ST. PARIS – Village council accepted the resignation of council member Brad Kennedy during Monday’s regular meeting.
The resignation is effective Dec. 31. Kennedy’s term on council was set to expire at the end of 2017. In his resignation letter, Kennedy suggested council would give consideration to current council member Terry Ervin II to fill the upcoming vacancy.
Ervin was defeated by council member Niven Jester for one of two council seats following a recount of ballots last month. Former village street commissioner Tyler Adkins was also elected to council last month.
Kennedy lost against incumbent Joe Reneer in the village mayor’s race last month.
Reneer said anyone interested in filling this vacancy can contact him before he takes his nomination to council.
Fiscal officer vacancy
Council took action toward filling the fiscal officer vacancy by agreeing to hire a temporary fiscal officer and moving toward hiring a new fiscal officer.
During the Dec. 7 meeting, council accepted the resignation of long-time fiscal officer Cathlyn Adkins, effective Dec. 11.
Reneer said he and Village Administrator Joe Sampson started interviewing potential candidates to fill this vacancy and narrowed their selection to one candidate. Council initially tabled taking action on offering a contract after they were questioned about the fiscal officer’s salary.
Following an executive session, council approved proceeding with hiring the candidate as fiscal officer.
The new fiscal officer would work between 32 to 40 hours a week with a salary ranging between $18,000 and $32,000 per year depending on performance and experience.
Reneer said the village’s initial offer to the candidate would be $30,000 annually with the ability to negotiate a salary up to $32,000. Information on who the potential hire is was not discussed during the meeting.
Council also took action to hire Mad River Township Fiscal Officer Richard Ford as a temporary fiscal officer on Dec. 22 as needed to maintain the fiscal responsibilities of the village.
Ford will be compensated at $20 per hour for this service. Sampson said Ford would come in to help the village get caught up until a replacement is hired.
Food council negotiations tabled
Council tabled action on a memorandum of understanding with the Champaign County Local Food Council.
The memorandum states the food council and village would use the former St. Paris fire station as a shared use commercial kitchen. This would allow for certain food products and items to be made in a certified commercial kitchen.
Sampson said this memorandum was given to the village by the food council.
According to a Facebook page, the food council is a joint project of the Community Improvement Corporation and the Chamber of Commerce dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of marketing opportunities for Champaign County producers of specialty crop, niche market or value-added production.
After discussing options, council agreed to table action on the memorandum and asked Sampson to invite the food council to a village council meeting.
In other action:
•Council approved entering into an agreement to purchase a generator for the wastewater plant for $52,895 after Sampson presented three bids he received.
•Council authorized advertising for bids for the sale of property located at 9746 W. U.S. Route 36.
•The continuation of a public hearing concerning annexing property into the village will be held at 10 a.m. on Dec. 29 at the Champaign County Commissioners’ office, 1512 S. U.S. Route 68. Previously, a petition was started by the First Church of God, St. Paris. The property is 23.471 acres in Johnson Township. A map of the annexation plat shows the property includes parts of the township east of the village to Heck Hill Road.
