Special Council Meeting Thursday, February 22, 2007 Mayor Dave France called the meeting to order. Roll Call: Robert Cochrun present, Jason Mattern present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Bob Gale present, Matt Parise present, Thomas Bottorf present. Officials: Mayor Dave France present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker absent, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Walt Ziemba present. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Dave France read the following statement: I want to inform Council, attendees and residents that prior to last Thursday evening's scheduled Council Meeting a person that we all know innocently adjusted the Council Chambers clock to a time he thought was correct. However, the time that was set was two to three minutes fast. The clock was adjusted prior to my arrival in Council Chambers. I have always used the Council Chambers clock to determine the time of roll call without any previous problems. Consequently, roll call was made with three councilmen absent causing a lack of quorum. I certainly hope that this resolves last Thursday's disagreement and we can move forward with decorum. The Village has purchased a new atomic clock guaranteed to be accurate within one second which cannot be manually adjusted. As in the past, I will have roll call by this new chamber clock at exactly 7:00 PM. I advise Council Members and other officials to synchronize their clocks to the Chamber clock. I hope that all Council Members and officials will be on time. Reading of Minutes Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Bob Gale to accept the minutes from the February 1, 2007 Regular Council Meeting. Special Meeting Agenda Items Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Bob Cochrun to increase the rate of pay for the Village Administrator's Secretary ( Tammy Straka) by $1.00 per hour, based on the recommendation of the Clerk Treasurer that she had learned the necessary skills to back up the finance clerk and had demonstrated that she could run the payroll and payable functions as needed. This pay is not to become a permanent part of the base for the secretary position. Discussion on the motion: Thomas Bottorf said that it would be up to the Administrator and the Clerk Treasurer to make sure that Tammy Straka kept up the skills to function as the backup to the finance clerk. Mike Payne asked Council if the motion could be retroactive to include the pay on February 23. Matt Parise said that previous raises had not been retroactive. Bob Gale agreed that the increase should not be retroactive and should start with the current pay period that began on Sunday February 18, 2007 for the next full pay on Friday, March 9, 2007. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Tom Freund, L & M Electronics, stated that he had agreed to the modifications discussed at the recent Finance Committee meeting regarding his contract with the Village for his new business. He said that he would offer free internet access to the City Building, City Garage Building and water office, if the Village would purchase the necessary equipment, which should not cost much more that a few hundred dollars. Thomas Bottorf said that the Village should wait to vote on the contract with L & M Electronics until the Solicitor had time to review and approve the language in the contract. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve the three year contract with L & M Electronic's pending approval of the contract language by the Village Solicitor. Jason Mattern said that he wanted to make sure that the agreement did not contain any clauses that gave L & M Electronics exclusive rights to the water tower. He also said that he would like the Village's Insurance Agent to review the contract to see if there were any liability issues with the agreement. Bob Gale thanked Tom Freund for working with Council on the contract and making the modifications discussed at the recent Finance Committee Meeting. Vote on the Motion to approve the contract with L & M Electronics contingent on the approval of the Solicitor. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. After a brief discussion on the Citizen of the Year selection process, it was decided that Council members should each give the Administrator their vote for Citizen of the Year and the Administrator would announce the winner at the next Council Meeting. Walt Ziemba announced that he and the Mayor would be attending the OML Conference on March 20th. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Robert Cochrun to pay the City of Steubenville the balance owed for the lawsuit involving the water contract with the Village. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Walt Ziemba announced that a Public Hearing would be held for the Day Care on Fernwood Road to be annexed into the Village on April 12, 2007. Walt Ziemba announced that 14 water breaks had incurred in the Village in January and February so far this year and that approximately 1.25 million gallons of water had been lost and had cost the Village approximately $29,500. Walt Ziemba said that the recent snow and ice had cost the Village approximately $10,000 for salt for the streets and another $10,000 in regular and overtime hours. He said he would be turning over a claim to the state in the amount of $20,300 for possible reimbursement for the costs involved during the emergency weather conditions. Walt Ziemba told Council that the WODA group was about to begin the second phase for Meridian Green Complex and the initial plans had gone out listing a single tap for the complex, just like they had for Meridian Green One, even though the Village had enacted on Ordinance that now required individual taps. After some discussion on the matter, it was decided that this needed to be further talked about at a Water and Sewer Committee Meeting. Walt Ziemba said that he had told employees that they would be paid for time missed because of the state of emergency on February 13th and 14th . Mike Payne said that he had instructed the Finance Clerk to pay employees for time missed on the 14th and only the time missed on the 13th for those employees who showed up for work and were sent home later in the day because of the state of emergency. Thomas Bottorf and Matt Parise suggested that this situation needed to addressed in the employee handbook. Walt Ziemba told Council that Yeager Contracting had submitted the lowest and best bid for the Garden Drive/Meadow Road Waterline project in the amount of $404,276.96. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Robert Martin Sr. to accept the Waterline bid by Yeager Contracting in the amount of $404,276.96 for the Garden Drive/Meadow Road Project, based on the Administrator's recommendation that the bid was the lowest and best received for the project. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Matt Parise suggested that the timeline currently in place for the Garden Drive and Meadow Road Project be made available for the residents in the area. Walt Ziemba said that he had interviewed three individuals for the part time position opened up in the Village created by Tom Lane being promoted to full time. He said that his decision was to hire Gabriel Craig to start on Monday, February 26, 2007. He said that Gabriel Craig was the only one of the individuals interviewed that had a current CDL License and that the proper background checks had been done. Motion by Bob Gale, second by Bob Cochrun to approve the transfers prepared by the Clerk Treasurer. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Bob Gale to pay bills approved by Council as funds become available. Discussion n the Motion: Matt Parise said he approved the Village making a $5000 payment to Project Alliance but that this was no guarantee that the Village would make future payments if there were not more activity and communication with the Village with this organization. Bob Gale said that he was glad to see that Project Alliance now was receiving contribution from Stratton and Cross Creek Township, but that other communities should also be contacted about contributing. Mayor Dave France said that all large commercial property owners in Wintersville would begin having descriptions on the Project Alliance flyer and listed on their website. Matt Parise said that the Village still needed a invoice from Thunder in the Valley that showed that the Village was actually reimbursing them for a bill that they had to pay for the fireworks or some type of payment before the contribution to them was made. Motion by Bob Gale, second by Bob Cochrun to pay Prestiege Video $125.00 to videotape tonight's Special Council Meeting. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Vote to pay bills. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by Bob Gale, second by Robert Martin Sr. to adjourn. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Next Regular Scheduled Meeting is March 1, 2007 at 7:00 PM.