T-L Photo/LENNY WITTENBROOK Flushing resident Suzanne Coates is shown addressing village officials during their July meeting. Coates raised concerns about rampant speeding through the village and offered to partner with village officials to find a solution.

FLUSHING — Village Council members recently said they would take steps to deter drivers from speeding through the village after hearing concerns from some fed-up residents.

During a council meeting July 18, resident Suzanne Coates addressed council and presented a petition signed by a number of residents who want to find solutions and slow down the traffic.

“It’s actually getting out of control. It’s children at risk, the elderly at risk, properties being damaged, trucks not being able to get by each other. It’s like a crazy truck freeway,” Coates said, offering to partner with the village to help solve the issue.

Mayor Preston Eberhart said that since High Street is also Ohio State Routes 149 and 331 that the speed limit is set by the state and that village officials for years have wanted to get some of the utility poles moved back so the road could be widened to better accommodate truck traffic.

He added that the amount of patrolling the village can do is limited since Police Chief Paul Leek only works 29 hours per week. He said officials were going to start the process of finding another part-time officer to allow for more coverage.

Coates said when it comes to enforcement of speed limits, she had heard the rule of thumb: “nine you’re fine, 10 you’re mine,” suggesting that if officers were more aggressive with writing citations word would get around and drivers would be more apt to slow down when entering the village.

Concerning signage, Village Administrator Kris Chini said that anything on the state route has to be state approved. Eberhart and Coates agreed that some kind of partnership with the state would be needed.

Eberhart said he would work with Chini to do what they could do as far as signage, and that they would contact the Ohio Department of Transportation to explore other options.

Council President Chuck Nucci said he thought adding another officer would be the most impactful thing they could do and suggested possibly getting a radar speed sign, even if they borrowed one temporarily.

Coates agreed with Councilman Tom Bober’s assertion that increased patrols on the east end of town and along the state routes in the village would be a good first step, circling back to the idea of issuing more speeding tickets.

“They know what they can get away with,” she said.

Meanwhile, during his monthly report, Chini said he had received a total of four bids for a new excavator for the village. He noted they were all within $200 of each other and around $60,000.

After some discussion, council approved using American Rescue Plan Act funding to purchase a new John Deere 35 from Murphy Tractor and Equipment in Cambridge, Ohio, for $60,938, with that price including an extended warranty.

Chini also said he had signed a contract with LaRoche Tree Service to remove two trees in Union Cemetery for a total of $1,556.25, noting that included the stumps being ground and removal of the debris.

Councilman David Coe asked about what he could do about a dangerous tree on someone else’s property that would fall on his if it fell. Chini said he would check on the right of way in that area to see if the village could do anything.

Eberhart asked that a Water and Sewer Committee meeting be held before the August council meeting to come up with a plan to deal with billing issues caused by the loss of the meter reading equipment and software in May.

Chini said they would have the replacement system up and running by early August, and that while water customers would be billed for the standard monthly amount, the amount due for overages would not be known until they are able to read the meters again.

Councilman Chad Sutton was absent from the meeting, so it was decided that once they were able to speak to him they could coordinate a day on which three committee meetings could be held in a sequence that would not violate Ohio’s “sunshine laws.”

The other two committee meetings would be a Police Committee meeting to discuss the details of an advertisement to find a second officer, and a Building and Grounds Committee meeting to discuss plans to construct a building to house village equipment and what to do about the old city building, which is failing structurally.

Bober asked Fiscal Officer Jeryl McGaffick about progress toward eliminating the village’s post office box in Holloway at the end of the year. McGaffick said they are still getting a lot of mail there despite notices being sent out.

Council discussed amending a trailer ordinance that was adopted in 2013, agreeing that it should be allowable to put a mobile home back on a property from which one was removed with certain restrictions.

In other business, council approved a resolution authorizing the village to enter an agreement with Gary Smith to provide legal services to the village and another resolution certifying a 5-mill renewal fire equipment levy for the Nov. 5 ballot.

Nucci expressed appreciation on behalf of the Flushing Business Association for everyone involved in the Flushing Heritage Days and Tractor Pull held on June 22, specifically thanking the village for use of the park, village crew for getting the park ready, and the fire department for being there.

Nucci and Councilwoman Sandy Twarog, who is also the business association president, agreed that the event had been “perfect,”saying they would have liked for it to have lasted longer but that the intense heat that day had brought the festivities to an early end.