Regular Council Meeting Thursday, December 15, 2005 Mayor Dave France called the meeting to order. Roll Call: John Synodinos present, Dr. Robert Price absent, Thomas Bottorf present, Robert Martin Sr. present, Matt Parise present, Dave Smith present. Officials: Mayor Dave France present, Solicitor Christopher D. Becker present, Clerk Treasurer Mike Payne present, Administrator Walt Ziemba present. Moment of Silence Pledge of Allegiance Reading of Minutes Motion by Matt Parise, second by Thomas Bottorf to approve the minutes from the regular Council Meeting held of December 1, 2005. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Thomas Bottorf asked that spell checker be used when typing the minutes because of the numerous spacing and spelling mistakes that he had noticed in the minutes. Persons Appearing before Council Mayor Dave France recognized the Indian Creek 8th Grade Football Team and their Coach Mike Cottis for their undefeated season in 2005. Mayor Dave France presented plaques to outgoing John Synodinos and Dave Smith and also recognized Dr. Robert Price who was not at the meeting. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions Ordinance 2005-34: An Ordinance enacting a new section for non-read water meters was read for the 3rd time. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Robert Martin Sr. to approve Ordinance 2005-34. Discussion of the Motion: Matt Parise said that he had residents tell him that they were not in favor of this Ordinance because they may receive a higher water bills if they were away on vacation. Walt Ziemba said that adjustments in these cases could be made to the water bills by the water office clerk or by the Administrator in these situations. Thomas Bottorf said that this Ordinance was discussed in Committee and that the idea of the Ordinance was to handle residents who could not be found at home to read the meters. He said that Dee Petrella in the water office was already given discretion on other billing items and this would be just another item for her to consider before billing the residents whose meter could not be read. Robert Martin suggested changing the Ordinance to prevent people on vacation from being penalized. Dave Smith said he agreed that the Administrator could easily adjust any situations that did not warrant billing for 6000 gallons. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin Sr. to table Ordinance 2005-34. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Thomas Bottorf nay, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith nay. Motion passed 3-2. Ordinance 2005-35: An Ordinance increasing pay for all full time and part time employees by 3% was read for the 3rd time. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Robert Martin to approve Ordinance 2005-35. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 5-0. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Dave France read the December 2005 Magistrate's Report. Mayor Dave France announced the Village offices would be closed on Monday, December 26, 2005 and Monday, January 2, 2006 for the upcoming holidays. Mayor Dave France said that the swearing in for the newly elected officials would take place on Friday, December 30, 2005 at 12:00 Noon. Mayor Dave France said that the Christmas light contest would be held Sunday, December 18, 2005 from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Council agreed that Village employees did not have to return to work after the Christmas Party at Noon on Friday, December 23, 2005 provided that their work schedule permitted. Administrator's Report Walt Ziemba told Council that he had included in their packet a copy of the latest brief from Attorney Dennis O'Toole regarding the Steubenville Water suit. Walt Ziemba told Council that Judge Bednar was not willing to agree to the Village's proposed building rental rate of $1050 per month for the first 3 years and $1250 per month for the 4th and 5th years. His proposal was still to pay $1000 per month for all 5 years. John Synodinos said that Council should tell Judge Bednar to forget the rental agreement if he and the County would not pay the amounts proposed by the Village. Motion by Matt Parise, second John Synodinos to have the Administrator send a letter to Judge Bednar stating that he had 30 days from the date the letter was sent by the Administrator to accept the current Village offer or the Village would assume that the Judge is no longer interested in renting space from the Village and the Village offer would be withdrawn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Thomas Bottorf nay, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-1. Walt Ziemba said he had received notification from RITA that they would be accepting E-File for returns this year. Walt Ziemba said that he had listed a proposal in Council's packet for a complete cleaning of the Municipal Building by Alexander the Great for approximately $4000.00. He said that he would like to have this cleaning done each year and that the annual cost should go down after the first year. Robert Martin Sr. said he would like to see additional quotes for this work. Thomas Bottorf agreed that multiple quotes needed to be presented to Council and that any cleaning should wait until Spring. He also suggested that the Village use some of its summer help to do this work since no funds had been budgeted for this cleaning. Walt Ziemba suggested to Council that they might consider putting the Village's codified Ordinances on the internet. Chris Becker said he would get a quote from Walter Drane to do this project. He also suggested that the Village might want to use the CD that the Village had received from Walter Drane to put the Ordinances on the internet. Walt Ziemba said that the Village had processed 1277 work orders through December 10th this year and had completed 1195 of those. He also reported that the Village had experienced 23 Water Breaks in 2005. Matt Parise asked if a monthly summary of work orders could be supplied to Council. Walt Ziemba said he would provide this. Unfinished Business Walt Ziemba said that none of the Village's old computers were sufficient to be able to submit reports that the water department needed to send in on line, so that he would be ordering a new PC for the water department. Chris Becker said that he had tried to determine whether the section of Warren Lane that was the center of dispute was part of the Village but was unable to do so. He suggested that John McDevitt survey the property to determine the boundaries. He said that it was his opinion that the maps showed that this section in question was in the Village and that the Village should make the residents (Petrella's) keep the grass cut in the summer unless they could provide evidence that showed that it was not in the Village. Council agreed that the grass in this area would need to be kept cut unless the residents could produce evidence that showed that their property was not in the Village. Chris Becker said he had found an Ordinance listing a penalty for those businesses in the Village that do not pave their parking lots. He said the Ordinance allows for a fine between $100 to $500 daily after notification by the Village. Council instructed the Solicitor and the Administrator to immediately prepare and send letters by certified mail to those business that are not complying with the Parking lot Ordinance. Thomas Bottorf said that the Water Committee had met on Tuesday and that several items had been discussed and that no action was proposed at this time on them. New Business Robert Martin Sr. congratulated those coordinating the Ray Laman Christmas Party this year, that he said was another success. Motion by Matt Parise, second by John Synodinos to increase Walt Ziemba's pay by $6450 as a one time rate adjustment in addition to the $150 longevity raise and the 3% raise that Council past for employees for 2006. Discussion on the Motion: Thomas Bottorf said that Council members had previously agreed on Council floor and at a Finance Committee meeting to wait until the new Council had a chance to review the salary of the Administrator before recommending any additional raise. He also stated that he thought that a 25% raise was excessive for anyone to receive at this time. Matt Parise said the Administrator is dealing with issues that he did not bargain for when he was hired. He also added that the Administrator had brought in $242,000 in grants for the Village in 2005 and was working to bring a similar amount in to the Village for 2006. Dave France said that Walt Ziemba was not misled when he was hired about what his duties would be. Bob Gale, newly elected 2006 Council person, said that he had no doubt that the Administrator was doing a great job and deserved some type of increase in pay. But he did not think Council should pass this raise tonight with a Council member missing who might otherwise be able to stop the vote. He asked the Solicitor's opinion on whether this increase could be reversed at the first meeting in January. Chris Becker said that the new Council in January would have the authority to reverse this raise with a majority vote. Bob Gale said that the thought that Council needed to look at all three of the salary positions at the same time and review each one to determine whether an additional increase is warranted above the raise given to other employees. John Synodinos said that this was not a pay raise for the Administrator but was an adjustment to his salary because he had been led to believe that the water and sewer issues of the Village would be removed from his duties. Robert Martin Sr. said that he did not believe a decision should be made just because it was the end of the year. He said that the Village saved a lot of money with Mr. Ziemba because he was part time and did not have health insurance. Dave Smith said that the last time that Council met they agreed to wait until the new Council had convened to discuss this issue. Motion by Dave Smith, Second by Thomas Bottorf to table the motion to give the Administrator an additional increase pay above the increase given to other employees. Discussion on the Motion: Thomas Bottorf asked Walt Ziemba to withdraw his request for an increase in pay. Walt Ziemba said that he would formerly withdraw his request for an additional pay increase. Bob Gale added that this proposed rate adjustment was a pay raise. He said that he did not think that the new year should start on this being an issue. Motion passed to table the original motion. Vote: John Synodinos nay, Thomas Bottorf nay, Robert Martin Sr. yea, Matt Parise nay, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 3-2. Matt Parise said that he drove through Wintersville and Steubenville during the recent snowfall and that the difference in how much better the Wintersville roads were compared to Steubenville was significant. He commended Perry Pool and his crew for the snow removal work. Thomas Bottorf said that he would be working with Walt Ziemba on having residents and businesses follow Ordinances such as not parking on the side of the streets during the winter season. Robert Martin Sr. left the meeting at this time. Robert Cochrun, newly elected Council person suggested that the Village contact the TV station concerning residents who park on the streets during the winter. If they still don't move their vehicles he said they should be given a ticket. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by John Synodinos to approve the transfers and increases in appropriations as presented by the Clerk Treasurer. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Dave Smith to pay bills as funds become available. Matt Parise questioned two bills. One that had a past due balance on it. And one from Prestige Video concerning whether Council had approved paying for their services to help with the Village website. Thomas Bottorf and Mayor Dave France said that Council had previously approved paying Prestige Video approximately 6 months ago for their services. Matt Parise said he would like to see when that was approved. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion to pay bills passed 4-0. For the Good of the Village John Synodinos wished the incoming Council the best. Motion by Matt Parise, second by Thomas Bottorf to go into executive session to discuss potential litigation matters. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dave Smith to return to regular session. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion passed 4-0. Walt Ziemba asked that Council approve keeping the part time employee in the Water Department on, that had previously been approved through the end of December. Motion by Matt Parise to keep the part time Water Employee on in January did not receive a second. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Thomas Bottorf to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Thomas Bottorf yea, Matt Parise yea, Dave Smith yea. Motion to pay bills passed 4-0. Next regular Council Meeting is scheduled for January 5, 2006 at 7:00 PM.