Morgan rejoins Woodstock Village Council

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WOODSTOCK – A familiar face has returned to fill a vacancy on the Woodstock Village Council. Rochelle Morgan, who served a term as council member in the early 2000s, was sworn in by Mayor Jackie Hayes on Monday as the replacement for Kyle Travis, who resigned early this month.

Hayes said Travis, who joined council in January 2016 after Melissa Thompson resigned her seat, informed the village that he could no longer fulfill his role on council since he now works second shift.

Morgan, a resident of the village off and on since 2000, said Hayes approached her to see if she had any interest in serving the rest of Thompson’s elected term through Dec. 31.

“I told her I didn’t mind at all,” Morgan said. “I like knowing what’s going on with the village.”

Flooding issue

Village resident John Caudill addressed council with concerns over his property at 227 Flynn St. being a notorious area prone to flooding. New to the village, Caudill said he was unaware of the issues until heavy rain on Jan. 13 left his front yard flooded.

“I was shocked by it,” he said. “Had I known, I wouldn’t have bought the house. It’s a bad situation in general.”

“I don’t know if you want to buy me out if you don’t want to fix it or how you want to settle it,” he told council.

“It’s not a problem the village needs to address other than what we’ve already done,” Village Administrator Bradley Herron said. “We weren’t even required to address what we have done with it.”

According to Herron, the “puddling” Caudill experienced on his property last month is a “matter of the tile (drainage system) being to capacity.”

“We’ve made several repairs on the tile system over the last eight to 10 years, and we’ve not seen the kind of flooding that brings it up to the top of the street and across the street since we’ve done that,” he added.

Hayes and several council members agreed with Herron’s assessment that the amount of high water in the area of Flynn Street following heavy rains has significantly decreased over the years.

“It’s 100 times better than it ever was, and I’ve been here for 63 years,” council member Mike Dixon said.

Herron said the village has talked with engineers about installing a storm overflow culvert under Flynn Street near Caudill’s property to allow the water to flow toward lower ground so it doesn’t puddle as high on the south side of the roadway.

“It’s just a matter of funding at the present time,” Herron said.

Caudill was advised by council that since the village isn’t responsible for the puddling of water on his property, his best course would be to bring the issue up with the Realtor who sold him the property.

In other business:

•Council approved the purchase of a new pump for the village’s dual-pump wastewater lift station at the cost of $7,800.

•Council member Beatrice Metz was appointed council president.

•Village officials now have access to a new desktop computer for sewer billing and general office purposes after council approved the $399 purchase. It was noted the old computer featured an outdated operating system.

By Joshua Keeran

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Joshua Keeran may be reached at 937-508-2304.

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