Regular Council Meeting Thursday, June 5, 2003 Meeting called to order by Mayor Robert E. Cochrun. Roll Call: John Synodinos present, Dave France present, Thomas Bottorf present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Beth Rupert absent, Dave Smith present. Officials: Mayor Robert E. Cochrun present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker present, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne (arrived later in meeting), Administrator Gary R. Folden 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 Council Meeting held on May 15, 2003. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Persons Appearing Before Council Greg Gurney, ODOT Administrator, discussed the issue regarding placing a traffic signal at Sabina Drive on State Route 43. ODOT’s recommendation was to not place a traffic signal at that location. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Dave France to accept the recommendation presented by ODOT not to place a traffic signal at Sabina Drive. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Ronnie Ferguson told Council that he would like to paint house numbers on curbs of residents at no cost to them. Robert Martin asked what he would so if there was no curb at a home. Ronnie Ferguson said that he would paint the number on any flat surface. Thomas Bottorf suggested that the numbers not be painted if the residents did not want it done. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave France to go into executive session to discuss water contract negotiations with Jack Gilmore from the County Engineer Office. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Mike Payne arrived at the meeting at this point. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to return to regular session. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Robert Laukert, BHJ Bridge Study Representative updated Council on two different studies discussed at the May 21, 2003 BHJ Meeting. The first study involved the Weirton Transit System and the second involved expanding the Steel Valley Transit System in Jefferson County including having services to the new industrial park near Wintersville. He also reported that the members passed a resolution accepting the recommendation presented by the consultant regarding the new bridge site. Reading of Ordinances Ordinance 2003-10: An Ordinance abolishing the position of Clerk Treasurer and creating the position of Village Fiscal officer was read for the first time. John Synodinos said that he could not think of a legitimate reason to make this change. He stated that the Village currently had a qualified individual in Mike Payne, and the people have always elected qualified people in the past. Dave France agreed that the current clerk treasurer, Mike Payne, was qualified but he felt this Ordinance could guarantee that the Village would always have qualified people in the future. Robert Martin Sr. said that the position should remain as an elected position just like council and the Mayor positions. Robert Laukert asked Mike Payne is there were any qualifications required for an elected Clerk Treasurer. Mike Payne said that there were no professional qualifications needed for someone to run for the position. Matt Parise asked if the new ordinance for the fiscal officer appointed position contained a residency requirement. Chris Becker said that by statute the fiscal officer position required that individual to reside in the Village unless it was waived by Council, just like they had done for the Administrator. Matt Parise asked Mike Payne if he had planned on running for the position in the fall. Mike Payne said that his plan had been to run again for the position. He also said that although it would help him personally if the position remained as an elected position, so he could purchase service time towards retirement from his other state job, he would be in favor of making the position an appointed one if he were on Council. Matt Parise said that if Council had the authority to appoint and remove the Clerk position, the person would lose its separation of power since the clerk would be more of an employee of Council. John Synodinos said that the new law was created more for small Villages that might not have a qualified person available. Dave France said that this was a new law that now made this position similar to the appointed Solicitor and Administrator positions. Robert Martin Sr. said that people would not vote for someone who they thought would not do a good job. Dave Smith said that he did not think this position would become a “Political Football”. He said that his was simply a way for Council Members to make sure the Village had a qualified person in the office. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin to table Ordinance 2003-10. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France nea, Thomas Bottorf nea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith nea. Motion failed 3-2. Resolution 2003-11: A resolution adopting the 2004 County budget was read for the first time. Motion by Dave France, second by Dave Smith to approve Resolution 2003-11. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Ordinance 2003-12: An Ordinance implementing a Hotel Tax was read for the first time. Reports, Announcements, Communications. Mayor Robert E. Cochrun read the Police, Magistrate and Building Inspectors reports for May 2003. Mayor Cochrun announced the Spring Cleanup schedule for June. Mayor Cochrun announced that a planning commission meeting would be held Tuesday, June 10, 2003 at 6:00 PM. to discuss a variance for Faby Rodz who resided at 300 Canton Rd. Mayor Cochrun read the State Auditor “Management Comments” that accompanied the 2002 audit report. Mayor Cochrun announced that Council Members had been given a report on street improvement projects. Mayor Cochrun said that he would check out the need to pave Rex Ave. at the request of Robert Laukert. Mayor Cochrun said that he realized a lot of Village streets needed repaving. Administrator’s Report Gary Folden said that the crews were trying to keep up with work that needed done, but the weather had put them behind. He said that he would have all of the new summer help starting next week. Gary Folden asked Council to approve in kind services from Village crews to help with the Fourth of July event. Motion by Dave France, Second by Thomas Bottorf to approve in-kind services to be provided by Village crews after first checking with Cross Creek Township to see what support they could offer. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Old Business John Synodinos asked if the Culvert had been installed on Gumps Lane. Gary Folden said that Perry Pool had told him that it had been done. John Synodinos asked if the Cul-De-Sac on Tera Manor had been completed. Gary Folden said that the Cul-de-sac had been completed. John Synodinos asked if the tape machine had been purchased in order to copy tapes. Gary Folden said that one had been purchased for $99.00. John Synodinos asked if the request from Terri Throckmeter to sell her some Village property had been worked on. Gary Folden said that a surveyor would be working on the request. John Synodinos asked if the school lights had been repaired. Gary Folden said that the lights would be aprt of the upcoming project that would be put out to bid. John Synodinos asked the Solicitor if he had researched the question on whether part time employees were entitled to the .05 longevity increase. Chris Becker said that he was behind on his E-mail and had not received the request yet, but he would research it for\ the next meeting. John Synodinos asked how the Dept of Labor audit had gone. Chief Laman updated Council on the meeting with the representative from the Department of Labor. He reported that the results were that the Village had to pay approximately $5800 in back wages for 2001 and 2002 to auxiliary officers who had also filled in for regular shifts. He said that as a result of this audit he would now only use one auxiliary officer to work paid turns and all other auxiliary officers would be used only as volunteer hours. Robert Martin Sr. asked how this would affect the Chief’s operations. Chief Laman said that his full time crew would probably end up working a little more overtime. John Synodinos asked if the purchase of water had shifted more to being bought from the County at the much cheaper rate, since Mike Payne had mentioned several times that the Village was still losing thousands of dollars each month because 80% of the water was still being purchased from Steubenville instead of the County. Gary Folden said that he was still working on shifting more to the County, but he did not think more that 55% could be shifted to the County. He said that next month’s bills should reflect more of this shift. Gary Folden said that if any more than 55% of the water was purchased from the County it would cost too much in overtime to monitor. John Synodinos said that someone needed to check out the problem on Stardust Drive to see where the excess water was coming from. Dave France suggested that the Village consider purchasing the new walkie talkies advertised instead of all the cell phones and beepers that the Village used. Dave Smith said that those type of walkie-talkies did not yet work well. Mike Payne told Council that the $3000 Recreation Grant had come in. Dave France asked if the Walnut Grant Funds had been received. Gary Folden said that he would know about those in July. Mayor Cochrun told the Administrator to get basketball nets up of the courts. Robert Martin Sr. said that Betty Stinard had requested that the rest of the grass on the hillside at the entrance of Powells Lane be cut. Mayor Cochrun told Gary Folden to take care cutting the grass. Motion by Dave Smith, second by John Synodinos to pay bills as funds become available. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave France to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, June 19, 2003 at 7:00 PM.