UNION — At its Oct. 15 meeting the City of Union passed a resolution to certify taxes to the county auditor. The meeting was moved to Tuesday due to Columbus Day on Monday.

“This is an annual housekeeping chore that we do every year authorizing the necessary money to be collected on our levies that are in effect,” said City Manager John Applegate.

Mayor Michael O’Callaghan reminded everyone that Thursday, Oct. 31 is Beggars Night and urged motorists to use caution. He also reminded everyone to vote on Nov. 5.

Councilmember Jay Niemann stated that he is glad the city is still performing leaf pick up again this year.

“I know last year we went a little bit later because of all the leaves,” Niemann said. “I know in my neighborhood we have a lot of leaves that don’t fall until about December third or fourth so I hope we will go longer than what is normally done.”

Vice Mayor John Bruns congratulated the city with the paving and maintenance of the streets as a result of the levy that was passed a few years ago.

“You are doing a good job of keeping everything in good repair,” Bruns said.

The next regularly scheduled meeting will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 12 due to the observance of Veterans Day on Monday, Nov. 11.

Applegate requested a motion from council to authorize the sale of surplus items on Govdeals.com. Council authorized the request.

Along with the leaf pick up program, the service department is busy preparing the trees along Main Street to be strung with lights for the Christmas season.

“That takes is a good month to do because we have 270 some trees,” Applegate noted.

He also reported that a new maintenance garage has been constructed. The city also met an EPA deadline for information about the approximately 3,000 household water service connections in the city.

“We were required to identify and locate all the service lines with longitude and latitude information,” Applegate said.

The EPA required the information to determine if any lead service pipes were still in place, but the city removed the last of those 25 years ago. He said that there are about 15 homes that have galvanized lines from the curb stop to the home.

“I have notified those people and they will have 10 years to get them replaced, but basically we are in compliance with everything else and we have met the deadline. It was chore to get there but that’s done,” Applegate said.

O’Callaghan brought up the topic of some communities having “forever chemicals” or PFAS in their water as one of the reasons the city will be supplying water to the Village of Phillipsburg. He asked how often the city tests its water supply for these chemicals.

Applegate said the original testing was performed by the EPA two years ago and that there will be requirements starting next year to have annual tests performed.

“We are PFAS free,” Applegate noted.

At the beginning of the meeting resident Linda Black thanked the city for continuing the leaf pick up program noting that the City of Clayton suspended it this year due to budget constraints. She also asked why Applegate had not responded via email to her questions regarding the sign ordinance.

Black was seeking further clarification of those rules.

“It was during a meeting a couple of weeks ago that Mr. Applegate recommended that you as council, read the ordinance in its entirety, and if you did I would hope that you would understand why I have asked these questions,” Black said.

“I posed specific questions that deserve answers and I don’t understand why email is not an acceptable way for the city to respond,” Black added. “I am seeking clarity and again, I don’t understand why it can’t be easily given by email.”

Applegate told Black that she has the information.

“It’s pretty self-explanatory and we have talked about it and it is,” Applegate stated. “It’s in the code sections. If you would like to come in and make an appointment and want something specific that is going on or happening, I will be more than glad to answer. But basically, signs are not allowed in the right-of-way. You know what happens. They get held for 30 days, they get destroyed or if somebody comes in they have to pay the fine or they don’t get the sign back. You know what the answer is to all those questions already.”

Black said she did not know all the answers. Applegate responded that was his comment and that he was not going to debate it any further.

Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].