At the January 10, 2017 meeting of the Bethel Township Miami Trustees, the trustees conducted their annual reorganization meeting. The trustees elected Trustee Beth van Haaren as President of the Board and Trustee Gary Biggs as Vice-President for 2017. In addition, they established the meeting dates for the Board of Trustees for the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the Bethel Township Meeting Room at 8735 S Second Street in Brandt. In addition, they set the first, third and fifth Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m. for Workshop Sessions at the same location if needed.
The trustees appointed Trustee Jerry Hirt as a representative to the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission and to the Miami County Council.
Trustee van Haaren was appointed as the alternate to the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, and a representative to the Bethel Township Volunteer Fire Fighters’ Dependents Fund.
Trustee Gary Biggs was appointed as an alternate to the Miami County Council and a representative to the Bethel Township Volunteer Fire Fighters’ Dependents Fund.
Township Administration Andy Ehrhart will serve on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission and as the Debris Manager for Bethel Township under the Miami County Debris Management Plan. Bethel West Cemetery and Friendship Park were designated as debris collection sites as required under the plan.
In addition, the trustees approved the following salaries for elected officials in the township. Hirt and van Haaren will receive $12,346, Biggs will receive$12,964, and Fiscal Officer Deborah Watson will receive $22,282 for 2017.
In regular business, the trustees approved the adoption of the permanent appropriations for 2016 as the temporary appropriations for 2017 and passed a resolution authorizing the payment of $2,227.78 for dues to the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.
They also authorized the payment of $2,800 for the 2017 license of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Software and a payment of $9,315 to Access Engineering for design work on the Phoneton Water System.
In addition, they approved a resolution to retain Carter Law, LLC to represent the township in all legal and annexation matters that may occur.
Furthermore, the trustees approved the Ohio Township Association Risk Management Authority as the insurance carrier for legal liability, automobile liability, wrongful acts coverage, automobile physical coverage and property coverage at a cost not to exceed $17,000.
For Planning and Zoning, the trustees unanimously approved a re-zoning request from Debra Davis to rezone and split 4.03acres from a 10.024 acre parcel located at 5700 SR 571 and to change the zoning from A-2 General Agriculture to A-1 Domestic Agriculture. They approved the lot split and rezoning on the condition that it will be joined to an existing 10.1-acre parcel within a year to prevent the lot from being land locked.
They also reappointed Doug Gross to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) for a term to expire December 2021.
In addition, Planning and Zoning Direct Markey Caskey reported that the BZA would meet on January 26, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. to hear three variance applications. The requests are for a pole barn height variances at 5930 Rudy Road and 6185 Dayton-Brandt Road, and a variance for a pole barn square footage request at 7930 Singer Road.
The Bethel Zoning Commission will also meet on January 26, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. to hear a request to rezone 2.518 acres at 968 Bellefontaine Road from R-1AAA Residential to B-2 Business for the purposes of establishing a veterinary clinic at that location.
Fire Chief Ehrhart announced that the Fire Department made 25 runs between December 24, 2016 and January 6, 2017. Twenty-two of the calls were for emergency medical services including two motor vehicle accidents.
The next meeting of the Bethel Township Trustees is scheduled for January 24, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. in the township meeting room. The township offices will be closed on January 16, 2017 in recognition of the Martin Luther King Holiday.
