Regular Council Meeting Thursday, April 20, 2006 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 Reading of Minutes Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Thomas Bottorf to approve the minutes from the regular Council Meeting held April 6, 2006. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Persons Appearing Before Council Mayor Dave France recognized the Cross Creek Tomahawk 4-H group who were attending the meeting. Mayor Dave France presented a proclamation to Debbie Abrams in honor of National Teacher's Day. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions None. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Dave France read the March 2006 Police Report. Thomas Bottorf said that the Finance Committee had met twice since the last Council Meeting and that summaries of the meeting were included in the packets distributed. Administrator's Report Walt Ziemba said that his staff had been reviewing a training guide regarding water audits to help the efforts to determine the cause of the water loss problem in the Village. Walt Ziemba told Council that their packets contained a summary of items discussed at recent supervisory meetings. Walt Ziemba asked that a water and sewer meeting be scheduled to discuss offering sewage outside the Village limits. Walt Ziemba said he would like to discuss at a Finance Committee meeting paying employees who come out on false alarm water breaks. Walt Ziemba discussed the purchase of the speed sentry sign. Matt Parise said that he was in favor of the sign purchase, but was against using the sign as a camera to ticket motorists. Thomas Bottorf said that the Administrator and the Police Chief should meet and come back to Council with a recommendation on which sign they would like to purchase. Walt Ziemba said that he had included in the Council's packet a copy of the 2005 annual MS4 report. Walt Ziemba said that he would be advertising the 2006 paving projects and had scheduled the pre-bid meeting for May 4, 2006 at 1:00 PM and the bid opening during the Council meeting on May 18, 2006 at 7:15 PM. Walt Ziemba said he would be turning his Village cell phone because of the dangers with using the phones. Matt Parise and Robert Martin Sr. asked that the Administrator have Chuck Antill address the issue of which businesses are "Grandfathered" regarding the parking lot Ordinance. Walt Ziemba said he would have Chuck Antill attend the next Council Meeting and address the issue. Walt Ziemba discussed removing the pole and flashing lights at the top of Grove Street and installing a bigger sign at the top of the street. New Business Dave France said that he had received a Thank You letter from John Nese regarding the recognition given to his 8th Grade Basketball Team. Robert Cochrun said that residents in the Meadow Road and Garden Drive subdivisions would like to see more playground equipment in the Village. Robert Martin Sr. said that if the grant is received from the County, additional playground equipment would be ordered fro playgrounds in the Village. Bob Gale said that the Street Committee met earlier today and that another meeting would be scheduled to discuss the address issue on Fernwood Road. Council Members had a brief discussion on the recycling issue and it was agreed to leave this issue on unfinished business to discuss at a Sanitation Committee Meeting. Matt Parise stated that he would like to propose two employee personnel policy changes: The first recommendation was to award permanent part time Village employees with 32 hours of accrued time each calendar year. His proposal contained the following language regarding awarding this accrued time. 1) The Awarding of the time would only be for employees who work 30 hours each week and who are considered permanent part time employees of the Village and had been employed 1 full year prior to the start of the calendar year. 2) Accrued time not used in a calendar year would not carry over to the next year. 3) Any accrued time not used by the end of the calendar year could not be paid out to the employee unless the employee was leaving the employment of the Village 4) The accrued time could be paid out in any increments from 1 hour to the entire 32 hours during any pay period but could not allow the weekly wages to go over 40 hours for the week and create an overtime situation. 5) Any unused accrued time not used when an employee becomes full time would not be available to be carried forward and be used when the employee would begin to be paid as a full time employee. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Bob Gale to have the accrued time policy for permanent part time employees be part of the employee policy handbook. Discussion of the Motion: Thomas Bottorf said that he thought the amount of hours awarded each year should be based on the number of hours that each employee worked each week. Mike Payne said that if the wording of the policy was based on the employee working an average of 30 hours each week that Chuck Antill would not be eligible for the hours since he normally only worked 3 days a week. He said that other employees also may not average 30 hours a week if they missed any days during the year since they normally were only scheduled 30 hours a week. Jason Mattern suggested that the language be changed to awarding the time to employees who were regularly scheduled to work at least 30 hours a week. Matt Parise agreed to allow Jason Mattern's change to his motion. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf nay. Motion passed 5-1. Matt Parise read his suggested policy regarding having employees pay back reimbursement for college classes or training that prepared employees for new licenses if they left Village employment. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve the employee handbook policy changed regarding reimbursing the Village for certain training. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Unfinished Business Jason Mattern asked if the Village could find out the cost of taping Special Council Meetings. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Jason Mattern to have the Solicitor prepare and Ordinance to advertise the Woodridge Property for sale and to have the funds from the sale set aside for Capital Improvements for storage in a designated line item in the General Fund of 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. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Bob Gale to apay bills up to the amount of $2500 for the 2006 Thunder in the Valley event. 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 Thomas Bottorf, second by Bob Cochrun to move forward on the financing needed for the I & I Manhole project in the amount of $249,000 to be borrowed using Issue II funds. Discussion on the Motion: Matt Parise said he was not in favor of proceeding on the project if the water rates would have to be raised to cover the loan payments. Walt Ziemba said that his proposal was a separate surcharge on each tap versus an across the board water rate increase to pay the loan back. He said that if the Village did not get started on this project the EPA could fine the Village up to $10,000 a day and the residents water rates would have to raised substantially to cover these fines. Bob Gale said that this project would also help reduce operating costs for the Village. He said the Finance Committee needed to spend more time discussing this project and how to fund it. Jason Mattern suggested that the motion be amended to allow the Administrator to move forward on applying for the zero percent loan for the project but Council must vote to give final approval before the loan documents are signed by the Mayor. Thomas Bottorf agreed to the amendment of the motion in order to let the Administrator proceed to apply for the Issue II funds. 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 Cochrun to approve the transfers made 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 Cochrun to pay bills approved by Council as funds become available. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. For the Good of The Village Betty Stinard, Powells Lane, said that the catch basin around Powell's Lane needed some work. She also said that the sidewalk area around Krogers needed swept off. She also added that signs on posts needed to be removed in the Village. Robert Martin Sr. said that he would like the Solicitor to prepare an Ordinance to remove signs from Village poles after 30 days. Mayor Dave France said he would discuss with the Wintersville Betterment Committee about cleaning up the sign on Fernwood Road. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Matt Parise 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 7:00 PM on May 4, 2006. Disclaimer: These are a draft of the minutes and not deemed official until approved by Council. Mike Payne, Clerk Treasurer Dave France, Mayor