GAMBIER — Gambier Village Council appointed Kaitlin Sockman to council Monday to replace former council person Phil Brooks.
Sockman’s appointment will end Dec. 31, 2021, but she can run for council during the general election in the fall.
Sockman grew up in Knox County and has lived in the village for five years. However, she lived in the German Village for a time and hopes to bring the qualities she admired from the historic village to Gambier.
“I have a lot of aesthetic opinions,” Sockman said. “I’m a graphic designer.”
Sockman also voiced interest in planning community events.
Council adopted several pieces of legislation during the Monday meeting, including a resolution creating a new fund for American Rescue Plan monies.
While the resolution was only on its second reading Monday, council person Betsy Heer moved to suspend the rules and approve the resolution on an emergency basis.
“The reason being funds are going to show up in our bank account before we go through three readings,” Heer said.
Additionally, council passed two ordinances on third reading, including an ordinance re-establishing the position of village marshal.
While the job description is still being finalized, the village marshal’s main job will be to enforce parking rules and write tickets, particularly overnight.
“We do have people potentially interested in this position,” Gambier Mayor Leeman Kessler said.
Villages are required to have a marshal by Ohio Revised Code.
Council also approved an ordinance adopting codification of ordinances on third reading, effective immediately. Codifying includes editing ordinances for clarity and consistency, and removing repealed and/or obsolete ordinances.
These ordinances include general provisions, administration, public works, traffic code, general regulations, business regulations, general offenses and land usage.
Several guests spoke at the meeting including Ian Smith, vice president for facilities, planning and sustainability at Kenyon College.
Smith reported the first students — the football team — will arrive on campus next week. The college is monitoring what the Centers for Disease and Control as well as Knox Public Health are saying.
“We’re not taking our hands off the wheel with regard to this pandemic,” Smith said.
As of now, Kenyon College is planning to have normal vacations throughout the school year, during which students can return to their respective homes.
College Township Trustee Douglas McLarnan reported the Mount Vernon Fire Department is continuing preparations to expand fire and EMS services to College Township. The city is hiring additional part-time firefighters and will provide three people to staff the Gambier station at 102 E. Brooklyn St.
Joan Slonczewski, a biology professor at Kenyon College, proposed continuing her work testing wastewater in the village for the COVID-19 virus, as she and her students did during the past year.
Council had no objections. Funding discussions for the testing will be forthcoming between the village and Kenyon College.
During the mayor’s report, Kessler said the village is preparing for schools reopening, and as of now, there will be no mask requirement.
At the conclusion of Monday’s nearly two-hour meeting, councilman Alec Wood announced this was his last meeting. Wood will be moving to England in the coming weeks.
Council will be reshuffling committees this month to fill vacancies.
The next regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Sept. 7 at the Gambier Community Center.
