Regular Council Meeting Thursday, December 16, 2004 Mayor Dave France called the Meeting to order. Roll Call: John Synodinos present, Dr. Robert Price present, Dave Smith present, Robert Martin Sr. absent, Matt Parise present, Thomas Bottorf 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 b Dr. Robert, second by John Synodinos to approve the minutes from the Regular Council Meeting held December 2, 2004. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Persons Appearing before Council Brandon Andresen, Water Quality Coordinator at the Jefferson County Soil and Water District, discussed with Council revised Storm Sewer Regulations which he distributed to everyone at the meeting. Brandon Andresen asked if Council would adopt the regulations that he distributed to them. He said that the Village would not owe any additional money for this project since they were already contributing $5,000 per year to be a part of the consortium. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Matt Parise to have the Solicitor prepare an Ordinance adopting the sediment and Storm water control regulations as submitted by Brandon Andresen. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Mayor Dave France recognized Dave Smith for not missing any regular Council Meetings for the 3rd consecutive year. Reading of Ordinances and/or Resolutions Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dr. Robert Price to table Ordinance 2004-35. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by Dr. Robert Price, second by Dave Smith to table Ordinance 2004-36. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Resolution 2004-37: A resolution authorizing Mayor France to borrow funds for the Sam's Way Assessment Project was read for the 1st time. Motion by Matt Parise, Second by Thomas Bottorf to suspend the rules for the second and third readings for Resolution 2004-37. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Resolution 2004-37: A Resolution authorizing Mayor Dave France to borrow funds for the Sam's Way Assessment Project was read for the 2nd and 3rd times. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Matt Parise to approve Resolution 2004-37. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Ordinance 2004-38: An Ordinance authorizing the Administrator accept bids for a 1991 GMC truck was read for the 1st time. Reports, Announcements and Communications Mayor Dave France read the November 2004 Police Report. Mayor Dave France announced that the Village offices would be closed Friday, December 24th and Friday December 31st for the holidays. Mayor Dave France announced the Sanitation pickup changes for the next two weeks. Mayor Dave France updated Council members on the status of Indian Creek's taping for broadcast Council Meeting. He told them that their packets contained a letter from Indian Creek Principal John Craig on this topic. Council members discussed a date to hold a Christmas luncheon for the employees. A date of December 21st at Noon was agreed upon, with Council Members each donating towards the cost of the food. Administrator's Report Walt Ziemba announced that Bruce and Meriless was the only bidder for the street light maintenance contract. The bid was $11,988.00. Walt Ziemba said that next year he knew of a local contractor who might bid on the contract. He also said that ODOT might be able to do this work at a lower cost. Motion by Matt Parise, second by John Synodinos to accept the traffic light maintenance bid by Bruce and Meriless contingent on the fact that the Administrator could not negotiate a better arrangement for the Village with ODOT. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Robert Laukert inquired why Village employees could not be used to perform the maintenance on the streetlights. Walt Ziemba said that working on Street lights involved meeting ODOT requirements and would also involved liability issues. Walt Ziemba asked Council to approve the following 3 persons to the Sam's Way Assessment Equalization Board: 1.) Bernie Peckins, 209 N. Avalon 2.) Greg Byers, 216 Winters Drive 3.) Susan Laughlin-Varitek, 548 Canton Road. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Matt Parise to accept these 3 residents to form the equalization board. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Tom Kiger, Sam's Way, inquired how these individuals were selected. Chris Becker said Council members tried to find individuals that were willing to serve on the Committee. He said the only requirements were that the individuals were property owners in the Village. He said these individuals would be required to submit their findings to Council who could accept or reject the findings for the board. If the findings were rejected the process would start over again. Walt Ziemba said he would verify that these individuals were available to serve on the Committee and met the qualifications required. He said he would then coordinate a date for the board members to meet in an open public meeting and he would review with the board members at the public meeting their responsibilities. Chris Becker said that a Public Notice needed to be published in the local papers that would serve as public notification for those property owners who did not respond to the certified letter recently sent out asking if any resident had a dispute with the initial assigned assessment. Chris Becker said that once this was published all property owners should be sent a certified letter notifying them of the equalization meeting. He said this notice should also be placed in the newspaper. Chris Becker told Council that the lawsuit between the Village and Gary Smith should be finalized February 17th when the parties appeared in front of Judge Dave Henderson at 9:00 AM. Paul Michetti, Sam's Way, said the was looking for assurance that no one selected for the equalization board had personal relationship with any of the other Sam's Way property owners. Chris Becker stated that the Ohio Revised Code did not allow this situation. Matt Parise said that this question needed to be asked of the equalization board members. Chris Becker suggested that the Administrator go over the guidelines at the first meeting with the equalization board, but it was proper to contact them ahead of time to verify that they had no relationship with the Sam's Way residents and to set up a meeting time over the phone. Walt Ziemba said that the CMA Sewer line project was being worked on, but additional costs have been incurred because of the need to but extra pipe. Walt Ziemba said that he still had no schedule from the County on the telemetry project. Walt Ziemba said that two sewage pumps installed in Garden Drive were working property. He said the pumps and airtight manholes were installed to reduce the smell of sewage in the area. He is hoping the tests would show that the County is contributing to the problem. Dr. Robert Price said that he had received 3 complaints regarding the odor problem including Featheringham Realty. Walt Ziemba discussed a situation regarding a resident who failed to pay delinquent water late fees, since August 2002. He said the fees were approximately $100.00 Council Members discussed this situation and agreed that they did not wish to set a precedent in the matter and denied the request to waive these fees even if it meant the resident's water had to be scheduled for shut off. Walt Ziemba requested Council to consider a suggestion of Perry Pool to install a 1000-gallon above ground gasoline tank at the Village garage. He said the Village could buy gasoline at lower prices and avoid paying taxes as well. Council Members expressed concern over the initial cost of the tank as well as possible theft if this tank was purchased. Matt Parise said he would check on whether the Village could avoid paying state taxes from gasoline purchased at local stations. Walt Ziemba said that an insurance claim on the Leonard Ave. pump had been submitted to the Village's carrier as well as the FEMA who may help with any costs not reimbursed by the insurance company. Walt Ziemba said he had obtained a quoted for new PC's in the Administrative offices. He said Greg Day had recommended that the Village upgrade PC's that would be accessing the new project software. He said he would obtain another quote for Council to compare. John Synodinos questioned why the Mayor's computer needed to be replaced. Mayor Dave France said that there were times that he was in the office, when the Administrator was not and in this case he would have access to the information. He said that if his PC was not replaced he could always use the administrator's or his secretary's computer. Matt Parise said he would prefer the Village purchase one PC a year versus buying all new computers the same year. Thomas Bottorf said that discussion of purchase of these computers would continue at a future Finance Committee meeting. Walt Ziemba said he would be bringing in a proposal at a future meeting for hauling sludge that could save the Village money. Walt Ziemba said that he needed Council's approval to spend an estimated $12,255 to continue the Route 43, Floyd Easement and Beechwood Sanitary Project. He submitted to Council a breakdown of the costs involved that had been given to him by Hamilton and Associates, which included costs to obtain 401 and 404 permits. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Thomas Bottorf to authorize the Administrator to sign the proposal submitted by Hamilton and Associates regarding this supplement to the original agreement signed with them on August 6, 2004. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Walt Ziemba said that he was still reviewing the school light that needed repaired. Walt Ziemba said that Robert Martin Sr. had agreed to follow-up on the situation regarding keeping the garage lights on 24 hours. Unfinished Business Chris Becker said he would be reviewing the ordinance on Warren Lane and would be checking on a lien for the Roberts Street property on December 30th. Chris Becker said that he had corrected the rates for the sewer ordinance that had been discussed at a previous meeting. New Business Matt Parise inquired about the reports from the new software regarding work orders. Walt Ziemba said that Dee Petrella's computer needed to be connected to help generate the reports. Matt Parise said that the Village spent $2300 for this software and that the "Kinks" needed to be worked out to get this software productive. Dave France said that the supplier needed to come in and help get the software running properly. Matt Parise said that he would like to see a policy established regarding presenting receipts for all meals when employees traveled. He said that by providing receipts it would verify that the items purchased were proper. Motion by Matt Parise, second by John Synodinos to have the personnel committee discuss the topic of receipts for meals. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Matt Parise said that Council Members had agreed last year (2003) that employees were not to be paid for their lunch period. He said that the previous Administrator had not updated the handbook for this change and would like to see this change made. Walt Ziemba said that he would update the page in the employee handbook and distributed this change to the employees by December 31, 2004. Motion by Thomas Bottorf, second by Dave Smith to authorize Dennis O'Toole, Chris Becker and Walt Ziemba to begin negotiating a long-term contract with Jefferson County for the purchase of bulk water. Discussion on motion: John Synodinos said that the Village has a long-term contract now with an option to renew included in the contract for 10 years when the contract expired in 8 years. Thomas Bottorf agreed that a contract did exist but this was a good time to enter a long-term arrangement since the County would be going after loans that might look more favorable with a contract with Wintersville included. He said that the county may be able to offer the Village new rates since they will be going on line with Toronto in the near future. Matt Parise questioned why the Village would consider entering into a new contract with the County that might increase the rates currently being paid. Thomas Bottorf said that since the Village is buying water from the County at $3.00 per thousand and the county will soon be purchasing water from Toronto at $1.77 they may be willing to sell water to the Village at a lower rate. He said if they don't agree to this, then the Village would keep the current contract. John Synodinos said that he would agree to this motion as long as the Village did not have to pay higher rates. Dave Smith said that if the Village would negotiate now it may also be beneficial down the road. Mayor Dave France said that since the County's rate they pay for water goes down the more they purchase from Toronto, that maybe the Village's could tie their rates into the County's. John Synodinos reminded Council that the County also needed the Village's sewer system. Matt Parise suggested that any new agreement should combine all four current sewer contracts in with the new contract. Vote on Motion: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion be Thomas Bottorf, second by John Synodinos to approve the transfers submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Dr. Robert Price to pay bills as approved by Council. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Chris Becker reminded Council Members that the next meeting would the reorganization meeting and also the time to discuss new rules of Council. Motion by John Synodinos, second by Matt Parise to adjourn. Vote: John Synodinos yea, Dr. Robert Price yea, Dave Smith yea, Matt Parise yea, Thomas Bottorf yea. Motion passed 5-0. Next Regularly scheduled meeting is January 6, 2005 at 7:00 PM. Disclaimer: These are draft minutes and not deemed official until approved by Council.