Public safety system updated; water restriction continues

A water restriction issued last month in North Granville had unintended benefits for people living in the district.

The restriction gave town officials a chance to test run a public safety communications system and in the process remedy a number of minor glitches.

The town initiated a reverse 911call to inform residents of the North Granville water district of the restriction and Supervisor Matt Hicks said they discovered the county had more phone numbers in its database than there were residences.

For instance, more automated calls than were needed were made to the Orchard Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Officials also determined a number of phone lines were no longer active and that some of the users who were contacted were actually located outside the water district.

Hicks said the glitches weren’t serious and if it were an actual emergency, it would be better to call some people twice or contact inactive phone numbers that it would be to miss households.

The water restriction, which was issued last month and imposes limits on the use of handheld hoses, remains in affect. John Tanner, highway superintendent, said that water levels in the ground remain low despite some additional rain during the past week.

Tanner also reported that highway department had completed most of its shimming on other area roads. He said he had planned to repair portions of blacktop on Lower Turnpike Road in advance of a construction project on the bridge, but with bids still a month away, and the project unlikely to begin this fall, those resources will be reallocated to Fox Road in Middle Granville. The scope of that shimming effort is still being determined.

In other matters, the town board unanimously approved a resolution to accept sales tax money from the county.

Each year, a portion of sales tax revenue generated by Washington County is distributed to each community. Local boards have the option of accepting that money or receiving a credit from the county.

The town will receive more than $60,000 in sales tax revenue.