Regular Council Meeting Thursday, January 8, 2004 Mayor Dave France called the meeting to order. Roll Call: John Synodinos present, 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 None. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Dave France announced that members of Council were to follow several rules beginning at this meeting including: 1) Turning off cell phones, beepers and pagers. 2) Requiring Council members to ask permission to leave their seated area from the Mayor or official running the meeting 3) Not to use profanity. He said that Council members not following these rules would be dismissed from the meeting. Reading of Minutes Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Robert Price to approve the minutes of the December 18 Regular Council Meeting. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise abstained, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0 with 1 abstention. Persons Appearing before Council Mayor France recognized Members of the Eagle Scouts who were attending the meeting Mayor France asked for a motion to go into executive session to discuss a personnel matter concerning appointing an interim Village Administrator. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Dave Smith to go into executive session to discuss a personnel matter concerning appointing a interim Village Administrator. Vote: John Synodinos yea, 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 Thomas Bottorf to return to regular session. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Thomas Bottorf to approve Mayor France's appointee Margaret Metzger, as an interim Village Administrator, Discussion on motion: Matt Parise said that the issue is whether the Village needs an interim Administrator and his vote would not be a reflection on the candidate. He said he felt selecting an interim candidate from those that had applied would be wrong because it might give them an advantage. John Synodinos said that he agreed with Matt Parise on this matter. Dave Smith asked if Matt Parise would consider an interim Village Administrator that was not a candidate for the permanent position. Matt Parise said he would be willing to consider that possibility. Vote on the motion: John Synodinos nay, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. nay, Matt Parise nay, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion failed because it requires 4 Council votes to approve. Dave France announced that he had selected four local business leaders to review the applications and recommend a candidate for the Village Administrator through an interview process. Doug Little, from W.E. Quicksall Engineers discussed his report regarding the work his firm had done regarding the odor problem in Sunset Gardens. He also outlined his recommendations, which were in the report and said he felt 90% certain that if these recommendations were followed the odor problem would be significantly reduced. He also said that his report contained a cost for each recommendation as well as a total cost to implement these changes. He felt that the Village could recoup this money in five or six years through chemical and other savings. Robert Martin Sr. asked if the County should share in some of the costs involved since their system was partly to blame. Doug Little said that would be up to whatever type of agreement the Village had or could work out with the County. Rob Herrington, Wintersville Fire Department Chief, renewed his request for a fire levy to be placed on the November ballot since it did not make the March 2004 ballot. He also explained why he had presented this request in December and that he had not intended to push this request down the Village's throat. He felt that even though he presented the request at the December 4th meeting it had given the Village ample time to file the information with the Board of Elections by the December 18th 2004 deadline. Chris Becker apologized for the levy not getting on the March ballot but said that since he had missed the meeting on December 4th and had not received the request from the Administrator until after such time that he would have been able to meet the deadline that it was just a matter of unfortunate circumstances that prevented the filing to be made. Matt Parise stated that the Fire Department would not be losing any funding by moving the levy back to the November 2004 election. Mike Calabria, Attorney for residents of Sam's Way, said that he wanted to discuss ways to help move forward with paving of Sam's Way. He gave a brief background of the events leading up to the problem concerning this road and then asked for Council to address the following concerning this matter. 1) That Village services for things like snow removal be continued for the entire road and that the Village provide maintenance service for water and sewer. 2) Council explore the costs that would be involved in getting this road in place and that the Village consider contributing to this cost after passing a resolution of necessity. Chris Becker informed Council that if a resolution of necessity was passed the Village would be required to contribute at least 2% of the total cost and could contribute the cost up to 100%. Dave Smith said that he wanted to remind everyone that it was the Planning Commission and not Council that had allowed this situation to occur. Chris Becker said that id Council wished to complete this road they could either allow the residents to ask for an assessment and pass along all the costs over 20 years to the residents based on 3 different methods or they could pass a resolution of necessity which would allow the Village to assess the property owners for the total costs less the 2% (or more) that the Village would agree to pay. He reminded the Council that there may be property owners who might not want this to be done. Mike Calabria said that he felt a grave injustice had been done by the Village for not requiring a performance bond for this project and not making the contractor follow the Ordinances regarding installing a road in this development. Perry Pool said that he had been given mixed signals on how far to provide snow removal on Sam's Way. He said that sometimes they only went as far as the pump station access road and other times they had removed snow for the entire road. He said that it was not a safety problem to remove snow for the entire road. Matt Parise said that he felt the snow removal should be done for the entire road. Chris Becker said that he was not concerned about the liability issue of providing services for Sam's Way but if they were continued it might be determined that the Village was accepting the road as a dedicated part of the Village. Mayor France agreed that he thought snow removal should be done for the entire road on Sam's Way. Perry Pool said that regarding the water and sewer lines that Gary Folden had instructed him to stay out of that area because it was not dedicated. He said that his understanding was that A H & L Builders were to have addressed some problems with lines that had been discovered earlier by the Village crews. Robert Martin Sr. said that the Village crews needed to take care of any water breaks that might occur in that area. Chris Becker said that he and Attorney Calabria disagreed on who actually owns the current road (Sam's Way), but regardless the residents there are in a bind partially caused by the Planning Commission, and something needs to be done on the matter. Attorney Calabria said that he currently represents all but 3 of the occupied residents of Sam's Way and what they were looking for from the Village was the following: 1) Village services to continue 2) The Village to put the cost of the road out to bid. 3) After a cost was obtained for the road obtained, a discussion on the assessment process including how much the Village would be willing to pay as well as how much the residents would have to pay. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to have estimates obtained by the Village to complete the Sam's Way road up to Village Ordinances requirements. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by John Synodinos to accept the water and sewer lines for Sam's Way residents died for lack of a second. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to provide emergency service only, for water and sewer line problems for Sam's Way residents. Discussion on the motion: Dave Smith asked Perry Pool if he was comfortable he could fix any emergency problems with the utility lines in that area based on what he had seen. Perry Pool said that he felt his crews could fix any emergency problems for the residents. Vote on Motion: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Mayor France called for a 10-minute recess. Gary Smith, property owner on Renae Drive, asked Council if they would provide him with snow removal services for his privately owned road since they were doing it for Sam's Way Residents. He said he also would like them to take care of his water and sewer lines and to pave Renae Drive and asses him for the costs. Robert Martin Sr. said that the situation on Sam's Way was unique because some of the problem was caused by the Village Planning Commission. Gary Smith said he would have to seek legal Counsel since he was not being provided the same treatment as Sam's Way residents. Chris Becker told Gary Smith that if he wished to have Renae Drive paved and be assessed for the work he would need to make the request in writing. Gary Smith asked Council to obtain a quote for the cost of paving the road. Council did not act on this request. Mrs. Feeny and son, 213 Walnut Street, asked to be reimbursed for damage to her furnace and basement that was caused by sewer problems. Jack Herceg and Perry Pool gave an explanation of the situation at the Feeny residence. They explained what had been done in the past to take care of some of the problems at this residence. Council advised the Feeny's to turn over her claims to the Village's insurance company. Mrs. Feeny's son explained what he thought should be done to eliminate any future problems at this residence. Perry Pool agreed that this would probably alleviate the problems for this residence and would not be that expensive to do. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to replace the pin currently installed at that location and to place culvert as needed at 213 Walnut Street to help alleviate any future water and sewer problems at this address. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith nay, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf nay. Motion passed 4-2. Mr. Feeny asked Council to consider giving his mother a 44% reduction in her future water and sewer bills as compensation for her needing to clean up after each time she had experienced problems over the last 40 years. Council did not vote to grant this request. Milt Kafas, Stardust Drive, said that his property had been flooded at least 10 times and that he had always dealt with the problem himself. He said sometimes his back yard becomes a lake when hard rain comes. His explanation for this flooding problem was that debris gathers on a grating on his property or that water from the storm sewers overflow causing this problem. He said that Buck Master plumbing had confirmed that these were the cause of the flooding. Perry Pool said that installing some catch basins could solve some of the storm water problems. Mayor France told Perry Pool to put this on his work schedule. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions Ordinances 2004-01: An Ordinance increasing Magistrate Court fees was read for the first time. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave Smith to suspend the rules for the 2nd and 3rd readings for Ordinance 2004-01. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. nay, Matt Parise nay, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion failed because 5 votes are required to pass the motion. Matt Parise said he would like to give the residents a chance to discuss this Ordinance by going through the normal reading process for the passage of an ordinance. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor France read the annual 2003 Magistrate's report. Mayor France read the December 2003 Magistrate, Police and Building Inspectors Reports. Mayor France asked for nominations for Council President. Motion by Robert Martin Sr. to nominate Robert Price for Council President. Robert Price declined the nomination. Motion by Dave Smith, second by Robert Price to nominate Thomas Bottorf for Council President. Vote: John Synodinos nay, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. nay, Matt Parise nay, Thomas Bottorf yea. Mayor France broke the tie with yea vote. Motion passed 4-3. Thomas Bottorf was elected Council President for 2004. Mayor France stated that he had distributed a list of committee assignments for 2004. Robert Martin Sr. questioned why there was a discrepancy in the number of committee each Council member was on. Mayor France said that the assignments of committees were the way that he wanted them. He said that one Council member was already on the Planning Commission which was why he had put him on fewer committees. Chris Becker said that the Mayor or Council by a majority vote can establish committees pursuant to Villages rules (which have not been adopted yet for 2004). Council Members discussed the salary and benefits that might be offered to the New Administrator. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to make the salary range for the Administrator's position $40,000 - $42,000 Vote: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Council Members discussed leaving any other conditions of employment and benefits for the Administrator position to be discussed at a later time. Administrator Report None. Old Business Motion by John Synodinos, second by Thomas Bottorf to have the Solicitor prepare a revised Ordinance incorporating the changes recommended by the Sanitation Committee for section 955 of the Codified Ordinances. Discussion on motion: Matt Parise requested that the revised Ordinance be separated in to two separate Ordinances dealing with Commercial and Residential pieces. Chris Becker said that he would prefer not doing this since the two sections were intertwined with common sections. John Synodinos said that any discussion for changes to the revised Ordinance could be discussed when the Ordinance was being read at future meeting. Vote on Motion: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise nay, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-1. Chris Becker said that he had spoken to Mr. Youngblood representing Midwest Claims insurance company regarding the multiple claims submitted after flooding problems damaged several residences last year. He said that Mr. Youngblood was going to write to him outlining why the Village is responsible for up to 6 deductibles of $5,000 each for damages to different residences. He said that the Village may end up paying for the deductibles for each incidence. Chris Becker discussed a prior resolution that had been passed on November 2, 1988 approving for the Village to spend up to $500 for coffee, food etc. for Village employees. Mike Payne informed Council that the Village had spent over $200 on coffee in 2003 for Village employees and close to $800 for bottled water from a 3rd party vendor. Council members briefly discussed this issue. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave Smith to discontinue the purchase of bottled water for Village employees. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. nay, Matt Parise nay, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 4-2. Jack Herceg discussed the need to purchase an instrument for the utility department that would help run the lift station pumps more efficiently. He said that the machine called a DM-II Pro Digital Recorder/Data Logger would cost approximately $1960. He said that if the machine extended the life of the expensive pumps it could save the Village significantly in that area alone. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to purchase a DM - II Pro Digital Recorder/Data Logger. Discussion on the motion: Matt Parise asked who would be using the equipment. Jack Herceg said the Village would own the equipment but that outside electricians who usually did not have this piece of equipment would interpret results produced. Thomas Bottorf asked the opinion of Greg Day who worked in the electrical field his opinion of the purchase. Mr. Day explained why he thought the machine was a worth while purchase. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. New Business Motion by Matt Parise, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve retroactively the budget line transfers for 2003 as prepared by the Clerk/Treasure. Vote: John Synodinos yea, 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 approve the line items transfers and the fund transfers for 2004 as prepared by the Clerk Treasurer. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Robert Price to pay bills as funds become available. Vote: John Synodinos yea, 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, Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Next regular scheduled meeting is January 22, 2004 at 7:00 PM. Mike Payne, Clerk/Treasurer Dave France, Mayor