Regular Council meeting Thursday, March 17, 2005 Mayor Dave France called the meeting to order. Roll Call: John Synodinos present, Dr. Robert Price present, Thomas Bottorf Present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Matt Parise present, Dave Smith present. Officials: Mayor Dave France present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker present, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Walt Ziemba present. Moment of Silence Pledge of allegiance Reading of Minutes Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve the minutes from the regular meeting held March 3, 2005. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Persons Appearing before Council Mayor Dave France read a proclamation honoring the Indian Creek 7th Grade Girls Basketball team for their undefeated season. Robert Laukert, BHJ Representative, reported to Council on the latest bridge study discussions. Robert Laukert also updated Council on a meeting held earlier today with Charles Hawk from RITA. The discussion included: 1) the need for the Village to update their ordinance on several changes recommended by RITA 2) Selecting a tax Administrator and an alternate and notifying RITA of this selection in writing to coordinate future communications. 3) Decide whether the Village wants to continue the subpoena program offered by RITA to help collect delinquent taxes. Matt Parise said that he agreed that the Ordinance changes needed to be made. He also said that the Mayor was required to appoint a tax administrator, which needed to be approved by three-fourths of Council. John Synodinos asked that Council be notified when BHJ Meetings took place. He also asked if the Wage tax meeting that took place earlier in the day needed to be sunshined. Chris Becker said that a meeting did not need to be sunshined when it involved employee's other that Councilpersons. Robert Martin Sr. requested that Council be invited to meetings be held. Walt Ziemba said that he had several meetings every day and that he was not going to contact Council for the various meetings that he was involved in. Robert Martin Sr. said he was referring specifically to the BHJ and RITA meetings. Dr. Robert Price asked about the confidentiality of the list of delinquent taxpayers. Robert Laukert said the Administrator would review the names to eliminate deceased and other groups of people from the delinquent list, but would certainly not make names on the list public. Mayor Dave France said that his appointment to the Tax Administrator position was the Village Administrator. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by matt Parise to approve the Village Administrator as the Village Tax Administrator and the Mayor as the alternate Tax Administrator for the period prescribed in the Ordinance and to notify RITA in writing of this decision. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to have the Administrator forward an authorized letter to RITA to approve the activation of the subpoena program for the delinquent Village taxpayers that would continue to be in place until revoked by Council. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions. Ordinance 2005-08: An Ordinance changing posting of Ordinance was read for the first time. Mike Payne said he would check with a few businesses on posting of Ordinances since Riesbecks and Bank One had removed their public bulletin boards. Ordinance 2005-09: An Ordinance dealing with Mobile Homes was read for the first time. Reports, Announcements and Communications. Mayor Dave France announced that Village Offices would be closed on Friday, March 25, 2005. Sanitation schedule for the week would be backed up one day for the week. Mayor Dave France announced that Wal-Mart would be hiring 60 Additional people and would be holding a job fair at Jefferson Community College March 21, 2005 from 12:00 to 5:30 PM. Administrator's Report Walt Ziemba said that the Village was waiting on one more test in regards to the Sunset Gardens odor issue. Walt Ziemba said that he had received two quotes to repair the school light. Bruce and Merriless price was approximately $3200 while Signal Service Inc. said they could repair the light for approximately $1000. He also said that the Village may consider switching the light service contract to Signal Service Inc. Walt Ziemba reported that the location for the telemetry equipment is still underway. Walt Ziemba said that Hamilton and Associates were helping him finalize the I & I Proposal that would be submitted to 4-5 firms. Walt Ziemba said he was waiting on Mr. McDevitt to return to follow-up on the Main Street road problems with the phone company. Walt Ziemba said he was still working on putting a report together concerning lift station needs. Walt Ziemba said the reason that a truck labeled Nesco was working on Village lights was that occasionally Bruce and Merriless leased vehicles to use for repairs. Walt Ziemba said that the dumpsters behind Krogers had not been put in place yet but that he and Perry Pool would follow-up on this. Walt Ziemba said that the Beechwood Ravine project was still ongoing. Walt Ziemba said the Village had been experiencing several water breaks over the past few weeks. Walt Ziemba said the had reviewed the one ton truck bids and felt that the bid from Steubenville Truck Company was better because of several factors even though the bid amount was $5700 higher that the one submitted by Biggio. The psi on the truck frame from Biggio's was much lower than Steubenville Truck and the front axle poundage was much lower on Biggio's than on Steubenville Truck bid. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Thomas Bottorf to accept the bid for the one-ton truck from Steubenville Truck Company. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Walt Ziemba said that the Village had been approached by a developer by the name of Mr. Mitchell who wanted to have property annexed into the Village that he was going to build a restaurant on. This property was located just outside the Village limits off of Route 43. Walt Ziemba said that there was property located between Mr. Mitchell's property and the Village that would also have to be annexed. Robert Cochrun said that there are 2 homes at the end of Sabina Drive that might want to be annexed into the Village. Walt Ziemba said that those property owners had not approached him about annexation. Walt Ziemba said that he would be meeting with the families who own the property between Mr. Mitchell and the Village and also Mr. Jacoby from Alliance 2000. Unfinished Business Matt Parise asked Council if they wanted to discuss revising Village policy on dealing with uninsurable employees. Walt Ziemba suggested that he write up a draft of a policy and present it to Council. Chris Becker said that he would review the Warren Lane property line prior to the grass-cutting season. Chris Becker reported that the property at 95 Roberts Street had been purchased and therefore would not have to be destroyed by the Village. New Business Mike Payne asked if Council would like to discuss any of the transfers, particularly the transfers dealing with the Drug Dog. Chief Laman explained to Council that the old drug dog had become un-trainable and that Shawn Gegick had been sent to train with a new dog. Chief Laman agreed to make part of his monthly report in the future a summary of drug dog activity including any fines or forfeitures recovered. John Synodinos said he was in favor of the Drug Dog program and the deterrent it was for drugs in the Village. He said that he was a supporter of the program even if the Village did not receive a 100% monetary return. Dave Smith said he also was a supporter of the program and had talked to people who supported the program. Matt Parise asked if the Village had a track on the annual cost of the program including extra pay for the handler. Chief Laman said that the handler received and extra 15 minutes per day, and that other operating costs were approximately $2000 annually. Thomas Bottorf also said he would like to see a summary of Drug Dog activity with the monthly Police Report. Motion by Robert Martin Sr. second by Dr. Robert Price to approve the transfer submitted by the Clerk Treasurer. Dave Smith commended the Street Department on the work they had done lately regarding snow removal. Robert Martin Sr. said that he would like to compliment the Village employees who had to work on the recent water breaks. Robert Martin Sr. questioned why the Village was still doing business with Argo Sales. Walt Ziemba said that it was sometimes easier, and also force of habit, but they would try to reduce this down in the future. Matt Parise asked about the status of the copier proposals. Walt Ziemba said he would be moving forward on the Canon purchase from Borden's. Matt Parise asked about the status of bids for grass cutting and trash hauling. Walt Ziemba said that he had not started looking at the landfill contract, but he and Perry Pool had begun reviewing the language for the grass cutting contract. Walt Ziemba said that as soon as Mr. McDevitt returned that the Fire Hydrants and Winters Drive resurfacing projects would be started. Thomas Bottorf said that the Village has held several Water and Sewer meetings over the past few months. He said that earlier in the day the Village also held a meeting with Warren Lane Residents. He said that one of the things discussed was the topic of a agriculture well which is allowable on county property outside the Village if it meets certain criteria. Thomas Bottorf said that the water rate proposal that he was presenting to Council had several advantages that he also outlined in a handout. Matt Parise said that there was a 2nd proposal presented at the Water Meetings that lowered the water rates across the board by $1.50 per thousand gallons. He also said that under this proposal no one would receive a rate increase. He said that in his study done on usage, approximately 80% of Village customers use 5000 gallons of water a month or less. He said that his opinion was that the other proposal for water rate changes penalized the low end users. John Synodinos said that there are come Council Members who believe that water rates should be reduced evenly across the board instead of helping high end users and businesses more than low water users. He said that the other plan was lopsided in favor of businesses. Robert Martin Sr. said he thought that the Village was going to spend more time reviewing the changes before voting on them. Matt Parise asked if Thomas Bottorf's water rate proposal had been reviewed to see how much income it brought in. Thomas Bottorf said that it had been calculated to bring in approximately the same amount to the Water General Fund as past years. Matt Parise said that this was the fist time he had seen the 2nd page of Thomas Bottorf's water rate proposal, so he felt that the discussion should be referred back to committee for further discussion. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to refer the water rate issue back to the water and sewer committee. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf nay, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-1. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to pay bills approved by Council as funds become available. Council discussed the first aid supply bills and whether non essential medical supplies should be continued to be purchased. Motion by Matt Parise, second by John Synodinos to authorize the Administrator to make the determination of what supplies should be stocked in the first aid kits. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Good of the Village Betty Stinard thanked the water Department for their speedy work repairing her son's water break. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Matt Parise to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Next regular scheduled meeting is Thursday, April 7, 2005 at 7:00 PM. Disclaimer: These are a draft of the minutes and not deemed official until approved by Council.