Council voted at its Nov. 3 meeting to hire Howard, who lives in Pataskala, on a full-time basis. Fiscal officer Laura VanScoy said Howard is retired from the Licking County Sheriff's Department and also works for Northridge schools.

Howard, who will be paid $800 a month, replaces former chief Mike Kilburn, who was originally hired at the same rate, but later negotiated a monthly salary of about half that to strictly perform administrative duties. Village officials and residents have said in recent months that they prefer a chief who is present in the village.

A newly formed council safety committee will hold its first meeting on at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, in the Alexandria Public Library to ask residents what kind of service they expect from local police, VanScoy said. At that time, Howard's specific hours and responsibilities will be negotiated.

In other business Tuesday, council members, expressing reluctance, voted to move $25,000 from its general fund "savings" to the water fund in order to make a $15,500 payment to the village of Granville for water service.

VanScoy told council the water fund balance of $11,200 is low for several reasons, not the least of which is the village's continued inability to collect between $25,000 and $30,000 in past-due utility payments. VanScoy said existing utility ordinances and regulations "have been abused" by letting delinquent customers continue service.

"The village can't afford to foot anyone's bills at this time," she said.

Another factor is water leaking around saddles on the water main, said Jack Liggett, utility manager. A leak location company estimated the village was losing as much as 40,000 gallons of water a day. After leak repairs were completed last week, Liggett said they're down to a 13,000-gallon-per-day loss, which he noted "is still too much."

Council authorized the payment of $2,000 to have the leak locators run a sweep on the town to identify the remaining leaks. Council member Karen Holt pointed out that cost is roughly the same for the village as a single month of leaked water.

Liggett made two recommendations to council: that the fire department hold off on flushing hydrants until leaks are repaired and the water fund rebounds, and that the November utility billing goes out on time.

Meanwhile, Holt was approved to do that billing for the month of November, after the resignation of utility clerk/administrator Amy Kent Oct. 30. Kent was with the village for five months. In her letter of resignation, she urged council to "take into consideration the scope of this job" before hiring a replacement. Kent also pleaded with council members to work together for the good of the village.

The village is posting the vacant position, and a committee made up of Holt, Brian Dague and Scott Hutchinson will begin the interview process.

Village officials and council members are reviewing proposed legislation from Licking County transferring participation in Newark's building code program to the county's. County commissioners Brad Feightner and Doug Smith attended council's meeting and explained the dismantling of Newark's department due to the recession. Licking County will take it over at its existing Newark location, Feightner said, whittling staff down from nine to four employees.

He said the county has to go before the Ohio Board of Standards in early December and needs as many villages and cities on board with the program as possible before then.

Council will discuss and review the legislation at their Nov. 17 meeting. If Alexandria doesn't join the county program, code administrator Jack Pryor said, commercial code would defer to the state code and the residential code "would just go away."