Activities involving the city of Trenton were the topic of a program presented at the Thursday, April 11 meeting of the Trenton Rotary Club, held at the BTC Bank community room. Jackie Soptic presided over the meeting, and Joe MacDonald gave the prayer and served as the sergeant at arms.
Program Chairman Doug Tye introduced City Administrator Ron Urton and Building Inspector Wes Barone, who discussed the activities in which they are involved as city officials. Urton, who has served as the city administrator and Trenton Municipal Utilities director since 2016, coordinates with 10 different department heads to ensure operations of the city run smoothly. He discussed several city projects, including the city’s asphalt plant, which will begin operations this week. The city anticipates selling at least 30,000 tons of asphalt this year in addition to generating asphalt for its own use. The city is currently collaborating with NCMC on its student activities construction project and is in the design phase of a project that will result in a sidewalk being built from Fourth Street to the Dollar General on the west side of town. The city received a grant to help fund this project and has applied for a second grant to construct sidewalks near 16th Street and the high school. Other projects include bidding out the construction of new hangars at the airport, where 90 percent of the cost is covered by federal funding; winterization of the city-owned electric generators; upgrades to the electric distribution system; and continued use of the fire training facility on 17th Street.
Barone shared insights about the city’s building code department, where he began as an assistant building inspector in 2012 before becoming the building inspector in 2019. As the building inspector, Barone oversees the inspection of rental properties, assisted by the fire department. He also manages inspections of new construction and remodeling projects, including plan reviews, which involve all city department heads to ensure city regulations and safety concerns are addressed. He is also responsible for building permits; the city sidewalk program, which provides funding for new sidewalk construction or replacement; the city demolition program, which helps property owners demolish dilapidated structures; and the nuisance program. He mentioned that the airport also falls under the building code department, where his duties include ensuring the runway is in working order, as well as pricing and ordering fuel and managing hangar rentals.
During the business meeting, it was announced that shoes for the Shoes for Orphan Souls project would be packed before the April 18 meeting, with the shoes being picked up later that day. The club has collected 100 pairs of shoes for the Orphan Souls project, which is a District 6040 project, as well as collected over $1,500 to be donated to the Bright Futures Trenton shoe project. Available club members were also asked to meet at 11 a.m. on April 25 to help pack snack sacks for members of the Trenton Middle School track team, which will be distributed to the students later that day.
The program for the April 18 meeting will be presented by Pastor Lori Kiehl of the First Christian Church. Dan Wilford is the program chairman.
