Regular Council Meeting Thursday, July 15, 2004 Mayor Dave France called the meeting to order. Roll Call: John Synodinos present, Dr. Robert Price Absent, Dave Smith present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Matt Parise present, Thomas Bottorf present. Officials: Mayor Dave France present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker absent, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Walt Ziemba absent. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minutes Motion by John Synodinos, second by Matt Parise to approve the minutes from the July 1, 2004 Meeting. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Persons Appearing before Council Attorney Chris Gagen and Richard Reisbeck asked Council members to sign a letter addressed to the liquor board that had been previously prepared by them approving a transfer of a liquor license to the Riesbecks store. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Matt Parise to forward the letter to the state liquor board approving the transfer of a liquor license to the Reisbecks store. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Council Members all signed the letter and gave the original letter to Chris Gagen to forward to the liquor authority. Tom Graham, Jefferson County Commissioner, updated Council Members on the telemetry system. He said the County is proceeding with acquiring the system and should have it in place by late August or early September. He said that the Commissioners agreed to pay half the cost but would like to make sure that Wintersville would attempt to purchase more water from the County. John Synodinos said that the Village would purchase as much water as possible from the County since it was much cheaper than buying directly from Steubenville. Matt Parise said that purchasing water from the County benefited both Wintersville and the County and the Village would begin purchasing more water from the County as soon as the telemetry system was in place. Thomas Bottorf said that he had discussed drafting a statement with Commissioner Richard Delatore that would assure the County that Wintersville would purchase more water from the County if they would pay for half the telemetry system. He added that he felt that the Village should reimburse the County for their costs of the telemetry system if for some reason Wintersville did not increase the amount of water purchased from the County. Matt Parise asked Commissioner Tom Graham if he would like something in writing from Council to help make the Commissioners more comfortable with the telemetry purchase. Tom Graham said that something along the lines of what Thomas Bottorf said or at least something that would acknowledge that Wintersville Council's intent was to purchase more water from the County. Thomas Bottorf suggested that all Council members sign off on a letter that Mayor Dave France had sent to the Commissioners that stated that the Village would purchase more water from the County if the telemetry system was in place. Tom Graham said that would be great if Council would sign off on that letter and forward it, to the County. Ordinances and/or Resolutions None. Report, Announcements and Communications Mayor France read the Police Report for the month of June 2004. Robert Martin Sr. reported that the recreation Committee had met at the site where the new playground equipment would be installed. He said the equipment should be in place by the middle of August. Thomas Bottorf reported that the Water and Sewer committee had met and that a minutes on the meeting had been given to Council. Thomas Bottorf said that the Finance Committee had met earlier in the day and that options for healthcare for employees were being looked at. Administrator's Report Mayor France discussed items submitted by Walt Ziemba including: 1) The landscaping around the building has been completed at a cost of $1000.00 and will also require a monthly payment to maintain the landscaping. 2) The installation of the light posts on Grove Street had been started. 3) A recommendation for the purchase of a bucket truck for the village was submitted along with the estimated annual costs. Walt Ziemba also included costs that would be eliminated along with other reasons to purchase the truck. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to purchase a bucket truck for $12,500 plus any associated fees required to acquire the truck. Discussion of motion: John Synodinos asked what fees would be associated with acquiring the truck. Mayor France said that annual operating costs and insurance for the truck were estimated by the Administrator at $1500.00. Vote on motion: John Synodinos yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Council agreed that the Administrator needed to clarify certain I & I study recommendations at the next meeting. Mayor France said that the Village's Health insurance would be increasing 14.55% beginning in September 2004. Thomas Bottorf said he would be calling a special meeting to discuss this issue. Mayor Dave France said that bids for the Police Cruiser are due in by July 29th at 2:00 PM. Mayor France said that the bids for the sandblasting and painting of 2 clarifiers at the Waste Water Plant were due in by July 29th at 2:00 PM. Matt Parise reminded the Mayor that Council had previously agreed to have these bid openings held publicly at Council Meetings. Unfinished Business Matt Parise said that the Sam's Way engineering study is nearing completion and the Village needed to determine the number of lots in the subdivision for assessment purposes. Mayor France said that some owners would rather go with a smaller number of lots for determining assessment. Thomas Bottorf suggested that the Solicitor contact the Attorney for the Sam's Way residents concerning this matter. Robert Martin Sr. said that if all the lots were not assessed that would mean giving some residents a "free Ride". Mayor Dave France said that he would get in touch with the Solicitor on this matter. Matt Parise announced that there would be no Community Days Event this year. He said that Riesbeck's has a corporate rule that does not allow events of this type to be held in their parking lots. He stated that no Village funds had been spent this year on the event and that the donation made towards the event would either be returned to the business's who donated them or held for next year's event. He said that the individuals working on the event looked forward to having the event in the future. Matt Parise said that the Village may need to spend some funds to move the transformer located at Riesbeck's parking lot. Robert Martin Sr. said that Indian Creek may allow the Village to use their school grounds to hold the event next year. For the Good of the Village Mike Chappel, 132 S. Avalon, explained to Council the problem he was having with the catch basin on Troy Avenue. He said that excessive water was coming down into his swimming pool. He added that his neighbor had experienced over $4000.00 in damage to his basement because of this problem. He said that he had been experiencing this problem for some time and asked what Council could do to help with the problem. John Synodinos said that this was the first time he had heard of this problem. Mayor Dave France said that he was working with Perry Pool and the Administrator to look into putting a second catch basin in that area. John Synodinos said that he would like to have an opinion from the Solicitor by the next meeting whether this was something the Village was responsible for. Mike Chappel said that he had a second problem concerning damage the Village crews did to his driveway last winter when they were taking care of the ice jam near his property. Mayor Dave France said that the Village crews were beginning to get back on schedule and that he would let Mr. Chappel know when they would be repairing his driveway. Betty Stinard asked if the Village was going to maintain control of it's sewer system. John Synodinos said that the issue of the Village's Water and Sewer system's were currently being discussed, but that the Village was not currently losing any money for operating the sewer system. Betty Stinard inquired about the price Wintersville was currently paying for Water to Steubenville and the County. Council informed her that currently the Village pays Steubenville $4.22 per thousand gallons and the County $3.00 per thousand gallons. Betty Stinard suggested that the Village consider getting timers for Christmas lights it puts up each year. Robert Martin Sr. explained that commercial grade timers were very expensive. Mayor Dave France said that he would have the Administrator look into this. Betty Stinard said that there were potholes on Canton Road and Powells Lane that needed patched. Mayor Dave France said he would have the Administrator follow-up on those areas. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin to approve the line item transfers and the fund transfers for the police pension fund for $5000.00 as prepared by the Clerk Treasurer. Mike Payne briefly explained the need for these transfers. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin to pay bills as funds become available. Matt Parise suggested that someone follow-up on the bills for Dennis O'Toole to make sure that his firm was not billing both the Village and the County for the same hours. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin to go into executive session to discuss pending litigation regarding the Steubenville water contract and personnel matters concerning an employee buyout. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Matt Parise to return to regular session. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Robert Martin Sr. to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Next Regular Scheduled meeting is August 5, 2004 at 7:00 PM. Mike Payne, Clerk/Treasurer Dave France, Mayor