FLUSHING — Village officials welcomed a new member of council and discussed plans to catch up on water billing after four months of being unable to read water meters.

During a council meeting held Sept. 12, Erin Nucci, wife of council President Chuck Nucci, was sworn in as a member of council by Mayor Preston Eberhart, taking the seat vacated when Chad Sutton resigned his position in August. Eberhart said that three people had been interviewed to fill the seat and that the decision to appoint Erin Nucci had been made during a special meeting held Sept. 3.

Council President Nucci, who had been absent from the August meeting, requested an update on the new software and tablet needed to read the electronic water meters used by the village, which council had approved purchasing for $9,500 in June to replace equipment that had become unusable sometime in May.

Village Administrator Kris Chini said the equipment had still not been received, but that it soon would be and that village employees were to be trained on the new equipment by the end of September. Eberhart said they should be “back on track” with September’s meter readings.

Nucci expressed his concern about the amount of money in “overages” the village was not able to bill for while the equipment was down and said he thought they should have been doing some manual readings in the meantime.

Chini said that with the electronic meter system, there were few meters that they could actually access without going into people’s homes. But Nucci insisted that “something would have been better than nothing.”

Fiscal Officer Jeryl McGaffick and Eberhart said they did have a plan in place, with McGaffick explaining that since the readings had not been done for four months water customers would have four months with no penalties to catch up on the overages. However, they would have to keep up to date on the “base bill” each month to avoid being disconnected.

McGaffick added that a number of conscientious residents who are used to paying overages have continued to pay what they usually pay, but she did anticipate a lot of phone calls once customers receive their bills after the meters are finally read again.

Councilman Tom Bober offered his assistance in answering those calls, and McGaffick added that with the growing prevalence of computer technology people are generally more understanding about electronic breakdowns than they used to be.

Meanwhile, Councilman David Coe expressed concern over safety after seeing a village employee mowing a bank that he believed was too steep for the mower being used. Bober agreed with Coe.

Chini, who frequently refers to the regular safety talks he has with village crew, said they mow steep banks all over town and that they were not exceeding the safety protocols of the machine.

Bober pointed out that they had always used a trimmer on the bank being discussed in the past and asked that that bank in particular be trimmed rather than mowed, saying that he thought he and Coe were being responsible as village officials in expressing their concern over what they felt was an unsafe practice.

Chini and Bober also sparred over the best way to diagnose a storm sewer issue in the vicinity of Market and Spring streets.

Council discussed whether to spend the money needed to replace the roof on one of the shelters at Schuler Park, with Twarog expressing her desire to get it done. Council decided to table the matter until spring.

Council approved renewing the employee health insurance with the same plan through the current carrier at a 24% decrease with slight adjustments to co-pays and deductibles.

Council President Nucci requested that they get a sign reflecting the new village office hours that had been approved earlier this year, and council approved his motion that council minutes be prepared and available for review the week after the meetings are held. Nucci explained that he felt it was important that they be able to check the minutes for errors while the meeting was still fresh in their minds.

McGaffick requested that council members complete their state-mandated, online training, noting that only Councilman Nucci had completed the required courses and that by completing the training they would avoid strikes on their upcoming audit.

Flushing Fire Department and EMS Capt. Lori Mann addressed council requesting the release of levy funds from the village to the department, which council approved.

Mann and council also discussed and coordinated upcoming events and celebrations in the village, with council agreeing that the village would hold its trick or treat from 5-6:30 p.m. Oct. 26, followed by the annual cake walk at the fire hall.

They also set the date for the Flushing Christmas Parade for Dec. 7 with specific lineup instructions to be announced later.

Mann also announced that the eighth annual Blood Drive in Honor and Memory of Vickie Henderson would be held 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Flushing VFD Social Hall.

She said there would be concessions and a raffle during the event and that appointments to donate blood could be scheduled by visiting vitalant.org and searching by ZIP code or by calling the fire department at 740-968-4700.

Flushing council will meet again at 6 p.m. Oct. 10 in the village offices on High Street.