April 2025 Alger Village Council Meeting

Name Withheld for Privacy Reasons
Apr 8, 2025
7 min read

📝 TL;DR – April 2025 Alger Village Council Meeting

Sidewalk repairs are moving forward in multiple areas of town with a $7,188 bid + up to $1K more if another location checks out.
The village is hiring John Cross to help with grant-finding again — $1,000 up front and then pay-per-grant after.
Speed radar signs are approved (2 of them) to hopefully slow things down on Front Street.
Sewer and lagoon maintenance approved for the year – bacteria, degreaser blocks, and a sonar inspection revealed Lagoon 2 needs some love.
Generators at both the lift station and water plant will be covered under new service agreements.
A ton of small but important items: ballfield fence plans, cleanup day coordination with the township, working hours change for Cruz, sign audits, park drainage issues, a potentially hazardous barn, and a whole lot of discussion about the park name.

🎤 Your Local Government Deep Dive – Served Up Hot & Honest

Hey y’all – coming in slightly more sleep-deprived and emotionally overcooked than usual (and that’s saying something). This summary is from the April 2025 Alger Village Council Meeting, which clocked in at just around two hours. And yes, I watched it while simultaneously making dinner, refereeing sibling debates about which chicken nugget was “eyeing them weird,” and snuggling a toddler with an ear infection. So, if I missed anything big? You know the drill — drop me a private message over on the McGuffey Voice: Local News Facebook page, and I’ll happily update if something is not factually correct.

Now, let’s unpack this beast.

🚧 Sidewalk Fixes & Concrete Plans (Literally)

The village got a quote of $7,188 from Konway Contracting (with Dylan Thompson doing the concrete work) to fix eight known problem spots, including at the park building, McConnell Street, Main Street, and a crushed manhole cover on Belmont. They’re also adding the Front & Lee rebar hazard to the list — but only if that addition stays under $1,000. Council approved all of it.

Bonus: One of the sidewalks (in front of the park building) freezes and blocks the door in winter, so they’re adding a footer to prevent that.

💸 Grant-Finding Help: John Cross Is Back

The council voted to re-hire John Cross (yep, former State Rep) for grant-finding help. He’ll be paid $1,000 up front to get started — then paid per grant found, not monthly.

Worth noting: John has previously found $71K+ in grants for the village. Some council members wanted to clarify that this isn’t a shady “pay a cut of the grant” thing (that’s illegal), it’s just a fixed fee for each successful application. Everyone was generally in favor — vote passed 👉 This is a fixed-fee setup — not a commission or percentage-of-grant deal, which would be illegal. Just to be crystal clear: John Cross gets a flat fee per successful application. No back-end cuts, no weirdness.

🚦 Speed Radar Signs – Thumbs Up or Down, They’re Coming

After a lively debate (yes, people have feelings about flashing signs), council approved the purchase of two radar speed signs — one for each direction on Front Street where speeding has been a serious issue. They settled on more affordable signs around $1,900 each (cheaper than the $6K versions other towns have used) (Update: 4/8/2025 The council did not agree on an amount) and emphasized their goal is to encourage drivers to slow down — even if the signs don't have cameras or issue tickets. 👉 These signs are for awareness only — no cameras, no fines. Just a bright reminder to slow your roll.

💩 Sewer Stuff, Lift Station Goo, and Lagoon Funk

Ah yes, everybody’s favorite topic — wastewater.

Council approved $3,912 for a year’s worth of treatment (degreaser blocks + sludge-eating bacteria).
A sonar sludge inspection showed Lagoon 2 is in worse shape than Lagoon 1, but Lagoon 3 is doing just fine.
The old sludge has turned into rock-like layers, so the bacteria will mostly help keep new sludge under control. Very glamorous stuff.

💨 Generators: Service Agreements Approved

Both the lift station and water plant generators will now be covered by 5-year service contracts through a certified Generac provider. Total cost: $14,575 spread across five years. This includes two detailed inspections annually — load testing, oil analysis, etc.

Ron and crew were previously flying blind with this equipment, so this move is mostly about peace of mind and making sure the backups… you know… actually back up when the power goes out.

🛑 Sign Audit & Stop Sign Confusion

Cruz did a full audit of the town’s signs, including digging through Google Street View archives from 2014 (big nerd energy, love to see it). Turns out several stop signs were removed over the years — possibly without the legal ordinances required to do so.

Much debate followed over whether those signs should be reinstated, whether the village has authority to remove them, and what the legal liability would be if there's an accident in those spots.

They agreed to consult the solicitor and review whether proper ordinances were followed.

🗓 Cruz Now Working Wednesdays

The village’s utility superstar Cruz now has approval to work five days a week. They’ll need to update the ordinance for his pay cap, but everyone agreed he’s doing a great job juggling office work, field work, and everything in between.

🧹 Spring Cleanup: Coordinated with Township

Alger’s cleanup day will now align with the township’s, but they’ll operate separately (their own dumpsters, crews, etc.). Same day, opposite sides of the tracks.

⚾ Ball Field Fencing + Drainage Drama

Plans to replace fencing around the ball fields are back in motion. They’ve secured funding — historical museum came through, thank you very much — and want to complete the project after baseball season ends, possibly in June or July.

There are two really swampy spots in the outfield that make mowing (and running bases) a little treacherous. They’re considering French drains to fix it — if money is left over from the fencing.

Also floated: Adjusting fence distances (center field is currently 400 ft, which is a bit much for youth games) to save space and possibly cash.

💡 Restroom Talk & Park Upkeep

Restrooms at the park may get some TLC this year — at least one busted toilet needs replacing, and there’s discussion about getting them functional again (though port-a-potties are still the default for now).

They’re also talking about cameras and better lighting in the park area — especially if traffic and foot traffic increase due to improvements or name recognition.

🏛 Park Name: The Debate Continues

Ah yes, the Ray Brown Park situation. Buckle up.

The park was officially renamed last year via vote to Ray Brown Memorial Park.
A resolution was drawn up but hadn’t been signed — that’s now happening.
Some members pushed to rescind or reverse the renaming based on community feedback.
A motion was made to change the name back to Alger Park — it did not pass.
Discussion touched on racial tension, lack of community awareness, and the grant opportunities tied to honoring Ray Brown (an African-American League Hall of Famer with local ties).

They’re now talking about other options — like naming a playground, diamond, or building after Ray Brown instead of renaming the entire park.

The whole topic was deeply debated and clearly isn’t quite settled. Expect more discussion.

🧱 Hazardous Property Committee Formed

A barn on Main Street was identified as leaning and potentially hazardous. Council formed a three-person inspection team (mayor, fire chief, and a council member) to evaluate problem properties and kick off the official notification process under the Hazardous Property Ordinance.

Photos and written notice will come before any action.

🗃 Odds & Ends

Fence damage from a fallen tree was repaired for $500 (Update: 1:00 pm 4/8/2025 the tree fell on the village office, not a fence)
New air scour blower approved for the water plant – the old one’s been dead for over a year
Cleanup ordinance enforcement is being prepped for May/June
Speeding concerns on 234 (updated: 1:00 pm 4/8/2025 speeding concerns are on 235) led to more discussions about ODOT signs and Jake brake ordinances
There was even a little alley barrier removal approved, to open up traffic flow behind the carryout
Lots of love for new hire Dave Callandine, who's already cleaning up brush and alleys like a champ
Utility billing upgrades (online bill pay, alerts, etc.) are set to go live soon – fingers crossed!

📣 Final Notes (AKA Please Don’t Yell At Me)

I’m just one person watching these meetings and sharing the highlights so folks who don’t have two hours to spare can stay in the loop.

👉 If something’s unclear or you want the full details, please contact the Alger Village Office directly or — even better — come to a council meeting. I’m just reporting what I see, not replacing the official record.

🧂My Classic Disclaimer (Now With Real-Life Energy)

Look — sometimes I do take a side. I’m a human, not a robot, and I care about this community. But for this series? I’m keeping it neutral. These monthly council recaps are just that — recaps. No fluff. No drama. Just the facts, so folks who are working, parenting, juggling five million tabs in their brain (hi, same), can still know what’s going on in their own backyard.

Because let’s be real: It’s 2025. We’re all tired. And if I can help make local government a little more accessible for the rest of us just trying to keep the lights on and the goldfish crackers flowing? That’s a win.

Got corrections or questions? Hit me up on the McGuffey Voice: Local News Facebook page. I’m always open to feedback — and snacks.

And if you think I’ve turned up the heat here, oh darling — I haven’t even begun to preheat the oven. 😉