Special Meeting with ODOT and residents of Sabina Drive. Thursday, September 18, 2003 Mayor 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 absent, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Gary R. Folden present. This meeting was to discuss Sabina Drive situation. Greg Gurney from ODOT presented a slide demonstration explaining the history of the Route 43 project, which started in January 1998 with a BHJ Transportation Plan. He explained that with the announcement of the Wal-Mart Distribution changed the scope of the project and ODOT then divided the project in to three Phases. The first Phase was completed in May 2003 at a cost of $964,000 ($64,000 of local contributions). The 2nd Phase completed in September 2003 was completed at a cost of $800,000. And finally Phase III, which would extend 43 to 5 lanes and involve Sabina Drive. Greg Gurney then explained how ODOT plans out alternatives to projects through access management. Greg Gurney listed all the dates that the public was invited to concerning the Route 43 project. These dates were as follows: 10-2002 Presented Projected Alternatives 11-2002 Discussed access with some property and business owners. 11-2002 Presented status of project to Council 11-2002 Discussed 646 Alternatives to Church 5-2003 Presented Church options 6-2003 Discussed Sabina Drive options 6-2003 Discussed Church concerns 7-2003 Presented Council with preferred options Greg Gurney answered the following questions concerning the Sabina Drive situation. 1) Why a signal at this area could not be installed. 2) Why left hand turns could not be made from Sabina 3) Why Sabina Drive needed to be extended to the 646 intersection. Greg Gurney then explained reasons for selecting alternative 2B-involving Sabina Drive. Greg Gurney explained the National Environmental Policy Act. (NEPA) process. At this point Greg Gurney asked for questions from the audience regarding the project. Jim Laught, asked why a ramp from the existing ramp couldn’t be installed to circle around Sabina? Greg Gurney explained the legalities of why this could not be done. Araina Hall, Sabina Drive, asked why the truck traffic could not be re-routed. Greg Gurney explained that there would only be an estimated 100 vehicles a day using this road and that they could not prohibit trucks from using the road. Araina Hall complained that Sabina residents did not know about the Public Meetings. Greg Gurney said that since the project is not completely designed specific property owners my not have been notified, but that the law was followed regarding public notification. Araina Hall said that it sounds like the Sabina Drive project would be going through regardless of what residents said. Greg Gurney said that it was Council’s call to make on this project alternative. Araina Hall asked when would residents be notified about the specifics of their property involvement. Greg Gurney said that his best guess would be late 2005 as to when property owners would be notified about how each property owner would be affected, unless someone needed access to their property during the Environmental Impact study. Araina Hall asked why their water connections were recently marked. Perry Pool stated that this was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the road project. John Synodinos said that ODOT referred to this project as the preferred alternative, he inquired what the other alternatives were. Greg Gurney said that this was an access management issue and that this alternative was selected because it was the best scenario with the least number of impacts. He said the other 3 alternatives all involved Sabina Drive. Lorrie Rogers, Sabina Drive, asked why ODOT would not just use the no build alternative. Greg Gurney explained the safety and traffic problems with doing nothing. Lorrie Rogers, asked if 6-8 feet was an accurate estimate of how much property each resident would be forced to give up. Greg Gurney said that was probably a good estimate. Larry Gerber, Sabina Drive, distributed pictures demonstrating how close the road would come to the front door of their property. Greg Gurney said that if the road had to come as close as his picture indicated then the state would probably purchase their homes. John Synodinos asked what ODOT would do with the project when they received formal notification from Village Council that the Sabina Drive option would be removed from the table as an alternative for this project. Greg Gurney said that the dollars set aside to complete this project would go to another project in the state. He also said that ODOT would continue to maintain the roads as before. He said that this type of project is going on everyday in the state where homes are purchased and anyone affected is compensated for their financial loss. He said he could not tell residents at this time exactly what would happen to their homes. Lloyd MacAdam, ODOT Real Estate Engineer explained that once a final plan was developed, he would determine financial damages and discuss these with the property owners. Mayor Cochrun said that ODOT would not elect to walk away from this project. Beth Rupert asked ODOT Representatives how close could a road come to a home. Lloyd MacAdam said that it was different for each situation. He said that any property owner, whose home’s value decreased by more that 50% would Have the option to have ODOT purchase their homes. Beth Rupert asked if the residents had to disclose the fact that this property might be subject to road construction. Lloyd MacAdam said that he was not a real estate agent but he would assume that this would need to be disclosed. Beth Rupert asked if ODOT could give them a timeline for the project. Lloyd MacAdam said that the process of completing the environmental impact study would take approximately one year, then approximately four months later a map would be completed. Beth Rupert stated that Council was being asked to make a decision without having all the facts presented by ODOT. Greg Gurney said he could not tell Council exactly how much property damage would be done to residents’ homes at this point. Beth Rupert asked how much distance was required between exits off of a highway such as Route 22. Greg Gurney said that for rural areas it was 5 miles and urban areas usually 1 mile. Beth Rupert discussed the idea of an exit going out towards the industrial park from Route 22 as an alternative. She also asked who would be responsible to conduct a study to install an exit between Lovers Lane and Wintersville. Commissioner Tom Graham said that BHJ could probably look at this alternative. At this point the Special meeting adjourned so the regular Council meeting could begin. Regular Council Meeting Mayor 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 absent, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Gary R. Folden present. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minutes Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve the minutes from the Regular Council meeting held September 5, 2003. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Persons Appearing before Council Council returned to the discussion regarding the Sabina Drive issue that began with the Special Meeting, which started at 6:00 PM. Beth Rupert asked the ODOT officials if it would be approximately two years before Sabina residents would know the status of each of their properties in relationship to the Route 43 project. The ODOT officials at the meeting agreed that it would be at least a year and a half. Beth Rupert asked how long it would take to study an alternative option off of Route 22 towards the industrial park. John Brown from BHJ said that the first step would be to hire a consultant to study the feasibility of the project, and it would have to be determined who would pay for this study. Greg Gurney said it would be very difficult to add an exit between Lovers Lane and the Route 43 exits because the distance was less than 2 miles. He gave a similar example of a request in another area in Ohio that was 5 miles apart and had been in the study phase for five years. Robert Martin Sr. asked how ODOT could just walk away from this project. Greg Gurney explained why if there was not enough funding and not the support of the local municipality a project would simply not happen. Robert Martin said that the residents could not go two years without knowing what was going on with their properties. Tom Bottorf inquired about a traffic light option for the project. Greg Gurney explained that there was not enough traffic at that location to justify a light. John Synodinos said that something needed to be in writing from ODOT explaining what would happen to the project since Council had taken the Sabina Drive option off the table. Greg Gurney said that ODOT had not received any thing formally from the Village yet on this situation, but that ODOT would respond if they did receive something in writing. Beth Rupert asked what the value of the properties would become if they were zoned commercial. Lloyd MacAdam the ODOT Real Estate Engineer said that ODOT would value the homes based on how the Village zoned the area. Beth Rupert asked when would Council have to let ODOT know that they have agreed to the final plan for the project alternative. Greg Gurney said that at some point in the process Council would be notified of the final plan for the project and the Village would have to agree to the plan. Greg Gurney said that if the Village sent a letter to his boss at ODOT he would give the Village a response to the question regarding the status of the project if the Village informed ODOT that Sabina Drive was not to be considered as an option. Faye Christ, Sabina Drive, said that the residents may not want to sell their properties. She also stated that they could not function during this period of not knowing what was going to happen. She also said that ODOT Representatives had not come prepared to answer specific questions residents had. Beth Rupert said that she thought that ODOT had explained the issue fairly. Faye Christ said that ODOT could not even answer questions about frontage that would be needed from their properties. Beth Rupert asked if there could be another vote on this issue after two years when all the facts were known. Greg Gurney said that all four alternatives that ODOT had come up with involved Sabina Drive. He said that unless something major came along that would change the impact of traffic; one of these alternatives would have to be chosen. Beth Rupert asked how ODOT could not look at the alternatives involving the undeveloped acreage that was in the direction of the industrial park. Faye Christ said that this discussion was about Human lives and the financial hardships for all of the Sabina Drive residents. Dave France said that it was too bad that this situation had come to this point. He said that personally he had to think of the other Village residents as well as all the County residents in this matter. He said that a decision had to be made that would have to involve the best interests of the general populous of the area. William Hollinbaum, Sabina Drive, said that the Sabina Drive option would take away business not help it. Mayor Cochrun said that Council was here to represent the people. He said that it was bullshit that ODOT would pull out of this project. Nick Bresler, Sabina Drive, asked who came up with the options for the project. Matt Parise said he disagreed with Dave France and that some of the plans that were discussed today needed to be looked at. He said that more communications between the parties was also needed. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to have the Administrator write a letter to ODOT asking them if things were left the way they currently stand with the Sabina Drive option off the table what would ODOT’s intention would be to proceed further on the project and now would they begin looking at other options. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France nay, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-1. Paul Michetti, 239 Sam’s Way, said that residents on Sam’s Way were in a difficult situation regarding their road. He said that the road now had 7 homes, 4 vacant lots, and 1 vacant home. He said that the contractor of the homes went bankrupt and the homeowners had banded together to work on their problem. In addition to the road situation Mr. Michetti said that they can’t get trash pickup, mail service or snow removal. He said that the residents were not looking for a handout but would like some assistance from the Village to help install the road. He said that this neighborhood would be an asset to the Village. Doug Schaefer, 237 Sam’s Way, distributed a handout that showed the estimated costs to put in the road, curbs and culvert for Sam’s Way. This estimate was $74,400. The residents asked if the Village would be willing to pay one third of this cost as well as taking responsibility of the main water line, providing sanitation service and snow removal. Beth Rupert asked if the builder had gone into bankruptcy. Paul Michetti, said that one of the builder did and the other was losing all of his business assets. Beth Rupert asked if the Village could take domain of the empty lots if money was invested in the road by the Village. Doug Schaefer said that the former property owner (Mr. Joe Corabi) had taken back ownership of these lots and he has agreed to put up approximately on third of the costs for the road. He said that he and the other property owners would be raising the remaining one third of the funds needed. Council agreed that the Solicitor would need to research the legalities involved in this matter. Beth Rupert said that the Village needed to assume some responsibility in this matter. She also asked about safety concerns for this road. Robert Martin Sr. said that the Solicitor’s advice needed to be obtained on this matter. Gary Folden said he would have the Solicitor research this issue. Tom Bottorf told the residents from Sam’s Way that he would like to see a general contractor consulted for their road project. Doug Schaefer said that he was afraid that the road costs would double if a general contractor was used. He said that the contractor who put in the asphalt at the top of their street had said he would do that section over at no cost. John Synodinos asked if a motion could be made for the Village to pay for one third of the costs to install this road, not to exceed $25,000, contingent on approval from the Solicitor. Dave France said he would like to see all the legalities researched prior to voting on any motion. Beth Rupert asked where would the funds would come from to pay for this project. Mike Payne told Council that the funds would have to come from the Village’s fund balance which would already probably end the year less that last year’s ending balance of $227,000 by approximately $20,000. Dave Smith inquired about the time line of the road construction. Doug Schaefer said that it would depend of when all of the funding was obtained. Dee Petrella said she was confused on where Mr. Corabi fit into this project. She asked why couldn’t Mr. Corabi use the money from the sale of his remaining lots to fund the cost of the road. Kathy Michetti said that the 4 remaining lots had no value without the road being put in. She explained the investment relationship between Mr. Corabi and the AH&L Builders. Beth Rupert suggested that Council address, now, the issues of sanitation and snow removal. Mayor Cochrun instructed Gary Folden to get in touch with the Solicitor about this issue. Robert Martin Sr. suggested that the Solicitor and Mr. Corabi both need to attend a special Council meeting to discuss this matter. Mayor Cochrun and John Synodinos who are members of the Planning Commission agreed that they had allowed the Sam’s Way project to proceed in the manner that was contrary to the Village Ordinances. The Mayor said that this was done in good faith that the contractor would complete the road as required. Robert Laukert, BHJ Representative, reported on the September 17, 2003 BHJ Meeting. He said that the Phase II Bridge Study Plan was completed and the next step would be to try to get Federal Funding for the new bridge. He also reported that the discussion of widening all of Route 22 to four lanes is continuing. He suggested the Village write a letter to our representative explaining the Village’s support for this expansion. He also discussed two other topics briefly, one concerning air quality and its impact on future projects and two, Federal monitoring of Mexican vehicles in the United States. John Petrella, said he would like to discuss the Sam’s Way situation. He said he understood Mr. Schaefer’s request to the Village but thought the idea of not having a general contractor was a mistake because one of the subcontractors could default. He also said that the general contractor needed to have a performance bond. He said that if the Village was going to give out funds to Sam’s Way he would be in line to ask for funds for projects he has in mind. Mrs. Michetti, Sam’s Way, said that Mr. Corabi was not the landowner for the entire subdivision. She also said that her father could act as the general contractor for the road project if needed. Bryan Bickerstaff, Overlook Hills resident, asked John Synodinos where he got his expertise on Fairs and Festivals. John Synodinos said he was not an expert on anything, but he thought the Community Days should be held in the town that was holding the event. Mayor Cochrun asked that Mr. Bickerstaff be removed from Council Chambers after he continued to harass Mr. Synodinos. Ordinances and/or Resolutions Resolution 2003-17: A resolution requesting President Bush keep the steel tariffs for the 3-year period was read. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve Resolution 2003-17. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Resolution 2003-18: A resolution accepting the rates for the Village levies as presented by the County was read. Motion by Dave France, second by Thomas Bottorf to accept Resolution 2003-18. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Reports, Communications and Announcements Mayor Cochrun discussed the recent meeting held locally to discuss and show the valley’s support for steel tariffs. He encouraged local residents to write to congress to support this issue. Administrator’s Report Gary Folden said that Mr. Wilson had asked to have his monthly water bill reduced for the sewage part of the bill because of a broken garden hose that had cause his bill to escalate. Council member denied this request. Gary Folden said Gary Smith had requested for additional Street lighting on Luray and Renee Drives. Gary Folden said that adding two of the lights would cost $7.50 per month. He said that the cost of a pole would be incurred if a 3rd light was added. He said he would find out the cost of the light pole if Council would drive through that area at night and see if they thought more lighting was needed. Gary Folden said the I & I study by MS Consultants was coming along as scheduled. Gary Folden gave an update on the street garage project. He said that a change order was needed in the amount of $34,976 to dig down an additional 10 feet to install the buildings base, due to items discovered at the site. He said he would increase the amount the Village is borrowing to fund the building. He also explained the building needed to be built at this site because it would be attached to the building currently in existence. Beth Rupert asked about penalties that might be assessed because of soil contamination. Perry Pool said that should not be a problem since the Village just recently had soil samples done in this area. John Synodinos asked about whether piling being put in and then having the foundation built on top of the piling would be a less expensive option. Gary Folden said that he was still gathering information on the water issue and that Jack Gilmore was in the audience if Council had any questions. Old Business Thomas Bottorf asked about the status of Walnut Street. Gary Folden advised that Walnut was not finished yet. Thomas Bottorf said that the Leonard Ave. Building looked much better since it had been painted. Robert Martin Sr. said that he had a card for Council to sign and send to Art Fowler, the policeman who had got injured while apprehending a prisoner. Beth Rupert said that the idea to taping Council Meetings was moving forward. Tom Graham, Jefferson County Commissioner, said that he had learned a lot tonight about the Sabina Drive Issue. He also said that he was willing to answer any questions either in public or executive session regarding the potential water agreement between the County and Wintersville. New Business Thomas Bottorf said that during the finance committee meeting it was brought up that the Village might qualify for payment reductions from OWDA due to the recent water and sewer problems experienced in several Ohio counties, including Jefferson. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Dave France to have the Administrator apply for any waiver of OWDA payments that the Village might be eligible for. 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 the status of leak locaters. Gary Folden said that they were not quite finished. Thomas Bottorf said that the topic of reviewing sanitation rates had come up at the finance committee meeting and that it needed to be addressed. Mayor Cochrun appointed Mike Payne, Gary Folden, Dee Petrella and Council persons Thomas Bottorf and John Synodinos to meet and review the sanitation rates. Motion by Dave Smith, second by Dave France to approve the line items transfers, fund transfers and appropriations increases as prepared by the Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne. Gary Folden gave an update regarding the Workers Compensation transfer to work program. He said the Village may need to change its policy on this matter. Robert Martin Sr. asked why Paul Molinaro was refused a building permit for a fence he wanted to install. Gary Folden explained that the solicitor had given his opinion on this based on the fact that the fence was to be constructed on a Village “right of way”. After some discussion on this matter it was agreed that Paul Molinaro could go before the Planning Commission and request a variance to build this fence. Motion be Dave France, second by Thomas to amend the employee policy to coincide with the Workers comp transfer to work program. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Mike Payne discussed his handout that showed the amount of costs currently being allocated to the water and sewer funds. The handout showed that currently approximately $92,000 would have to be absorbed by the General Fund of the Village if the water and sewer funds were taken over by the County. He said that if no changes in revenue or expenses took place the Village’s General Fund would run out of money in two years. Mike Payne also explained that there was no money set aside to handle the Harm’s commitment that was estimated several years ago at $300,000 that the Village would be required to pay to help defray water and sewer connection costs for this potential subdivision. He said that the Village would have to borrow to pay for these expenses. Thomas Bottorf said that this situation would become part of the negotiations with the County. Dave France asked the Administrator a question regarding drug testing employees who were involved in a machinery related incident. Gary Folden said that only employees involved in the actual incident were required to be tested. 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 John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. 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, October 2, 2003 at 7:00 PM. Robert E. Cochrun, Mayor Mike Payne, Clerk/Treasurer