The Greenfield Village Council met for a regular session meeting on Monday, Aug. 9 to discuss current business within the village.

During his report to the council, Greenfield Finance Director Gary Lewis said the village had a combined total of $3,945,998.95 in the bank disbursed throughout its various funds.

“Of those funds, the largest unexpended amount is in the superfund with $1,050,239.36 followed by the general fund with $996,237.24 and the water fund with $646,105.16, so, generally speaking, our budget is doing pretty well for this time of year,” Lewis said.

He said at this time last year the village park fund had $45,000.

“This year it’s at $17,000 because of a contract that we had with Pros Consulting,” he said. “Pros Consulting is a company that was responsible for the design of the Felson Park concept that is provided to Ross County and ultimately incorporated into the grant application that resulted in the award of over $5,000,000 for improving the park, so even though right now that fund is kind of at a bare bones, ultimately it will pay off in a big way.”

In the absence of City Manager Todd Wilkin, Greenfield Village Council President Phil Clyburn gave Wilkin’s report to the council.

Clyburn presented members of the Greenfield Historical Society with the Citizen of the Month Award for their participation in a project to improve this historical Shiloh Baptist Church.

Clyburn announced Marcus Coleman as the Village of Greenfield Employee of the Month. “Recently, Mr. Coleman took the initiative to obtain his pesticide license,” said Clyburn.

Clyburn said the village has started to move forward with the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) legislation for the industrial park. “We’re working with the school on that legislation,” he said.

Clyburn said the village has been working with officials about the property at 333 South Second Street that has been vacated for many years and has become a nuisance to the local neighborhood.

“We’re in the process of getting the building inspected for structural integrity,” he said.

He also said the village was able to foreclose on another property.

“Unfortunately some individuals have been squatting on the property, and we need to provide them with eviction notifications which we have,” he said.

“If you have in your neighborhood, blight or trash or anything, you can call the police,” said Clyburn. “There is a ten-day period for the person who is responsible for that to get it cleaned up and taken care of.”

Clyburn said the village is working with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide funding for the project to paint the local water tower. “We are working on this project with DLZ to ensure we meet all the EPA requirements and standards,” he said.

Clyburn said the village is excited about the Main Street Downtown Greenfield organization’s efforts to revitalize the downtown area.

“We’ve gone from about 5,200 to about 4,200 in population,” he said. “It provided jobs for people in downtown, so it’s for economic development, and it’s also for us.”

During the meeting, the first reading of an ordinance to increase appropriations of the 240 Railroad Fund of the Village of Greenfield and within the 2024 budget was moved to a second reading.

An ordinance authorizing and directing the city manager or his designee to request bids for repair and paving of the village street was unanimously passed as an emergency.

An ordinance authorizing and directing the city manager or his designee to request bids for street tree planting and procurement was unanimously passed as an emergency.

A resolution approving the economic development transfer from submitted by R&B Smoke N Stuff LLC for 205 N. Washington Street and authorizing the city manager to complete and sign the transfer form was moved to a second reading.

During the public comments portion of the meeting, a resident expressed displeasure about the amount of time taken for the planned painting of the local water tower.

“We’ve got to get this water tower fixed, and I know that this water tower has been needing fixed for about 10 years,” he said. “The people would like to see some movement on that and not just someone say we have to get ahold of the EPA about something or another.”

“There is a process that you have to go through that the EPA mandates,” responded Lewis. “We will put it out for bid when EPA authorizes it to go out for bid.”

Another resident voiced concern about a main water line that burst in her driveway. She said calls to the village went unanswered, and this issue has not been addressed. She also echoed the concerns about the completion of the water tower painting and the delays in repairing the shelter house at Felson Park.

Councilmember Brenda Losey responded that she believed the repairs to the shelter house would be part of the larger Felson Park project.

Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.