April 20, 2015 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

April 20, 2015

The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington. The following Council members were present: Mayor Kirk M. McHugh, Michael A. Blanchard, Jeffery A. Colwell, Scott K. Gordon, and Jacalyn Slemmer. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, Jody Croley Jones, Web Manager, Carolee Noonan, Planning Commissioner, and William P. Charles, Street Commissioner. Guest of Council was Jim Dippel from Burgess & Niple. At 7:01 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Eric MacGilvray Absence

1. Colwell moved and Slemmer seconded the motion that Eric MacGilvray’s absence be excused for the month due to his sabbatical. The motion carried (4-0).

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of March 16, 2015 were not read since each member had received a copy. Colwell moved and Gordon seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (4-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

1. Gordon moved and Colwell seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for March 2015 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0).

Report of the Mayor

1. The Mayor reported he had heard from neighbors of a resident on Southington who planned to carve the remaining portion of a tree that had been cut down. He had asked the Solicitor to look into whether this would violate any village ordinances, and she did not find any. The Mayor reported that the tree had some obvious termite damage, which may pose a nuisance. Gordon questioned whether the tree was in the right of way of the village and the Mayor said that he would do further investigating as to whether this was the case and if so, what could be done.
2. The Mayor reported that a storm drain on Olentangy had broken due to erosion in the surrounding hillside and that he had filed a request with MORPC to consider this as an emergency. With this designation, MORPC would cover the majority of the cost of repairs.

   At this point, Jim Dippel from Burgess & Niple discussed the options for repairing the drain. He mentioned three primary proposals:

   1. Stabilization using grouted rock only. Total estimated project costs for this proposal are $79,780.
   2. Stabilization using grouted rock with a drop manhole at the outlet. Total estimated project costs for this proposal are $97,270.
   3. Stabilization using gabions (rock baskets). Total estimated project costs for this proposal are $92,210.
      Dippel’s recommendation was option 1, using the grouted rock only, given the costs for the three options. He mentioned that any construction would involve large trucks tearing up the lawn and the probability that some trees may need to be removed. Gordon raise the question that if money was no object, would Dippel still recommend the same option? Dippel replied that if this were the case, they may more closely explore the manhole option to understand what it would require and what control it would add, but he felt that the rock option would be adequate. Colwell questioned whether the other similar drains (of which there are two) along Olentangy would be in similar need of repair. The Street Commissioner replied that given the layout of the other two pipes, they were not in the same situation as this one and were not as in need of repair.
3. Dippel distributed updated estimated costs for the infrastructure funding options that Council had been discussing. He reported that he did not see any material changes to the estimates, so he added inflation based on ODOT’s tables for estimating future costs. He based the costs on construction beginning in mid-2016.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. The Street Commissioner reported that he had received an estimate of $575 for the repair of the broken hydrant on Falmouth. Blanchard moved to approve $600 in repair costs and Slemmer seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (4-0)
2. The Street Commissioner reported that there had been a power outage at the lift station the previous Sunday. It was caused by a blown transformer on Olentangy.

Report of the Solicitor

1. The Solicitor reported that the village may be the beneficiary of restitution in the amount of $1,026 for the criminal case in which a driver knocked down several street signs.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. The Planning Commissioner reported that there was one meeting in April. The Committee had approved a variance for a patio extending closer than the 10′ limit from the edge of the property, but had scheduled a special meeting because the lot coverage of the finished project was unknown.

Report of the Marshal

1. The Mayor stated that the Worthington Police had submitted their reports for the previous months, with 317 checks in January, 290 in February, and 294 in March.

Report of the Web Manager

1. The Web Manager reported that the most hits to the web site were to the Village Council and Committee report pages.
2. The Web Manager stated that any announcements to be posted to the web site must come through the Clerk Treasurer.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Old Business

1. Committee on Infrastructure
   The Solicitor had requested updated information from the Franklin County Auditor’s Office on the funds to be generated per mill from any approved levy. The County had stated that the village had a tax valuation of $25,643,090, giving the value per mill of $25,643. Given Council’s estimated needs of $270,000 in annual revenue in order to stop the annual deficits and build reserves, this would place the amount needed at 10.5 mills. Colwell stated that voters would need to be reminded that this would not be doubling their property taxes, only the Riverlea portion, which represented a small portion of the total. Slemmer questioned what expenses for road repairs and maintenance could be eliminated with the improvements to the infrastructure, and the Clerk Treasurer stated that a previous analysis showed about $10,000 per year in these expenses. Colwell reminded Council that while these additional funds were a large increase, the village had lost several sources of funding in recent years, including revenue from the state as well as the elimination of the estate tax. He also stated that if residents wanted to explore cutting expenses in addition to or instead of a tax increase, this could be done, but they would lose services to which they had become accustomed. Gordon stated that Council would need to develop an education plan to inform residents of this information. Gordon stated that in order to get any issue on the ballot in November, Council would need to decide on their plan of action at the May meeting.

   The Clerk Treasurer stated that in order to determine the exact amounts to be raised by any ballot issue, the funds would need to be certified by the state Auditor. The Solicitor had prepared Resolutions 2015-09 and 2015-10 (listed below) in order to request this information. Council decided that the Clerk Treasurer would submit these requests to the state in order to determine the funding level needed by the village. The Clerk Treasurer would also update a five year projection for the village to illustrate what changes in the expenses were planned and how any funding changes would affect this. The Solicitor also agreed to find out an estimate of any potential bond issue fees from the Bond Counsel for the village.

2. Resolution 2015-09
   Resolution 2015-09, A Resolution Requesting the County Auditor to Certify to the Village Information Needed to Enable the Village to Levy a Tax in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation was introduced by Colwell. This resolution requested certification of the funds to be raised by a replacement of the current 5 mill levy and an additional 5 mill levy, for a total of 10 mills. Colwell moved and Gordon seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (4-0). Colwell moved and Gordon seconded the motion to adopt this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (4-0).
3. Resolution 2015-10
   Resolution 2015-10, A Resolution Requesting the County Auditor to Certify to the Village Information Needed to Enable the Village to Levy a Tax in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation was introduced by Colwell. This resolution requested certification of the funds to be raised by a replacement of the current 5 mill levy and an additional 2.5 mill levy, for a total of 7.5 mills. Colwell moved and Gordon seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (4-0). Colwell moved and Gordon seconded the motion to adopt this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (4-0).
4. Lawn Care Contract
   The Clerk Treasurer asked Council if they had made a decision on the lawn care company to be used by the village. Jones had distributed a comparison between Community Green and Down to Earth since the March Council meeting. Council was in agreement that given the difference in estimated price as well as the local ownership of Down to Earth, that this was their choice. Gordon moved and Blanchard seconded the motion to select Down to Earth Lawn Care as the lawn care provider for the village. The motion passed unanimously (4-0).

New Business

1. Resolution 2015-08
   Resolution 2015-08, A Resolution to Appoint Janet Brown as a Member of the Planning Commission was introduced by Blanchard. Colwell moved and Gordon seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (4-0). Colwell moved and Gordon seconded the motion to adopt this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (4-0).
2. Ordinance 01-2015
   Ordinance 01-2015, An Ordinance to Approve a Modification and Realignment of Ordinance 04-2014, the Annual Appropriation Ordinance (Village), and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by Colwell. Blanchard moved and Slemmer seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (4-0). Blanchard moved and Slemmer seconded the motion to adopt this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (4-0).
3. Expenses
   Slemmer moved and Colwell seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditure after examination and approval by the Street Commissioner:
   $5,245.65 – City of Columbus – 2014 Water Main repairs

   The motion was approved unanimously (4-0)
   Colwell moved and Slemmer seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditure:

   $1,347.00 – RACO – 3 year contract for lift station maintenance

   The motion was approved unanimously (4-0).

4. Jeffery Colwell Resignation
   Colwell informed the rest of Council that he and his wife were moving out of the village and as a result, this would be his last meeting as a member of the Council. The Mayor requested that Colwell hold off on officially submitting his letter of resignation both in the event of a delay in the planned closing on the new residence in May as well as the decision on any potential new Council members. There is a possibility that Council may hold a special meeting in the interim before the next scheduled meeting to discuss and possibly decide on any candidates.

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items