March 2026
NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES 3-10-2026
Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Those in attendance were Fire Chief, Craig Knox, was absent; Larken Slack, Derek Dozer and Randy Elson; Township Trustees and Paula Frank, Fiscal Officer. Also in attendance were Township residents: Sam Lantz and Shane Stephenson
Meeting was called to order by Trustee Dozer at 6:00 pm.
Pledge to the flag was led by Derek Dozer.
Agenda: approved.
Minutes: *Derek pointed out that in the sentence regarding Tad Lantz’s insurance – pronoun needs changed to “his” instead of “her”. Minutes have been updated to reflect that.
Public Participation:
· None.
Fire Department Business:
· There were 96 calls dispatched in February. 63 calls in Muskingum County, 33 in Perry County. 224 calls for 2026, which is 8 less than the previous year. We are averaging 3.8 calls per day.
· There were 18 call offs in February. There were no shifts that were not covered.
· The officers met on March 5. The group will meet at least two more times this year, July 30th and October 22nd.
· Future equipment purchases: All face pieces (masks) for the SCBA's will reach their end of life in 2027. To replace all at once is around $17,000. We are working on a quote to replace half this year and half next year. The rescue airbags will also reach end of life next year. Mason and Devin are working on quotes for those.
· Building & Grounds: Allen is still trying to get plans from Pat for the stairwell enclosure. The engineer's office has agreed to help with the specifications for the concrete project. They requested a rough estimate of the work to be done. Jeff Swingle is working on getting this information.
· The Firefighter's Association comedy night at Eaglestick's was a success, the estimated profit is around $3500.00. The firefighters donated a basket containing fire blankets, smoke/co detectors, fire extinguishers, and a round of golf for four at Eaglesticks to the Zack Smith Foundation for their auction at Casino Night. I am also adding a certificate for a free day rental of the gymnasium from the department and township. The Auxiliary's Spring Bazaar is this Saturday, the 14th, from 9:00a - 3:00p.
· Brandon Stone has resigned from the department due to new fulltime employment and personal issues he is dealing with.
Assistant Chief: None.
Road Report:
· Working on Workman and Tipton. Also worked on Holbert. Hauled some stone on Lewellyn.
· Lewellyn - Jason put 2 loads of 4’s and a load of 57’s on Lewellyn. Derek suggested once it dries out that they hit it some more. The logging company is going to reimburse for some of the cost of the stone being hauled in there.
· Worked on Lower Krofft and removed some trees there and on Rucker.
· They need to stone Ford Road still.
· Jason had to dig out a school bus on Slack hill this last snow storm.
· Sam started patching some today.
· The F-550 went down in the last storm. The air intake for the turbo was cracked on the hard plastic underneath it.
· Jason’s truck is still having hydraulic issues. It is still in the repair shop.
· The last of the salt has been delivered.
· They have also worked on Payne Road and Leffler Road.
· Catch basin on Roydale was not catching all the water causing an issue for a landowner. The ground was saturated and that made the issue worse.
Old Business:
· Larken said they got some prices on trucks to get an idea of cost. Everyone does realize we will have to bid out the specs and accept sealed bids before making this purchase.
o Peterbilt did not call him back so no price from them.
o Freightliner – Cummings motor 350 horse – $111, 654.00. They have a heavier truck that is $133,000.00. It will take about 60 days for a truck to be delivered from both Freightliner and Kenworth.
o International – HB607 – 350 horse - $122, 674.86.
o Kenworth – T480 - $135,877.00.
· Jason got a price on a 14’ bed, 10’ plow and valves, spreader, paint, etc. from Truck Pro Enterprises. The bed is $43,680.00. Vales are $11,940.00. Controller $7,350.00. PTO pump is $5,160.
· Looks like $200,000 now for a new truck and bed.
· Derek asked if there could be ceramic coatings on a new truck and bed to seal the frames so they don’t rust.
· Larken would like to see us pay off the Backhoe and Skid Steer before we purchase anything else.
· Derek asked if FO could contact Huntington and see if there was any penalty to pay off the Backhoe and Skid Steer early.
New Business:
· Storm damage from the big snow storm in January – Larken estimated about $32,000 for equipment, supplies and salaries.
Trustees Reports:
Elson –
· None.
Dozer –
· Jenna Mitchell on Lewellyn – asking for stone.
· Teresa Barnes – thanked them for work done on Workman Road.
· Tyler Markham - Trouble Lane – would like to know if the township would like to take over the maintenance of that road. Wondered what it would take to bring that up to standards. Jason said the County will have to approve that first.
· Linda Kelly – mud on Mahon Road. Jason addressed that.
· Kenny Beisser called about Payne and Leffler – that has been addressed.
· Tina Engle called about catch basin on Roydale Drive was filling up.
· Hole in front of Dady’s garage on Crock – has been addressed.
· Each trustee received a letter from AEP regarding transmission line rebuilds in the Fultonham area.
Slack –
· Larken said he got a call from Mr. Cole on Harlen about potholes.
· Larken said they had Workman looking good until it snowed then the potholes reappeared.
· Vicki McConnell called about water running off her hill on Shaw. Larken thinks they can grade it so it can be mowed, but told her she will need to wait a bit before they get to that. It is technically the water department’s issue.
· Jason priced a roller since the rental prices is $4700 for a month rental. There were a few suggestions made on who might have rollers for sale
Fiscal Officer Report:
· Distributed Grassroots Clippings
· Resolution 03/2026 was presented to accept permanent appropriations for FY 2026.
· FO distributed culvert pricing from Win Supply.
· The indigent burial fees were paid to the two funeral homes requesting payment.
· Tad Lantz has his certificate of insurance for cemetery mowing.
· FO has asked Mark Zanghi for resolutions to have assessments added to Bolyard ($3017.83) and Cannon ($1319.00) properties for junk motor vehicle towing expenses. The Prosecutor’s office reached out yesterday to let us know that the Cannon property was transferred to Tom Presley in July, so we will not receive the full amount requested which was $1319.00. They informed the FO that the most they could collect was around $400 but only if the new owner agrees to pay it.
· The Muskingum County Township Assoc. Spring meeting is this Thursday night – is anyone planning to attend?
· Wendy French with OTARMA is asking for a virtual or in-person meeting with a representative from the Township to review our policy. FO asked who would be willing to meet with her. Derek agreed to Friday, April 3rd at 10 am for a virtual call. FO will let Wendy know.
· FO spoke with representatives from Huntington Bank on February 27th about their options for sweep accounts for local government interest bearing options as well as to discuss the monthly banking fees paid by the Township. While they do not offer a “sweep” account, they do offer a savings account called an Insured Cash Sweep (ICS) that is just a savings account that any amount of money can be swept into and it is currently making 3% interest. They explained that our money is collateralized at 60% currently – the bank has to pay for that collateralization. An ICS is not required to be collateralized because it is FDIC insured. There are no banking fees on this type of account. So between the large amount of funds that need to be collateralized and our EMS lockbox, there is no way to avoid monthly fees. Lockbox fees alone per month are around $350 but there is something that causes a deduction on the fee because we rarely pay that much in fees. They noted that in January alone, if we had put $1M in an ICS account, the township would have made $2547. We typically have in excess of $1M in the checking account, so that could always be in savings and just have in checking what we need to cover monthly expenses.
Trustee Slack made a motion to pay bills. Trustee Dozer seconded the motion. Motion carried.
All bills presented were deemed to be valid expenditures and were to be paid as presented.
The next monthly meeting will be held on April 14, 2026 at 6:00 pm.
Meeting adjourned at 7:29 pm.
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