GAMBIER — Gambier Village council approved an emergency appropriation Monday in ordering an automated chlorine feed system at a cost of $33,606 from Henry P. Thompson Co. of Milford. Council also approved a small easement on West Brooklyn Street, where what the Thompson Company calls a two-pump sodium hypochlorite feed system will be housed.
In a May 8 letter, the Ohio EPA gave the city until Aug. 8 to construct a new, permanent automated chlorine system, necessary because the village’s water, which comes by pipeline from the city of Mount Vernon, is found at times to have deficient amounts of chlorine. Village Administrator R.C. Wise said following the council session that it will take at least 14 weeks for Thompson Co. to build the two-pump sodium hypochlorite system, which would put project completion somewhere around mid-October if on schedule. Although that will exceed EPA’s 90-day deadline, Wise said he is confident the village will be on track and not suffer further EPA violations.
Wise said he only sought one bid for the project — from the Henry P. Thompson Co. — because they had been part of past discussions as to what type of automated chlorine system the village needs going back to project development undertaken at that time by CT Consultants, which often works with the village on infrastructure projects. Because the new chlorine system involved an expenditure under $50,000, it did not require an ordinance, he noted.
Wise said the largest amounts of water used by customers occur when a full contingent of Kenyon College students are on campus and taking fall and spring classes. But when classes are not at full tilt, less water is used in the village with the amount of chlorine also dropping to a level where “residual levels are too low,” he noted. The automated chlorine feed system to be constructed will resolve that problem.
During her Mayor’s report, Mayor Kachen Kimmell noted that the elected mayor’s position she holds, as well as two village council seats, will be on the November ballot. This means any candidates seeking re-election, or challenges seeking to unseat incumbents, must have at least 50 valid signatures of registered voters on the required forms to the Knox County Board of Elections by Aug. 7. She advises all potential candidates, including herself, to collect well above 50 signatures as some are usually deemed invalid.
The two council seats up for grabs are currently held by Harold Ballard, a former Kenyon faculty member, and Juan Pastor, a substitute teacher with Mount Vernon City Schools. Ballard, who is filling the unexpired term of former village councilmember Kirk Emmert, told the News after the council meeting that he will seek re-election.
Pastor, however, said he does not plan to seek re-election. Asked why, he offered, “They (fellow councilmembers) don’t like it when you contradict them.”
During previous council meetings, Pastor has often taken issue with how notice of council committee meetings have been made known to each councilmember. He has contended, on several occasions, he was not properly apprised of meetings he would have attended if properly informed.
