Regular Council Meeting

January 19, 2010

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, Jon L. Ankrom, Scott K. Gordon, Briggs W. Hamor, Eric A. MacGilvray, Kirk M. McHugh, and Daniel W. Noonan.. Also present were Pamela M. Colwell, Clerk-Treasurer, Steven W. Mershon, Solicitor, William Charles, Street Commissioner, Kent Shimeall, Marshal, Lois Yoakam, Newsletter Editor, Jody Jones, Web Manager and Michael Jones, Planning Commissioner. Guests of Council were those listed on the attached sheet. At 7:03 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Swearing in of New Council Members

  1. Jon L. Ankrom, Briggs W. Hamor, Eric A. MacGilvray and Daniel W. Noonan were sworn in. Their terms will be from January 2010 through December 2013.

Election of President of Council

  1. Gordon nominated Kirk M. McHugh for Council President Pro Tem and Noonan seconded the nomination. There being no additional nominations, Gordon moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to close the nominations and call for a vote to confirm Kirk M. McHugh as Council President Pro Tem. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, and Noonan: Abstain, 1; McHugh: Nay, None. The Motion carried 5-1-0.
  2. Kirk M. McHugh was sworn in as Council President Pro Tem.

MORPC Watershed Planning Presentation by Jerry Tinianow

  1. Jerry Tinianow is the Director for MORPC Center for Energy and Environment and he discussed The Olentangy River Watershed Balanced Growth Planning Partnership. The Partnership is one project with two parts. One part is a set of maps that consist of Priority Conservation Areas (PCA), including recreation, and Priority Development Areas (PDA). These areas are defined by the jurisdiction. The second part is a set of suggested steps a jurisdiction could take to develop actions to protect PCAs or develop PDAs. These are recommendations and not mandatory requirements. There must be 75% approval by population, land and jurisdiction in order for the Balanced Growth Plan to be endorsed. Then it must be approved by the State. Each jurisdiction has one vote, regardless of size. 20 of 25 jurisdictions have joined the Partnership and it has been opened back up to those who declined. February 10, 2010 is the initial meeting and he is asking the Village to participate or come to listen.
  2. Residents questioned Tinianow about FLOW and he said FLOW has no jurisdiction and no vote. The Partnership decides on the issues. Residents were also concerned about terms such as “recreation” but were in favor of maintaining wildlife and clean water. There was some discussion regarding residents’ concerns about property rights but Tinianow only repeated that the Partnership made only recommendations and jurisdictions would not be penalized for failing to implement them. He also stated that if you have a vote you are taken more seriously and that the cost to the Village is just time – one person to attend meetings. The meetings will be open to the public.
  3. The grant that was received will be used for personnel, such as new planners and mappers

Minutes

  1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of December 21, 2009 were not read since each member had received a copy. MacGilvray expressed concern about the accuracy of Jim Dippel’s comments, as reported in the minutes, regarding the two options for the street improvement plan, viz., that there is only one benefit for using the “second option.” MacGilvray suggested that the draft street improvement plan indicates other benefits might also exist regarding the second option. Eric wanted to be sure that residents, who might read the minutes or the newsletter, understand that Dippel’s comments did not foreclose the need to consider both options carefully. Council members generally concurred but noted that the minutes accurately reflected Mr. Dippel’s limited comments on the issue. Gordon moved and McHugh seconded a motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0.

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

  1. Ankrom moved and Noonan seconded a motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial report for December 2009, as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0. See Board Referral File number 09-026.

OML Training for Newly Elected Council Members

  1. The Mayor recommended new Council members take the training course offered by OML. The Village will pay the registration fee.

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor reminded everyone that infrastructure needs to be updated and that the Village was under a mandate to do so. All of this will, of course, cost money.
  2. The recent power outage was caused by a tree. PUCO had told AEP to keep the trees trimmed. She will follow up with this to see what is being done.
  3. There were two deer hit by cars on High Street. She is reminding everyone to be careful but there is not anything that can be done with the deer problem. We all have to be alert and live with the wildlife.
  4. She included information about the Worthington Citizen’s Police Academy and said it is a very worthwhile course.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor reported there is a pending motion in the Brogan litigation

Report of the Planning Commissioner

  1. The Commissioner reported there was one application for a Certificate of Appropriateness for a new house but it was tabled a second time for more information.
  2. He was notified by Franklin County that the building permit for a garage was cancelled by Sinclair at 138 W. Riverglen Drive. However, the garage has already been built without any inspections. He put a stop work order on the door today and will try to find out why it was cancelled.

Report of the Marshal

  1. The Marshal met with Lt. Mosic of the Worthington Police and found out that Lt. Mosic is interested in community relations. The Mayor said she will invite him to the next Council meeting. The Marshal expressed his concern to Lt. Mosic that the police were driving through the Village too fast to see anything.
  2. The police report was routine with 275 checks.
  3. He has contacted some residents regarding sign ordinance violations and they have been responsive.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. Franklin County has responded to our request for them to perform the maintenance on our sewers and they said no. They do not have the resources. The Commissioner will contact Waterworks when needed.
  2. He distributed information about a possible surcharge on water bills for future water line maintenance. He calculated the average surcharge per quarter per residence could be approximately $10. Council discussed the age of the pipes and other infrastructures in need of maintenance. The cost could be substantial. Council will look into it.
  3. The Commissioner also distributed information concerning the sanitary lift station flow monitor and alarm. The new sewer being built is lower and it will give us the opportunity to connect to Worthington’s and remove the lift station, but that is still years away. In the meantime we will need to monitor overflows. For about $5,000 we could get a monitor and alarm. After the first year there would be an annual fee for the monitoring of around $400. Ankrom moved and Hamor seconded the motion to authorize $5,000 to purchase the monitor. After some additional discussion, Council decided they needed extra time to review the information. Gordon moved to table the motion until the next meeting. Noonan seconded the motion. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0.

Report of the Newsletter Editor

  1. The Editor would like copy for the newsletter by February 5th.

Report of the Web Manager

  1. The Web Manager introduced herself to the new Council members and described her qualifications. She explained the important considerations when proceeding to add content to the Riverlea Web site. For example, Accessibility – by law, our site must be accessible to all handicapped; Usability – defining for whom the site is built and maximizing ease of use for these defined users; Legality – considering the Village’s responsibility and potential liability when adding new features and content. The Web site is built from the content up and the majority of the content comes from the village officials.

Report of Parks and Recreation

  1. There was no report.

Report of Stimulus Funds Committee

  1. There was no report.

Report of Solar Committee

  1. Residents who want to put up solar panels will need to come before the Planning Commission.

Report from the Cut Through Committee

  1. Cathy Candisky and Laura Bischoff reported on the cut through that was closed. Both parties have closed it permanently and neither wants to sell a portion of their property for a pathway. There are really no other good locations for public access. School busing can be revoked at any time, whether there is a path or not. Worthington may want sidewalks along Evening Street if a formal pathway is built and they would want the Village to pay for them. The Committee would like a long term fix to this problem. They feel there are more kids now and this is a safety issue.
  2. Council discussed the costs and ramifications of taking private property. The cost would be fair market value for the land plus the damage to the remainder of the property. Some Council members were against the taking of private property. Others wanted to survey residents. There was also some discussion about another cut through to the east that was being utilized now and they will look into it as a possible short term solution.

Report of the Records Retention Committee

  1. Noonan reported that the draft of the records retention schedule was distributed to Council for their review. The Committee still needs to approve it. Then it will be sent to the Ohio Historical Society for its review and they will forward to the State Auditor for their approval or disapproval.
  2. Council also received a draft of the Public Records Policy. It provides the definitions and procedures for record management. Council will need to adopt it after they review and approve it

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

J. Jones stated that she is against any cut through and did not want to spend a dime on it. This issue was resolved 20 years ago. She grew up here and there were more kids then and no cut through. Children need to be taught safety.

L. Pisching supports the Butlers and their private property rights.

There were some general comments from residents regarding the Olentangy Watershed Plan: There did not seem to be a down side to participating but some were cautious about the future. The Plan sounds good except for the recreational part. There is the possibility of benefits in the future by participating.

Old Business

  1. Olentangy Watershed Balanced Growth Planning Partnership
    Noonan made a motion to authorize the Village to participate with neighboring governments and with the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission to discuss and create a balanced growth plan for the Olentangy River Watershed. MacGilvray seconded the motion. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; Ankrom, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, 1; Gordon. The Motion carried 5-1.
  2. Discussion of Communications Noonan would like to form a group to discuss communications within the Village regarding current information, problems, public input, etc. He wanted to have residents participate instead of Village officials. The Web Manager noted there were legal concerns with using the internet and the Village’s web site. The Mayor pointed out that the costs needed to be determined upfront too. Because of these, the Mayor asked that Noonan meet with the Web Manager, Newsletter Editor and the Clerk-Treasurer to explore what was possible, the legal issues involved and the costs that may be associated with various types of communication before forming a resident committee. This way the residents would not be wasting time researching areas that are prohibited or are too expensive.

New Business

  1. Payment of Bills
    McHugh moved and Gordon seconded a motion to authorize the expenditure of $800 for MORPC annual dues, $325.69 for the Ohio BWC, $330 for the crime policy annual premium, $180 for Fireproof storage, $12.30 for OUPS fees and $2,426 for OML liability insurance. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0.
  2. RESOLUTION NO. 2010-02
    McHugh introduced Resolution No. 2010-02, A Resolution to Authorize the Village to Enter into Contracts for Certain Insurance Coverages and to Declare an Emergency. Gordon moved and McHugh seconded a motion to suspend the three readings of Resolution No. 2010-02 and to declare an emergency. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0. McHugh moved and Noonan seconded a motion to adopt Resolution No. 2010-02. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0.
  3. RESOLUTION NO. 2010-03
    Ankrom introduced Resolution No. 2010-03, A Resolution to Confirm the Appointment of William Charles as Street Commissioner. The resolution was read by title for its first reading. There was no discussion.
  4. RESOLUTIONS NO. 2010-04 THROUGH NO. 2010-11
    McHugh introduced Resolution No. 2010-04, A Resolution of Appreciation to Keith Beachler, Resolution No. 2010-05. A Resolution of Appreciation to Jody Croley Jones, Resolution No. 2010-06, A Resolution of Appreciation to Neil Mortine, Resolution No. 2010-07, A Resolution of Appreciation to Renee Shannon. Resolution No. 2010-08, A Resolution of Appreciation to Jack Schaer, Resolution No. 2010-09, A Resolution of Appreciation to Rod Tettenhorst, Resolution No. 2010-10, A Resolution of Appreciation to Paul Zenisek and Resolution No. 2010-11. A Resolution of Appreciation to John McAlearney. Gordon moved and McHugh seconded a motion to suspend the three readings. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0. McHugh moved and Gordon seconded a motion to adopt Resolution No. 2010-04, Resolution No. 2010-05, Resolution No. 2010-06, Resolution No. 2010-07, Resolution No. 2010-08, Resolution No. 2010-09, Resolution No. 2010-10 and Resolution No. 2010-11. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0.

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

There were no comments on non-agenda items.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 7:00 pm at the Thomas Worthington High School, Room 185.

Adjournment

There being no further business, McHugh moved and Noonan seconded a motion to adjourn. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; Ankrom, Gordon, Hamor, MacGilvray, McHugh and Noonan: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 pm.

MARY JO CUSACK, MAYOR

M. COLWELL, CLERK OF COUNCIL