Regular Council Meeting Thursday, November 7, 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, Administrator Gary R. Folden present. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minutes Motion by Gene Pool, second by Dave Smith to approve the minutes from the Regular Council Meeting held Thursday, October 17, 2002. Vote: John Synodinos abstained, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. abstained, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 4-0 with 2 abstentions. Persons Appearing Before Council Greg Gurney, ODOT representative, explained to Council Members the construction planned for Route 43. He explained that the project was divided into two parts. Part one was titled the Wal-Mart project and involved widening Route 43 from the Wal-Mart entrance to Route 45. The 2nd part of the project was titled the Wintersville part and this part was further divided into two phases. The first phase of the Wintersville project primarily involved the interchange work needed done at Route 22 and 43, which would be, completed in the summer of 2003 at about the same time as the Wal-Mart part. The 2nd phase of the Wintersville project, which would hopefully be completed in 2005 involved widening roads and providing connectors north of the bridge over Route 22. This phase also had several alternatives that were being studied. Greg Gurney said that plans called for widening the Route 22 overpass bridge during phase 2, but would depend on funding. He said that the temporary solution would be to decrease the edges of the road down to two feet to allow for an extra turning lane. He also explained that a consulting firm was hired by ODOT (Parsons-Brinkerhoff) to study the traffic in this area and to determine what needs this area would need to handle the anticipated volume for the next 20 years. The result of the changes that would be made on Route 43 according to Mr. Gurney would provide a "level C" traffic pattern which is considered reasonable. Administrator Gary Folden excused himself to attend another meeting at this time. Mayor Cochrun presented a proclamation to Ken Herron, golf coach at Indian Creek who was selected as District II Coach of the year. Mayor Cochrun presented a proclamation to all members of the Indian Creek Golf team who were undefeated in regular season matches and who advanced to the state tournament this year. Pat Davis, thanked Council Person Dave France and Beth Rupert for help in their project to distribute books and teddy bears to local children. Sharon Saltsman Ault, Two Ridge Road complained of a terrible odor at her residence. She said she spoke to Jack Herceg about the problem and was told that the Village could not afford to purchase the chemicals needed to fix the problem. Mayor Cochrun said that he would have someone take care of this problem the next day. Jane Icuss, 301 Terrace Drive, ask how the water and sewer rates were determined by the Village. Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne provided her with handouts showing how the rates were calculated for next year. Jane Icuss said that she had additional questions concerning outgoing wastewater, water and sewer chemicals used, etc. Mayor Cochrun told her to submit these questions in writing to the Administrator who would get answers for her. Robert Martin Sr. asked that the letter from Mayor Mucci of Steubenville to Gary Folden concerning water negotiations be read publicly. Dave France said that the letter should not be read, since the Village was in the middle of negotiations with Steubenville regarding the water issue. Mayor Cochrun said that Council gave the responsibility of negotiating the purchase of water to Chris Becker, Gary Folden and Dennis O'Toole. Robert Martin said that Council gave these people a time limit to wrap up these negations and that the time period had run out. He also said that the letter from Mayor Mucci did not discuss dollar amounts, therefore would not be harmful to the negotiating process to be read. Jodi Sheetz, Alive Shelter Director, said that she would like Council to open up the bidding process for 118 Woodridge when their current lease with the Village expired February 1, 2003. She said that the Alive Shelter could not afford to continue to pay the current rent amount, but still wanted the opportunity to bid a lesser amount if the Village was going to continue to rent the building. Council members agreed to make a decision at the next meeting on whether they would like to continue to rent the building or pursue other options concerning the building. Reading of Ordinances Ordinance 2002-24: An Ordinance approving the permanent appropriations for 2003 was read for the first time. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Cochrun read the Magistrate Report for October 2002. Mayor Cochrun read the Police Report for the month of October 2002. Mayor Cochrun read the Building Inspector's report for the month of October 2002. Mayor Cochrun announced that the Village Offices would be closed on Monday November 11, 2002 for Veteran's Day. Mayor Cochrun thanked Councilpersons Robert Martin Sr., John Synodinos and Dave Smith for their work in organizing a Halloween party for local children. Mayor Cochrun asked Council members to approve the renewal of membership with the National Association of Cities in the amount of $185.00. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Robert Martin Sr. to renew membership in the National Association of Cities. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 6-0. Mayor Cochrun reminded everyone that the Holiday Parade would begin at Noon on Saturday, November 23rd, 2002. Dave France suggested that Council members meet in executive session at the next regularly scheduled meeting to be updated on water negotiations. Robert Martin Sr. excused himself for the remainder of the meeting. Administrator's Report Chris Becker (filling in for Gary Folden) said that Fire Hydrant flushing would take place between November 17th and the 20th. Chris Becker asked Council if they wanted to re-bid the traffic signal maintenance contract.' Motion by Beth Rupert, second by Dave France to re-bid the traffic signal maintenance contract including looking at alternative solutions. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Chris Becker passed out proposals for 3 bay and 5 bay sanitation and street garage buildings. An Alternative suggested by John Synodinos was also discussed. This alternative was much less expensive and consisted of only steel, a building shell with doors. Dave France suggested meeting separately on the process of choosing an alternative for the garage building. Chris Becker said that BHJ would be meeting on November 13th to continue to discuss the bridge study. Chris Becker said that the Steubenville Convention and Visitor's Bureau wanted to know if the Village had any interest in joining their organization. Council members did not indicate any interest in joining their organization. Chris Becker said that the Ray Laman Children's Christmas party committee was asking for support again this year. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave France to pay bills in the amount of $500.00 to support the Ray Laman Children's Christmas Party. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Gene Pool yea. (Note: Beth Rupert temporarily had left the meeting). Old Business John Synodinos said he had no problem approving 2% raises for employees, but was against giving salary employees a higher percentage than all the other employees. He said the Village needed to try harder to build up cash reserves to avoid financial problems like those the Village had previously experienced. He said that he would ask for an executive session at the next meeting to see if Council members would reconsider the higher raises for salary employees. Ed Laman asked Council if they would consider increasing the auxiliary daily rate by 2% for next year. Council directed Chris Becker to include this increase in the base pay ordinance that he was preparing for the next meeting. Dave France said that Dan Wood had met with Gary Folden concerning combining the Wintersville Community Days Event with the Thunder-in-the-Ville Fireworks display. He said that Mr. Wood was in favor of the idea but that he would like to remain in charge of coordinating the Fireworks and hiring the band at the event. Mr. Wood also said that he would like to see three specific concession vendors given the opportunity to continue to be allowed to operate at the event since they had been coming every year since the event had started. Dave France said that Administrator Gary Folden would be the ideal person to chair the combined event. He said that this would give the Village an opportunity to put together a wonderful event. John Synodinos said that he was against combining the two events, but would be willing to listen to reason why combining the events would make sense. Motion by Dave France, second by Beth Rupert to combine the Thunder-in-the-Ville Fireworks and the Community Days into one event. John Synodinos said that he would rather discuss the details of possibly combining these events before passing this motion. Dave Smith said that Council should have considered giving Robert Martin Sr. a chance to be involved in the discussion of combining these events before passing the motion. Vote: John Synodinos nay, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 4-1. Beth Rupert said that Fire Chief Harrington suggested that the Village purchase an odor detector to check on odor and gas problems in the Two Ridge Road area. Mayor Cochrun said that he would have Perry Pool purchase an Odor detector. New Business Motion by Dave France, second by Dave Smith to approve the budget transfers between funds prepared by Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 5-0. Dave Smith suggested that all Council consider riding together on a float in the Holiday Parade. Motion by Dave France, second by Beth Rupert to place pictures of Council members in the entrance lobby on the Municipal building and on the Village website. Vote: John Synodinos nay, Dave France yea, Dave Smith yea, Beth Rupert yea, Gene Pool yea. Motion passed 4-1. Motion by Beth Rupert, second by Gene Pool 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 John Synodinos, 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 regular scheduled meeting is November 21, 2002 at 7:00 PM. C. Michael Payne - Clerk/Treasurer Robert E. Cochrun - Mayor