February 22, 2011 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

Februray 22, 2011

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 Mary Jo Cusack, Scott K. Gordon, Donald E. Griffith, Briggs W. Hamor, Eric A. MacGilvray and Kirk M. McHugh. Jon L. Ankrom was absent. Also present were Pamela M. Colwell, Clerk-Treasurer, Steven W. Mershon, Solicitor, William P. Charles, Street Commissioner, Michael Jones, Planning Commissioner, and Jody Jones, Web Manager. Guests of Council were Lt. Jerry L. Strait, Warren Lada, Erin Grushon with MORPC, Ann Bennett, David K. Carter, and Loyis Carter. At 7:00 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Introduction of Lt. Jerry Strait

1. The Mayor introduced Lt. Jerry Strait as the Village’s new Worthington police liaison. He was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to meet the Village’s officials. He has been with Worthington for 24 years.

Presentation of Olentangy Watershed Results

1. Erin Grushon, with MORPC, presented the preliminary draft map from the Olentangy Watershed results and discussed the criteria and goals of this balanced growth plan. The map is a starting point that was created using computers. It showed one major priority development area in the Village.
2. After some discussion, Council agreed that the Village is developed and the plan is not relevant. They asked that there be no priority areas on the map and Grushon agreed to relay that information to the proper individuals.

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of January 18, 2011 were not read since each member had received a copy. MacGilvray moved and McHugh seconded a motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

1. MacGilvray moved and Griffith seconded a motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial report for January 2011, as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

1. The Mayor reported there is a SWACO meeting on March 2, 2011 that she cannot attend and asked if anyone was interested in attending to let her know.
2. Columbia Gas is seeking a rate increase from PUCO
3. AEP is seeking a merger and rate increase. She has the information on a disc if anyone is interested in reading about it. She was not happy with their new representative, Tim Wells, and his response to the power outages recently.
4. She will be attending Mayor Coleman’s State of the City address.
5. She asked if anyone is interested in weather spotting training to contact her for the information.

Report of the Solicitor

1. The Solicitor will comment on the annexation issue later in the meeting.
2. In late January he looked into the North American Broadcasting Company’s (NAB) petition to link Riverlea with one of their stations. He suggested to Council that they may want to not go along with this since there was no control by Riverlea regarding the station’s format, which may be objectionable to some. However, they do not need the Village Council’s permission since any resident may give permission.

   Warren Lada with Sega Communications discussed his company’s concern about North American Broadcasting’s petition. He feels they are using the Village as a pawn to take advantage of a technicality to relocate one of their broadcasting towers. He has the petition papers which he will give to the Solicitor so the Solicitor can review them. Council agreed that they did not want anything to do with North American Broadcasting Company. The Mayor said this can be discussed further under new business.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. The Commissioner reported there was a meeting in February. A garage addition to 5790 Pioneers Court was tabled until the next meeting because additional information was needed.

Report of the Marshal

1. The Marshal was absent so the Mayor gave her report. She reported there were 295 patrol checks with no citations or written warnings.
2. A resident at 5793 Carrington has a “Bagster” in the front yard to dispose of building materials. If the container is still there March 10, 2011, it will be in violation of the ordinance and the Marshal will contact the resident at that time. Council agreed.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. The Commissioner reported that the lift station flow monitor is completed and working.
2. The street sign on the corner of Southington and Crescent is down. He has a spare pole and he will ask the Peterson Company for a quote for installation.
3. The bump on Southington at Pioneers is starting to recede some with the thaw. He will ask Decker to look at it and give us a quote for repairing it.
4. Burgess & Niple is working on a new contract for the continuing work on the SSES regarding the flow monitoring.
5. The lift station needs new pumps and he has asked Radico for a quote including cleanout.
6. Branches are lying on the power lines by the lift station. He will call someone to come out and trim them.
7. The MS4 storm water report is due by April 1st. Gordon completed it last year and will get a copy to the Commissioner so he can complete it this year.

Report of the Newsletter Editor

1. The Editor was absent but sent her report. She would like copy for the Newsletter by March 5th.
2. She thanked Council for helping to deliver the directories.

Report of the Web Manager

1. The Web Manager followed up on the discussion at the last meeting regarding web accessibility. She reported there will be new Federal laws regarding it and we will have two years to comply. Our Web site is accessible and only some PDF files need to be updated or removed.

Report of Parks and Recreation

1. There was no report.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

1. There were no comments on agenda items.

Old Business

1. There was no old business.

New Business

1. Bills
   McHugh moved and Hamor seconded the motion to authorize payment of the following invoices: Burgess and Niple $437.18 Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security $451 OUPS 2011 assessment $50 OML Legislative Luncheon up to $125 Entrance light bulbs $50 Pharazyn storm cleanup $199
2. Crime Insurance Increase
   The Clerk-Treasurer reported that the Village has an insurance policy to cover any dishonesty by the Clerk-Treasurer. The current coverage of $100,000 has an annual premium of $378. Additional coverage can be acquired for a little extra in cost. $200,000 coverage has an annual premium of $436 and $300,000 has an annual premium of $483. The Village’s current assets are a little over $400,000. After some discussion, MacGilvray moved to increase the coverage to $200,000. There was no second and the motion failed. Council agreed to stay with the $100,000 coverage at $378.
3. Copier/printer Service Agreement Renewal
   The Clerk-Treasurer reported there is an annual service agreement for the copier/printer at a cost of $330, which includes toner. Since there is now less printing and more scanning of documents, the use of toner has gone down and she does not see the need to continue the contract. If the printer needed repair, it would probably be less than the service agreement cost. Council agreed to not renewing the contract.
4. Ordinance 01-2011
   Gordon introduced Ordinance 01-2011, An Ordinance Declaring an Intent to Enter into Annexation Negotiations with the City of Worthington, Ohio, and to Declare an Emergency. Council asked how this would be handled. The Solicitor responded that assuming this ordinance is passed the Clerk has 30 days to send it to the Council of Worthington. Then Worthington Council has 30 days to determine whether they want to appoint three commissioners to participate in negotiations. McHugh moved and Hamor seconded the motion to amend Ordinance 01-2011, Section 1 to select three commissioners. Gordon nominated Kirk McHugh, Hamor nominated Scott Gordon and Griffith nominated Eric MacGilvray. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). Gordon moved and Hamor seconded the motion to suspend the three readings of Ordinance 01-2011. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). MacGilvray moved and McHugh seconded the motion to adopt Ordinance 01-2011 and declare an emergency. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). The Solicitor asked Council if they wanted him to assist the Commissioners and they said yes.
5. Radio Station
   McHugh reported he had emailed North American Broadcasting Company (NAB) that the Village was not interested in being linked with their radio station. However, they did not need Council’s approval to proceed since any resident could give their approval. The Mayor responded that it was unbelievable that Village government had no control regarding this. Council also expressed their frustration of not having a voice in how the Village’s name will be used by a company for their gain. Lada stated that Sega Communications has a financial interest in this but that is not their concern in this matter. They object to NAB stretching the rules for licensing and they want the Village to be aware of this situation. The Solicitor advised Council to do nothing at this time and he will review the petition.
6. Annexation Discussion
   Gordon asked for any feedback regarding what should be discussed during negotiations with Worthington. Jody Jones said, as a 40+ years resident, she noticed most of the people who put the petitions together have lived here only a few years and wondered if they don’t like Riverlea, then why don’t they move? She would like the Commissioners to look at all the costs involved, including tax changes, possible assessments, etc. Joining Worthington to save on their recreation center fees is ludicrous in her opinion. Bill Charles would not like to see street lights, due to light pollution, or sidewalks.

   Gordon asked Council what their concerns were. Council asked about the Commissioners authority. The Solicitor responded that the Commissioners do not have the authority to spend money. Their primary job was to negotiate with Worthington’s three commissioners as to what will be the terms proposed for annexation for the ballot. For example, to determine what the zoning classification for Riverlea would be. Council discussed the fact that they were not going to spend any of the Village’s limited funds on this issue. They also believed that most of the residents who signed the petition did not know this was going to be a ballot issue. Most signers probably thought it was to open discussions with Worthington on the possibility of annexation. Council wants the Commissioners to keep the residents informed and to try to get their input. Due to time constraints, Council expressed their concern that there may not be much input from the residents prior to the ballot.

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

Next Meeting Announcement

Adjournment

MARY JO CUSACK, MAYOR

M. COLWELL, CLERK OF COUNCIL