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BELLAIRE -- Bellaire Village Council discussed delays in paving roads and alleyways at their regular session Thursday.
Mayor Edward Marling said that Cast and Baker was awarded the bid for the street paving project. Marla Krupnik, fiscal officer, said that the engineer renewed the bids and recommended Cast and Baker. Krupnik said that the project has been delayed because catch basins for the drainage system will have to be installed before the roads are paved. She said the company is having trouble getting the catch basins in.
Marling said that the project to pave the alleyways is also still delayed because the village needs to first locate the sewer tap. Mike Doyle, councilman at large, said that the project has been ongoing for about three months.
"I don't know what more we can do. How is the city supposed to find a line that's over 100 years old?" Doyle asked.
Marling said that he plans to have village employees dump dye into the water of a building that is connected to the sewer line to help locate the sewer tap. He said he was confident that the employees would be able to locate the sewer using the dye.
"These guys know what they're doing. We're going to get it done as soon as possible," he said.
In other news, Krupnik discussed that Southpointe Industries in Bellaire has outstanding invoices of $23,116.35. Krupnik said that David Jingle, a representative at Southpointe Industries, has stopped by her office many times to get the issue resolved.
"As a fiscal officer in the state of Ohio, I cannot pay this bill. It did not follow any of the procedures. I have no contract, I have no bids, I have no quotes. All I have is an invoice. There were no appropriations for this," Krupnik said.
She said she cannot accept liability for the outstanding invoices.
"If you do not pay it, I mean, he's going to get paid or he's going to sue the village. The village will be found liable," Solicitor Paul Stecker said.
"Our job is to protect the village and the village's money. ... Our job is to be the keepers of the village people's money and say, well, the protocol wasn't followed here," Doyle said.
Council plans to send the ordinance to the state auditor's office to get their opinion. Stecker said this course of action will take some time, but the alternative would most likely mean that the village would face a lawsuit.
Council discussed offering monthly or yearly leases on the parking spaces at the parking lot at the corner of 32nd and Union Streets where the farmers' market is held. They pondered over how renting parking spaces would work with the farmers' market using the lot.
"If someone has a parking space within the farmer's market area, that's an issue. ... If I rent a spot for the month, I expect to have it for 30 or 31 days 24/7, but we don't want to drive the farmers' market away," Elizabeth Dugmore, council at large, said.
Council discussed the possibility of renting out only some of the spaces and leaving other spaces for the farmers' market on Saturdays and public parking during the rest of the week.
Dugmore said the project needs to be given some more thought.
Marling said that the village has experienced numerous water breaks in the past month.
"The village has been doing a lot of work on the water line," he said.
Council also unanimously voted to allow the Bellaire Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization to use the park for their annual mums sale on Aug. 26.
Council unanimously voted as well to allow the Bellaire Presbyterian Church to use the park for a service and fellowship picnic on Aug. 27. The church expects about 20 people to attend.
Police chief J.J. Watson said that three properties were turned in to the land bank last month and that one property is in the process of being turned in to the land bank.
"We'll have four properties coming down, hopefully very soon," he said.