Regular Council Meeting Thursday, August 7, 2003 Mayor Robert E. Cochrun called the meeting to order. Roll Call: John Synodinos present, Dave France present, Thomas Bottorf present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Beth Rupert present, Dave Smith present. Officials: Mayor Robert E. Cochrun present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker present, Clerk-Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Gary R. Folden absent. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minutes Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Thomas Bottorf to approve the minutes from the Regular Council Meeting from the Regular Council Meeting held July 17, 2003. Vote: John Synodinos abstain, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0 with 1 abstention. Persons Appearing before Council Ruth Scharfenberg, 967 Two Ridge Road, complained about being requested to pay the Village wage tax now that it had been determined that her residence was in the Village limits. She stated that she had not had the opportunity to vote on the wage tax since the board of elections had her voting as a non-village resident. Mrs. Scharfenberg admitted that she had been receiving utility services of the Village but still did not feel that she should be required to pay the Village wage tax because she had not been allowed to vote on the issue. Mayor Cochrun said that he had confirmed with 911 Officials that Mrs. Scharfenberg’s residence was located in the Village Limits. Council Members agreed that Mrs. Scharfenberg and her husband needed to begin paying the Village wage tax this year but that she would not be responsible for any wage taxes prior to 2003. Dave Smith told Mrs. Scharfenberg that the error in her case was made by the Board of Elections and that this was a separate issue that she needed to resolve. Ruth Scharfenberg said that she had contacted the Board of Elections about this matter and they had said they would take care of the mistake. Mayor Cochrun presented a proclamation to Patrolman Brad Leas for his winning a Silver Medal in the bench press competition at the 2003 Ohio Police and Fire Games. Faye Christ, 116 Sabina Drive, explained why residents on her street were upset with ODOT’s Phase II Plan B option regarding the Route 43 widening project which included widening and directing traffic to their street. Faye Christ said that the residents of Sabina Drive were concerned that this plan will break up a nice residential area and create an unsafe situation for all children living on their street. She stated that the plans would have the road coming within 8-12 feet of the front door for some residents. Dave Smith said that he had discussed the concerns about Sabina Drive with Greg Gurney from ODOT. He said that Mr. Gurney explained that options concerning Sabina Drive were still available. He also said that Mr. Gurney told him that not making a decision on Sabina Drive at this time would not affect the rest of the Project to keep moving forward. Dave Smith reminded residents of Sabina Drive that they have until August 15, 2003 to send any suggestions they might have on the Route 43 Project to ODOT. Faye Christ said that ODOT told her that only Council can approve any changes to the project concerning Sabina Drive. Robert Martin Sr. agreed that the current plan would create an unsafe situation for children who live on Sabina Drive. John Synodinos said he would like to let ODOT know, right now, that Council wants to remove the Sabina Drive option from their plans. Dave France said that it would not be due diligence by Council to make a decision on this matter that might affect the entire project until all the facts and options are known. He also said that he had attended all of the Public Meetings by ODOT concerning this project and had not seen any residents from Sabina Drive come and voice their concerns. Araina Halner, 117 Sabina Drive, said that that none of the residents of Sabina Drive were notified of the Route 43 Project affecting Sabina Drive until last month. She said that is when ODOT began surveying in her area. Gary Rogers, Sabina Drive, said he did not want to see the project go any further and then become to the point where it was irreversible concerning Sabina Drive. Dave Smith said that the current plan is just a glorified option and this is the time to make suggestions to the project. He said there was no reason to panic since there was plenty of time to meet with ODOT officials and discuss options available. Lorrie Rogers, Sabina Drive, said she lives right on the edge of this project and was concerned not only for the children living in this area but for damage that the construction would do to the foundations of their homes. Dave France said that ODOT told Council that Sabina Drive was essential to the project. He said that it was Council’s responsibility to look at all the options and exactly what could be done that would not affect the entire project. Robert Martin said that if Sabina Drive was the key to the entire project ODOT would have done something already instead of waiting until several years down the road before making a decision. Thomas Bottorf suggested that Council see if Greg Gurney from ODOT would be willing to come and discuss this issue with everyone from Sabina Drive. Beth Rupert said that another issue involved would be pulling out on to Route 43. Nick Brisner, 123 & 125 Sabina Drive, said that there is a better plan than the one currently selected by ODOT concerning Sabina Drive. He said they had simply chosen the cheapest alternative. Beth Rupert asked if passing a motion tonight would tie the Village’s hands concerning the project. Chris Becker said that the process is preceding the way it is supposed to, which is allowing for discussion to take place during the public comment period. He said that he would recommend Council holding off on passing any motion until Greg Gurney from ODOT had time to come in and discuss the issue with Council and the residents of Sabina Drive. Doris Cartman, 108 Sabina Drive, expressed her opinion that the project should leave out Sabina Drive. Delores Mileskey, 109 Sabina Drive, said she is concerned that no left hand turns could be made from Route 43 even though a turning land would be put in place. Dave Smith said that motorists would be able to turn left when leaving 43 but not entering the road. Lorrie Rogers questioned why ODOT did not suggest other options to the Village that would not affect Sabina Drive when they presented their plans for the project. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to instruct ODOT to remove the Sabina Drive option from the Route 43 expansion project. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France nay, Thomas Bottorf nay, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith nay Mayor Cochrun broke the tie by voting yea. Motion passed 4-3. Dave France said that Council was not being responsible by approving this motion to remove the Sabina Drive option at this time. Matt Parise, S. Avalon Drive, said that if Council members waited two weeks before approving the motion to remove the Sabina Option from the project it would be subjecting the residents of that street additional stress. Beth Rupert said that it was important from this point forward to notify all the residents of Sabina Drive of any meetings that might take place concerning the Route 43 Project. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by John Synodinos to bring ODOT representatives in to discuss and review all the alternatives concerning the Route 43 Project. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Robert Martin Sr. said that when ODOT came in he wanted them to only discuss options not involving Sabina Dr. Ordinances and/or Resolutions Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Cochrun read the Magistrate, Building Inspector’s and Police Reports for July 2003. Mayor Cochrun distributed a map to Council members showing then the location of a piece of property that a resident on Meadow Drive would like to purchase from the Village to allow the resident to build a garage. Mayor Cochrun asked Council to review this map and to discuss the issue at the next meeting. Administrator Report None. Old Business Dave France inquired about why the Clerk-Treasurer’s Position had not been filed prior to the deadline for this year’s election. Mike Payne explained that he was required to post the Ordinance for 15 days prior to any Ordinance (not passed as an emergency) becoming effective. He said that after the posting period had been completed he had filed the Ordinance at the Board of Elections but by that time the deadline for the 2003 election had passed. Dave France said that he thought that the Clerk-Treasurer had a conflict of interest by filing the Ordinance after the deadline. Chris Becker reviewed the Ohio Revised Code regarding the filing and confirmed that the Ordinance could not have been filed by the deadline because of the statute requiring Ordinances to be posted for 15 days prior to becoming effective. He also said that although most of the filings are the responsibility of the Clerk to file this requirement which is explained in the statute and in the Ordinance was the responsibility of Council to file with the Board of Elections. He reminded Council that he had encouraged them several times earlier in the year to pass this Ordinance early enough to avoid the deadline. Beth Rupert stated that this matter should be followed up on, especially since someone on Council might have to be assigned responsibility to perform filings that are not legally the responsibility of the Clerk’s. Robert Martin Sr. asked about the status of the new garage. Mayor Cochrun said that a legal advertisement had been placed in the paper for the construction of the garage. Beth Rupert asked what was being done with the sewage odor in the Meadowbrook area? Mayor Cochrun said that a firm had been hired to review the situation. Dave Smith said he had a conversation with Gene Pool regarding installation of the sidewalk lights. He said that Mr. Pool indicated that the cement around the lights may need to be dug up before the lights could be installed. Beth Rupert said that it might be a conflict of interest if Gene Pool would bid on the upcoming street light project. Chris Becker said that all the information Gene Pool may have known about as a Council Person is public information, therefore he saw no conflict of interest on this issue. Chris Becker said that he had researched the issue of imposing a registration requirement, regardless if there would be a fee involved, and that the village probably could not require such a registration because if would infringe on their first amendment rights. Mike Payne informed Council that the employee Health Insurance rates would be remaining the same if the Village elected to stay with Health Assurance as its carrier. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Thomas Bottorf to renew the Health Insurance for Village employees with Health Assurance at the same rates as the previous year. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Beth Rupert asked Chief Laman and Tammy Plante, who were the only full time employees at the meeting, if they had any problems with the Health Insurance coverage. Both employees said that they were generally satisfied with the coverage. John Synodinos read a statement concerning his outlook on the lack of success of the recent Community Days Event. Dave France said that the Community day Event was not a flop and that they had so many people attend Sunday that they ran out of parking. He said that the event was much better than last years, which was held at Big Bear. Thomas Bottorf said that there were some issues that will need to be addressed at next year’s event including avoiding competition with other local firework’s displays. Araina Halner and Matt Parise both said that they were vendors at the Community day Event this year and last year. Both stated that they did not make as much as vendors this year compared to the event at Big Bear in 2002. Evelyn Parise stated that if the Community Days Event was held on the Main Street in Wintersville it would naturally attract more people because they would see it as they drove by. Beth Rupert said that the increase in the number of vendors this year probably had something to do with the decrease in vendor profits. She said that this year’s committee had a good foundation of members, which should help in the future. She said that this year’s event raised more money as a combined event that the two separate events in 2002. She also felt if the combined event was given a chance it would succeed. Lori Rogers said that the Tuscarawas Community Days that she attended was a fantastic event partially due to the fact the it was so visible to the public. Mike Payne asked that a finance committee be appointed to discuss the issues regarding the 2004 appropriations. Mayor Cochrun appointed Dave Smith, John Synodinos and Thomas Bottorf to this committee. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Thomas Bottorf to approve the budget transfers prepared by the Clerk Treasurer. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to pay bills as funds become available. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Beth Rupert to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 7:00 PM. Mike Payne Robert E. Cochrun Clerk Treasurer Mayor