Regular Council Meeting Thursday, July 18, 2002 Meeting called to order by Mayor Robert E. Cochrun. Roll Call: John Synodinos present, Dave France present, Dave Smith present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Beth Rupert present, Gene Pool present. Officials: Mayor Robert E. Cochrun present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker present, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Gary R. Folden present. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minutes Motion by Dave Smith, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting held Tuesday, July 2, 2002. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert abstained, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0 with one abstention. Persons Appearing before Council Dan Wood, said that he was initially upset about the amount of money being spent on the Community Days, but said that if the event was eventually more self supporting and not relying entirely on Village funding he would be more in favor of making the Community Days an annual event. He also stated that he was not in favor of selling alcohol at the event, since it was supposed to be a family activity. He also said that he did not like the idea of advertising the event with banners that promoted alcohol. John Synodinos said that only beer would be sold at the event and that it would be done with restrictions in place. Robert Martin Sr. said that the reason for the beer advertisement on the signs was that Choice Brands was a major sponsor of the event including of $3000.00 of in kind services. Beth Rupert stated that the decision to serve alcohol at the event was not brought before Council to be approved. Betty Stinard, thanked Dave France and Mayor Cochrun for their taking the time to come to her neighborhood in order for her to show them some complaints she had. She also stated that there was still a problem concerning signs on utility poles. Chief Laman stated that after the previous Council meeting his men removed all signs from the poles. Reading of Ordinances and Resolutions Ordinance 2002-09: An Ordinance to amend section 941.02 U of the Codified Ordinance regarding water shut off was read for the 3rd time. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve Ordinance 2002-09. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France nay, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert not available for vote, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 4-1, 1 person not voting. Ordinance 2002-11: An Ordinance abandoning an unnamed road off of Gumps Lane was read for the first time. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to suspend the rules for the 3rd reading of Ordinance 2002-11. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool nay. Motion passed 5-1. Ordinance 2002-11: An Ordinance abandoning an unnamed road off of Gumps Lane was read for the 3rd time. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve Ordinance 2002-11. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool nay. Motion passed 5-1. Reports, Announcements and Communication Mayor Robert Cochrun announced a planning Commission Meeting on Tuesday, August 6, 2002 at 6:00 PM. to discuss a variance request for Joe Savage, residing at 166 Locust Street. Committee Reports John Synodinos gave Council Members a brief update on the upcoming Community Day's event. Beth Rupert inquired if renting a generator would have been less expensive to operate at the event rather that purchasing a transformer for $3800 from American Electric Power. Robert Martin Sr. said that he had not checked into this option but felt that the Village would be throwing money away by renting a generator instead of purchasing a permanent transformer. He also added that the transformer would only by used during a Village sponsored event. Chris Becker said that it was his opinion that the Village had no liability exposure with regards to the purchase of the transformer. Dave France said that he would like to have a second opinion on exactly what the ampage requirements would be for the event. Beth Rupert asked if a contract was in place with the Big Bear owner to hold the event there. Robert martin Sr. said that the current leaseholder had agreed to let the Village use the property, but no formal written agreement had been prepared. Beth Rupert and Dave France questioned exactly what the expenses for the event was and whether a detailed budget of income and expenses had been put together. Dave France said that he had attended all but one of the Community Days planning meetings and that no detailed information had ever been distributed for the event regarding what vendors would be there or what the expenses for the event would be. Mayor Cochrun requested that Robert Martin Sr. submit a financial report (budget) on the event to him by next Tuesday. Robert Martin said that he would supply the information as soon as he had time. Dave Smith said that he thought that Council was trying to micromanage the running of the event. He said that Council had already appropriated $12,500 for the expenses and did not need to review all of the expenses in detail. Beth Rupert compared the event to the "Thunder in the Ville" saying that even though Council Members never asked Dan Wood for a detail of his expenses, he always supplied them to Council. Dave France said that he felt that all Council Members have a responsibility to the residents to be responsible for dollars spent by the Village. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to transfer $10,000 from the General Fund to the Special Events Fund. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by john Synodinos, second by Robert martin Sr. to increase the appropriations for the special event fund by $4,500 to a total of $17,000. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 6-0. Dave France said that he would be holding a finance committee meeting on August 1, 2002 at 6:00 PM prior to the next Regular scheduled Council Meeting. Administrator's Report Gary Folden said that he had been contacted by Dr. Laura Meeks, presidents of Jefferson Community College, regarding whether Wintersville still wished to participate in the TANF Grant since she had received verbal approval that the funds had been approved including Winterville's portion. Motion by Gene Pool, second Dave France to reject the Tanf Grant Funds. John Synodinos asked for a discussion on the matter since he felt that the Village had previously committed to accepting the grant. Gene Pool said that he didn't feel that the Village had the funds to supply the matching dollars needed for the grant and the ability to operate this program like Jefferson Community College and the library. Robert Martin Sr. said that this operation would be different than what was offered at other places and would serve a different population as well. Dave France said that he had discussed this matter with Gene Watkins, superintendent of Indian Creek schools, and that Mr. Watkins felt that his facility already had computer in place to serve the same population Mr. Martin was referring to. He also said that Jefferson Community College as well as the High School were both only five minutes away from most residents who needed access to computers or computer training. Dave Smith said that the previous vote by the Council was only to apply for the funds and not necessarily accept the funds. He also said that Jefferson Community College's expansion plans had changed since the original application had been made. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to table the motion to reject the TANF Grant funds. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France nay, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert nay, Gene Pool nay, Mayor Cochrun broke the tie and voted Nay. Motion failed 4-3. Vote on previous motion to reject the TANF Grant Funds Vote: John Synodinos nay, Dave France yea, Dave Smith nay, Robert Martin Sr. nay, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea, Mayor Cochrun broke the tie and voted yea. Motion passed 4-3. Old Business Motion by John Synodinos to eliminate the use of paying overtime to an hourly employee to help offer support services at the Council Meeting Prior to a discussion on this motion Robert Martin Sr. excused himself from the remainder of the meeting. John Synodinos asked Mike Payne if having a secretary at the meeting helped with the accuracy of the minutes. Mike Payne said that there have been times when having Tammy at the meeting have helped with the accuracy and completeness of the minutes. John Synodinos said that since the Village already had a clerk to take minutes along with the taping system that he thought that having another employee there was an unnecessary expense of approximately $1000.00 per year. He said that the Administrator could also help with any clarification needed on the minutes. Beth Rupert said that having a secretary at the meeting was beneficial in other matters such as making copies. John Synodinos said that he would be willing to take turns in opening and closing the building and performing other tasks needed instead of paying overtime to an employee. John Synodinos said that he would like to rescind his motion on this matter and that he would wait until a future meeting to bring it up again. Beth Rupert asked if there was anything new on the water contract situation? Chris Becker said that Gary Folden and Attorney Dennis O'Toole had a meeting last week on the issue and that he felt confident that a resolution for the Village could take place as early as the end of August. Dave Smith asked if meetings with all the parties involved had taken place. Gary Folden said that recent meeting had only been with Ohio Consumer's Water Company but other meetings would be taken place in the upcoming weeks. Beth Rupert asked Chris Becker if he had been pleased with the work of Dennis O'Toole so far? Chris Becker said that he was very pleased with the Attorney and that he was worth every dime paid by the Village since he is very knowledgeable in these types of negotiations. Gene Pool asked how the new garage building was coming along? Gary Folden said that the process was coming along fine. He said that he had a meeting scheduled with a local designer Eric Exley next week. Chris Becker said that he had researched the question whether the Village had the right to deny a building permit to someone who had other property that violated the Village's nuisance laws. He said that his research clearly indicated that the Village could not deny such a permit. New Business Mike Payne reported that the Village had recently been audited by the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation. He said that the audit produced no significant finding and that a copy of the audit was available if any one wanted to see it. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave Smith to pay bills as funds become available. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by Dave Smith, second by Dave France to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, August 1, 2002 at 7:00 PM. C. Michael Payne Robert E. Cochrun Clerk Treasurer Mayor