Regular Council Meeting Thursday, June 1, 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 present, 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 Robert Cochrun to approve the minutes from the Regular Council Meeting held on May 18, 2006. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise abstain, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0 with 1 abstention Persons Appearing before Council Gus Petrides, 187 Aberdeen St., Steubenville, discussed with Council his recent bill for approximately $13,000 for a water and sewer charges for a rental property he owns in Wintersville. According to Mr. Petrides the water bill was high because of a pipe that burst in the apartment. He asked that Council consider waiving the sewage part of the bill. He said that the electric had been shut off around January 24, 2006 and that sometime after that the pipe must have burst. Gus Petrides than discussed a second issue regarding another property he owned at 151 Canton Road. He said the Village had been encroaching on his property at that location for sometime and had put storm sewer there without obtaining an easement. He then suggested that Council might want to resolve both issues without dragging them into a legal battle. Walt Ziemba suggested that Council go into executive session to discuss some facts on the situation with Mr. Petrides and the possible legal action that might arise from the easement situation. Chris Becker said that he had not had time to discuss his conversation with Mr. Petrides regarding his situation. He asked that Mr. Petrides give the Village 30 days to come up with a proposed resolution of the two items prior to his obtaining the expense of legal counsel. Walt Ziemba said that he would stop the shut off notice process and the accumulating of any late fees until the situation was resolved. Bob Gale said that he did not want this situation to drag out and if a special Council Meeting was needed to resolve the issue then he would be in favor of calling one. Reading of Ordinance and/or Resolutions Ordinance 2006-09: An Ordinance dealing with charging customers a higher water rate was read for the third time. Motion by Robert Cochrun, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve Ordinance 2006-09. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Ordinance 2006-10: An Ordinance dealing with charging customers a higher sewage rate for unread water meters was read for the third time. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Ordinance 2006-13: An Ordinance creating the elected position of Clerk Treasurer was read for the second time. Ordinance 2006-14: An Ordinance combining the duties of Clerk Treasurer was read for the second time. Ordinance 2006-15: An Ordinance giving sewer charge credit for water breaks was read for the second time. Ordinance 2006-16: An Ordinance dealing with multiple user structures tap fees was read for second time. Ordinance 2006-17: An Ordinance combining sections of codified ordinances entitled single tap rate for Multiple users premises was read for the first time. Ordinance 2006-18: An Ordinance approving a new D.A.R.E. Grant was read for the first time. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Thomas Bottorf to suspend the rules for the second and third readings of Ordinance 2006-18. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Ordinance 2006-18: An Ordinance approving a new D.A.R.E. Grant was read for the second and third times. Motion by Robert Cochrun, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve Ordinance 2006-18. 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 Matt Parise to return to the Approval of Minutes section of the 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. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Robert Martin Sr. to amend the minutes of the May 18, 2006 meeting to include the first reading of Ordinance 2006-14: An Ordinance combining the duties of the Village Clerk and Treasurer. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise abstain, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0 with 1 abstention Reports Announcements and Communications Mayor Dave France read the Magistrate and Code enforcement Officers reports for the Month of May 2006. Mayor Dave France asked Council if they wished to donate again to the Indian Creek Back to School Rally for Students on August 20, 2006. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Robert Cochrun to pay bills for the Indian Creek Back to School Rally up to $500.00. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Mayor Dave France announced that the Wintersville Betterment Committee would be meeting Wednesday, June 7, 2006 at Pizza Hut at Noon. Mayor Dave France announced the Spring Clean Up schedule that would take place on Mondays beginning June 5, 2006. Mayor Dave France reminded residents that the Thunder in the Valley event would take place on June 23rd and June 24th. Administrator's Report Walt Ziemba announced that the Village had received a $5000.00 Recreation Grant from the County. Walt Ziemba told Council that the Village had received a letter from the Ohio Public Works Grant approving the Garden Drive/Meadow Road Reconstruction Project. The approved Grant/Loan agreement is for $999,999.00. Walt Ziemba announced that he would be sending 5 people to a Trenching and Excavating Seminar in Bloomingdale, Ohio. Walt Ziemba also announced that an erosion and sediment control training session would be offered on August 11, 2006. He said he would like Chuck Antill and the Village Engineer to attend this training. Walt Ziemba told Council that he had included in their informational packet a letter from Hammontree and Associated regarding waster and sewer rate studies. Walt Ziemba told Council that he had enclosed a draft of a policy on delinquent water and sewer bills. He said that Council may want to take this draft and further discuss the policy at a water and sewer committee meeting prior to July 1, 2006. Walt Ziemba said that timers would be installed on power poles for the Village Christmas lights and the cost would be approximately $10,000 for materials and labor. Walt Ziemba told Council that a public Auction would be held on Thursday, July 6 2006 at 5:30 PM for the Village property on Woodridge. Robert Martin Sr. questioned whether the Village needed to go out to bid for the work on the timers for the electric poles. Matt Parise asked if the Administrator could get a quote from Mr. Hayhurst to install the timers for the Village. Perry Pool said that Mr. Hayhurst would be getting a quote for the Village for the labor and materials. Bob Gale suggested that the timers only be installed on the number of poles that would have lights on them. John Synodinos said he was glad to see that some Council persons were concerned on the cost of the installation of the timers for the Christmas lights. Unfinished Business Walt Ziemba explained the costs involved for the Comcast bill that was questioned at the previous meeting. Walt Ziemba said he would send a letter to Jim rice regarding his unsightly property. New Business Robert Martin Sr. said that he, Bob Cochrun and Bob Gale had visited several recreation sites. Mayor Dave France said that the Recreation Committee should meet and discuss the issues at a recreation meeting. Robert Cochrun asked that the solicitor review a situation with a property owned by Mr. Wallace that might be used by the Village. Matt Parise said he wanted to clarify that no meeting took place when Council persons Martin, Gale and Cochrun discussed recreation issues. Chris Becker reminded Council that they can not have a prearranged meeting with two or more members of a Committee to discuss business. Bob Gale said that the members had not prearranged the meeting that Mr. Martin had referred to. Bob Gale questioned how sanitation would be billed for the Meridian Green complex that had a single tap. Walt Ziemba said that once that the Village determined that the complex was full then a bill would be sent each month for $10 times the number of units. Matt Parise said he did not remember sanitation bills being discussed at the meetings concerning Meridian Green. Chris Becker said he would send out a draft of an Ordinance addressing billing sanitation for complexes with a single tap and multiple dwellings. Bob Gale discussed a proposed summer park program, including paying someone to organize activities at the Village parks. He said he would like to give the Administrator the authority to move forward with the idea. He said that the Administrator should check with the CAC to see if anyone is available to work in this capacity. Mayor Dave France suggested that a program be put in place prior to spending any Village funds on this idea. Thomas Bottorf said that he thought it was a little late in the year to hire the right people for this type of activity and to put policies to handle things like liability issues. Chris France said she thought that having someone work at the parks who could coordinate activities was an excellent idea, but that their needed to be a lot of planning to run activities. Matt Parise asked the Administrator to check to see if LED's were installed in all the traffic lights. Thomas Bottorf said that he would like to schedule a water meeting next week. Robert Martin Sr. said that he would like to schedule a recreation meeting for Friday June 9th at 6:30 PM. Thomas Bottorf said that he felt that the $165 registration fee that was paid for a Council person to attend a conference be reimbursed since the person did not attend the meeting. This matter was referred to the Finance Committee. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Robert 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 Cochrun, second by Robert Martin Sr. 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 John Synodinos asked about why a certified letter had to be sent out for water shut off notices. Chris Becker explained that this procedure would help in the court of law if someone claimed not to have received the notice. Kurt Vandeborne, Reichert Ave., asked the following: 1.) If Ordinances could be made available to the public (Council said that they were posted and that in the future copies would be available at Council Meetings and may even be put in draft status on the website. 2.) If Council Committees could be posted on the website. (council told him that they are already on there, but that the website might be improved to make this more noticeable.) 3.) Asked if other landlords could have single taps like Meridian Green ( Council told him that a new Ordinance prevented this.) 4.) Asked if the Spring Cleanup was available for apartment complexes. (Council told him that apartment owners and tenants could put things out during Spring Cleanup times.) Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Robert Cochrun to go into executive session to discuss two pending litigation matters. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Reporter, Summer Wallace, said that she opposed Council's going into executive session to discuss the Gus Petrides matter. She said that there was no proof that this matter qualified as pending litigation. Motion by Jason Mattern, second by Thomas Bottorf to return to regular session. 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 Jason Mattern, second by Thomas Bottorf 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 Council Meeting is June 15, 2006 at 7:00 PM. Disclaimer: These are a draft of the minutes and not deemed official until approved by Council. Mike Payne, Clerk Treasurer Dave France, Mayor