April 17, 2017 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

April 17, 2017

The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington. Worthington. The following Council members were present: Mayor Eric A. MacGilvray, Marc Benevento, Scott K. Gordon, Kathy McClintock, Josh Schoenberger, and Jacalyn Slemmer. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, and William P. Charles, Street Commissioner. Guest of Council was Gina Jacob. At 7:04 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Welcoming Committee

Gina Jacob addressed the Council to revisit the idea of forming a committee to compile information and gifts to give to new residents of the Village. Jacob had prepared a letter containing Village information that would be used for this purpose. She also stated that she had discussed the possibility of distributing bags from the Worthington Farmers Market containing gifts & information with the manager of the market. According to the manager, these bags would cost about $15 and contain several items. Given a historical average of about 8 new residents per year, this would cost about $120 annually. The Mayor stated that the funds for these would come from the social fund, which had already been appropriated for the year.

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of March 20, 2017 were not read since each member had received a copy. Schoenberger moved and McClintock seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yes – 3, Gordon, McClintock, Schoenberger; No – 0; Abstain – 2, Benevento, Slemmer. The motion carried (3-0-2).

Report of the Clerk–Treasurer

1. Benevento moved and Schoenberger seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for March 2017 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

1. The Mayor reported that the Easter Egg Hunt had been held the previous weekend and had been a success. He thanked Ann Mehl and the residents who helped her for putting this event together. He stated that he had spoken to Ms. Mehl about handling this on a longer term basis and she stated that she might be interested if she could get some people together to assist.
2. The Mayor stated that the Village had been granted a waiver from the City of Columbus, so it will not be necessary to purchase a water line maintenance easement from the owners of 275 Southington.
3. The Mayor noted that the Riverlea flag on the circle had a rip in it and asked Council if they would like to replace it. Council agreed that it should be replaced. Gordon stated that there may be an extra flag from when the current flag was made and the Mayor will look into this. The Street Commissioner brought up the point that the American flag on the circle should be raised & lowered daily, and ideally illuminated at night as well, based on laws for municipalities. The Mayor stated that he would look into options for doing this.
4. The Mayor stated that SWACO would be holding a hazardous waste collection event in Dublin on April 22
5. The Mayor mentioned that the hydrants in the Village would be flushed the week of May 1.

Report of the Solicitor

1. The Solicitor noted that the language in the Village ordinances contained confusing language about the terms of the Planning Commission members. The language calls for 1 member to serve a 3 year term, 2 members to serve a 2 year term, and 2 members to serve a 3 year term. She believes that it was worded this way in order to stagger the terms when the Commission was created, but that this is no longer needed. She made a note to change this during the next time the Village updates the code.
2. The Solicitor mentioned that the Village’s code calls for resolutions to have three readings before passing, but that this is not required by Ohio statute and could be removed if desired. Slemmer stated that the three readings give residents the opportunity to address Council with concerns before final passage and removing this may cause the appearance of issues with transparency on the Council. The Solicitor & Clerk Treasurer will look into how often the Village passed resolutions as emergencies vs. with the standard three readings.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. The Street Commissioner reported that there were a few pot holes to be repaired and he would look into how many there were in the Village and how much it would be to repair them.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. The Planning Commissioner was not in attendance. He sent the Mayor an email stating that there had been a meeting in April, at which the Commission approved a fence on Southington.

Report of the Web Manager

1. There was no report from the Web Manager.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Old Business

1. Committee on Infrastructure

   1. The Chair of the Infrastructure Committee reported that the Committee had met in April and that Burgess & Niple was working on the street elevations for the upcoming project.
   2. The Chair reported that Burgess & Niple was working on three options for handling sump pump discharge throughout the Village. The Committee will make a recommendation to Council on how to handle this after they discuss this.
   3. The Chair reported that new filters will be needed for the storm water discharge, but that this may cost less than was originally estimated. Burgess & Niple is working on how many and what type of filters will be needed.
   4. The Chair reported that Jim Dippel of Burgess & Niple would be walking through the Village in the next few weeks to look for any potential issues with obstructions that may need to be relocated on residents’ properties during the infrastructure construction. The Mayor stated that Council will need to decide on a policy of how to handle these issues.
   5. The Chair reported that the Committee had discussed accessibility during the project and determined that streets will be accessible to local traffic with at least one lane open before work begins in the morning and after it is completed each day. It is likely that the longest period of not being able to access a driveway will be when the apron is poured and curing, which would be a couple of days. Residents will need to relocate their car(s) during this time.
   6. The Chair reported that the Committee would reinstate monthly meetings to discuss the infrastructure project as construction approaches.
   7. The Mayor brought up the topic of how and when the Village should roll back part of the property tax increase that funds the infrastructure project. Because of the grant & loan received by the state, not all of this tax increase will be needed. The Mayor is going to form a Committee to discuss this and he asked Council members to let him know if they were interested in being a part of this.

2. Committee on Communications

   1. The Chair of the Committee was not in attendance, so Schoenberger reported that the Committee was planning on dropping off flyers to residents asking them to submit contact information to be included in a database for communications.
   2. Schoenberger will contact the Web Designer for the village of Marble Cliff with questions about how their site is designed and their system for contacting residents.

New Business

1. There was no new business to discuss.

2. Expenses

   1. There were no expenses to be approved.

3. Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

   Gina Jacob raised the subject of deer in the Village and the damage they have done to her plants. The Street Commissioner mentioned that a resident had a solution to spray on plants that would repel the deer and that he would forward this information to her.

4. Next Meeting Announcement

   The next regular meeting will be Monday, May 15 at 7:00 pm at the Thomas Worthington High School.

Adjournment

ERIC A. MACGILVRAY, MAYOR

JOSHUA C. MEHLING, CLERK OF COUNCIL