New building in Haskins on schedule

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File photo. A view
inside the Haskins Town Hall building. (Aaron Carpenter/Sentinel-Tribune)

HASKINS – A design build team is in place for the upcoming construction of a new municipal hall.
Village Administrator Colby Carroll said Monday night that contracts for the project had come in and had
already been reviewed and signed.
Earlier this month, village council unanimously voted to approve an agreement with Buehrer Group
Architecture and Engineering, and Midwest Construction, Maumee, for the project.
Schematics for the exterior and interior of the building have been posted in the lobby of the current
village hall, a former church building at 100 N. Church St.
The new 3,911-square-foot building, to be constructed on the site of the former Haskins Elementary School
on North Findlay Street, will include a large council chamber space, conference room and police office.

In November, council approved a one-year, $400,000 construction note to finance the project.
Carroll said the permit process is expected to begin within the next two weeks, with construction
starting in late May or early June.
An unusually contentious moment arose during the meeting concerning the payment of accounts, in which
monthly expenses are voted on. It has been the practice at council for questions to be asked about the
payments before a motion to pay them is formally made and voted on.
However, Mayor Paul Gies proposed that a motion to pay the accounts first be made and seconded before the
discussion. He later said this was more in keeping with how other council matters were handled.
Councilwoman Ashley Brooks, who often poses questions about various bills during the meetings, took issue
with the proposal, opining that it made it seem as though approval of the accounts would then be a
foregone conclusion.
As the discussion continued, it appeared as though parliamentary procedure would not allow a vote on the
accounts at Monday’s meeting – meaning the issue would be delayed until May. This prompted a testy
exchange between Brooks and Gies, which later drew in comment from Village Clerk/Treasurer Lisa Heft.

In the end, after a motion to undertake the accounts as proposed by Gies died for lack of a second, the
matter proceeded as usual. Payment of accounts later passed unanimously.
In other business, council:
• Discussed the ongoing issue of feral cats in the village, a topic first broached in October. Property
damage has been associated with the felines, which some residents capture, have spayed or neutered, and
then release back into the wild.
Councilwoman Julie Snyder, chair of the rules and ordinances committee, said she has been looking into
related grants that could be used to curtail the problem.
"Most people just want to ‘feed the kitty’ and not have any responsibility," she said of the
problem.
• Was introduced to new part-time village police officer Landon King, who had been with the village’s
auxiliary and recently completed the police academy. "He’s getting thrown to the fire pretty
quick," said Carroll, who also serves as police chief.
• Approved $21,565 for anticipated road work. The vote was made in furtherance of a grant application
seeking additional work planned on Liberty Hi Road between Main Street and King Road, an area in need of
repair. "We have cars going off of each side, which is making matters worse," said Brooks.
• Approved an ordinance designating portions of West Main Street, including areas on the east and west
side of Watts Road, as no-parking areas.

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