By Bruce Rolfe
The Railroad Quiet Zone the Climax Village Council is considering, continued to be a focal topic of discussion at the May 21 regular Climax Village Council meeting.
Village of Climax resident Charlie Osborn reminded the Council petitions containing the signatures of 118 Village of Climax residents against the Railroad Quiet Zone, reaffirmed the group’s stance that if the Council does not drop the issue all together, they would like to see the Quiet Zone item decided by the voters in the Village, not by the seven-member Village Council.
Village of Climax resident Rita Beck, of North Church Street, handed the Council petitions containing 118 signatures from Village of Climax residents who are against the Railroad Quiet Zone at a May 14 council meeting.
In April, the Climax Village Council hired OHM Advisors, a municipal, architectural, engineering and planning firm to perform a feasibility study and provide an estimated cost to construct a railroad quite zone at the Maple Street and Main Street crossings in the Village of Climax at a cost of $4,238. Costs for the final design, bid documents, construction administration services and equipment used for the project would be extra.
Council trustee Joline Chaney, who said she has not received a cost back yet from OHM to transition the two railroad crossings in the Village to Quiet Zone status, said OHM determined all current railroad equipment is up to date and no equipment would need to be replaced.
However it was noted by OHM’s Larry Bowron at a presentation he gave the council in April, other safety measures would have to be in place to prevent drivers of vehicles from going around the gates. Bowron said one option to reduce risk is installing a non-traversable curb (typically a six-inch curb in the center of a median) just before the approach on both sides of the road. Another deterrent that could be considered is a mountable curb risk channelization where removable paddles are installed in the middle of the road a specific distance before the crossing.
Whatever supplemental safety measure is put in place, the preference is installing the items from the stop line at each crossing and continuing with the items in place 100 feet back, however Bowron said 60 feet will be accepted. He said if the deterrent is less then 60 feet an application would have to be filled out.
Miller said there are people in the community for the idea and obviously many who are against the idea and he felt confident the council will come to a solution, which could include a ballot question in a future election
Climax Township Clerk Marcia Lewis said it is too late to have a proposal on the August ballot and July 30 is the deadline to have a ballot proposal on the November General Election ballot. The Council could hold a special election, however that would be very costly.
Repairing warning siren will be researched
Following the recent tornado in Portage and parts of Pavilion Township and learning the warning siren installed on the west side of the village no longer functions, Public Safety Chairman Nick Ludwig began researching options to get the warning siren repaired. He contacted West Shore Services and a representative from the company will perform an on-site visit and inspect the warning siren in the near future.
Ludwig was able to obtain some estimates for another warning siren based on the coverage area. The low estimate for a used warning siren is $8,000-$10,000 and approximately $28,000 for a new warning siren. He will attempt to secure more estimates.
Former late Galesburg-Charleston Township Fire Chief Gary Henson was able to purchase five warning sirens over 10 years ago. Four were put up at various locations in Galesburg and Charleston Township, including Cold Brook Park (which still functions) and a fifth warning siren was offered to the Village of Climax and installed near one of the well houses on the west side of the village. The cost to village to install the system was $875.
After the siren failed in 2013 Climax Township Fire Chief Scott Smith informed the Council a dealer would have to obtain parts for the siren.
The Council accepted a proposal from West Shore Service in the amount of $1,180 to replace the batteries and the charging system for the emergency siren. West Shore also offered an annual maintenance agreement in the amount of $425. Under the agreement the batteries would be replaced at no cost in 2016.
Smith said after the system failed again, the Village Council at the time chose not to have the siren repaired.
Website discussed
Because current Village resident Ron Kenney and his family will be moving soon, he will no longer be able to update the Village of Climax website. He has been updating the website at no charge to the village.
Interim Village Council President David Miller obtained a proposal from Revize, a company that strictly develops and sets up websites for municipalities. The proposal the council reviewed at its May
14 meeting calls for a one-time website and development fee of $900 and the annual tech support, software subscription and web hosting service fee is $1,900.
Kevin Harvey, who does not live in the village but volunteers and helped set up the Prairie Historical Society website, offered a estimate at the May 21 meeting. He recommended the council continue its agreement with Wix for an annual website hosting, domain name and platform level fee of approximately $350. He charges $30 an hour. He said the time to build a new website with what the council is seeking, would be at a low end of five hours and high end of 15 hours ($150-$450).
In other items covered at the May 21 meeting:
• Ludwig alerted the Council and visitors he learned from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department there is some text fraud taking place in the area. The Sheriff recommends if a text is received from someone the cell phone user does not know, don’t open it.
• Village resident Charlie Osborn expressed concerns about a large portion of a tree at 200 North Church Street that fell. Osborn asked if the Village planned to remove the rest of the tree because it is in the village’s right of way.
Interim President David Miller read a statement from the village attorney: “The trees and the land they grow on in the right of way, is not owned and maintained by the village. The Village does have an easement on the right of way for access and maintenance of village property such as stop signs, street signs, traffic control signs, fire hydrants or other village owned property. The village uses that easement only as needed to protect, maintain and repair village property. Any maintenance or removal of the tree outside of the aforementioned maintenance, protection and repair, is the sole responsibility of the property owner who owns the property.”
Village of Climax resident Charlie Osborn reminded the Council petitions containing the signatures of 118 Village of Climax residents against the Railroad Quiet Zone, reaffirmed the group’s stance that if the Council does not drop the issue all together, they would like to see the Quiet Zone item decided by the voters in the Village, not by the seven-member Village Council.
Village of Climax resident Rita Beck, of North Church Street, handed the Council petitions containing 118 signatures from Village of Climax residents who are against the Railroad Quiet Zone at a May 14 council meeting.
In April, the Climax Village Council hired OHM Advisors, a municipal, architectural, engineering and planning firm to perform a feasibility study and provide an estimated cost to construct a railroad quite zone at the Maple Street and Main Street crossings in the Village of Climax at a cost of $4,238. Costs for the final design, bid documents, construction administration services and equipment used for the project would be extra.
Council trustee Joline Chaney, who said she has not received a cost back yet from OHM to transition the two railroad crossings in the Village to Quiet Zone status, said OHM determined all current railroad equipment is up to date and no equipment would need to be replaced.
However it was noted by OHM’s Larry Bowron at a presentation he gave the council in April, other safety measures would have to be in place to prevent drivers of vehicles from going around the gates. Bowron said one option to reduce risk is installing a non-traversable curb (typically a six-inch curb in the center of a median) just before the approach on both sides of the road. Another deterrent that could be considered is a mountable curb risk channelization where removable paddles are installed in the middle of the road a specific distance before the crossing.
Whatever supplemental safety measure is put in place, the preference is installing the items from the stop line at each crossing and continuing with the items in place 100 feet back, however Bowron said 60 feet will be accepted. He said if the deterrent is less then 60 feet an application would have to be filled out.
Miller said there are people in the community for the idea and obviously many who are against the idea and he felt confident the council will come to a solution, which could include a ballot question in a future election
Climax Township Clerk Marcia Lewis said it is too late to have a proposal on the August ballot and July 30 is the deadline to have a ballot proposal on the November General Election ballot. The Council could hold a special election, however that would be very costly.
Repairing warning siren will be researched
Following the recent tornado in Portage and parts of Pavilion Township and learning the warning siren installed on the west side of the village no longer functions, Public Safety Chairman Nick Ludwig began researching options to get the warning siren repaired. He contacted West Shore Services and a representative from the company will perform an on-site visit and inspect the warning siren in the near future.
Ludwig was able to obtain some estimates for another warning siren based on the coverage area. The low estimate for a used warning siren is $8,000-$10,000 and approximately $28,000 for a new warning siren. He will attempt to secure more estimates.
Former late Galesburg-Charleston Township Fire Chief Gary Henson was able to purchase five warning sirens over 10 years ago. Four were put up at various locations in Galesburg and Charleston Township, including Cold Brook Park (which still functions) and a fifth warning siren was offered to the Village of Climax and installed near one of the well houses on the west side of the village. The cost to village to install the system was $875.
After the siren failed in 2013 Climax Township Fire Chief Scott Smith informed the Council a dealer would have to obtain parts for the siren.
The Council accepted a proposal from West Shore Service in the amount of $1,180 to replace the batteries and the charging system for the emergency siren. West Shore also offered an annual maintenance agreement in the amount of $425. Under the agreement the batteries would be replaced at no cost in 2016.
Smith said after the system failed again, the Village Council at the time chose not to have the siren repaired.
Website discussed
Because current Village resident Ron Kenney and his family will be moving soon, he will no longer be able to update the Village of Climax website. He has been updating the website at no charge to the village.
Interim Village Council President David Miller obtained a proposal from Revize, a company that strictly develops and sets up websites for municipalities. The proposal the council reviewed at its May
14 meeting calls for a one-time website and development fee of $900 and the annual tech support, software subscription and web hosting service fee is $1,900.
Kevin Harvey, who does not live in the village but volunteers and helped set up the Prairie Historical Society website, offered a estimate at the May 21 meeting. He recommended the council continue its agreement with Wix for an annual website hosting, domain name and platform level fee of approximately $350. He charges $30 an hour. He said the time to build a new website with what the council is seeking, would be at a low end of five hours and high end of 15 hours ($150-$450).
In other items covered at the May 21 meeting:
• Ludwig alerted the Council and visitors he learned from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department there is some text fraud taking place in the area. The Sheriff recommends if a text is received from someone the cell phone user does not know, don’t open it.
• Village resident Charlie Osborn expressed concerns about a large portion of a tree at 200 North Church Street that fell. Osborn asked if the Village planned to remove the rest of the tree because it is in the village’s right of way.
Interim President David Miller read a statement from the village attorney: “The trees and the land they grow on in the right of way, is not owned and maintained by the village. The Village does have an easement on the right of way for access and maintenance of village property such as stop signs, street signs, traffic control signs, fire hydrants or other village owned property. The village uses that easement only as needed to protect, maintain and repair village property. Any maintenance or removal of the tree outside of the aforementioned maintenance, protection and repair, is the sole responsibility of the property owner who owns the property.”
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