The Madison Township trustees have taken the first legal step towards using their $568,071 allocation of American Rescue Plan Act Funds. The board voted at a special meeting Tuesday to approve a resolution adopting a micro procurement purchasing threshold of $50,000 to buy materials and equipment with ARPA dollars without going through competitive bidding.

The resolution was prepared by a consulting law firm after road department supervisor Jimmy Baker proposed using some of the federal dollars to pay for materials for the department to do some in-house blade patching on roads. According to trustees, Baker has presented a list of roads where the work could be done with a cost for material of $49,900.

The board took no formal action to spend the money pending a clarification of some wording in the resolution. Trustees also wanted to review a more detailed proposed uniform guidance procurement policy that the attorney also presented before committing ARPA funds to major projects.

The main purpose of the special meeting was to discuss specific priorities for using Madison’s ARPA funds.  All three trustees agreed that the focus of the spending will be on roads as the biggest benefit to township residents.

Each trustee reported that they drove the section of the township they were assigned last month and had lists of roads that were prioritized in order of most needing of repairs. However, no specific roads were discussed and no decisions were made.

“Unless they’re falling apart, chip and seal will do wonders on them,” trustee Tom Craft said about how the work should be approached.

Trustees also discussed a proposal by Fire Chief Ken Justus to use ARPA funds to install approximately 25 fire hydrants on Madison water system lines to improve fire safety and reduce insurance rates in residential areas and in areas with larger township businesses. The main question was whether smaller diameter lines in some of the areas would provide enough water flow to fight fires.

Justus told trustees that, depending on the size and proximity to a water tower, a line can provide anywhere from 500 gallons per minute to 1,400 gallons per minute for firefighting. 

“Five hundred gallons per minute is better than no hydrants at all,” he said. "Without hydrants, then we have to use our fire trucks.”

Justus said the department’s current tankers hold 1,500 or 1,600 gallons each. He also pointed out that it takes an additional five to 10 minutes to string the hose and flush the hydrant the first time one is refilled during a fire run.

Justus told the board he needs to talk with Madison water officials before putting together a proposed cost to install hydrants. However, he estimated the project will cost more than the $50,000 threshold.

During the trustees’ regular meeting that followed an hour after the special meeting, the board awarded a $157,838 contract to Kokosing Construction for milling and resurfacing Madison Road. Kokosing submitted the only bid for the project, which was over the engineer’s estimate but under the state 10% overage limit.

Trustees also approved a final payout to Simonson Construction for storm sewer work on Manner Drive. The project was $17,987 over bid because of unexpected problems from the installation of the original galvanized pipe.

Trustees will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday to appropriate money to pay for costs on the Madison Road project that exceeded a $140,000 Ohio Public Works Commission grant and the Manner Drive overages. The board also will review the ARPA procurement resolution language.

In other business, trustee Tom Craft said cones have been set up at the street department garage on Grace Avenue to designate where Madison residents can drop off yard waste from recent storms. He also reminded residents who call the office with a request to look into an issue to leave an address and telephone number so trustees can call them back.

Zoning Inspector Wayne Liggett reminded anyone who is doing remodeling or construction work that they need to call the county building department for electrical permits and the health department for plumbing permits.