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Goshen Township trustees wrap up business for 2024

GOSHEN TOWNSHIP — The board of trustees closed the book on the township’s 2024 business in its annual year-end meeting Wednesday, approving several routine items.

Presenting the township’s final budget for 2024 Fiscal Officer Michele Barratt said that the township entered 2024 with an initial balance of $908,060.44 and will end the year with an increased carryover balance of $1,213,530.94, with the township’s revenue outpacing its expenditures in 2024 at $2,279,872. 81 and $1,974,402.31, respectively. Trustees voted unanimously to approve the final budget, and also approved routine resolutions authorizing Barratt to move township funds within the fund level, and to request cash advances from the Mahoning County Auditor, and authorizing health care premium payouts for township employees that opt out of healthcare.

Trustees also voted to approve a $12,000 contract for engineering services with Thomas Fok & Associates Inc. for the upcoming second phase of the Duck Creek Road Paving Project. Trustee Shawn Mesler said that the first advertisement for bids will be on Feb. 15, with the second to follow on Feb. 25, and all bids will be due not later than 2 p.m. March 11 so trustees can open the bids later that evening when they meet for their March meeting at 6 p.m. Mesler also noted that the project could be completed no earlier that July 8, and no later than Sept. 8.

Mesler also said that he had been contacted by a property owner who is currently developing a property on First Street in Damascus which has a large tree which falls in the township’s right of way that needs to be removed. The property owner has requested the township pay for the tree to be cut down and removed, and he will pay for the remaining removal costs such as grinding away the stump, and trustees voted unanimously to seek quotes to have the tree removed.

During his report Police Chief John Calko presented trustees with annual reports on the department Drug Trust and Law Enforcement Trust Funds. Calko said that the Drug Trust Fund had a beginning balance of $3,599.64 in 2024, and had two expenditures of $719, and $50 both for training for a total of $769 and a single deposit of $250 from the court for a year-end balance of $2,830. The Law Enforcement Trust Fund had a beginning balance of $8,056.93, with a single withdrawal of $25, and several deposits from the courts totalling $1,451 for a final balance of $9,582.93.

“As you can see we got a lot more in than we took out,” said Calko.

Calko also told trustees that he will present his in-depth year end report for the department at their next meeting and that he intended to purchase two used laptops for the department using funding from the department’s Donations Fund at a cost of $1,020 for two refurbished units including setup and install. Calko explained that one computer would be used as a service computer for one of the department’s officers who did not currently have one, and the other would be used for the department’s school resource officers, because while the department’s new record management software can be accessed remotely it must be done from a secure computer.

While Road Foreman Matt Springer was not in attendance Trustee John Bricker presented his report on his behalf, and said that the department had used 58 tons of salt treating township roads during December, and responded to five severe weather events. Bricker thanked the Springer and the rest of the department’s employees for their recent efforts in keeping the township’s roads clear and safe.

“I want to give a shoutout to those guys for everything they’ve done to keep our roads clear these last few weeks,” said Bricker.

The board of trustees will meet next for their first regular meeting of 2025 at 6 p.m. Feb. 11.

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