Richards trustees appoint new member

Nevada Daily Mail

Michael "John" Fogle became a trustee on the Richards Board of Trustees by appointment at the board meeting Monday since the board has been short two members.

"If all I have to do is show up for the meetings, I'll join," Fogle said.

In other business, mayor Mary Jones asked the trustees what the village would do about the streets needing repair. Several of the roads have deep potholes and lack gravel.

"The community did not want to close the railroad crossings, so we don't have money to fix the streets," trustee Kaila Jones said. "You can't fix something you have no money for."

The railroad offered thousands of dollars to close two railroad crossings which members of the community declined in order to keep access open to the railroads and streets.

Mary said she gets complaints almost daily and bus drivers were threatening to bring the issue before the school board.

Kaila said she would talk to the county and see if the village could borrow the county's grader to blade the roads. The trustees voted to have Gerald Jones blade the roads for $20 an hour.

Mary also asked what could be done to fix broken street signs.

The trustees voted Fogle fix the signs for $10 an hour.

In other business, the mayor brought up concerns over park upkeep.

"The play equipment at the park needs painted and fixed," she said. "We have a lot of kids who play at the park, and we're kind of letting our park go downhill. We definitely don't need a lawsuit."

Kaila said 4-H would paint the playground equipment and park tables for a community project, and she would check the prices of paint. Two Richards residents donated a swing and spring riders. The trustees voted Fogle repair any old or broken equipment.

Fogle asked the trustees if there was a way to restrict park access at night.

"We need to have some kind of no loitering sign at the park," he said. "Vehicles will pull up there at 11 p.m. or midnight and just be parked there for an hour."

Kaila agreed and said the park needed to be closed at certain hours. The trustees voted to get prices for "No visitors after dark" sign.

She said the sign would help with vandalism in the park, including a recent theft of weights for the village's tractor pull sled.

Kaila recovered the seven or eight weights for $40. Clerk Charie Clark said she would check if any reward money could be awarded for recovering the weights.

In other business, the trustees decided to keep community watch on an informal basis, keep an eye on each other rather than start the formal program through the Vernon County Sheriff's Office.