Regular Council Meeting Thursday, December 6, 2007 Mayor Dave France called the meeting to order. Roll Call: Robert Cochrun present, Jason Mattern present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Bob Gale present, Matt Parise present, Thomas Bottorf present. Officials: Mayor Dave France present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker present, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Walt Ziemba absent. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minute Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Robert Cochrun to approve the minutes from the regular Council meeting held November 15, 2007. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Persons Appearing Before Council Robert Laukert, Village Representative to BHJ, gave Council members an update from the November 28, 2007 BHJ Meeting. He distributed to Council Members a copy of the Public Transit – Jefferson County Human Services Coordinated Transportation Plan. Robert Laukert briefly updated Council Members on the status of the new bridge study and then introduced Michael Paprocki, BHJ Transportation Study Director, who gave Council Members a presentation about area bridges. His presentation included information regarding the future of the Fort Steuben and Market Street Bridges and the economic and traffic issues that will occur with the closing of the bridges sometime in the future. He also discussed the ongoing studies regarding the area affected by local bridges. He said that the Ohio Department of Transportation is planning to close and demolish the Fort Steuben Bridge in 2009. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions Ordinance 2007-25: An Ordinance granting 2008 pay increases was read for the first time. Thomas Bottorf said that the recent Police Levy that was passed was supposed to be used only for police items but ended up costing the Village money because of the amount of raises that other members of Council were going to pass. He said that $43,000.00 was approved in non Police salary raises, compared to the normal raises of around 3% which would amount to only around $16,000.00. He said that the total salary and fringe benefits for the Village would be approximately 1.3 million dollars in 2008. Jason Mattern said that the Finance Committee did a good job putting the 2008 budget together and that he had no problem with the pay increases in the budget, but would be voting no on the salary Ordinance because the cost of healthcare expenses for the Village next year would be approximately $216,000.00 and the Village could not keep paying for 100% of the premiums. Robert Martin Sr. said that the Police and other employees of the Village were second to none and they all deserved a decent raise. He said that the Village may need to look at the healthcare issue in the future. Thomas Bottorf said that the public did not know in the spring when the levy passed that the raises would be as high as now being voted on. He said that levies for streets or recreation could be passed that would allow increases to employees in those areas. Matt Parise said that the Police levy would be used only to pay police items. He said that the Finance Committee had put together a balanced budget for 2008 that included the pay raises that are in front of Council. He said that it would be negligent and ridiculous for Council to give some Village employees 8-13% raises and other only a 3% raise. Robert Cochrun said that the Village has one of the best Police Departments and other workers in the state. He said the Police levy belongs to the Police, but the other workers also deserve a raise. Motion by Bob Gale, second by Robert Cochrun to suspend the rules on the second reading of Ordinance 2007-25. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf nay. Motion passed 5-1. Ordinance 2007-25: An Ordinance granting 2008 pay increases was read for the second time. Ordinance 2007-26: An Ordinance approving permanent appropriations for 2008 was read for the first time. Motion by Bob Gale, second by Matt Parise to suspend the rules for the second reading of Ordinance 2007-26. Thomas Bottorf agreed that the Village had a balanced budget for 2008 but the Finance Committee greatly under budgeted for capital expenditures for 2008 and only budgeted $40,000.00 for capital improvements in the water department and $55,000.00 in the sewer department, despite a need for more dollars in these funds. Matt Parise said that salaries had always been the first item to be budgeted for in the four years he had been on the Finance Committee. He said that $40,000.00 had been freed up in the General Fund because of the levy and allowed for the committee to commit those dollars when working on the budget. Bob Gale said that the raises for all the employees needs to be fair. Jason Mattern said that the Village is currently running lean with infrastructure improvements in the budget. He said that in 2010 – 2011 the Village would be paying off the OWDA loans and that the Village needed to do more beginning at that time improving the Village infrastructure. Thomas Bottorf said that one of the projects that was not funded in 2008 was the manhole project. He said that the Administrator also had suggested that the Village consider borrowing to handle some of the capital needs that could not be funded be the Village. He also said that the I & I study only had an amount budgeted of $24,000.00 in 2008 but actually needed $200,000.00 to fund. Bob Gale said that the manhole project had been on the list of projects that needed done for several years and that the Administrator always submitted for more projects and capital needs than the budget could handle. Vote to suspend the rules for the second reading of Ordinance 2007-26. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf nay. Motion passed 5-1. Ordinance 2007-26: An Ordinance approving permanent appropriations for 2008 was read for the second time. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Dave France read the November 2007 Magistrate, Police, and Code Enforcement Officers reports. Mayor Dave France said that the Village Christmas Light Contest would be held Saturday, December 15 and Sunday, December 16, 2007 for 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Mayor Dave France announced that the Ray Laman Children’s Christmas Party would be held Saturday December 15 at 10:00 AM. Administrator’s Report Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Matt Parise to approve the purchase of the used vehicle for the Code Enforcement Office recommended by the Administrator and the Code Enforcement Officer in the amount of $7,000.00 after trade in of the current vehicle, from a Wintersville Used Auto establishment. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Bob Cochrun to renew the agreement with the Jefferson County Soil and Conservation District for an additional five years that had been discussed and recommended by the Finance committee. Bob Gale said that he wanted to point out that the Finance Committee had discussed the issue of the fee for this agreement and that it would be talked about next year to see if the Village’s share could be reduced. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Unfinished Business None. New Business Robert Martin Sr. commended the Wintersville Betterment Committee for the Holiday Parade that they had recently organized. Bob Cochrun said that he would be calling an Ordinance Committee meeting to discuss engine braking on Route 43 and Frank P. Layman Boulevard. Motion by Bob Gale, second by Thomas Bottorf to authorize the capital and equipment purchases discussed at the Finance Committee meeting to be purchased before the end of 2007 which included tasers, guns, and stop sticks for the Police department and a one ton truck to be used by the water department to replace vehicle #30. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Matt Parise said that the Village crews did an excellent job during this week’s bad weather. He said that the Village would be taking applications for the next two weeks in order to begin interviewing candidates to replace Bob Gale’s Council seat since he would be taking over as Mayor in January. He said that interested parties should send applications to “Mayor Elect” Bob Gale. Applications would be accepted through December 20, 2007. Matt Parise said that the fencing issue on Route 43 needed to be pursued and that he and Bob Gale had met with ODOT on the issue and discussed the options available. Jason Mattern reminded Council that the Nature Works application was due by February 1, 2008 and that there was $13,000.00 available for Jefferson County. Thomas Bottorf said that the street crews did a great job with the snow removal this week and that the residents who were parked on Village Street during the snow season needed to be reminded somehow that this was allowed by permit only. He suggested that the Village might want to put a message on the water bills about this. Transfers Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Jason Mattern to approve the transfers submitted by Clerk Treasurer. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Payment of Bills Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Jason Mattern to pay bills as funds become available. Matt Parise asked that the Administrator sign off on the bills when he returned to work next week. He also asked that the bill from EMR not be paid until a more detail invoice was presented to Council at the next meeting. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. For the Good of the Village Terry Shepherd, manager at Mike’s Auto Sales, asked if the business owners located on Route 43 could fight the state on the fencing issue. Chris Becker said that he could not advise him on this matter, but that it was his understanding that the state was simply enforcing federal regulations on this matter. He also described a situation in Columbus where a billionaire developer was able to have the state waive the installation of this fencing near one of his developments. Matt Parise said that he was still working on the options of this issue. He said that both the option of not having to have a fence installed or putting up one that was more pleasing were being discussed. Terry Shepherd asked about the grass cutting between the highway and his property. Chris Becker said that he hoped to address this issue with the state sometime next year. Terry Shepherd said that he was working on moving the non-conforming dumpster from his car lot. He offered to help dump the trash that was currently in the bin into Village trucks when they were at this site, so that he could have the bin sold or moved elsewhere. Motion by Robert Martin Sr., second by Thomas Bottorf to adjourn. Vote: Robert Cochrun yea, Jason Mattern yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Bob Gale yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 6-0. Next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, December 20, 2007 at 7:00 PM.