Council approves state performance audit of Bellevue
The emergency ordinance caps the cost under $55,000. Council also rushed sewer work to the new elementary school.
Bellevue City Council on Monday night authorized the Ohio Auditor of State to conduct a performance audit of the city’s departments and finances.
“It’s been a three-year effort,” Council President Karen Justice said, thanking members for approving it. The ordinance passed as an emergency, with all three readings in one night. Councilman John Miller urged quick action, saying he and Councilman Ron Smith had visited the state office and found it booking up. Without a quick vote, he said, the audit could slip to next year. The audit is expected to start this summer, and the ordinance caps its cost at under $55,000. A state representative and City Auditor Steven Smith have both said it should save the city money.
Council also voted 7-0, as emergencies, on two measures to get sanitary sewer service to the new Bellevue Elementary School by late spring. One lets the safety-service director contract with Buckeye Pumps Inc. for a lift station at Potter Road and state Route 269, about $92,000, without bidding. The other seeks bids for the sewer line, not to exceed $180,000. Asked by Ron Smith why the lift station was not bid, City Engineer Kevin Scagnetti said, “I guess the time thing is on me.”
Earlier: council first heard the pitch. About performance audits: Ohio Auditor of State. The new school: moving day. More in Local News.