Regular Council Meeting Thursday, July 3, 2003 Public Hearing for 2004 County Budget Mayor Robert Cochrun presided over the budget hearing. Present: Mayor Robert E. Cochrun, Administrator Gary R. Folden, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne, Council Person’s: Dave Smith, Thomas Bottorf and Dave France. Mayor Cochrun asked if there were any questions concerning the budget. Mayor Cochrun closed the meeting at 6:40 PM. Regular Council Meeting Mayor Robert E. Cochrun called the meeting to order. Roll Call: John Synodinos absent, Dave France present, Thomas Bottorf present, Robert Martin Sr. absent, Beth Rupert present, Dave Smith present. Officials: Mayor Robert E. Cochrun present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Gary R. Folden present. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minutes Minutes for the June 19th meeting would be approved at the July 17th meeting since not enough Councilpersons were available to approve the minutes who had attended the previous meeting. Persons Appearing before Council Kim Wood, 129 Garden Drive, complained again of the strong odor near her home. Council discussed the problem and agreed that the Administrator should immediately attempt to reduce the smell by increasing the amount of chemicals in the sewers and that they would approve the hiring of a consultant to be brought in to review the problem. Motion by Dave France, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve the administrator to hire an engineering firm to determine what could be done to alleviate the odor problem in the Garden Drive area. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Beth Rupert suggested that the Administrator check with the County officials concerning this odor problem since they are having similar problems. Dave France suggested that the consultant look at the problem in Moon Valley since they also were experiencing odor problems with their sewers. Ordinances and/or Resolutions Ordinance 2003-10: An Ordinance abolishing the Clerk-Treasurer position and creating the position of Village Fiscal Officer was read for the 3rd time. Motion By Dave France, second by Beth Rupert to approve Ordinance 2003-10. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Resolution 2003-11: A Resolution to approve the 2004 County Budget was read again since the public hearing had not been held when the Resolution had been read at the June 19th meeting. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion by Dave France, second by Dave Smith to approve Resolution 2003-11. Ordinance 2003-12: An Ordinance implementing a hotel tax was read for the 3rd time. Motion by Dave Smith, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve Ordinance 2003-12. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Cochrun read the Magistrate, Police and Building Inspector’s Reports for the Month of June. Mayor Cochrun reminded everyone that Greg Gurney, from ODOT would be conducting a Public Hearing concerning the widening of Route 43 on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 beginning at 4:00 PM. Mayor Cochrun reminded everyone about the Wintersville Community Days to be held July 5th and 6th, 2003. Administrator’s Report Gary Folden thanked everyone who had worked on the Thunder-in-the-Ville event. Gary Folden said that he attempted to have Rocco Boniey, the Village’s insurance agent come in and discuss the Village’s Health insurance coverage but he was not available on Tuesday’s or Thursday’s. Gary Folden said that only one bid had been received for renting the Woodridge property. The amount of the bid was $400.00 by Patricia and George Mills. The Mill’s want to live in the property and to operate a craft business out of the building. The Planning Commission according to the Administrator had approved this arrangement. Council members directed Chris Becker to draw up a lease agreement for the period of one year with a one-year renewable option. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Dave Smith to approve the Solicitor to draw up a lease agreement to rent the property to the Mill’s for $400.00 per month for one year with a one year renewable option. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Gary Folden told Council that the Village needed to have an Ordinance that would require all businesses to register with the Village. Chris Becker said he would research this idea and bring in a draft Ordinance for Council to review. Gary Folden said that he had given Council Members a copy of the letter from the EPA which denied the Village an extension on the timetables previously established to make the necessary improvements to reduce inflow and infiltration of clean water into the sewage collection system. Gary Folden said the Village needed to move quickly on making the improvements to avoid any penalties and to be in compliance with the EPA guidelines outlined in the schedule. He said that waiting on the response from the EPA had put the Village further behind. Gary Folden explained the process that had been used to narrow down the engineering firms to perform the Sewer System Evaluation Survey (SSES). He said that the 7 top firms had been selected from the State’s listing and then those firms had been narrowed down to 3 based on certain criteria. He said that in reviewing the RFP’s from those 3 firms only MS Consultants quote contained amounts to complete the project through all the steps required. He said that he recommended that Council accept the proposal from MS Consultants in the amount of $148,347 since their bid included costs to perform certain aspects of the job to completion. He also said that MS Consultants had other advantages over the other firms, which included the fact that they were more familiar with Wintersville and Jefferson County since they have previously completed work for those entities. He said that they also have 2 employees on their staff that previously worked for the EPA, which could be an advantage in helping come into compliance. He also said that MS Consultants could start on the project right away, which was a plus, since the Village needs to quickly move this project along. Mayor Cochrun said that he agreed with the Administrator’s recommendation to hire MS Consultants to perform this study. Beth Rupert asked the Administrator what the amounts for the other bids were for the project. Gary Folden said that the other two firm’s prices were much less but they were not as all inclusive as MS Consultants. He said that hose other firms probably purposely submitted the bids the way they did since they were not familiar with what they might encounter once they started the work. Thomas Bottorf suggested that whoever was selected to do the study, be required to keep Council or the Administrator apprised of their progress. Dave Smith asked the Administrator who would be responsible for the remaining costs of the study if the Village had its water and sewer departments taken over by another entity. Gary Folden said that the Village would be paying for the work as it progressed. Any unpaid portion of the project would have to be paid by Village funds or a user fee would have to be added on to Village resident’s bills. Gary Folden reminded Council that the Village could be fined $10,000 by the EPA for non-compliance every time that a heavy rain produced an overflow. Motion by Dave France, second by Dave Smith to accept the MS Consultant proposal to perform the Sewer System Evaluation Survey in the amount of $148,347 after a contract had been prepared and reviewed by the Solicitor. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Old Business None New Business Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne gave Council members a mid-year review of the finances and balances of the Village’s Funds. He also distributed handouts showing Village overtime comparisons for the past 3 years and a separate handout showing the percentage of water being purchased from the County which is currently 22% cheaper than that purchased from the City of Steubenville. Dave France asked if the new Street Garage had to be re-bid? Gary Folden said that the bid documents were incomplete and therefore needed to be re-bid. Motion by Dave France, second by Thomas Bottorf to go into executive session to discuss water contact negotiations. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Motion by Beth Rupert, second by Dave smith to return to regular session. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Motion by Dave France, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve the line item transfers prepared by the Clerk Treasurers and to approve the increase in appropriations for the Dare Grant. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Motion by Beth Rupert, second by Thomas Bottorf to pay bills as funds become available. Vote: Dave Franc yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Motion by Dave Smith, second by Beth Rupert to adjourn. Vote: Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0, Next regularly scheduled meeting in July 17, 2003 at 7:00 PM. Mike Payne Robert E. Cochrun Clerk Treasurer Mayor