Regular Council Meeting Thursday, June 16, 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 Dr. Robert Price, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve the minutes from the regular Council Meeting held June 2, 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 John Mosley, Sanitation employee, stated that he heard the Village was looking to eliminate the Sanitation Department. Mayor Dave France explained that Council was just looking at this option. John Mosley said that the Village sanitation employees performed services such as picking up road kill, making extra pickups, etc. that might not be done by an outside entity. Mayor Dave France said that he recognized the fine job that the sanitation employees performed and that he also realized that the sanitation fund helped pay for Municipal building. Matt Parise said that the Village was currently at the end of its contract for Landfill services and that Council had authorized the Administrator to go out for bid for these services. He said that included in that bid was an alternate request to provide door-to-door trash pickup. He said that the decision to include this alternate was not wanted by John Synodinos, Robert Martin Sr., and himself, but that the Mayor and the other 3 Council persons voted to include this alternate in the bid request. He said his reasons not to include this alternate in the bid request included 1.) A company may submit a low bid just to get the business and then raise the rates later. 2.) The current employees were doing a good job for the Village. Dave Smith said that although he agreed with most of Matt Parise's Statement he felt that it would be a disservice to the residents if this option was not looked at. He said that the Village would probably not elect to outservice the Sanitation Department based on the current level of service provided to the residents. Robert Martin Sr. stated that the employees were doing a good job and that the Village should not outsource the Sanitation Department and take a chance that a company would "low ball" their rate just to get the business. Thomas Bottorf said that this was only an option so that Council could look at what was available for the residents who pay for these services. He said that a rate increase next year was a good possibility since the Sanitation Fund has been losing money. Robert Martin Sr. said that rates had already been increased on apartment owners this year and that has helped keep the sanitation fund from losing money. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions Chris Becker suggested that Council start with Ordinance 2005-11, even though this Ordinance was listed under unfinished business. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to move Ordinance 2005-11 from the unfinished portion of the meeting to the Reading of Ordinance and Resolutions. 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. Ordinance 2005-11: An Ordinance changing sewer rates was read for the 3rd time. Motion by Thomas Bottorf to approve Ordinance 2005-11, did not receive a second. Ordinance 2005-14:An Ordinance dealing with nuisance conditions was read for the 3rd time. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by John Synodinos to approve Ordinance 2005-14. 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. Ordinance 2005-16: An Ordinance to remove delinquent water charges form property tax was read for the 2nd time. Ordinance 2005-17: An Ordinance to remove delinquent sewer charges from property tax was read for the 2nd time. Ordinance 2005-19: An Ordinance requiring a registration license for all businesses was read for the 2nd time. Ordinance 2005-20: An Ordinance enacting new codified Ordinance chapter "Erosion Sediment Control" was read for the 1st time. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Dave France read the May 2005 Magistrate Reports. Mayor Dave France told Council that they each had a copy of the Village K-9 Report for the period March 14-May 18 2005. Mayor Dave France announced that the Thunder in the Valley event would take place June 24 and 25 with the Main Fireworks event on the 25th. Mayor Dave France announced that the Villages offices would be closed July 4th in observance of the 4th of July Holiday. Administrator's Report Walt Ziemba opened bids for the Road Resurfacing Projects. The results of the bid openings for the bids submitted were as follows: Street Name Shelly and Sands Lash Paving Winters Drive $53,980.90 $55,916.55 Rex Avenue $37,023.40 $38,523.70 Russell Avenue $9,591.90 $9,972.70 Blin Street $3,961.00 $3,701.40 TOTAL $104,557.20 $108,114.35 Walt Ziemba said the bid award would be approved by Council at the Next Council Meeting after bids were reviewed and Issue II monies became available. Walt Ziemba announced that the next Sam's Way Board Meeting would be held Tuesday June 21, 2005 at 6:30 PM. Walt Ziemba said that the City of Steubenville had filed the "Plaintiff's Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law" on June 6, 2005 and that the Village's attorney had 14 days to respond. Chris Becker said that he had not talked to the Village's attorney, but was confident that the Village's response would be filed by the June 20th deadline. Walt Ziemba asked if Council wanted to review the health insurance for employees, which is currently set to expire in September. He said that he should be receiving renewal rates from Rocco Boniey in the next few weeks. He also said that he had received interest from Sky Bank and Jonette Lazasz regarding bidding on the insurance. Walt Ziemba briefly discussed some problems at the Stardust Parkview sewage and lift station caused by debris. Walt Ziemba discussed a claim against the Village regarding sewer back up to 165 Stardust Drive (Vitella). He also submitted a letter to Council indicating that the Village was immune from this type of claim. John Synodinos expressed his concern that the Vitellas had to turn this claim over to their insurance when it appeared that the Village might be responsible. Perry Pool said that they had worked on the sewer line in this area once and after the latest incident had done more extensive work in that area to prevent future problems. Chris Becker reminded Council that the Village was immune from liability from these types of problems and that if the Village would pay for damages caused by utility problems covered under sovereign immunity it could open up a huge liability of the taxpayer's money. Walt Ziemba said that he had included in Council's packet a public notice of receipt of the 401 application regarding the Beechwood/Floyd Project. Walt Ziemba told Council that he had included in their packets information regarding the changes to the Rain Water and Land Development Guide. Walt Ziemba said that the Village had received a check in the amount of $10,000 from the County to spend on Recreation from the County Permissive Tax Fund. The County indicated that Wintersville had received $32,525 from this fund since 1995. Walt Ziemba said that he had modified how these funds were going to be used since the original request was for $19,947. He said that he estimated to add two sets of swings, a climbing wall, basketball backboards, and picnic tables would be $10,040. Any amount over $10,000 would be spent from the General Fund. Dr. Robert Price questioned the purchase of a Five-foot climbing board as being dangerous to small children. Robert Martin Sr. said that the wall would be in a pit of sand that would make it safe for kids to use. Matt Parise asked the Administrator to contact the Village's insurance company to see if the equipment would increase the Village's liability cost, and if so to report back to Council on the matter. Walt Ziemba said that he had reviewed the Fire Hydrant bids and would probably be recommending the low bidder on installation but may be recommending the middle of the 3 cost bids for the fire hydrants because the low bid did not list standard materials. Walt Ziemba said that there was an item that needed to be discussed at a future water committee meeting, concerning hydrant flushing on Canton Road. Walt Ziemba explained to Council the options available concerning the cross connection of Village water and well water at the home of Richard Sherrin. He said the Village could disconnect the water and still bill for sewage or verify that their was no cross connection of Village and well water to avoid health concerns if the Village allowed the water connection. Richard Sherrin explained that the pipes for the two water supplies were separated and that a back flow meter had been installed. He said that this well was located outside the Village limits. Chris Becker said that drilling a well on County property did not violate any Village laws. Jack Herceg explained that Mr. Sherrin had only acquired an agricultural permit for his well, which did not allow human consumption. He said that Mr. Sherrin did this to get around County and Village Ordinances and that he did not want Mr. Sherrin's water connected to the Village's system because of contamination concerns. He also pointed out that Mr. Sherrin did have a cross connection in his lines in his kitchen. Jack Herceg recommendation was to disconnect Mr. Sherrin from Village water to avoid any potential cross contamination from his well. Richard Sherrin asked if he could annex out of the Village. Chris Becker explained that he could start the process to do this if he wanted to but that it was a complicated process. Richard Sherrin complained that another Village employee, (Petrella's) was allowed to drill a well within the Village. Dee Petrella said that she had a valve on this well and had not used if for four years and that it was not connected to their house. Richard Sherrin said he would shut off his well. Chris Becker suggested that the Village change the Ordinance dealing with well issues to prevent this situation in the future. He said that the Administrator had laid out the Village options. He said that Mr. Sherrin's actions were clearly fraudulent in nature, since he had connected this well to his home. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by John Synodinos to accept Jack Herceg's recommendation to disconnect Mr. Sherrin's Village water line. Discussion on the Motion: Matt Parise said that this matter needed referred to the Police Department. 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 Thomas Bottorf to go back two years, prior to the time connected to a well, on Richard Sherrin's water and sewer bill and determine the average number of gallon's of water used to use for billing sewage each month while Mr. Sherrin is not connected to the Village water. 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 water and sewer committee needed to discuss a situation involving a water line break involving Frank Rihaly. Unfinished Business Walt Ziemba said that Mr. McDevitt said that next time the Village does paving that the utility connections may be handled differently, but to do anything at this point on Main Street would be to expensive. Walt Ziemba said that he had two individuals from the CAC starting to work next Tuesday through August. He said that they did have transportation. Walt Ziemba verified that he had sent a certified letter several months ago canceling the old landfill agreement and that a Special Meeting might be needed to approve the new agreement when the bids come in. Chris Becker said that at the previous meeting he was incorrect in saying that a vote for adjournment took precedence over voting in the middle of another motion. His recommendation was to continue the voting on the acceptance of the water rate Ordinance at the point where the vote had ended at the previous meeting. John Synodinos asked how an abstention vote followed the majority vote. Chris Becker explained that an abstention would be counted in with however the majority of the other votes went. Mike Payne started the Roll Call of voting where the previous vote had ended (the previous Meeting Mr. Synodinos and Mr. Martin had voted nay and Mr. Smith and Dr. Price had voted yea) on Ordinance 2005-10 by asking for Matt Parise's vote. Matt Parise left the meeting so no vote could be counted for him and Thomas Bottorf voted yea. The result of the voting on the motion to accept Ordinance 2005-10 was 3-2 which did not contain the required 4 votes to pass the Ordinance. Christine Antonelli asked how a Council person could be allowed to get up and leave during a vote. She said that it was childish behavior and that they were not representing her and was preventing a discount from being passed along to all the residents on their water bills. Robert Martin Sr. said that the actions might look ugly in the public eyes, but that they (Mr. Martin , Mr. Synodinos and Mr. Parise) felt strongly about this bill. He said that he represented the majority of the people of Wintersville and even though this Ordinance would benefit him personally he did not feel that it was right for the Village. Thomas Bottorf said that he would be modifying the Ordinance and because of the delay in passing the rate decrease the lower rate of $3.25 per thousand gallons could stay in effect until at least May 2006. Chris France said that the current water rates required businesses, large families, and schools to bear the brunt of the water costs. John Synodinos said that 4 years ago everyone's water rates were raised $1.44 to cover a potential obligation to the City of Steubenville. He said it was his position to lower the rates by that amount to the same people. He said that he and Mr. Parise and Mr. Martin had come up with a 3rd plan that was a compromise between their original plan and the plan supported by the other Council Members. Chief Ed Laman said that he was speaking of a citizen of Wintersville and could not understand why elected officials could not vote yea or nay on the issue and make a decision. He said that is what officials were elected for and not to get up and walk out of a meeting. Yolanda Brown asked where were all the water plans. She said that as a single person she could not use all the 3000 gallons that she was charged for each month. Bob Gale said that the Council was an embarrassment to the Village. He said that elected officials need to quit using the media to get their point across. John Synodinos said that his editorials were to clarify different water plans. Diane Denny said she found it difficult to follow the varying plans and expressed dissatisfaction that small businesses would pay only $3.00 more in their service fee than a resident. Thomas Bottorf explained that currently businesses paid the same rates as residents. Larry George asked for a clarification on how the voting on these Ordinances took place. Chris Becker explained that to pass an Ordinance when all 6 Council persons were in office, it takes 4 votes. In the case of a 3-3 ties he explained only then could the Mayor vote and determine the 4th vote needed to passage. Larry George said that Council needed to come up with a compromise on this issue to avoid being headlines in the newspaper constantly. Mayor Dave France said that it might take time to resolve this issue since two groups of Council were dealing with two different ideas on approaching this issue. Mayor Dave France called for a five minute recess. New Business John Synodinos said that the Village had been collecting 12,500 for four years and now that the goal had been reached the amount should be placed in a Special Fund so the money could be given back to the people. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to place the $12,500 monthly collections retroactive to January 1, 2005 into a Special Fund. Discussion on the motion: Thomas Bottorf asked Mr. Synodinos for a definition of giving back the money. John Synodinos said he did not know how, but that a lower water rate would qualify. Robert Martin Sr. said that it could also be in the form of a check or a credit on the resident's bills. Chris France questioned how refunds or credits could be given to those who had moved away or died. Mike Payne cautioned Council that this idea was something that should be discussed in a finance Committee Meeting since the water fund would become much lower than Council might want it to if these funds were transferred to a Special Fund. He said the water fund recently had incurred high expenses to cover items such as attorney fees to cover the lawsuit against Steubenville. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price nay, Thomas Bottorf nay, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith nay. Motion failed 3-2. Bob Coppa asked what Council would do with the $600,000 they had collected if they were successful with the lawsuit against Steubenville. Council said they would decide at that time what to do with any excess funds. Dr. Robert Price read a statement requesting Councilman John Synodinos to make a public apology to the Council Members, Mayor and Residents for using obscene language directed toward some Council Member and the Mayor, in Council Chambers after adjournment of the May 24th Council Meeting. He said he would like to set up procedures to reprimand Council members who used this type of language in the future. John Synodinos said that he would not issue any type of apology. Robert Martin Sr. said he would like to thank Jefferson County for the recent $10,000 donation to the Village for Recreation funds. He also added that he was glad to see that the CAC had agreed to send 2 summer workers to the Village. He said he would like to have someone work at the Village parks during the summer. Thomas Bottorf said he was disappointed that the sewer Ordinance had not passed this evening since all Council Persons had previously agreed on the Ordinance language. He said that since the water Ordinance did not pass this evening his recommendation would be to bring back the Ordinance for a first read at the next meeting. He said that the $3.25 rate could be extended to residents until May 2006 and that the Business rate would be raised to $4.25. Robert Martin Sr. said that these changes in the Ordinance should be discussed at a Water and Sewer Meeting. He asked the Clerk Mike Payne if these changes would be feasible to keep the Water fund from going into the read. Mike Payne said that he would have to review the numbers to make sure that the rates still met the amount needed to break even in the water fund. Thomas Bottorf said that the Water and Sewer Committee had already met for months discussing this issue and future meetings were not needed. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Dave Smith to have the Solicitor bring a new Water Ordinance with the changes made of extending the $3.25 per thousand gallon rate to residents until May 1, 2006 and changing the business rate for water immediately to $4.25 per thousand gallons. Vote: John Synodinos nay, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. nay, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 3-2. Thomas Bottorf said that Council also needed to take a look at the sewer rate Ordinance to see if that needed changed also. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Thomas Bottorf to increase the appropriations for the recreation fund that was established to pay expenses related to the County Recreation Grant. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Dr. Robert Price to pay bills approved by Council as funds become available. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Chris Becker said he would wait until the next meeting to discuss his negotiations with Midwest Insurance regarding deductibles owed by the Village. For the Good of the Village Bob Gale said he would like to learn more about the current water rate plans and to sit down with Council to discuss these plans. He also said that the Village needed better Communications to residents when flushing lines. He also suggested that Council consider using High School students to work as volunteers at playgrounds in the summer. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Thomas Bottorf to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Next regularly scheduled meeting is July 7, 2005 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