The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Old Worthington Library. The following Council members were present: Mayor Dan E. Schlichting, Jeffrey Amick, Nicholas B. Bartels, Janet Heidkamp, Leah M. Pyter, and Emily J. Saving. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, Leah Reibel, Solicitor, and William Charles, Street Commissioner. Guests of council was resident Jeff Mussman. At 6:32 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the Council meeting of May 20, 2024 were not read since each member had received a copy. Amick moved and Heidkamp seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 3, Amick, Heidkamp, Saving; Nay: None; Abstain: 2, Bartels, Pyter. The motion carried (3-0-2).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Saving moved and Bartels seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for May 2024 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor noted that there would be no Village Council meeting in July per the schedule.
  2. The Mayor thanked the residents who organized the Fourth of July Bike Parade in the Village; notably Annette Haines.
  3. The Mayor stated that Worthington Services Director John Moorhead had notified him that the construction on the temporary road at the end of Melbourne had started and would be complete soon. The gas line will be installed in Mid-June. Moorhead also stated that due to a delay in the bidding process, there is a chance that the Selby bridge project will not begin until spring of 2025. If this is the case, the temporary road will remain closed and blocked until that time.
  4. The Mayor stated that he and Council member Surface had reviewed the wooden entrance sign along Olentangy and decided that the best course of action is to clean and repaint it. They are still reviewing the entrance signs along High Street and will either repair the wooden posts or determine an alternative design.
  5. The Mayor stated that there had been no response from residents to the email he had sent out on the new deer feeding ordinance.
  6. Heidkamp inquired if there was any information on the recent death in Rush Run Park and the Mayor stated that he did not have any updates.
  7. The Mayor stated that he had received a quote from Masters Arborist Service to remove the dead tree limb in Circle Park. Saving moved and Pyter seconded the motion to authorize the expenditure of up to $300 for this service and up to $300 for the repainting of the entrance sign on Olentangy as mentioned previously.
  8. The Mayor reported that he had received an email from SWACO with information on the pilot of a new recycling program that residents may want to participate in. He will send an email to residents with this information.

Report of the Solicitor

The Solicitor reported that she had contacted the Worthington Law Director to discuss the deer survey that the city recently distributed to residents. Worthington received about 3500 responses and 1000 comments on this situation. Based on these results, the city is considering actions to reduce the number of deer in the area. The city will be distributing another survey for further input and Village residents are encouraged to respond to this.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner stated that he had been contacted by people who had recently purchased a home within the Village and were informed of a leak in the sanitary sewer line on the property. The line was repaired at the seller’s expense. The Street Commissioner also mentioned that as part of this project, the workers uncovered a decommissioned gas line in the yard that had not been removed.
  2. The Street Commissioner also reported that the new homeowners had questions on how to sign up for trash removal and how to get trash and recycling cans. There is information on the Village website that explains that residents should contact Local Waste Services with these questions.
  3. The Street Commissioner stated that work continues to connect the new house at 5691 Olentangy to the Village water lines as the line had been lined over in a previous project.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

The Planning Commissioner was not in attendance. The Clerk-Treasurer explained that the Commission had approved fences at 5920 Olentangy Blvd and 258 Frontenac Pl.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Resident Jeff Mussman stated that he had recently moved to the Village and was sitting in on the meeting to learn more about Village Council and how the Village operates.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

 

  1. Schlichting, the Chair of the Committee, reported that the Committee did not meet in June and that Burgess & Niple is reviewing two quotes that they had received in response to a request for bids for crack sealing on the streets. There is still some information to be collected on the second bid, but both bids are expected to come in under $20k. In order to not hold the process up and not require a special meeting in July, Bartels moved and Saving seconded the motion to authorize up to $20k in expenditures for this crack sealing. The motion carried (5-0)
  2. The Chair reported that the Committee is still waiting on bids for the storm sewer and CCTV work as well.

 

  1. Web Manager

The Web Manager was not in attendance.

  1. Communications Committee

 

  1. Pyter, the Chair of the Committee, reported that the village directories had been completed and over half of them had been distributed to residents. Heidkamp asked if the Village has email addresses for all residents and the Mayor stated that although there is a form on the Village website requesting this information, there are some residents who have not submitted these. Heidkamp suggested that the Village go to the residents who have not submitted this information and ask if they would like to be included. Pyter reminded her that all residents had received a card at the start of the directory process asking them to submit this information if they wished to be included. There are also residents who have given their email addresses to receive mailings but opted out of the directory.
  2. The Chair stated that there were currently no residents on the Committee and that if the Council has any goals it wishes for the Committee to accomplish, it would help to formalize it through resolution. Saving stated that the Committee had been reformed to investigate the information management policies of the Village, including data retention. The mayor stated that he will ask the Web Manager to attend the August meeting to discuss this and the Solicitor stated that she would distribute the existing records retention policy.

New Business

  1. Resolution 2024-09

Resolution 2024-09 – A resolution to Request the Franklin County Budget Commission to Grant the 0.65 Mills in Available Inside Millage to the Village of Riverlea, Ohio was introduced by Bartels. Bartels moved and Saving seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the resolution to submit the resolution to the Franklin County Auditor in a timely manner. The motion carried (5-0). Saving moved and Bartels seconded the motion to approve the resolution. The motion carried (5-0).

  1. 2025 Tax Budget

Village Tax Budget 2025 was introduced by Bartels. Bartels moved and Pyter seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the budget in order to submit it to the county in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). Pyter moved and Bartels seconded the motion to approve of the budget. The motion passed (5-0).

Expenses

Saving moved and Heidkamp seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:

$205.00 – Jeff Amick – Flag pole lighting

$243.65 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

$966.64 – Leah Pyter – Directory printing

The motion was approved (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on non-agenda items.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, August 19, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Worthington Library.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Bartels moved and Saving seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Daniel E. Schlichting, Mayor