“We now know where we are and we are in trouble,” said councilperson, Tom Wolfe. “There has been a lot of overspending in the past years. Mr. Quay (Fiscal Officer, Rick Quay) put some numbers on the board that were pretty staggering. We spent $2.3 million more than we brought in over the last nine years,” he said.
Wolfe thanked Quay for his hard work over the last couple of years. He has been spending many hours working with state auditors to make the past books auditable.
“We are auditable and up-to-date. Now we will be on an every two year audit with 2009 and 2010 being audited in 2011,” he said.
Council and Quay have their work cut out for them as they need to meet the requirements of the auditors to review and correct policies and procedures that have not been followed in the past.
“We are going to make sure that we take care of your money and do everything we can to make sure it is spent wisely,” said Wolfe, adding the figures are going to be posted on the Web site. “We want everyone to see exactly where we are right down to the penny.”
Councilperson Troy Bradfield reminded residents the village Web site is a good source of information with meeting dates listed.
There was a moment of silence to remember Skip Morrison.
“The community lost a great citizen last week,” Council President Rick Justice said. “Skip Morrison was at all the events and was a big part of the community. He served on council and was also a school board member.”
Justice had a meeting with Springfield Superintendent William Stauffer.
“The building of a new school will have a great economic impact for Lakemore,” Justice said.
With two schools being combined it will mean about $40,000 more revenue for the village. For the Lakemore, Springfield and Uniontown area it will mean at least $80 million to the communities. The 2 percent income tax for those working on the construction will mean good revenue to Lakemore. In addition there will be 100-120 working on the job each day.
“It will mean 20,000 lunches that will be purchased in the area as well as gas, etc. It is very significant and will pull us out of this fiscal problem and sustain us for a couple of years past that.
There is also the pride and what it will do for the schools. I hope you will support it,” said Justice.
Marty Davies said there will be an event to support the fire department. The event is in need of donations of bake goods and people to help out as well as items for a raffle. Every single penny goes to the fire department. The event is called, “Not Just a Bake Sale” and will be held Feb. 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the fire station,” said Davies.
Emergency Resolutions passed were:
- Acceptance of the resignation of Jesse Conner from the Fire Department.
- Authorization of a contract with Life Force Management, Inc. for the services of EMS billing collections.
- Authorization for the termination of the contract with Northcoast Physician Service, Inc. for EMS billing collections.
Jan. 4 council
Four council members were sworn in just before the Jan. 4 regular meeting. The members were re-elected councilperson Tammy Coontz and three newly-elected members, Troy Bradfield, Kevin Owens and Tom Wolfe. Justice will serve as council president.
During committee reports, Coontz noted the passing of resident Bob Starcher and asked for residents’ thoughts and prayers for friends and family. A moment of silence was observed.
Justice spoke about the benefits to Lakemore if a new school complex was built. He said the project would create and keep jobs within the village and would attract other revenues from the construction.
Chief Saley thanked the Lakemore Fire Department (LFD) members for their sacrifices and hard work in 2009. He thanked Coontz for her job as LFD liaison in 2009.
An emergency resolution was passed by the council members for current and expected village expenditures, for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31. This allows for the payment of current and future expenses.
There was a motion to suspend regular order of business for pending legal issues. The mayor, council and solicitor went into executive session.
