By Don Rush

The Oxford Village Council met last month on June 29. In attendance were council members Lori Bourgeau, Maureen Helmuth, Ashley Ross and council president pro-tem Allison Kemp. Village president Kelsey Cooke was absent.

Recognized

During audience participation, Oxford Police Chief Mike Solwold gave an emotional presentation and recognition about Oxford resident, local pastor and Oxford Village Police chaplain Dave Gerber. “This is long overdue,” Solwold said. “He’s been our chaplain for over 25 years through the good times and the bad. He has always made himself available to this community.”

Upon accepting the recognition, Gerber stated, “I love this community and serving this department.”

Library update

Oxford Public Library Director Bryan Cloutier informed council the library will be replacing all its heating and cooling systems costing around $300,000. “The reason I bring this up is, while we don’t have exact dates yet because we don’t have all the equipment, however the days when they have to remove the units from the roof and put the new units on top of the roof, we will have to close for a short period of time. We will give you as much notice as we can.”

He said when they replace the 25 ton units off the roof the library will have to be closed for safety issues. Boiler work inside the library has started and does not require the library to be closed.

Residential Inspection Ordinance

After a brief discussion about a proposed Residential Inspection Ordinance, council decided to table the issue until its next meeting when the entire board would be in attendance.

Community Memorial

Three Oxford High School students updated council on their efforts to create memorials for the students slain on Nov. 30. The students are working on a short term and long term plan for the memorials to be located in Scripter Park. The short term plan was to have a rock garden, planting trees and having plaque and sitting bench. The long term plan was for something “monumental.” The informed council they are still finalizing plans and looking into fundraising for the projects. Council agreed to future funding of the projects.

Historical Museum

Council member Ross asked what the village’s responsibility as owner of the museum are versus the Northeast Oakland Historical Society which maintains the building. “I’m looking at the 1971 agreement and I have questions,” she said. Coultier, president of the society said his group is responsible for maintenance of the building. In the future he said the society would be more open in communicating when they make improvements.

Grant document signed

Chief Solwold presented a contract for council to sign and authorized. The contract was for a $5,259.20 funds from the 2022 Emergency Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Grant. The grant money will be used to pay for wages for Oxford Village Police officers who worked overtime after the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School. Council agreed.

Moved council meeting

To avoid a conflict with meeting at the same time the Oxford School board meets, Council moved the July regular meeting from Tuesday, July 12 to Wednesday, July 20.