Regular Council Meeting Thursday, November 6, 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 present. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minutes Thomas Bottorf asked that his comment, that Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne had distributed information showing that if certain changes were made that having the County take over the Village’s water and sewer department may actually have a positive impact on the Village’s general fund, be added to the October 16, 2003 minutes. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve the minutes from the Regular Council Meeting held October 16, 2003 as corrected. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert nay, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-1. Persons Appearing before Council Students, Bobby Hickle, Eric Hilty, Ross Boston, and Aaron Saltsman who were working on a scout requirement appeared before Council explaining that they were full filling a requirement by attending the Council Meeting. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions Ordinance 2003-18: An Ordinance for the 2004 Permanent Appropriations was read for the first time. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Cochrun read the Magistrate, Police and Building Inspector’s reports for October 2003. Mayor Cochrun announced that a Planning Commission Meeting would be held Monday November 10, 2003 at 6:00 PM. to discuss a lot split for Huberta Siciliano on Canton Road. Mayor Cochrun said that the Village offices would be closed for Veterans Day, Tuesday November 11, 2003. Sanitation for Tuesday that week would be picked up on Monday. Mayor Cochrun asked Council if they wanted to approve payment of dues for the National Association of Cities and Villages. Beth Rupert asked if the Village had previously benefited from being a member of this organization. Gary Folden said that this was only the 2nd year of existence for this organization and that the Village should give them a few years to see if they would promote small municipalities. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Dave France to approve payment of the National Association of Cities and Village dues in the amount of $185.00. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Administrator’s Report Gary Folden asked Council if they want to approve payment of the Ohio Municipal League Dues in the amount of $770.00. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Thomas Bottorf to approve payment of the 2004 OML dues in the amount of $770.00. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Gary Folden asked if the Village wished to help support again this year the Ray Laman Christmas Party. Motion by Dave Smith, second by Beth Rupert to pay bills up to $500.00 for the Christmas Party. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 6-0. Gary Folden said that he had previously received a quote from Gene Pool to install the light posts along Grove Street in the amount of $1,200.00 but he was not able to take on this project. He said that Cattrell electric gave him a quote to do this work for $3,500.00 and John Petrella quoted $3,284.00 Dave France asked if John Petrella was aware of Catrell’s quote when he submitted his quote. Mayor Cochrun said that John Petrella did not know the amount of the other quote. Perry Pool said that an application needed to be sent out to AEP before the lights could be hooked up. He did not know whether the two quotes given included the cost of this application. Gary Folden said he would check with the contractor’s to see if their quotes included the cost of the application and if not, what that cost would be. Gary Folden said he had received bids on financing the new garage building and that he and Mike Payne would review these bids. Gary Folden said that the contract he had signed with Waste Management for 3 years would expire in June 2005, and asked Chris Becker to explain the possibilities of getting out of this contract. Chris Becker said that the term of the agreement was for 3 years and the price was negotiable each year. He said currently the Village was in the middle of the 2nd year of the agreement and that he would give an opinion at the next meeting as to whether the Village could give notice to Waste Management to get out of the 3rd year of the agreement. He said that the Village could be sued for damages up to $60,000 plus legal fees if they attempted to get out of the contract at this point. He said that he would research the issue of whether the Village could cancel by giving a written notice 90-180 days prior to the start of the 3rd year of the agreement, which would be June 2004. He also said that the contract called for exclusive use of Waste Management for dumping services and that the Village could not allocate any of the business to the other companies who had quoted much lower prices. Gary Folden said that the Village had received a bill from Steubenville in the amount of $525,190.49 towards the $600,000.00 that was included in the contract between Wintersville and Steubenville. He said that he had been approached by Mr. Hayes, the City Manager from Steubenville about whether the Village was still interested in buying bulk water from Steubenville. He told them that the Village was still interested. Chris Becker said that negotiations should probably start back up at the first of the year. He also said that the Village’s position on not paying the $600,000 to Steubenville had weaken because the Village was now benefiting from part of the new plant that was up and running. Robert Martin Sr. asked why this bill shouldn’t be prorated. Chris Becker said that the minute the new system was up and running the Village owed this entire $600,000 to Steubenville, provided they had spent at least $10,000,000.00 to date on the project. He said that the first goal of the new Council should be to get the water issue settled. Thomas Bottorf said that if neither Steubenville nor Wintersville had any Council members on the water negotiating teams, the two entities should start negotiating again right now. Matt Parise asked Council if Jefferson County’s water contract with Steubenville required them to pay for capital improvements. Chris Becker said this issue is still pending in Judge Bruzzese’s Court. Matt Parise asked if that decision, when made, would determine whether Wintersville would have to pay the $600,000. Chris Becker said that if Wintersville could have been purchasing all of its water from somewhere other than through Steubenville before their capital improvements came on line that might have helped the Village’s case to avoid paying the $600,000. Matt Parise asked if the Village had hired an attorney to help review whether or not the Village could avoid paying the $600,000 or whether the Attorney was only hired to negotiate a new contract. Chris Becker said that Attorney Dennis O’Toole had looked into the issue of whether the Village owed this to Steubenville. Chris Becker said that Dennis O’Toole’s position would be probably be the same as the one that he had just discussed, which was that once the Village started benefiting from the capital improvements made by Steubenville the Village would be more likely to be forced to pay the $600,000. Beth Rupert said that she felt the negotiations should continue, since no Council members were on the negotiating team. Chris Becker reminded Council that although they were not on the negotiating team Council members on both sides were the ones that had to approve any agreements. Beth Rupert said that by continuing negotiations an agreement could be reached quicker at the first of 2004. Dave France questioned the sincerity of negotiations during a period when Council members were close to being changed. Old Business John Synodinos said that he had discussed the scenario that the Clerk had prepared showing how the general fund would not loose money if the water and sewer were taken over by the County with Mike Payne. He said that Mike Payne told him that this information was fantasy. Mike Payne said that the information that he and the Administrator put together was a best-case scenario. Gary Folden said that he needed direction as to whether the negotiating team was to continue negotiations with Steubenville on the water issue. The Mayor asked for an answer on this issue from each Council members. John Synodinos, Dave France, Robert Martin Sr. said that they did not want to continue negotiations until the new year, Thomas Bottorf, Dave Smith, Beth Rupert and Mayor Cochrun said that they did want the team to negotiate prior to the new year. Chris Becker said that it was ridiculous that the Village was being charged a $5,000. deductible for each residents home that was damaged due to the same recent water problems. He said that he would give a written opinion to Council on how he thought the Village should proceed on this issue by the next meeting. Gary Folden said that he would like to discuss a personal issue in executive session at the end of Regular Council business. Gary Folden welcomed students from Indian Creek who were doing a test run of taping the meeting that would begin airing in 2004. Thomas Bottorf said that he would like to see a tape of those meetings made available to Council Members and left at the Municipal building. Dave France questioned whether the improvements that were being made on Leonard Avenue had been authorized. He said the senior citizens he spoke to felt like St. Florian Hall was an acceptable place to meet. Robert Martin Sr. said that most of the labor done so far was just cleanup done by him and Village employees. He also said that this would not be just for one particular club but for the entire Village. Mayor Cochrun said that John Petrella agreed to help with the project because he felt it was for a good cause. Beth Rupert asked how much it would cost to get this building ready for use. Robert Martin said that no money had been spent yet but if money was spent it was a Village Building and therefore needed to be taken care of. Beth Rupert said that the Village should keep this building exterminated and should come up with an estimated cost to fix it up. She asked the Solicitor if there would be any liability issues if there were volunteers used to fix this building up. Chris Becker said that he felt sure that the Village’s liability policy would cover these workers. Thomas Bottorf said that the Village should have a plan in place for these improvements. He said the plan should include keeping the records stored in the building secure. Mayor Cochrun asked Robert Martin Sr. to get with John Petrella and find out how much it would cost to fix the Leonard Avenue building up. Thomas Bottorf asked for an update on the different studies being done in the Village. Perry Pool said that Quicksall told him that they were back to square one on the Odor Control problem. He said new employees from the company had come in. Gary Folden said that he would get in touch with the company and discuss this situation. Gary Folden said that MS Consultants had completed the first step of the I & I study and would be starting step 2. Perry Pool said that a report on potable water was close to being completed. Thomas Bottorf asked for an update on the new street garage. Perry Pool said that the footers would be poured next week and then the block work would start. Beth Rupert asked who had responsibility for the power boxes at Big Bear. Robert Martin Sr. said that since they were not connected it would not be a problem. Dave Smith reported that the Finance Committee had met and reviewed an agenda of items prepared by the Clerk Treasurer. He said the committee would be meeting again Thursday, November 13, 2003 at 5:30 PM. Gary Folden said that the Halloween Party held last week was a success and he congratulated Robert Martin Sr. and John Synodinos for their work on the event. Dave France also agreed that the Halloween Party was a nice event. Robert Martin Sr. said that Perry Pool helped him a lot with the event. Beth Rupert thanked the Police Department for their work on Halloween. Mike Payne updated Council on the use of credit cards. He said that the Administrator and the Police Chief are now the only employees carrying Visa cards, while Perry Pool is the only employee with a Lowe’s credit card. New Business John Synodinos said that the Sanitation Rate Committee met and would be meeting again to discuss next year’s rates prior to the next regular council meeting at 6:00 PM. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave France to approve the budget line transfer and the increase in appropriations for the Sanitation R & I and M & R funds as 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 Dave Smith to go into executive session to discuss a personal matter. 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 return to regular session. 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 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 regular scheduled meeting is November 20, 2003 at 7:00 PM Sanitation Rate Meeting is scheduled for 6:00 PM. Robert E. Cochrun, Mayor Mike Payne, Clerk/Treasurer