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Council approves contract for continuing water tower maintenance




BALTIMORE – The village’s new part-time code enforcement officer is now on the job.

Baltimore resident Harold Kraft has been on the job for two weeks. He is a full-time code enforcement officer with the City of Westerville. Baltimore Mayor Brad Nicodemus expects Kraft will work 10-16 hours a week once he settles into the job. Most of his public contacts will be done on Saturdays, Nicodemus said.

“Your housing in this village is sad,” Kraft told Nicodemus and council members at Monday night’s council meeting. “I could work 100 hours a week for the next six to eight months. People are living in condemnable properties. It won’t be fixed overnight; it didn’t get this way overnight.”

Council members unanimously adopted the 2012 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code Monday night. The village had been using the 2009 edition. There is also a 2015 edition, but Kraft said code officers prefer the 2012 edition.

“It (2012) is not more restrictive (than 2009),” Kraft said. The primary difference is 2012 allows agents to be cited along with property owners and residents.

Nicodemus said Kraft’s focus will be more on helping property owners fix shortcomings rather than fining them.

In other business Monday night, council members heard a presentation from Daryl Bowling of Utility Service Group about the company’s water tank maintenance program.

Utility Service Group assessed the water tower’s condition in September. The tank was drained and washed out. It was then inspected for structural and sanitary conditions plus safety. All the coatings on the steel tank were evaluated to determine whether they can be overcoated or have to be removed by sand blasting. The full assessment covers about 120 items. Bowling had some good news for cost-conscious village officials. While the exterior coating is at the end of its life cycle, it can be recoated and won’t need any extensive sandblasting which would require expensive draping to contain the sand and paint.

There is a coating failure in the wet interior which can’t be overcoated. It will have to be blasted but the debris will be contained inside the tank. Some pit welding will be needed. Both the wet and dry interior will get a full primer coal and one full finish coat.

Bowling said this work would be done in the first year of their management contract. The new exterior color will likely be all white. Red paint doesn’t hold up as well and the darker color can affect water quality by raising the water temperature. Bowling said the cost to switch to all white would likely be a wash given the cost to strip in the red. Council members favored going to just white, but had mixed emotions about taking “Baltimore” off the tank. Based on his past experience, Bowling recommended keeping “Baltimore” on the tank. He said to expect some push-back on the color change.

The maintenance program costs $67,062 a year for the first five years. Basically, the cost to return the tank to its near original condition will be paid over five years. In year six, the cost will drop to $23,536 a year which will pay for semi-annual inspections, repainting the interior after 10 to 11 years and repainting the interior in 13 years.

When asked what the tank’s life would be after the work is done, Bowling said, “It is steel – if you maintain it, it (life) is indefinite.” Council members unanimously approved the contract covering the next 10 years, not to exceed $466,122. Village Administrator Teri Wise said last month that a new tank would cost about $1 million. The tank’s condition was a significant contributor to the village’s brown water problems.

Three of the new Baltimore Festival board members introduced themselves to council members at the Oct. 24 council meeting. After a one year hiatus in 2015 and a rebranding attempt as the Baltimore Burger Festival in August, the festival will return to its roots next year and its home in Johnson Park.

During new business, council member Jim Hochradel brought up a new patio installed on the sidewalk in front of the Baltimore Pint House. He noted that RP3 already had one.

“We own the property so we don’t need an ordinance,” he said. He suggested an ordinance restricting drinking to the inside of an establishment.

Council member Tony House said Baltimore was dry for many years. The issue, he added, is whether Baltimore citizens want drinking outside. He asked Police Chief Michael Tussey for his opinion.’

Tussey said when he joined the force in Westerville the city was still dry. Patios there primarily serve food. Alcohol is secondary.

“We have got to be cautious,” Tussey said. “We don’t need another RP3.”

Wise suggested looking at Canal Winchester’s right-of-way ordinance. Council needs to look at the options, she added.

“We’ve got beer joints outside,” Hochradel



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