Mt. Auburn preparing for annual Picnic

MT. AUBURN — The Village of Mt. Auburn held a regular meeting on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. in the Village Hall.

A new Board Trustee was sworn in at the meeting. Don Henderson, a long time Village resident, took his oath of office at the meeting.

For residents worrying that the on-going Water Project might interfere with the annual Mt. Auburn Picnic, the Mayor and the Board worked hard to make sure that the park was ready and prepared for the celebration. Mayor Mike Whitehead worked diligently the last few weeks, making sure the engi- neer and supervisors finished the work on the park as quickly as possible. Once they were done, he had the workers replaced the dis- placed dirt and sand, then went and got straw and grass seed. He told the Board he would be up at the park watering the grass until it grew and was ready for the Picnic.

Amanda Rankins, who is on the Picnic Committee, thanked Whitehead for his hard work. She told the Board that the Picnic Committee would need the roads blocked from East to West Main street on the north side of the park. Rankins asked for ideas on how to keep people from moving the barricades and parking in zones they were not allowed to. In previous years, she reported that peo- ple had parked in spaces reserved for the bands and caused people to have to haul equipment up the roads.

She asked if they could put out signs that said, “No Parking; Violators will be towed” and have a tow company picked out to handle the situation. Village Attorney Dennis Atteberry said that they could. He sug- gested Rankins call a towing company and talk to them about the situation first so that the Village doesn’t acci- dentally get saddled with the towing costs. Rankins also said the committee had hired some police officers to help provide security for the event.

She asked Whitehead to look into having the contrac- tors move their heavy machinery and equipment somewhere else on Saturday, August 7 for the parade. Rankins was expecting a large turn out for the parade and needed more room at the elementary school for the line-up. As the contractor was keeping their machines and supplies there now, she didn’t want to cause problems and thought it might be easier to just have them move them to the rock pile for the morning. Whitehead said he would look into it.

Also on the subject of the park and safety, Whitehead had been looking into securi- ty cameras for the park. The vandalism issue at the park had gotten increasingly worse, worrying Board members. To help, Whitehead found a camera service that was a pay by month subscription. The Board would have to purchase the camera outright for around $265. The camera was solar pow- ered and motion activated. Then the Board could choose what kind of subscription plan they wanted for the camera, which cost any- where from $15-$25 a month. The Board thought it was a good idea, and urged Whitehead to go ahead and purchase one camera and the $20 subscription for one month to test it out. Atteberry suggested buying a sign that said the park was monitored by camera. The Board hoped the camera would help deter some van- dals.

Whitehead told the Board that the united Regional Water Cooperative corrosion test issue was still ongoing. The needed testing sites had changed to 3, but they now required copper service lines, which Whitehead said they were very unlikely to get. However, he stated that the cooperative was petitioning the EPA so that they would not have to do the tests. He said he would keep the Board informed of any updates or changes.

The Board voted to approve the discussed open trench on the 200 block of Arch street. The Village had received permission from the County for the work, and felt that it was the safest way to avoid the drainage tiles sus- pected to be in the area. The Board admitted that the road would be a mess, but was certain they could find a way to work around it.

Whitehead was looking into bids for mosquito spray- ing, since the machine the Village used was out of commission and no one was willing to pay the $10,000 price tag to get it fixed currently. The Board approved Whitehead to seek out and approve bids that did not exceed $3,000 for eight applications this summer. Whitehead said he would look for the cheapest bid.

The mayor also said he was looking into the Credit Card payments for the Village. However, the paperwork for what had been discuss previously with the former treasurer Gerry Mahr was missing. The Board was going to try to find the paperwork Mahr had gotten about a service that would not charge the Village and just add a surcharge to the customer’s paying via credit card before making any plans. Whitehead also asked if the Board was all right with him making a Village of Mt. Auburn Facebook page. He said he would use it to post boil orders and information from the Village. A trustee said that as long as he disabled comments on it, it would be a good idea. Whitehead mentioned that he was working on an informational system for people who did not have Facebook, as well.