Regular Council Meeting						

Thursday, March 4, 2004

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 none.

Moment of Silence

Pledge of Allegiance

Reading of Minutes.

Motion by Dr. Robert Price, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve the minutes from the regular Council meeting
held February 19, 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

Michael Mehalik, Director of Jefferson County Board of Mental Retardation, asked Council members for their
support in recognizing March as MR/DD Awareness month.

Motion by Matt Parise, second be Dr. Robert Price to recognize March 2004 as MR/DD Awareness Month.

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 Dr. Robert Price second by Thomas Bottorf to go into executive session to discuss water contractual
negotiations issues.

Discussion on the motion:

John Synodinos said that he did not want to go into executive session at this point in the meeting; he said
he would prefer to wait until other Village business had been discussed.

Mayor France said that the Village's attorney on this issue, Dennis O'Toole, was present and that the Village
was paying him by the hour so it would make financial sense to meet with him prior to other matters.

Matt Parise said he would be voting not to go into executive session to discuss this issue because he felt that
the people need to hear this issue.					
Vote on motion:  John Synodinos nay, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. nay, Matt Parise
nay, Thomas Bottorf yea.

Mayor France broke the tie by voting yea.

Motion passed 4-3.

Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to return to regular session.

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.

Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions

Ordinance 2004-02:  An Ordinance approving 4 additional hours of straight time to be paid to police officers
who work on holidays.

Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Matt Parise to approve Ordinance 2004-02.

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.

Ordinance 2004-04:  An Ordinance providing up to $1500 in fringe benefits supplies for Village employees
was read for the second time.

Ordinance 2004-05:  An Ordinance to amend Chapter 955 of the revised code, regarding Garbage and Rubbish
disposal was read for the first time.

Thomas Bottorf said that the issue had been discussed at several sanitation meetings concerning sanitation
rates and that this Ordinance was the result of the Sanitation committees recommendations.

Matt Parise restated his earlier position that he would have preferred to have the Ordinance separated out
in two parts (business and residential).

Chris Becker said he would research the issue of whether the Ordinance would have to be reverted to a 1st
read if there were changes that needed to be made to the Ordinance during the period of the 3 reads.  Chris
Becker said the Ordinance could be tabled during the period that the Ordinance was going through the 3
readings, without starting over with a first reading.

Resolution 2004-06:  A resolution declaring the necessity for an additional tax levy for fire protection
was read for the first time.

Administrator's Report

None.

Old Business

John Synodinos read a statement concerning the process for selecting a new Village Administrator 
				
Mayor France responded to John Synodinos statement by explaining that originally he had planned a meeting
on the Monday following the Administrative candidate interviews for Council to discuss their thoughts on
the candidates.  He said that the meeting could not be held because the press had not been notified in time
to allow the meeting.  He said that he then contacted Astrida Trupovnieks and told her she had at least
three voted of support of Council members and she would probably be the selection of the Village for the
position.  He said that he wanted to confirm that she was still interested in the position since her previous
position was at a salary so much higher that the $41,000 being offered by the Village.

Matt Parise said that he and Robert Martin Sr. had jointly contacted Astrida Trupovieks, after Mayor France
had notified Council that she was no longer interested in the position because of the salary.  He said that
Astrida Trupovieks felt that Mayor France downplayed the position and the support on Council and that she
was excited about coming back for a second interview.

Robert Martin Sr. said that Astrida Trupovieks said she did not want to come to a town where Council was
split because it would be hard to do her job.  He said that Astrida Trupovieks was aware of the salary
before the interview took place and he did not think that she was concerned about the salary.

Mayor France said that he had agreed to accept any of the 3 candidates that Council members selected but
he wanted to make sure that Astrida Trupovieks would accept the position.  He added that she must have
told Mr. Parise and Mr. Martin Sr. something completely different.

Dr. Robert Price said that initially he had felt Astrida Trupovieks was the best candidate but he had
changed his mind after he had started thinking about the salary issue.

Dave Smith reported that the Rules Committee had met to discuss changes to the Rules of Council and had
sent a draft to Chris Becker.  He said a copy would be given to all Council Member at the next meeting.

Dave Smith said that regarding the Administrator position; the Village had selected a new candidate and
should move on.

Robert Martin Sr. questioned why Margaret Metzger had not started her position as Village Administrator.
He said that all of the candidates indicated that they could start right away in the position, but that
she was attending a social function, which was holding up her starting the job.

Mayor Dave France said that Margaret Metzger had made a prior commitment, which included flight plans, to
attend a National Jaycees convention.

Matt Parise said that he keeps hearing that the Village is in dire straits for an Administrator yet she had
not started her position.  He said that a background check could be performed now, since Margaret Metzger
was not able to start immediately.

Mayor France said he had changed his mind on the subject of a background check and had no problem with the
Village conducting one.

Motion by Matt Parise, second by John Synodinos to have a background check done on Margaret Metzger in
include her driving record, criminal record, references, education and prior employers.

Vote:  John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price nay, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin sr. yea, Matt Parise yea,
Thomas Bottorf yea.

Motion passed 5-1.


Mayor France said he would initiate the process for the background check.

Mayor France asked Chief Laman if the L.E.A.D.S. system could be used for this purpose.

Chief Laman said that the L.E.A.D.S. system could not be used for this purpose.  Motion by Matt Parise,
second by Robert Martin Sr. to permit up to $300 to be spent for a background check on Margaret Metzger.

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.

Matt Parise asked why MS Consultants were not at the meeting to discuss their work at the meeting tonight.

Perry Pool said that MS Consultants were to have submitted a complete report by Friday of this week.

Matt Parise said that he would like to have MS Consultants come to the next regular meeting to discuss
their report.

John Synodinos asked why the Village did not perform the video taping work done by MS Consultants?

Perry Pool said that his employees could have done some of this, but he was instructed by Gary Folden to
have MS Consultants to do this work because EPA had told him they would prefer it that way because the
Village employees were not qualified for this type of video taping.

Perry Pool said that he did not really have the manpower to take the time to do this work either.

John Synodinos said that when MS Consultants were given the contract to do work for the Village it
stipulated that if the Village performed this work they could save a substantial amount of money.

Robert Martin Sr. agreed that the Village should have had their employees do this work to save the $45,000.

Thomas Bottorf reported that the finance committee had met and discussed several areas.

Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Dr. Robert Price to approve the line item transfers, funds transfers
and appropriation increases 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.

John Synodinos inquired as to the status of Margaret Metzger and whether she had accepted the Village offer
to become the Administrator?

Mayor France said that Margaret Metzger would like to have a contract with the Village prior to her starting
her position, especially since Council's makeup was split on her support.

Chris Becker explained that the current status of Margaret Metzger was that the Village had made her an offer
for the position and that she had made a counter offer that Council needed to review.
Matt Parise said that he understood Margaret Metzger's position on wanting a contract but that his first
concern was to look out for the best interests of the people of Wintersville.

Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Matt Parise to pay bills as funds become available.

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 Dr. Price to go into executive session to discuss potential litigation
matters regarding Sam's Way and to discuss a personnel matter concerning the Administrator's contract.

Vote:  John Synodinos nay, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. nay, Matt Parise nay,
Thomas Bottorf yea.

Mayor France broke the tie by voting yea.

Motion passed 4-3.

Meeting adjourned after the executive session due to a lack of a quorum.

Next regular scheduled meeting is April 1, 2004 at 7:00 PM.

Dave France, Mayor
Mike Payne, Clerk/Treasurer