LEWISBURG — The Village of Lewisburg Council continues to discuss its emergency preparedness and business continuity plan. The conversation continued during the council meeting on Thursday, June 6, with Mayor Marsha Jones bringing up recent situations with hackers in larger cities.

“Municipalities are being held hostage — these are large municipalities like Atlanta and big cities. They’ve been held hostage by computer hackers and they are demanding ransom to be paid by bitcoin. I think as we plan for our business continuity, we need to plan for those things. I don’t think our small community would be targeted, but you never know. I think we definitely need to get that on the schedule in the next couple of months,” Mayor Jones said.

Police Chief Rick McGee added, they have set up an appointment with Preble County EMA to do a disaster presentation for the council.

Jones said, with the recent shooting and tornadoes, it is more important than ever for the village to be prepared for an emergency situation.

According to Municipal Manager Jeff Sewert, the village sent staff to help with disaster relief in Brookville following the Memorial Day storms.

Council also held the first reading for two resolutions in preparation to place a tax levy on the November ballot. One resolution was to place a renewal levy on the ballot, while the other was for a replacement levy. Only one of these levies will actually see the November election.

Solicitor Richard Faber explained, “Tonight you have a resolution to request the 3.8 to be renewed and another to do a replacement for 3.8. The Preble County Auditor will respond to both requests and bring information back. You will have two potential levies to place on the ballot at the next meeting. You cannot put both on the ballot, you will have to chose one or the other or neither.”

Council waived the three readings for both resolutions and approved them.

Lewisburg Village Council will meet for its next council meeting on Thursday, June 20, at 7 p.m. in the Lewisburg Fire House.