Regular Council Meeting Thursday, January 6, 2005 Mayor Dave France called the meeting to order. Roll Call: John Synodinos present, Dr. Robert Price present, Dave Smith present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Matt Parise present, Thomas Bottorf present. Officials: Mayor Dave France present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker present, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Walt Ziemba present. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minutes Motion by John Synodinos, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve the minutes from the regular Council Meeting held December 16, 2004. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Persons Appearing before Council Two students from Edison Local High School were recognized by Mayor Dave France as being in attendance along with a Mr. Featheringham who were all attending to fulfill various requirements. Ordinance and/or Resolutions Ordinance 2004-38: An Ordinance authorizing the Administrator to accept bids for a Village Vehicle was read for the 2nd time. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Dave France read the 2004 annual Magistrate & Police Reports. Mayor Dave France read the December 2004 Magistrate and Police Reports. Mayor Dave France read the December 2004 Building Inspector's Report. Mayor Dave France asked for nominations for Council President for 2005. Motion by Dr. Robert Price, second by Thomas Bottorf to nominate Dave Smith as Council President for 2005. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to close nominations. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Mayor Dave France told Council members that their committee assignments were listed in their packets. Mayor Dave France announced that Village offices would be closed on January 17, 2005 for Martin Luther King Day. Mayor Dave France read the following listing of Village accomplishments for 2004: Cost Completion of New 5 Bay Maintenance Garage - $185,016 Installation of steel racks, shelving, workbench, etc. at new Garage - $5,736 New lighting along Grove Street - $6,400 New Playground @ Walnut Street - $14,000 Resurfacing Frank P. Layman Blvd. - $329,215 Purchase of used Bucket Truck - $12,500 Sandblasting & Paint Two (2) Clarifier Tank @ WWTP - $24,600 Construction of Sam's Way - $180,297 Purchase of New 2005 Int'l Single axel dump truck - $83,930 TOTAL - $856,309 Source of funds for above projects ISSUE 2 GRANT - $239,522 - (28.0%) CDBG GRANT - $14,615 - (1.7%) ASSESSMENT - $166,797 - (19.5%) VILLAGE FUND - $435,375 (50.8%) TOTAL - $856,309 - (100.0%) Mayor Dave France read the following report: First of all, I want to thank Council for their dedication, cooperation, and diligence in their attempts to resolve Village problems and to ensure a responsible allocation of our finances to meet Village needs. Second, I want to recognize the Police Department, Administration, and all our employees for the excellent services they provide our Village. Third, I want to recognize Chief Laman and Village Administrator Walt Ziemba for the leadership they provide in ensuring the excellent services provided to our residents and businesses. Fourth, Mr. Ziemba has identified our most pressing issues and has developed a plan to address them. Mr. Ziemba will provide the particulars in his report to Council. I feel that our greatest challenge is to reduce and hopefully resolve our I & I issue. The inflow and infiltration of ground water into our sanitary sewer system causing the Village sewer plant to overflow after only 1 to 2 inches of rain fall. This causes environmental safety, and development problems. 1) The run off of sewage into the ravines and Ohio River contributes to the regional environmental problems. 2) The inflow and infiltration of ground water into our sanitary sewer system can cause sewage to back up into homes and businesses. 3) It costs just as much to process the ground water entering our sanitary sewers as it does the raw sewage. By reducing our I & I problem, we reduce the costs of operating our plant. 4) Reducing our I & I problem also reduces overflow and increases our sewer plant capacity. 5) It is very important to increase our plant capacity in order not to impede the development of Wintersville and the outlining areas requiring our sewage services. If our plant cannot meet existing demands, how is it going to meet the demands of further development? Administrator's Report Walt Ziemba read his goals for 2005, which are listed below: Village of Wintersville Goals for 2005 1. Committee to develop a walking trail grant application 2. Encourage both Commercial & Residential development 3. Negotiate Long-term Water Contract with Jefferson County 4. Continue progress on SR 43 Project 5. Complete pending annexations 6. Prioritize infrastructure repairs 7. Implement Backflow prevention program 8. Implement Storm Water Management program 9. Winters Drive/Rex Avenue Paving (Issue 2 Grant - $93,115) 10. Fire Hydrant replacement (Pending Issue 2 Grant - $149,000) 11. Reduce I & I problem (Pending Issue 2 Grant - $249,999) 12. Develop Fire year Street Maintenance & Rehab program 13. Continue Safety meeting to reduce workers comp. cost. Walt Ziemba said that he would have Greg Day come to a future meeting to discuss the Village's need to purchase, install, configure and transfer data relating to computers in his and Dee Petrella's offices. Walt Ziemba requested permission to advertise for RFP's for and I & I study on the remainder of the Village Matt Parise said he thought the Village already had issues that the Village was trying to deal with. Walt Ziemba said that there were 3 issues currently identified 1. Route 43 - Floyd - Beechwood Ravine 2. 84 Manholes that needed addressed 3. Aliceland area problems Matt Parise asked why the Village couldn't fix these problems and then see if the water run off problems still existed. Walt Ziemba said that if a study was done by fall, he could apply for what might be the last round of Issue 2 funds in 2006. Mayor Dave France said the Village had uncovered some serious problems regarding sanitary sewer system. Matt Parise asked why the entire Village had not been included in the study recently done by MS Consultants. Walt Ziemba said the entire Village was done by MS Consultants, but because of heavy rains in recent years more problems have been discovered. John Synodinos and Matt Parise requested copies of the previous contract with MS Consultants to review what they were required to do. Matt Parise said that he felt that MS Consultants were negligent in not finding some of these problems the Village is now uncovering. Council agreed to continue the discussion on this issue at a committee meeting. Walt Ziemba reported that the drainage project on Main Street was completed. Walt Ziemba reported that the evidence in the samples taken regarding sewage coming in from Jefferson County indicated that the County was contributing to the odor problem. He said that the Village is looking at a daily charge whenever the County sewage exceeded certain limits. Walt Ziemba said that the zoning issue was being looked at for a request to build a 50 bed Nursing Home near Burger King on Old Route 22. Walt Ziemba said he would be implementing a monthly supervisor's meeting to plan, and monitor progress and results for 2005 goal's and workload. Walt Ziemba discussed the need to purchase a new one ton dump truck and a new backhoe. He said he would bring in additional information on this at a future finance meeting. Unfinished Business Walt Ziemba said he had still not received a firm time frame from the County on the telemetry system installation. Walt Ziemba said that he is waiting for a return call from Bruce & Merriless regarding the school light that is not currently working. Mayor Dave France said that he was waiting on Comcast to get back to him on televising the Council Meetings. Walt Ziemba said that he and Perry Pool were still working with Chief Laman on the grass cutting issue on Ellsworth Street. Robert Martin Sr. said that he felt that the Village needed to keep the lights on inside the new garage all the time because according to the manufacture this was the most efficient way to operate. Walt Ziemba said that he had updated the handbook for the employees regarding the lunch time issue that Council had discussed previously with the Old Administrator. Walt Ziemba said that the work order reports would be available after the new PC's were purchased, and Dee Petrella was connected to Tammy Plante's information through the network. Walt Ziemba said that he had a tentative date of January 19, 2005 at 6:30 PM for an Equalization Board Meeting regarding the Sam's Way Assessment. Matt Parise inquired whether there were any deadlines to complete this process. Chris Becker said that the only deadline was the time frame allowed by the Village to accept protests from Village residents regarding their specific assessment. Walt Ziemba said that he had contacted ODOT regarding performing the light maintenance and they were not able to perform this work for the Village. Walt Ziemba said that he had ideas to discuss regarding sludge hauling that could save the Village money but would hold them for a future Water Committee Meeting. Chris Becker said he would check on Robert's Street home lien during Gary Smith hearing on February 17, 2005. Chris Becker said he would be setting up a meeting with Dennis O'Toole regarding a new contract with Jefferson County and bulk water purchase. Chris Becker said that the storm water regulation's Ordinance was quite lengthy and that he should have it ready in February, 2005. Chris Becker reminded Council that the lawsuit between Steubenville and the Village would take place February 28, 2005 in Common Pleas Court in Steubenville. Robert Laukert said he would be meeting with RITA Representatives regarding collection of delinquent accounts and would report back at the next meeting. Matt Parise asked about the list of streets listed in the RITA information. Walt Ziemba said that this list would be updated at the next meeting. John Synodinos asked about the status of the telemetry system. Walt Ziemba said that equipment had been ordered but the land had not yet been acquired. Motion by Matt Parise, second by John Synodinos to have a letter sent to the County Commissioners and Jack Gilmore requesting a schedule of the telemetry installation including a completion date. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. New Business John Synodinos said that the catch basins on Stardust Drive were working great but the lift station in Moon Valley was still having problems. He said his brother-in-law lives in that area, and he was continually having problems with sewage backing up into is basement. He asked that his brother-in-law who just arrived at the meeting come up and explain his situation. Milton Kayafas, 161 Stardust Drive, distributed a letter to Council members from Dave Buckmaster (Buckmaster Plumbing) that describes the problem he was having. Milton Kayafas said that he thought that part of the problem was caused by surface water, but the storm drains installed by the Village did not help his problem. He said that when the lift station (Moon Valley) fills up the pumps can't keep up. He said this allows for raw sewage to overflow into the creek and this comes onto his property. He said that he installed a back water check valve on his sanitary sewer and an effluent sewage pump to protect his basement. However this valve needed serviced periodically and does not always take care of his problem and he has to pay for repairs and cleanup (6 times last year). Walt Ziemba said that the lift station is not the problem, it is the lines coming in which is why the I & I study is needed to identify the specific area causing the problem. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by John Synodinos to authorize the Administrator to request proposals for an I & I study for the Village. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Dave Smith said he had received complaints about the recently paved section of Main Street that had utility connection raised. Walt Ziemba said that he was told by Mr. McDevitt that Utilities don't often cooperate in these situations but he would follow up on this complaint. Dave Smith again asked about the school light that needed repaired. Walt Ziemba said he would follow up on this situation. Matt Parise asked if the bills for Bruce & Merriless had been brought to the meeting. Mike Payne gave him a printout of these bills for the past two years. Matt Parise said that the tap fee situation affecting the new Meridian Green Development needed to be in place. Chris Becker said he would have these ready for the next meeting. Matt Parise asked if the Village was going to select a citizen of the year award for 2004. Mayor Dave France said that he would accept nominations from Council and the Public for this honor between now and the next Council Meeting. Matt Parise said that contrary to comments that have appeared in the media concerning the Village and Jefferson County, a contract for bulk water purchase is in place between the County and the Village that has 8 years remaining along with a optional 10 year renewal. Matt Parise said that when he was reviewing Village bills he had discovered that the Mayor had awarded an extra contest winner for the residential Christmas Decoration contest. Mayor Dave France said that he had not found any business that was deserving of the award so he had decided to award an extra residential winner in place of the business award. Mayor Dave France reminded Council members Matt Parise, Robert Martin Sr., and John Synodinos to be more careful when reporting Christmas decoration winners in the future, because they had mistakenly reported an incorrect address which had caused the wrong residence to receive the award. He said that he was put in the enviable position of asking for the money back form the homeowner who had been sent a check in error. Debbie Bottorf asked how this error had incurred regarding the Christmas Decoration contest. Matt Parise said that he had phoned in the addresses that he and two other Council persons had selected as winners, and that he might have given the wrong address. Thomas Bottorf asked about the status of the Main Street paving from Riesbecks to Krogers. Walt Ziemba said that this paving was to be covered entirely by grant funding and he would contact ODOT to see the status of the project funding. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by John Synodinos to change the Christmas Decoration winner award for 2005 to only 1 winner for Business and remain 3 winners for residential to be awarded by Council members. The Mayor awards would remain the same at one residential and one business award. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve retroactively the transfers and EMS Levy increase in appropriations for 2004 as prepared by the Clerk Treasurer. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Disclaimer: These are draft minutes and not deemed official until approved by Council.