Bluffton council was updated on several village issues during its May 5 council meeting. One of those items is a report that the village will become part of the Charter Communications cable system.

Here is a portion of the report given council from Jamie Mehaffie, village administrator:

Time Warner
Attached is a letter that I received this week from Time Warner Cable concerning the future provider of service in our community. Essentially, as part of the Comcast-Time Warner merger, Time Warner Cable will be divesting certain markets and our community is part of the territory that will be divested to Charter Communications.

(The letter and cable information is found on pages 12 to 18 in the council packet, which is an attachment at the bottom of this story.)

Mulch
Go Green should complete the mulching by Monday.

Hydrant Flushing
The Service Department has completed the semi-annual hydrant flushing.

Street Maintenance Program
Bluffton Paving has been given the green light on the Village's Street Maintenance Program.

I have submitted requests to allocate and encumber portions of the Village's Permissive Motor Vehicle License Tax monies from both the Allen and Hancock County Commissioners. The Allen County Commissioners approved the resolution this past week, and I am hopeful that the Hancock County Commissioners will be able to approve it at their next meeting.

These monies will be used on the paving on County Line Road between SR 103 and the railroad tracks. PMVLT monies are held by the counties and can only be used on qualified roadways.

While it is the Village's money, the ORC requires that the Village request the County Commissioners allocate and encumber the funds after we supply them with a copy of the quote to perform the work. One the work is completed, we must submit a copy of the invoice for the work, and then the County will reimburse the Village with our funds.

Alleys
The Service Department was able to dress all of the Village's stone alleys in town this past week. This process used to take upwards of two to three weeks.

With the equipment that Council purchased last year this process now takes approximately
two days and provides a better end-result. If, due settling or weather events, any of you see or hear about an alley that needs to be revisited, please let me know. However, we have found out that simply adding more stone to an alley does not improve the alley, and actually has the potential to be detrimental.

USDA Inspection
This past week we had our required Compliance Review, Security Inspection and Financials Review by the USDA on the Waste Water Treatment Plant. This inspection is required every three years until the USDA Loan that was borrowed to finance the WWTP improvements Project is paid off.

Upcoming Events
The Bluffton High School Seniors are scheduled to paint College Avenue on the evening of May 7.

The weekend of May 10-11th includes the Chamber of Commerce's Annual Arts and Crafts Festival downtown, Bluffton Soccer Club's American Cup Tournament at the University, and the Special Olympics of Ohio's 2014 Area 3 Spring Games at Salzman Stadium.

The Spring Cleanup will run from May 17 - 26. Bluffton High School's Graduation is scheduled for Saturday, May 24.

The American Legion's Memorial Day Parade will be on Monday, May 26. The month of May will end with the be A Beaver Triathlon on May 31.