October 2009

October, 2009

LEAF PICKUP / BRUSH PICKUP

Leaf season has returned and again the Village asks for your cooperation in the gathering of leaves. As in the past, please do not rake your leaves into the gutter or street but rather place them near the edge of the roadway. Also do not place sticks, brush, or grass clippings in with your leaves…these items should be placed in the Maharg Yard Waste Bags that are available at local stores. Based on weather and availability, the Street Dept. will be going around regularly to gather leaves, thus calls to the Village office are not necessary as we will get to them at our next and earliest opportunity.

Brush pick-up will continue through the fall weather and will be conducted on the 1^st Monday only of each month. Our curbside pickup is for those branches that you personally trim from your trees or those that come down in storms. If you hire someone to trim your trees, your contractor is responsible for cleaning up the brush. As is always the case, be sure to monitor your trees that hang over the streets, alleys or sidewalks and keep them trimmed (10’ clearance) or it will be necessary for the village to do the work prior to snow removal time.

UPCOMING ELECTION DAY:

The upcoming November 3^rd ballot includes election of four council members along with the replacement of one existing levy for Storm Water Control funds. This levy, which has been in place since the early 1990’s, is utilized to pay for expenses for the ongoing improvement of our village sewer system. Over the past 15 years we have utilized these funds to correct and improve flooding conditions within the village, improve our storm sewer system with additional outlets directly to the Wabash River and to leverage for additional grant funds for storm water improvements. These funds have been vital to our ability to make progress in improving our sewer system and eliminating flooding issues and will continue to be very important as we prepare for the final two stages of our sewer separation projects. We urge everyone to get out and vote and hope you will continue to support the Village with a yes vote on this important levy. Note: Remember that all Fort Recovery, Gibson and Recovery Township residents will continue to vote at the Fort Recovery Middle/Elementary School and as with all elections your are required to bring a document of identification. Any questions can be addressed to the Mercer County Board of Elections at 419-586-2215.

SEWER SEPARATION PROJECT – PHASE I:

As has been discussed for the past few years, the Village is working to complete the sewer separation for the entire village as directed by the OEPA. Phase I will consist of separated sewers for everyone along S. Wayne St., S. Elm, St., Wiggs St., Greenville Road, and everyone that currently has an outlet to the Buck Ditch tile. Also as part of this project, we will be completing street reconstruction of all of S. Wayne Street and S. Elm Street from Butler Street to Milligan Street. This reconstruction will include new curbing, sidewalks, and street lamps along with any necessary utility improvements. We should be putting the bid package out in the next week or so with construction to begin shortly thereafter. This construction will have a completion date of November, 2010. As always there will be a great

deal of inconvenience for those involved and we ask for your patience and understanding during the construction. Phase II of the separation project will consist of the remaining portions of town especially those in the east and northeast sections of the village. We anticipate proceeding with Phase II at our earliest opportunity based on funding availability. As discussed in previous newsletters, a portion of the costs of these sanitary and storm improvements will be paid through a Debt Service Fee that will be added to the utility bills as we proceed. We continue to do our best to obtain low cost funding and will try to keep this fee to a minimum in order to repay any necessary loans. Any questions can be directed to Village Administrator Randy Diller at 419-375-1056.

NOTES: As a reminder, as we proceed with the separation project it is very important, along with being a requirement, that all sanitary (toilets, sinks, washing machines, etc) be separated from storm water (downspouts, sump pumps, cisterns, etc.). This may and likely will require many homes to complete some work to their sewer tiles to complete this separation and allow all storm water be piped to the Wabash River and all sanitary only to be pumped to the lagoons. Anyone in these upcoming construction areas should keep this in mind when completing any plumbing maintenance or landscaping projects. Also, it is important that all local residents are aware that the village currently operates a Combined Sewer System which provides for Combined Sewer Overflows during rain events. During times of rain, these overflows will occur in locations just east and west of the N. Wayne Street bridge and in the Fort Site / Ambassador Park area, all of which are identified with signs indicating their locations. During overflow events it is possible that some health concerns are present. Anyone with questions or concerns should contact the Village of Fort Recovery at 419-375-1056.

A quick reminder to everyone to help keep the storm water catch basins near your home cleaned off during the leaf season (& year round) to help us avoid backups in rain events. Also it would be very helpful and appreciated if everyone would take the opportunity to spray or pull the grass and weeds between the curb gutters and the asphalt along their property. We are hesitant to spray these areas due to possible overspray affecting adjoining yards and the fact that the Village maintains approximately 13 miles of roadway. If everyone would help with the area along their properties we can continue to make Fort Recovery an attractive site to the many visitors that come to our community each year.

The Village instituted a Tree Commission this past year to better handle the planting, removal and general maintenance of all trees located in the public right-of way. Specific rules now apply to all trees located in the curb lawn areas along streets and on any other public property. Anyone wishing to plant a tree on the public right-of-way area or desiring maintenance on existing trees should contact the village offices or Mayor Broerman regarding the policies and procedures for the Tree Commission.

As always we welcome your input and invite you to our Council meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month, 7:30 p.m. in the Village Hall. If you have any specific concerns or questions, feel free to contact Randy, Mayor Broerman or any of the Council Members.

Upcoming Dates of Interest: (Check out the website at www.fortrecovery.org for a list of all local events)

October 31 –-3:15 p.m. – Merchants Halloween Parade (meet at High School Commons area), costume judging -

November 3–- 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. – Election Day @ Fort Recovery Middle/Elementary School

November 14 –- 4:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Fort Recovery Merchants Christmas Open House