December 16, 2013 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

December 16, 2013

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, Jon L. Ankrom, Scott K. Gordon, Jenny D. Jones and Eric A. MacGilvray, President Pro-Tem. Briggs W. Hamor was absent. Also present were Pamela M. Colwell, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, William P. Charles, Street Commissioner, Karen McElmurray, Marshal, Michael Jones, Planning Commissioner, Jody Croley Jones, Web Manager and Lois Yoakam, Newsletter Editor. Guests of Council were Josh Mehling and Jeff Colwell. At 7:05 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of November 25, 2013 were not read since each member had received a copy. MacGilvray moved and Jones seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

1. Jones moved and Ankrom seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial report for November 2013 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0).

Report of the Mayor

1. There was no report.

Report of the Solicitor

1. The Solicitor reported she has been working with Jenny Jones to get the ordinance revisions completed.
2. She also reviewed the landscaping bids and created the sewer repair ordinance for Council.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. The Street Commissioner reported that the sanitary sewer project has been completed under budget for a savings of $42,196. 10% was retained until Performance Pipelining forwards some documentation.
2. Burgess & Niple is in the process of reviewing storm sewer data and they should have a report done by February.
3. The lift station cleaning has been delayed until we have better weather.
4. Gordon said Decker damaged a curb while repairing the street on Pioneers. The Commissioner said he will look into it.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. The Commissioner reported there was no meeting this month.
2. He has received a complaint from a resident on Crescent regarding a new shed built on a concrete foundation without a Certificate of Appropriateness. He is looking into this.

Report of the Marshal

1. The Marshal had no report because she did not receive the police report.

Report of the Web Manager

1. The Web Manager reported that the Quarterly Newsletter was on the website and the information about Code Red was very popular.

   Council expressed their frustration with the Postal Service because no one in the Village has received the Quarterly Newsletter yet, except for the Solicitor who resides outside of the Village. Village residents are complaining about late or no mail delivery. The Mayor said he has called the Post Office and was told they did not have enough mail carriers.

Report of the Newsletter Editor

1. The Editor reported that she will be retiring as of December 31, 2013.
2. The directory will be published by year end and will be in booklet form to save money. Council agreed to printing 260 copies and stated that this will replace the binder edition.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Old Business

1. Committee on Infrastructure
   There was no report.
2. Committee on Ordinances
   Jenny Jones, Chair, reported that she has been working with the Solicitor on the last edits and asked everyone who has any other edits to please send them to her now. The next step is for the Solicitor to take all of the changes and put them into the proper format for legislation.
3. Committee on Communications Jon Ankrom, Chair, will report the Committee’s recommendations under the Newsletter Editor Position.
4. Ordinance No. 05-2013
   Ordinance No. 05-2013, Annual Appropriation Ordinance (Village) for 2014 was given its third reading. The Clerk-Treasurer said two figures needed to be updated. MacGilvray moved and Jones seconded the motion to amend Sanitary Sewers and Sewage Contractual Services from $10,000 to $16,000 and Storm Sewers and Drains Contractual Services from 0 to $43,000. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0). MacGilvray moved and Jones seconded the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 05-2013. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0).
5. Newsletter Editor Position
   In light of future infrastructure expenses, Council is looking for ways to cut costs and save money. They asked the Communications Committee for recommendations. The Committee made the following recommendations:
   • Clerk-Treasurer should take over the responsibility of the directory.
   • The monthly newsletter should be stopped and replaced with the Quarterly Newsletter.
   • Monthly highlights from the meetings can be posted on the kiosks for those who do not use the internet.
   • Newsletter Editor ($1,800/yr.) and Web Manager ($1,800/yr.) positions could be combined to become the Communications Director position at $2,700/yr. The position would continue to be responsible for the Village’s website, but would also be responsible for the publication of the Quarterly Newsletter.
   • Currently, the cost of the Newsletter is about $4,600/year (Newsletter Editor pay $1800 plus printing and postage $2,800). Combining the two positions into the Communications Director position would save $900/year. With thanks to Haman Midwest, adding the donation of printing the Quarterly Newsletter with the discounted postage rate of approximately $260/year would create an annual savings of about $3,440.

   The Newsletter Editor expressed her concern about stopping the monthly newsletter because not all residents have access to the internet. Ankrom responded that the quarterly will include important Village information, which is mailed to everyone, and the monthly meeting highlights will be posted on the kiosks.

   Some on Council expressed concern about the pay being a little high, while others thought it was very reasonable considering all of the work that goes into producing a quarterly newsletter. The Newsletter Editor agreed that the quarterly requires more work than the monthly newsletter.

   Jenny Jones wanted this new position to be posted for all qualified applicants. She wants to involve the community and give others the opportunity of working for the Village. Some Council members felt the current Web Manager is the best qualified but agreed to post this position as open.

   The Solicitor noted that the ordinance for the Web Manager would have to be amended to reflect any changes. She will work on this for the next Council meeting. The compensation can be a separate issue by contract.

   Council decided that they will continue this discussion at the next meeting. Since the current contract for the Web Manager ends this year, MacGilvray moved and Gordon seconded the motion to extend her contract for one month. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0). Council asked the Clerk-Treasurer to forward them a list of positions with the compensation so they can consider if any changes need to be made to other positions also.

New Business

1. Landscaping Bids
   Only two companies submitted bids for grounds maintenance in 2014, which were Benchmark Landscape Construction, Inc. ($3,602) and Community Green Landscape Group, Inc. ($3,146.06). Council compared the two bids and decided they were happy with Community Green’s work this past year. Gordon moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to accept Community Green Landscape Group’s bid for 2014. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0).
2. Resolution No. 2013-19
   Resolution No. 2013-19, A Resolution To Provide for Integrated Management Services to Reduce Mosquito Populations Within the Village was introduced by Jenny Jones. This will cover from 2014 – 2016 for less than $500 per year. Jones moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to suspend the three readings of Resolution No. 2013-19. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0). Jones moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to adopt Resolution No. 2013-19. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0).
3. Ordinance No. 07-2013
   Ordinance No. 07-2013, An Ordinance Regarding Sewer Taps and Repairs, And Associated Street Repairs was introduced by MacGilvray and given its first reading. Council complimented the Solicitor on creating this ordinance.
4. Expenses
   Gordon moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:
   $41.59 – Postage and stamps Sept. – Dec.
   $31.00 – Copier toner
   $64.57 – Reimburse Jon Ankrom for Quarterly Newsletter postage
   $50.00 – OUPS annual fee

   The motion was approved unanimously (4-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items