legion, but then the idea was brought up to replace the parade with a cruise similar to what was done by Hillsboro on Saturday, May 9th.
Mayor Coday-Townes enthusiastically accepted the idea. “I’m all for that! We can do it! Let’s do it,” she said. She agreed to take over the organization for the event in coordination with the fire and police departments. More details will be released soon about both the senior and Memorial Day events.