Regular Council Meeting

Thursday, January 17, 2002

Meeting called to order by Mayor Robert E. Cochrun

Roll Call: John Synodinos present, Dave France present, Dave Smith present, Robert
Martin Sr. present, Beth Rupert present, Gene Pool present.

Officials: Mayor Robert E. Cochrun present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker absent,
Clerk Treasurer C. Michael Payne present, Administrator Gary R. Folden present.

Moment of Silence

Pledge of Allegiance

Reading of Minutes

Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave France to approve the minutes from the
January 3, 2002 Regular Council Meeting.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin yea, Beth
Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Solicitor Christopher D. Becker arrived at the meeting.

Persons Appearing Before Council

Mayor Cochrun congratulated Pam Damis and Monsignor Gerald Calovini for being chosen
"Citizen's of the Year" for 2001. Pam Damis was responsible for coordinating the Ray
Laman's Children's Christmas Party. Monsignor Calovini was chosen for his work in
the community with under privileged families and all of his other time spent helping
others in the area.

Mayor Cochrun presented Erin DeSantis a proclamation for her outstanding work as Coach
of the Indian Creek Volleyball team. Her OVAC Coach of the year honors last year was
her 5th consecutive year for winning the award.

Mayor Cochrun presented the Indian Creek Volleyball team a proclamation for another
outstanding season last year.

Patrolman Jesse Kosegi thanked Council Members for approving his training and the
purchase of a Drug Dog for the Village. He updated Council on his training timetable
and said that he expected to have the dog ready for use by March when his training
was complete. He also reminded Council about the fund raising Dance that would be
held February 9th at the St. Florian Hall.

Robert Laukert, BHJ representative for the Village, updated Council on the recent
BHJ Meeting. He told Council that BHJ is looking into running buses and vans to
the Robinson Township area. He also said that BHJ will be contacting families in
the area at random and asking residents their transportation needs in a survey.

Mr. Laukert also said that BHJ had completed Phase I of the Bridge study and concluded
that a new bridge is needed. The propose of Phase II will be to choose a location for
the bridge. A meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn on University Boulevard at
1:30 PM. February 6th to kick off Phase II. He also mentioned that BHJ was having
an open house on Friday, January 18th, from 12-2. He asked Council and the Mayor
to submit a letter to BHJ indicating that he would be representing the Village on
the Bridge Study project. He also told Council Members to let him know if they had
any thoughts on where the bridge might best be located.

Dan Wood, Coordinator of Thunder in the Ville, asked Council for their continued
support of the fireworks event. He said that Thunder in the Ville would hold its
initial meeting for this year's event, Monday, January 21, at 7:00 PM. and thereafter
on the first Monday of every Month until July at St. Florian Hall. He also mentioned
that he had received a letter from President Bush concerning the event.

John Synodinos asked Mr. Wood how much the event cost last year.

Dan Wood said that total expenses were approximately $16,000 of which $6,800 was paid
by the Village.

Dave France asked Mr. Wood if he could meet with him to discuss with him what funding
might be needed this year from the Village.

Chief Ed. Laman asked Council to discuss personnel matters in executive session
sometime during the meeting.

Reports, Announcements, and Communications

Mayor Cochrun read the December 2001 Police Report.

Mayor Cochrun read the 2001 combined Police Report.

Mayor Cochrun announced that Village offices would be closed Monday, January 21, 2002
for Martin Luther King Day.

Beth Rupert asked Chief Ed Laman for a comparison of items listed on the Police Report
midway through 2002 to see how much change has taken place in criminal activity.

Mayor Cochrun asked Council to renew membership in the Jefferson County Regional
Planning Commission.

Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave France to renew membership in the Jefferson
County Regional Planning Commission.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Mayor Cochrun asked Council if they wished to discuss renewal of Solicitor Chris
Becker's contract?

Council Members agreed to discuss the issue in executive session.

Committee Reports

Dave France announced that the finance committee would be meeting at 6:00 PM prior
to the 2nd Council Meeting each month beginning in February.

Administrator's Report

Gary Folden asked Council Members to accept the lowest bid for the Sanitation Packer.
The low bid for the packer was $93,900 from Steubenville Truck Center.

Motion by Dave France, second by Gene Pool to accept the sanitation packer in the
amount of $93,900 for Steubenville Truck Center.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Gary Folden read a letter that was written by Mayor Cochrun to the Mayor and Council
of Bellaire, Ohio. The Letter was in response to statements made be Bellaire
officials regarding hiring an Administrator.

Gary Folden read a letter submitted by the A.L.I.V.E. Organization asking for a
reduction in rent from $800 a month to $200 a month due to their funding restraints.

After a discussion on the matter it was decided that Chris Becker would submit a
letter to the A.L.I.V.E. Organization letting them know that the Village could not
legally allow a reduction in the rent since the lease on the building was originally
bid out.

Beth Rupert suggested that Council members may want to rethink whether they want to
continue being in the landlord business.

Old Business

Beth Rupert asked Council members if they had reviewed the "Rules of Council" handout
they had received at the last meeting.

Council Members agreed that the Ordinance and Rules Committee would meet to discuss
these "Rules of Council" in more detail.

Gene Pool said that he would like to have Council Members approve a .75 per hour
increase for the Public Works and Public Utilities foremen.

Council held a discussion on the issue. The discussion included the fact that the
two individuals holding these positions were informally promised this increase
whenever the Village could better afford it financially.

Beth Rupert asked Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne if the Village could afford the increases.

Mike Payne said that the increases were not budgeted for but that Council could
transfer money from another line item to meet these raises.

Motion by John Synodinos, second by Gene Pool to prepare an Ordinance increasing
the base pay and the current pay of the Public Works Foreman, Vern Jackson and the
Public Utilities Foreman, Jack Herceg by .75 per hour. Retroactive to January 1, 2002.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Chris Becker said that he was reviewing the issue of whether Council had the authority
to freeze previous sick time awarded to employees in previous years prior to the new
accrued time policy.

Gene Pool said that he would like Council to reconsider two issues in the handbook.
The first issue was whether an employee should be given overtime for all hours worked
on the weekend if they had taken accrued time during the week. The second issue was
whether the accrued time limit should be increased from 30 days established since some
employees would be hitting this maximum this year.

Council briefly discussed these issues and decided that the Personnel Committee would
meet to discuss these issues in more detail.

New Business

Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave France to go into executive session to
discuss Police personnel matters and to discuss the Village contract renewal of
Solicitor Chris Becker.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Motion by Dave Smith, second by John Synodinos to return to regular session.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to prepare an Ordinance that
would increase the hourly shift amount paid to the Auxiliary Patrolman by .25 per hour.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Motion by Dave Smith, second by John Synodinos to renew the contract of Solicitor
Chris Becker for one year at the rate of $600 per month.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Motion by Beth Rupert, second by Dave Smith to hire an interim full-time Police
Officer with benefits pending the outcome of the Police Officer currently on disability.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to pay bills as funds become
available.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to adjourn.

Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea,
Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea.

Motion passed 6-0.

Next regular scheduled meeting is 7:00 PM February 7th with All Committee Meeting at
6:00 PM.

C. Michael Payne, Clerk Treasurer
Robert E. Cochrun, Mayor