Regular Council Meeting

August 21, 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, Chad A. Lowe, Kathy McClintock, and Josh Schoenberger. Also present were Leah Reibel, Solicitor and William P. Charles, Street Commissioner. Guest of Council was Dennis Schwallie of Dinsmore & Shohl. At 7:03 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Bond Counsel

  1. Dennis Schwallie of Dinsmore & Shohl addressed the Council on an ordinance he had prepared. This ordinance would attach the OPWC loan to the infrastructure bond issue that was approved by voters so that the Franklin County Auditor could begin to collect taxes to pay back the loan. He stated that a similar ordinance will be needed for the OWDA loan when that is finalized.

Minutes

  1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of June 19, 2017 were not read since each member had received a copy. Schoenberger moved and Lowe seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yes – Gordon, Lowe, McClintock, Schoenberger; No – none; Abstain – Benevento. The motion carried (4-0- 1).The minutes of the special Council meeting of July 24, 2017 were not read since each member had received a copy. McClintock moved and Schoenberger seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yes – Benevento, Gordon, Lowe, McClintock; No – none; Abstain – Schoenberger. The motion carried (4-0- 1).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

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

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor reported that he and others had met with Jim Dippel of Burgess & Niple to discuss the Village’s broadband infrastructure in relation to the upcoming project. The group decided that the Village owning any potential network would not be in the best interest of the Village, but it may be worth the effort to install conduit to hold cables that are installed by a commercial network provider. There are three concerns with adding this element to the project: potential costs, which are unknown; timing, which would set the project back by about a month; and whether commercial providers are interested. The Mayor will speak with other communities which have undergone similar projects to research the costs & benefits.
  2. The Mayor reminded the Council members that there would be three Council seats expiring at the end of the year and that members should be thinking about and contacting residents who may be interested in getting involved.
  3. The Mayor stated that the previous Mayor had given him a Riverlea sign that used to be up in the Village. The Mayor will post a picture of it on Facebook and see if a resident is interested in restoring it
  4. Benevento asked if there was an updated police report, given the recent activity. The Mayor stated that he didn’t have the most recent report, but that he received these via email regularly and if anyone is interested, they can contact him to view them.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor reported that she had spoken with Steve Mershon, the previous Solicitor for the Village, and he asked if the Village was interested in his 12 to 15 boxes of old Village records. The Solicitor said that she would pick these boxes up as she finds herself in Granville and deliver them to the Clerk-Treasurer.
  2. The Solicitor reported that she had been informed that someone is stealing mail from the exterior mailboxes at the Worthington Post Office, and that people should not place items in these boxes after 5:00 pm.
  3. The Solicitor reported that a term on the Planning Commission will expire at the end of the year. There are also several contracts expiring at the end of the year, which will be addressed in upcoming resolutions.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner mentioned that he had been reviewing the documents from Burgess & Niple on the upcoming project, and one thing these mention is complying with the Village noise ordinance, which restricts activity to between 7:00 am & 7:00 pm on weekdays, with slightly later hours on Saturdays.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

  1. There was no report, as the Planning Commissioner was not in attendance.

Report of the Web Manager

  1. There was no report, as the Web Manager was not in attendance.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

    1. The Chair of the Committee reported that Burgess & Niple is working with the area utilities to plan how these will be affected during the project. Columbia Gas is going to be replacing the gas lines in the Village; though this is not part of the original project they will take advantage of the streets being excavated to upgrade their system.
    2. The Chair of the Committee reported that the project appears to be on budget to this point. Jim Dippel of Burgess & Niple states that the projects that are being bid are falling in line with expectations. Council will review the updated plans & budget at the September meeting.
    3. Given that the members of the committee are receiving questions from residents on current plans for the project, the committee would like to hold public forums in the fall to share these plans and answer questions. The first would be in late September or early October, with a second to be in November, once the contractor is chosen.
    4. Lowe updated Council as to the current timeline for the project, which is as follows:
      1. Sep 5 – Final plans & cost due
      2. Sep 18 – Council to approve plans & budget
      3. Oct 9 – Bidding documents complete
      4. Oct 12 – Submit bidding documents to paper for publication
      5. Oct 17 & 24 – Advertisements published
      6. Nov 8 – Bidding opens
      7. Nov – OWDA loan submittal
      8. Nov 20 – Council awards project
      9. Dec 15 – Preconstruction meeting
      10. Winter-Spring – Construction to begin

  2. Committee on Communications

    The Chair of the Committee was not in attendance, so Schoenberger reported that he and others had distributed postcards requesting contact information to all of the houses in the Village.

New Business

  1. Ordinance 02-2017

    Ordinance 02-2017, An Ordinance Authorizing the Financing on Part of the Cost of Village Infrastructure Renewal by Issuing not to Exceed $3,755,000 of Bonds in the Form of a Promissory Note Evidencing a Loan from the Ohio Public Works Commission and Accepting a Grant Therefore in an Amount not to Exceed $1,244,900, and Declaring an Emergency was introduced by McClintock. McClintock moved and Schoenberger seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution in order to submit this ordinance to Franklin County in a timely manner to begin the process of preparing to collect taxes. The motion carried (5-0). Lowe moved and McClintock seconded the motion to approve the resolution. The motion carried (5-0).

  2. Resolution 2017-08

    Resolution 2017-08, A Resolution to Provide Legal Counsel to the Village of Riverlea was introduced by Lowe and given its first reading.

  3. Riverlea Covenant

    Gordon mentioned that he had discovered that the original covenant for the Village contained a restrictive covenant limiting homebuyers to Caucasians. Though covenants like this had been rendered null and void by federal actions in the time since, he wondered whether convenants like this had been officially removed or what it would take to strike them going forward. The Solicitor will research this and what the process would be.

Expenses

Lowe moved and McClintock seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditure:

Gudenkauf Corporation – $500.00 – water line locating 5806 Carrington

The motion carried (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents.

 

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, September 18 at 7:00 pm at the Thomas Worthington High School.

 

Adjournment

There being no further business, Schoenberger moved and McClintock seconded the motion to adjourn. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 pm.

ERIC A. MACGILVRAY, MAYOR

JOSHUA C. MEHLING, CLERK OF COUNCIL