The Goshen Township Board of Trustees met on July 5 to discuss the 2019 budget and approve funding of a new restroom facility at the Kathryn Stagge-Marr Park.
Steve Pegram, township administrator and fire chief, led the trustees and the public through the proposed budget.
Pegram noted that the trustees and all the department heads have been working together over the last two months in preparation for the 2019 budget proposal; the most notable “item of concern,” Pengram noted on the budget is the fire department’s expenses, which are catching up to its revenue.
“The only item of concern is you’ll notice in all funds we are starting to significantly affect our unencumbered, which is why we are talking about the renewal of the fire levy and whether or not to increase the revenue,” he said.
By 2019, the department will take in $497,082, but spend $495,980. Part of that is a new ambulance and monies still stemming from Station 19.
The trustees, minus Lisa Allen who wasn’t present, passed the proposed budget and thanked Pegram and the other department heads on their work.
Trustees then approved the resolution to move forward with putting a fire levy on the Nov. 6, 2018 ballot; the levy would be a five-year 4.5-mill levy.
The 2014 levy, which was 3.5-mill, expires in 2019.
“No matter what it has to be replaced or renewed in order for us to receive any revenue for 2020,” Pegram said.
Pegram originally was thinking a 5-mill levy would be necessary, but pushed it down to 4.5-mill because there’s more properties in Goshen Township, meaning more revenue.
The levy costs would entail $54 a year for a home market value of $100,000, Pegram said.
“If you want the best, you gotta pay,” Dan Hodges, trustee, said.
David Dinwiddie, one of the commissioners with the Park District, presented the proposal to partner with Goshen Township Board of Trustees on a new restroom for Kathryn Stagge-Marr Park.
Overall, the project to put a restroom facility in the park would cost $107,600.
Dinwiddie mentioned that the Park District and the Friends of the Park have been fundraising for three years to get a flushable restroom in the park. From that fundraising, $16,000 can go to the restroom. The district has also been awarded a grant of $15,100 to be used by Nov. 1, 2018 for a restroom facility.
Additionally, Joe Spaulding has pledged $10,000 to the project.
The district requested that the township pay for the building at a cost of $67,000. To which, $37,000 would come from the sale of the old township park, with $30,000 coming from the general fund.
Trustees present all approved the funding request to general applause from the public.
“It’s always nice to do something for the community, something of this magnitude that everyone knows is nothing but positive; there’s no negative to it, no shape, form or fashion that anybody could construe this as a negative,” Bob Hausermann, chairperson, said.
Going forward, the district also mentioned that it would like to partner with the township on further projects, like ADA compliant playground and parking lots, maintenance on equipment, help with grant writing and grounds maintenance.
The trustees also approved a part-time school resource officer for the 2018-2019 school year; the Goshen Board of Education is providing the “lion’s share of the funding,” Pegram said.
The new officer, Fred Alcorn, starts on July 16 at a starting salary of $19 per hour, continent upon him successfully completing the pre-employment screening process.
Alcorn is originally from Carlisle, Ohio where he worked with the Lindner Center of HOPE. Alcorn’s daughter, Kariss, a graduate of Carlisle High School was the first in school history to go to an Ivy League university: Harvard (although she was also accepted to Yale and Brown). And not just that, but according to Chief Bob Rose, she finished at the top of her class.
“If he performs with the school district like he did with his own children, we’re in good hands,” Rose said.