August 17, 2015 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

August 17, 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, Scott K. Gordon, Jenny D. Jones, Eric A. MacGilvray, Josh Schoenberger, 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 of Burgess & Niple. At 7:02 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of April 20, 2015 were not read since each member had received a copy. Slemmer moved and Gordon seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yes: 3 – Blanchard, Gordon, and Slemmer, No: 0, Abstain: 2 – Jones, MacGilvray. Schoenberger was not yet in attendance for this vote. The motion carried (3-0-2).
2. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of June 15, 2015 were not read since each member had received a copy. Jones moved and Slemmer seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yes: 4 – Blanchard, Gordon, Jones, and Slemmer, No: 0, Abstain: 1 – MacGilvray. Schoenberger was not yet in attendance for this vote. The motion carried (4-0-1).
3. The minutes of the special Council meeting of July 5, 2015 were not read since each member had received a copy. Jones moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yes: 5 – Blanchard, Gordon, Jones, MacGilvray, and Slemmer, No: 0, Abstain: 0. Schoenberger was not yet in attendance for this vote. The motion carried unanimously (5-0-0).
4. The minutes of the special Council meeting of July 12, 2015 were not read since each member had received a copy. Jones moved and Blanchard seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yes: 4 – Blanchard, Gordon, Jones, and Slemmer, No: 0, Abstain: 1 – MacGilvray. Schoenberger was not yet in attendance for this vote. The motion carried (4-0-1).
5. The minutes of the special Council meeting of July 26, 2015 were not read since each member had received a copy. Jones moved and Blanchard seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yes: 5 – Blanchard, Gordon, Jones, MacGilvray, and Slemmer, No: 0, Abstain: 0. Schoenberger was not yet in attendance for this vote. The motion carried unanimously (5-0-0).
6. The minutes of the special Council meeting of July 27, 2015 were not read since each member had received a copy. Jones moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yes: 5 – Blanchard, Gordon, Jones, MacGilvray, and Slemmer, No: 0, Abstain: 0. Schoenberger was not yet in attendance for this vote. The motion carried unanimously (5-0-0).
7. The minutes of the special Council meeting of August 3, 2015 were not read since each member had received a copy. Jones moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yes: 5 – Blanchard, Gordon, Jones, MacGilvray, and Slemmer, No: 0, Abstain: 0. Schoenberger was not yet in attendance for this vote. The motion carried unanimously (5-0-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

1. Jones moved and Gordon seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for July 2015 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (6-0).

Report of the Mayor

1. The Mayor reported that he and the rest of the Council members had received an email from a resident concerned about communication within the village. The Mayor stated that since the village had stopped producing the Riverlea Quarterly and the newsletter, he felt that there had been a disconnect between Council and the residents. He asked Council what they felt they could and should do to increase communications. Members stated that they would like to send out a newsletter again, but there would be additional expenses involved with reinstating this. The Mayor suggested printing newsletters and having them available at the village mailbox in the Circle. MacGilvray stated that there would be items coming out to inform the residents about the upcoming issues on the November ballot. Jones suggested that Council revisit the topic of communication after the elections and Council agreed with this.

Report of the Solicitor

1. The Solicitor reported that she had created a resolution on the closing of Rush Run Park to be passed by the Council. She stated that she had already requested and received letters from the Worthington Police Chief and Mayor requesting that the park be closed at dusk with the appropriate signage. The resolution requests that the city of Columbus place signage on either end of the park stating that the park is closed at dusk. This resolution would be addressed later in the meeting.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. The Street Commissioner reported that he had received an email from the EPA reminding him that the Stormwater report was still due. He will try to have this done by the end of the month.
2. The Street Commissioner reported that he received an email from a resident mentioning invasive honeysuckle in the ravine. The resident stated that he would like to help the village to remove this and requested permission to do so. Gordon stated that the resident should detail his plan to Council and the Street Commissioner said that he would speak with the resident and ask him to do so and report back at the next meeting.
3. Jim Dippel with Burgess & Niple reported that they had finished their survey work and were working on a plan to repair the sewer outfall along Olentangy. After doing the survey, he recommended that the village not choose the repair option that included the manhole. He recommended the option with the sloped rock wall instead. They are trying to finish the plans so that they can advertise for bids around the first of September and receive bids during the month. He asked Council if they would like to review and decide on these bids. The Mayor stated that Dippel should send the information to all Council members and that at a minimum, he and the Street Commissioner would review these bids and decide. Dippel asked how Council would like to go about notifying the resident of the land on which the work would be performed of the decision and the Mayor stated that he and the Street Commissioner would walk down and speak with him about this. Dippel also suggested that the village draft a letter for the resident to sign stating that he approved of the work being performed on his land. Dippel said that he would work on this along with the Solicitor. Blanchard inquired what would happen if the resident did not approve, and the Mayor stated that this would mean that his property would continue to be eroded.
4. MacGilvray stated that at an earlier meeting, he had suggested that the village apply for funding for the infrastructure project from OPWC prior to the election in order to show residents that the village is seeking assistance with the project. The deadline for this application was September 14, which was a very quick timeline to turn it around. The next opportunity would be during the next cycle, a year away. He asked Dippel if it would be possible for some combination of Council members and Burgess & Niple employees to complete this application in time. Dippel said that this would be possible, but difficult. The Street Commissioner stated that he did not have the necessary time available to assist with this. The Street Commissioner expressed his concerns about the village receiving assistance with this. Dippel estimated that it could take up to $15K to $20K for Burgess & Niple to put this application together. The Mayor stated that he felt that by this point, it was too late to apply in time for this cycle, as the village needed to focus on getting the bond issue passed. MacGilvray stated that he felt that this application was part of selling the bond issue to residents. Dippel inquired as to whether the application would be more successful if it was submitted after the election and the funding was lined up. MacGilvray stated that this was not necessary, and that the village could submit the application stating that it was conditional on the passage of the levy.

   Dippel raised the hypothetical situation that if the village were to apply this September and be awarded the assistance in January, the money would be available in July, Burgess & Niple would do the plans in 2016 for construction to begin in 2017. If the village were to apply in September of 2016, the construction would likely be pushed back to 2018. Dippel stated that he had not seen a situation in which a municipality applies for funding after construction has begun. The Mayor raised the possibility of completing the project in phases, with bidding and funding for each phase. Dippel stated that this was a possibility. Schoenberger asked whether it would cost more or less for the village to apply in a year. Dippel replied that it would depend on the amount of assistance that those in the village were willing and able to supply. Gordon asked Dippel to find out what Burgess & Niple would charge to complete this application in the necessary timeframe. Gordon asked Council if there was an amount that they were comfortable with approving at this meeting, rather than holding a special meeting once Dippel had returned his estimate. Council did not decide on a number to approve and decided to wait until Dippel had returned his estimate.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. The Planning Commissioner reported that there was no meeting in August, but that she had an update on 120 W Riverglen. The COA for this house had been approved in June conditional upon the submission of final drawings, and she was scheduled to review these drawings in September.
2. The Planning Commissioner reported that she had enjoyed working with the Street Commissioner to approve the renovation of a driveway along Falmouth.

Report of the Marshal

1. The Mayor reported that he had not received a police report for the month.

Report of the Web Manager

1. The Web Manager reported that there were issues with email forwarding to certain email addresses, most notably those ending in “Columbus.rr.com.” She said that the ISP preferred that members have Gmail accounts, as those seem to work the best.
2. The Web Manager requested that she receive certain graphics related to the ballot issues to place on the web site to inform residents.
3. Gordon asked the Web Manager what the email retention policy was for the village, whether Council members were required to not delete emails from the account. The Solicitor stated that she would forward the record retention policy to members.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Old Business

1. Committee on Infrastructure
   There was no additional report from the committee.
2. Codification of Ordinances
   The Solicitor reported that the latest round of ordinances had been codified by American Legal Publishing. The village had received copies of the updates as well as the online version on American Legal Publishing’s website.
3. Talking Points
   Jones reported that she and the Clerk-Treasurer had been working on talking points to be distributed to residents on the ballot issues in November. She distributed these points to Council members.

   Gordon suggested that the public forum that is scheduled in September to discuss the ballot issues be held at the Village Circle. Jones stated that this may make it more likely for residents to attend. The Clerk-Treasurer suggested having this meeting the Sunday following the picnic, to make use of the equipment already being rented. MacGilvray inquired as to what it would cost to rent a tent for this in case it was needed. The Clerk-Treasurer agreed to look into what it would cost to add a tent to the costs for the picnic, as one was not currently scheduled. The Clerk-Treasurer mentioned that Council would need to add additional appropriations to the parks & recreation budget in order to rent a tent. Schoenberger moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to add $1,000 to the parks & recreation budget. This motion was approved unanimously (6-0). The public forum is scheduled for 4:00 PM on Sunday, September 20.

4. Resolution 2015-15
   Resolution 2015-15, A Resolution to Request that the City of Columbus Place a “Closed at Dusk” Sign at Rush Run Park was introduced by Gordon and given its first reading.

New Business

1. Expenses
   Schoenberger moved and Slemmer seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:
   $14,917.32 – Sharon Township Snow & Ice removal
   $3,784.00 – American Legal Publishing – Codification
   $308.00 – American Legal Publishing – Copies of Code

   The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items