Regular Council Meeting Thursday, July 7, 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 Thomas Bottorf, second by Dr. Robert Price to approve the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting held June 16, 2005. John Synodinos asked for an addition to the minutes regarding a statement made by another Council man at the meeting. After a brief discussion is was decided to vote on the minutes without this addition. Vote: John Synodinos nay, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-1. Mayor Dave France asked Council to consider moving up the "Good of the Village" portion of the meeting to coincide with Persons appearing Before Council. Motion by Matt Parise, second by John Synodinos to move the "Good of the Village" portion of the meeting to coincide with the Persons Appearing Before Council portion of the Meeting. 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. Diane Denny said that the landscape work around the Municipal building looked nice, but suggested that someone remove the dead looking tree at the side of the building. Diane Denny addressed the water rate situation by saying that even though businesses can "write off" water bills from the village as business expenses, these high water bills eventually passed along to the customers. Diane Denny suggested that Dates and times for Special Meetings, such as water Committee meeting, should be posted on the Village bulletin board. She also said that she had contacted the Village building about the date and time for the most recent water meeting and was forwarded to the Administrator's Secretary's voicemail and not notified of the meeting. Matt Parise said that phone calls not being answered and sent to voice mail was not acceptable when the Village had numerous employees who could handle these calls. Robert Martin Sr. suggested putting information about these meetings on recorded messages in case the call went to voicemail. Matt Parise reminded Diane Denny of an upcoming water meeting July 12 at 6:00 PM. Richard Hanson presented a simple idea on how to calculate a uniform water rate for the Village by taking the total expenses divided by the number of estimated gallons that would be billed to customers each year. Robert Martin Sr. invited Mr. Hanson to come to the next water meeting. John Synodinos said that Mr. Hanson's plan was what he, Matt Parise and Robert Martin had already proposed to Council. Travis Hunt, 224 Sam's Way, discussed that water rate situation. He said that the blame for the high rates resided with a faction of Council. He also said that he did not feel that Matt Parise's leaving Council Meeting was appropriate. Mr. Hunt also stated that senior citizens did not necessarily need Council's protection regarding water rates because seniors were already the wealthier generation. He said he had established a website (wintersvillewater.com) to conduct a survey to see which water plan resident's preferred. John Synodinos said that Thomas Bottorf's plan operated on a negative cash flow and that if Matt Parise's plan used a negative cash flow the rates could also be lower. Matt Parise said that his walking out of meeting did not prevent the vote on the water Ordinance. He said he would continue to walk out of meetings in the future if he thought it was in the best interest of the Village. Thomas Bottorf said that the reason his plan could offer lower rates through 2006 was that the Village had been collecting an additional $12,500 every month that had been building up as reserves. John Synodinos stated that he had previously made a motion to set up a special fund for the $12,500 extra that was being collected from water customers, but was told by Mike Payne that some of this money was being spent on attorney fees and other expenses. Dr. Robert Price stated that if there was a surplus of funds in the water fund the residents would be given back the funds. Tom Longo, 220 Sam's Way, said that he wanted nothing to do with the assessment for the paving of his street. He said he would be willing to pay $2000 for his part of the asphalt but no more than that. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions Ordinance 2005-16: An Ordinance removing delinquent water charges from property taxes was read for the 3rd time. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Matt Parise to approve Ordinance 2005-16. 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 2005-17: An Ordinance removing delinquent sewer charges from property taxes was read for the 3rd time. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Matt Parise to approve Ordinance 2005-17. 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 2005-19: An Ordinance requiring registration license for all businesses was read for the 3rd time. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve Ordinance 2005-19. 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 2005-20: An Ordinance enacting new codified Ordinance Chapter "Erosion Sediment Control" was read for the second time. Resolution 2005-21: A Resolution approving the Police Chief to apply for a New DARE Grant was read for the first time. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Matt Parise to waive the 2nd and 3rd readings of Resolution 2005-21. 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. Resolution 2005-21: A Resolution approving the Police Chief to apply for a new DARE Grant was read for the 2nd and 3rd times. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve Resolution 2005-21. 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. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Dave France read the June 2005 Police and Code Enforcement Officers Reports. Administrator's Report Walt Ziemba presented Council with the Sam's Way Assessment Board's Recommendation regarding the amount of assessment to assign each property owner on Sam's Way for the newly installed road. Chris Becker said that he would prepare an Ordinance for Council to vote on if they approved the Assessment Board's Recommendation. He explained that if Council did not accept the recommendation of the Board, then Council would need to appoint a new Assessment Board and stat the process over again. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Dr. Robert Price to accept the Sam's Way Equalization Board's Assessment Recommendation. Discussion on the Motion: Matt Parise said that he thought the assessment was unfair to some resident's of Sam's Way but that he would vote with the majority on this matter since he had made a commitment to do so. Tom Longo, 221 Sam's Way, said that all residents were not represented at the meetings when the issue of the road was discussed. Mayor Dave France said that the Planning Commission was being much more particular on handing out variances. Mrs. Travis Hunt, 224 Sam's Way, suggested that a gate be put up on Sam's Way. Travis Hunt suggested that the Village try to sue A H & L for the cost of the road since they seemed to be back in business. Chris Becker said that they were not doing business in Ohio. Travis Hunt said that he applauded Mr. Martin for saying he would be voting against the assessment to the property owners. Matt Parise said that the property values of Sam's Way increased substantially with the installation of the new road. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. nay, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-1. Walt Ziemba recommended that Council approve the low bid of Shelly & Sands for the resurfacing bid of Winters Drive in the amount of $104,557.20. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Robert Martin Sr. to accept the bid of Shelly & Sands. 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 he was recommending to Council to accept the 2nd lowest bid of James M. Cox for the fire hydrant purchase in the amount of $119,942.08 (which included a 4% discount for timely payment). He explained that the materials involved with the low bidder were not as easy to work on or obtain as the bid of James M. Cox. He also recommended the low installation bid for the fire hydrant from Vitello Contracting in the amount of $97,600. Walt Ziemba said the total cost of purchasing and installing the fire hydrant was still going to be less that the Grant amount. Walt Ziemba said that the bid from Vitello included the cost of seeding and mulching around the installed area. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Matt Parise to accept the Fire Hydrant bids of James M. Cox and the installation bid of Vitello Contracting. 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 recreation Grant funds would be spent on items listed on the quotation he distributed to Council, which included 2 heavy duty swings, a climbing wall, and 4 basketball back boards. Walt Ziemba presented Council with a quotation to purchase guard railing material to put around the existing recreation equipment in the amount of $2,748. Robert Martin Sr. asked that the Administrator to obtain the cost of a fence around this area instead of the guard railing. Walt Ziemba said he had a quote from Signal Service Inc. to repair the School light for $800, and that it would be fixed sometime in August. Walt Ziemba recommended to Council to begin using the services of Swisher restroom services for weekly sanitizing of Village restrooms per the cost schedule given to Council. He said the Village would continue to purchase the supplies for the restrooms locally. Council agreed to consider this request. Walt Ziemba reviewed with Council how to calculate the average sewer bill for Richard Sherrin. Chris Becker said that he would be looking at revising the current Ordinance regarding cross contamination of well water, to avoid these problems in the future. Matt Parise said that he wanted to remind Chief Laman to follow up on any illegal activity Mr. Sherrin had committed in tapping into his well. Walt Ziemba reported that Robert Martin Jr. and Anthony Dipietris had both been awarded scholarships from Comcast for achievement in high school. Walt Ziemba opened up two bids on the Police Cruiser the Village had put up for sale. The bids were: 1). Paul Roe $311.00 2). Bay Ridge Auto Sales $1006.00 Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to accept the high bid of $1006 by Bay Ridge Auto Sales to purchase the used Police Cruiser. 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. Unfinished Business Council agreed to move the July 21st meeting to Thursday, July 28th, 2005 at 7:00 PM. John Synodinos said he would update Council on the negotiations with Judge Bednar regarding renting space to his court in the Village Municipal building during an executive session. Mayor Dave France said that Council was to take a brief recess. New Business John Synodinos read a prepared statement responding to Dr. Price's previous statement asking for an apology from him regarding his language at the previous Council Meeting. John Synodino's statement included the statement that Dr. Price should follow the Rules of Council if he thought there had been a problem with his conduct. Motion by Dave Smith, second by Thomas Bottorf to count Council Members absent who come in late or leave a meeting early without the approval of the Mayor or his representative. After a discussion on this motion Dave Smith agreed to withdraw the motion and discuss this issue in more detail at a Committee meeting. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Thomas Bottorf to go into Executive Session to discuss Rental Negotiation and Personnel matters. 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 Thomas Bottorf, second by Robert Martin Sr. to return to regular session. 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 Thomas Bottorf, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve the line item transfers and the appropriation increases prepared by the Clerk Treasurer. 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 pay bills approved by Council as funds become available. 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 Robert Martin Sr., second by Dave Smith to adjourn. 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. Next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, July 28, 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