The recent death of Mike Waldeck has left a vacancy on the Danville Village Council, which must appoint someone within 30 days to fill out the rest of his term.
If the council fails to appoint someone, Mayor Joe Mazzari will be required to appoint a replacement, Laurie Vess, clerk-treasure for Danville, told the Mount Vernon News.
Waldeck’s term ends on Dec. 31, 2025, she said.
Anyone who is interested in filling the position needs to send a letter of interest by mail to P.O. Box W Danville, Oh 43014 or drop it off at the clerk’s office at 512 South Market Street, Vess said. Potential appointees can attend the Monday, Sept. 18 Village Council meeting to introduce themselves.
During the Sept. 5 Village Council meeting, Vess said council members told Union Township Trustee Tyrell Samples that Danville was not having problems with annexations. They were just fact-finding to try to better understand the process.
The Village Council had its first reading to accept the millage rates submitted by the Knox County Auditor for 2024, Vess said. A 5-mill replacement levy for the Police Department and a 1-mill park levy continue to be assessed, the same rates as were adopted for 2023 and approved by voters.
Sewer, water lines repaired
The sewer line on Market Street was repaired. Over the weekend a water line break occurred just a few feet from it and it also had to be fixed.
The Village Council plans to go in front of the Knox County Commission at the start of 2024 to ask for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for a new waterline project, which Vess said was shovel-ready.
State inspectors halt construction for lack of permits
State inspectors visited Danville and other local governments in Knox County to put a halt to construction projects that required state applications and state permissions.
A state building inspector also visited Danville’s zoning enforcement officer, Todd Bender, to help the village know what it can do to make sure permissions are sought and how they should quiz contractors, who already should know what they need.
One example of work that was halted was a deck that was replaced with a larger deck, according to a report by Bender sent to the Village Council.
“So they need to get an application put in and get approval before they can finish that,” according to the report, Vess said.
Alleys, homes targeted for cleanup
At the Aug. 21 meeting, it was reported that many alleys needed to be cleaned. Weeds were getting high. Bender’s report said that many of the locations in the alleys have been cleaned up, with just a few spots left, she said.
Letters were sent to a couple of homes about weeds and junk on their properties that also must be cleaned.
Bender asked Danville’s solicitor to find out how the village would go about condemning a building.
Danville was warned that ball fields throughout the county were being broken into and baseball equipment was stolen.
Fall cleanup scheduled on Sept. 30
The fall cleanup day is tentatively scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 30, Vess said. Danville partners with Union and Brinkhaven Townships at the Danville Village Park for the spring and fall cleanups. The village sponsors the fall cleanup, with the townships handling the spring event.
Residents can pay $20 per truckload to get rid of their junk, she said. Some restrictions will be in place, including no tires, and no paint cans with liquid in them (if sand or sawdust has been added to dry up the paint they may be accepted).
For the first time that Danville officials can remember, an indigent person died in the village. Staff are working on taking care of his burial, which is the village’s responsibility to fund, she said.
Parking, camping problems directed to police
Police Chief Daniel Weckesser was instructed to speak with people who have started parking along Main Street again where parking is not allowed, Vess said. They will be given suggestions for alternatives.
A police officer is out on workers’ compensation as he undergoes therapy on his arm. The officer was injured while apprehending a suspect.
Concerns were expressed during the Village Council meeting that people are staying at the primitive camping area for more than a couple of days, Vess said. Police will ask them to move on, as they are not allowed to stay more than one or two nights.
People are staying at a couple of other places in Danville. They also will be asked to move along.
