2021 was full of challenges, disappointments, and accomplishments for West Lafayette

Bordenkircher

2021 was a year of challenges, disappointments, and accomplishments in our village. In 2021 we were faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, and it continues as we face the various different variants. While we have adopted and adapted to a different lifestyle, we continue to move forward with many positives in 2022.

As I start this address, I need to acknowledge and thank my staff, the officers of the village, specifically, the Fiscal Officer Amy Bourne, Village Administrator Tammy Hicks, previous Village Administrator Christopher Menapace, Fire Chief Damon Gould, and our new Police Chief Chris Walters all who work hard and more hours than they are paid for. The efforts of these individuals and their staffs made it possible to accomplish the tasks put before us.

We started 2021 with a carryover of $2,760,523.23 ($1,906,705.68 without the water fund) and ended the year with a carryover of $2,039,909.05 an increase of 6.9% which is $133,203.37 since the loss of the water fund. The general fund took more of a hit with adjusted payroll expenses due to the loss of the water fund and yet had an increased carryover of over $10,000. The 2022 budget is $1,632,428.00.

The Fiscal Officer Amy Bourne completed the installation of the new CMI Authority Finance and Payroll software and completed 2019-2020 financial audit with no findings. She attended many virtual trainings since COVID-19 did not allow in person trainings. Trainings included CMI for the financial software, annual trainings for public treasurers with the Ohio Municipal League (OML), Ohio Association of Public Treasurers (OAPT) and The Municipal Finance Officers Association (MFOA). She worked on finalizing The CARES Act distributions and reporting and establishing processes for the spending of the American Rescue Plan Act funds. She attended many webinars and trainings on the proper use and reporting of the ARPA money.  Total ARPA money received to date is $120,830.35 and another $120,000 is expected in early summer 2022.

Amy’s goals for 2022, are to implement direct deposit for payroll using the new financial software and continue professional development with trainings.

The fire department is currently staffed with 20 members. The members consist of one chief, two deputy chiefs, three captains, two lieutenants, and 12 firefighters. One member retired or resigned from the department in 2021.

The West Lafayette Fire Department responded to 169 calls for service in 2021. The call groups were as follows: Fire – 31, EMS Assist – 62, Good Intent – 36, Hazardous Condition – 26, False Calls – 11, and Service Calls – 3. Calls by Location, Village of West Lafayette – 53, Lafayette Township – 44, Oxford Township – 29, Linton Township – 15, White Eyes Township – 12, and Mutual Aid calls – 16. Firefighters volunteered 2,404 hours last year. Fire loss in 2021 was $1,048,751. Most of that loss, $900,000.00, was to the Olde Thyme Country Market on County Road 16, on Jan. 18, 2021.

Other significant activities completed in 2021 were that the department, made the final payment on the 2017 tanker, and we put into service a new 2021 Ford F-550 / Jomac Rescue. Total cost of the Jomac Rescue including equipment purchased with Firefighter Association Funds was $96,739. The unit was put into service in September 2021. The rescue truck has been paid off as well. The department also purchased a 2022 Pierce Enforcer Engine to replace our 1985 Pierce Dash Engine. The pre-build inspection was completed at Pierce in Appleton Wisconsin the second week of December. The engine is scheduled for completion in July 2022 at a cost of $680,000.

We would also like to thank the citizens for their continued support of the department through our fundraising activities and levy support. None of this would be possible without you. Thank you for helping us protect you.

During 2021 the police department had a number of internal issues and with much disappointment and pain it has come through the period of difficulty and is rebuilding.

In October 2021 Christopher Walters was appointed police chief after serving 21 years at the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office. Prior to that he had served here in West Lafayette for five years. The police department consists of the chief, a sergeant, one corporal, a patrolman and three part-time patrolmen. All officers at the police department are certified by the State of Ohio and are declared to be law enforcement officers of the state and conservators of the peace with the authority to arrest.

2021 brought some new faces to the police department full time. Corporal Jose’ Hernandez came on full time in late September 2021 to the swing shift after serving part time at the department for a year. Corporal Hernandez uses his 16 years of experience to serve the village. Thomas Couts was hired as full-time sergeant the first of December 2021 and assigned to the evening shift. Sgt. Couts brings with him 20 plus years at the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office where he held numerous positions and roles to include sergeant, detective, special response team (SRT) and the hostage negotiator. Sgt Couts was also the investigator for the Harrison County Prosecutors Office for four years, full time patrolman at Strasburg Police Department for a year and half and is assistant chief for Port Washington Police Department. Officer Brandon Bishop was hired mid-December 2021 and assigned to night shift. He brings with him nine years of experience to the department. Officer Bishop is also a part time officer at Midvale and Port Washington Police Departments and is a state certified firearms instructor. The police department utilizes three part time officers, Ptl. Donnie Bradford, Ptl. Aaron Carbajal and Ptl. Amanda Rossiter to fill in when needed for scheduling. Each officer shows excitement for the new direction and restructuring of the police department.

Moving forward into 2022, we are excited to continue with community service projects such as the Easter Egg Hunt, kids’ carnival and National Night Out at the park.

The police department’s annual report is available for review and are as follows; 5,691 calls for service, 364 reports taken, 57 traffic crashes, 508 traffic stops, 125 traffic citations, 88 civil papers served, nine warrants served, nine OVI arrests, 37 misdemeanor arrests and 14 felony arrests.

The village administrator started the year with Christopher Menapace resigning in the third quarter to take other employment. We wish him well in his current endeavors. Our new village administrator Tammy Hicks started with the village in December. The office of the village administrator oversaw many projects in 2021.

The conversion to Coshocton water was the major project in the village in 2021. With the exception of a few contractual items that have been addressed, the project is complete.

The street department collected 48 boxes of leaves during leaf collection this last year, down from previous years due largely to the trimming of the street tree canopy. 20 tons of salt and sand was dispensed during the winter months. Street paving included Wall Street and West Platt Street. Four alleys were paved with asphalt grindings. Due to a grant program many street signs will be replaced. Street signs were ordered and will be delivered through Lafayette Township.

The parks department had a new restroom facility constructed at Water Works Park. Building permits were issued as follows: 25 building permits issued. Of these 25 permits, there were: Two new homes; 12 fences; six garages/storage buildings; two picnic shelters; two room additions; one driveway; $1026.70 in building permit fees were collected. Two sewer tap permits were issued with $1,200 in fees collected.

Code enforcement and compliance resulted in 74 citations being issued and break down as follows: Nine dilapidated structures; 12 junk auto; 27 nuisance-noxious; seven trees-shrubs; 19 grass weeds; complaints were corrected

In the wastewater department, Ryan Cottrell obtained his Class 2 license and is now the Village of West Lafayette’s Operator of Record. Nathan Gress was hired as a part time operator in training in March, has since passed the Class 1 test, and is expected to receive the Class 1 licensure in April of 2022. Ryan and Nathan have improved the efficacy of treatment at the wastewater plant and quality of life in the village through the following projects.

The wastewater treatment plant treated 63 million gallons of raw sewage and the sludge was belt pressed once. No sludge was land applied in 2021 due to the timing of inclement weather. Security and safety lights were repaired by Hielscher Clarke around the clarifiers and at the mix box. Chain tensioners were added to solve the issue of clarifier malfunction due to chains slipping off the sprockets, and insulated guards were fabricated by the wastewater plant staff to prevent lockup from freezing in the cold temperatures.

Treatment process changes were made such that the bacterial foam in the aeration basin and clarifiers are significantly reduced, vastly improving the quality of effluent discharged to the river.

There is a new revenue stream in the form of treating the waste from septic haulers. Combined, the septic haulers have provided and additional $10,614 in additional revenue.

The forced main system that runs from Pearl Valley Cheese to West Lafayette is now under ownership of the village which provides additional revenue. Modifications were made to the caps of the clean-outs in the forced main reducing the time required maintain the line. The Pearl Valley Cheese’s lift station now has a backup system installed, granting an extra layer of protection from an overflow should the primary system fail.

All sewer lines were inspected with the crawler camera and, likely for the first time. All accessible sewer lines were properly jetted and cleaned for the entirety of the village. After the jetting, the lines were thoroughly inspected by crawler camera again and no critical deficiencies were found.

All lift stations now have security lights installed. Their wet wells were also all properly cleaned out. River Glenn’s lift station, in particular, was given a significant upgrade by having new rails, bases, and discharge pipes installed.

A new storm drain was installed on Fifth Street from the bus garage to Kirk Street. The village replaced the storm drain on South Oak from Sixth Street to the Ridgewood Middle School. The catch basin at Union and Center Street was repaired.

The Village Administrator’s goals in 2022 include. (I.) A $3.38 Million Critical Infrastructure Grant – (a) Begin the work on the new storm water and sanitary sewer outfall project, replacing the village main line for storm water drainage to the river and creating a separate Sanitary sewer outfall to the river. (b) Replacing the old storm sewer which was sealed on Main Street from the intersections of Oak to Gay with new 24” storm sewer line.

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will be paving SR 93 (North Kirk Street, Main Street, and Plainfield Road) this coming summer. (II.) Replacement of a sewer line from Indian Circle to Seventh Street (III.) The Neighborhood Revitalization Grant – will include many upgrades and additions at Waterworks Park, street paving, parking lot paving, streetlights, and improving ADA at the village administration building.

(IV.) There will be additional paving throughout the village through Ohio Public Works Grant Which include Gay and Fourth streets. We will finalize the grant application for Safe Routes for Schools and the Tap Grant that provides funding for sidewalks. The village administrator will encourage the residents to participate in aesthetics and pride in their village.

Village council faced many challenges and made many positive moves for the village, which included a 2% pay increase for the village employees for 2022, and restrooms for the Water Park Ball Diamonds.

A special thank you and sincere appreciation to all the village employees, the street department employees John Newel, sewer operator Ryan Cottrell, Nathan Gress, Office Manager Amy Medley, police officers, and firefighters for a job well done. Thank you, solicitor Joel Blue, for his patience and guidance.

Thank you also to the West Lafayette Rotary for their continued beautification projects on Main Street and the West Lafayette Chamber of Commerce for broadening the business community and moving the village forward.

I must thank the citizens and employees of the Village of West Lafayette for their support throughout 2021, a difficult year, and for your continued support in 2022. We hope that 2022 will prove to be a good year and that residents of the village will continue to take pride in their homes and ensure that they personally make every effort to comply with village ordinances to ensure an attractive village that is not only attractive to those of us who are residents and call this home but to new business opportunities as well. If we do not invest in our own community, how can we expect an outsider to do so.

Respectfully Submitted

Stephen R. Bordenkircher

Mayor

Village of West Lafayette

Category: People & Places