Regular Council meeting Thursday, February 7, 2002 Meeting called to order by Mayor Robert E. Cochrun. Roll Call: Gene Pool present, John Synodinos present, Dave France present, Dave Smith present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Beth Rupert absent. Officials: Mayor Robert E. Cochrun present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker present, 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 Gene Pool to approve the minutes from January 17, 2002 regular Council meeting. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Persons Appearing Before Council Mayor Cochrun read a proclamation honoring John Petrella, a local contractor, who donated his time to help install sidewalks on Grove Street. Mayor Cochrun asked the students attending the meeting from Franciscan University and Indian Creek High School to identify themselves and to give their reason for attending the Meeting. Robert Laukert, Village BHJ Representative, updated Council Members on the first Phase II Bridge Study Meeting. He to told Council members that this Phase will probably take 14-16 months to complete. Ron Boilegh, questioned why his AT&T Broadband Cable bill contained a small fee that he was told was imposed to cover the franchise fee that Wintersville charges AT&T. Chris Becker explained that the franchise fee charged to AT&T was a normal income stream charged by Villages to utilities. He also said that Council recently renewed the contract with AT&T and elected to keep the franchise fee at 3%, even though they could have charged 5%. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions Ordinance 2002-01: An Ordinance providing for the burial of indigent persons was read for the first time. Ordinance 2002-02: An Ordinance amending the base pay of crew chiefs of the water and street departments was read for the first time. Motion by Gene Pool, second by Dave France to suspend the rules and have the ordinance read for the 2nd and 3rd times. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Ordinance 2002-02: An Ordinance amending the base pay of crew chief of the water and street departments was read for the 2nd time. Ordinance 2002-02: An Ordinance amending the base pay of crew chief of the water and street departments was read for the 3rd time. Motion by Gene Pool, second by John Synodinos to approve Ordinance 2002-02. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Ordinance 2002-03: An Ordinance amending the base pay of Auxiliary Police Officers was read for the first time. Motion by Gene Pool, second by Robert Martin Sr. to suspend the rules and have the Ordinance read the 2nd and 3rd times. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Ordinance 2002-03: An Ordinance amending the base pay of Auxiliary Police Officers was read for the 2nd time. Ordinance 2002-03: An Ordinance amending the base pay of Auxiliary Police Officers was read for the 3rd time. Motion by Gene Pool, second by Dave Smith to approve Ordinance 2002-03. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Reports, Announcements and Communications Council Members agreed that they would tour the Boardman, Ohio Water facility on February 11th and leave around 3:00 PM. Mayor Cochrun read the Magistrate report for the Month of January 2002. Mayor Cochrun read the Police report for the month of January 2002. Mayor Cochrun read the Building Inspector's report for the month of January 2002. Mayor Cochrun announced that the Wintersville Police K-9 Dance would be held Saturday, February 9th at the St. Florian Hall. Mayor Cochrun announced that Village offices would be closed on Monday. February 18, 2002 in observance of President's Day. Mayor Cochrun announced that a Planning Commission Meeting would be held Tuesday, February 12, 2002 at 6:00 PM. Committee Reports Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Gene Pool to amend the employee handbook to include accrued time towards the 40 hours worked when calculating overtime. Council Members held a lengthy discussion on the motion. The discussion included whether this method of calculating overtime had been past practice. Discussion also took place on whether employees would refuse to come out to work on the weekend if they were not paid at the overtime rate. Vote: John Synodinos nay, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 4-1. Mayor Cochrun suggested that an audit of time sheets from 1983 to present to review overtime. Motion by John Synodinos to conduct an internal audit of all timesheets from 1983 to present to determine of overtime had been paid to employees working on the weekend who had taken a vacation or sick day during the week. Motion died for lack of a second. Former Councilman, Robert Laukert stated that the policy established by the former Council was set up according to federal minimum guidelines. He also stated that he had never heard of the practice of paying overtime to workers who have not worked 40 hours. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Gene Pool to change the employee handbook to allow employees to accrue up to 60 days instead of 30 days of accrued time. Employees would still only be eligible to be paid for a maximum of 30 days when they left Village employment. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Administrator's Report Gary Folden told Council that a company by the name of Voice Stream had offered the Village $7,200.00 per year to allow them to place an antenna on the Village's water tower. Council Members directed the Administrator to pursue this offer including finding out whether this antenna would interfere with the Police band or the flight path of the Jefferson County Airpark. Gary Folden said that the ordinance committee meeting scheduled for February 11, 2002 would need to be cancelled because of the trip to Boardman. Robert Martin Sr. announced that he would be having a follow-up personnel meeting between the department heads and himself, Wednesday, February 20, 2002 from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM. Mike Payne suggested that the Administrator contact Rocco Boniey, insurance agent for the Village's health insurance, and ask him to attend the start of the meeting to answer any questions the employees might have concerning the new insurance plan. Gary Folden said that Council might want to consider moving the March 21st, 2002 Council Meeting due to the conflict with the annual Chamber Dinner being held that evening Motion by Gene Pool, second by Robert Martin Sr. to change the date for the March 21st 2002 meeting to Tuesday March 19, 2002. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Old Business Robert Martin discussed the problems a resident was having with R.I.T.A. regarding wage taxes. Gary Folden said that if the resident would contact him he would discuss the situation with R.I.T.A. Chris Becker said that he had mailed a certified letter to the A.L.I.V.E. director responding to their recent request for a rent reduction. He said he would follow-up with a phone call to the director about the situation. Robert Martin Sr. said that he had been told that the A.L.I.V.E. organization would be receiving funding that would help them with this rent. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to submit request for proposals for EPA consulting work needed after the initial study was completed. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. regarding payment of water bills as follows: Those in our community that can show through proper documentation since September 11, 2001 that they are still working but have had a cut in pay, will be given special consideration in the payment of their water bills. It being that for the months of February and March 2002, they can be paid bi-weekly, "in two payments per month" with no penalty charged. It being that they can pay a minimum of 50% of the water bill per month, for the months of February and March 2002. It being that starting in April 2002, they will pay their regular water bill plus 20% of their back balance until they are caught up on their water bill, April through August 2002, again with no penalty charged. Dave France said that it was his understanding that the Village already had a method of dealing with customers on a case-by-case basis. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool nay. Motion passed 4-1. Motion by Dave France to transfer $5000 from the General Fund to the Sanitation Fund in order to meet Sanitation Fund obligations Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Robert Martin said that he had attended a recent Commissioner's Meeting and found out that funding may be available for agencies and municipalities for training. Gene Pool said that he would like to move forward on selecting lampposts for the new sidewalk. He distributed materials to other Council Members to review. It was agreed by Council Members that if local businesses or individuals paid the cost of these lampposts their names should be on the fixtures. Mike Payne announced that the State Auditors had begun to audit the Village's records for 2001. Council Members agreed that the Treasurer's office should pay the .55 increase per 1000 gallons that is expected to be passed along to the Village by Steubenville this year. Chris Becker updated the New Council Members on the current contractual arrangement with Steubenville and also on the recent discussions with the County regarding water matters. 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, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Gene Pool to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Next regular scheduled meeting is February 21, 2002 at 7:00 PM.