Hillsboro City Council passes 3 emergency resolutions

Hillsboro City Council members passed three time-sensitive pieces of legislation via emergency at a special meeting Thursday, Dec. 18.

As previously reported, there were only five voting members present for the regular monthly meeting held a week prior, with six members required for suspension of the three-reading rule and passage by emergency. As a result, some of the items on the agenda introduced as an emergency were effectively tabled due to not being able to take action. 

All eight council members attended the emergency meeting Dec. 18, with all three resolutions passing by a 7-0 vote after a 7-0 vote for suspension of the three-reading rule.

The first resolution passed was to adopt ACH (Automated Clearing House) and Vendor Accounts Policies for the city. The policy is to “safeguard public funds against fraud; maintain accurate, secure and verifiable vendor records; promote segregation of duties, independent verification and internal controls; [and] facilitate efficient, secure electronic payments,” according to the legislation.

“An example of this would be if a vendor would call and ask to change an account and routing information, this policy kind of spells out how to proceed with that request to help reduce fraudulent activity,” Hillsboro city auditor Dawson Barreras told council. “The reason for an emergency is because in three months’ time, we have a lot of ACH payments going out in that amount of time.”

Next, a resolution adopting Federal Grants Compliance Policies was passed.

According to the legislation, the resolution will implement “policies relating to equipment usage, disposition, cash management, time and effort, internal controls, cost principles, and procurement policies relating to federal grants designed to promote accountability, transparency, and efficient use of federal resources while minimizing administrative burden and risk of noncompliance.”

“If you receive federal money, you are supposed to have this policy in place, and we do receive a good amount of federal money,” Barreras said.

Finally, council passed a resolution approving a “then and now” certification by the City Auditor, pursuant to R.C. 5705.41(D)(1), for the payment of Rumpke.

The legislation is to approve a $5,312.59 payment to Rumpke for “expenses associated with the hauling of sludge from the Water Treatment Plant,” the resolution says.

“We opened this PO [purchase order] at the beginning of the year, and unfortunately, it's not even possible to tell how many Dumpsters will be filled up by the end of the year,” Barreras said. “Our PO was a little short, and this is to make that payment before year-end.”

As the approximately six-minute meeting concluded, council president Tom Eichinger thanked everyone for being able to meet on short notice and wished the group a merry Christmas and happy new year.
    
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