June 29, 2015 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

June 29, 2015

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, Michael A. Blanchard, Scott K. Gordon, Jenny D. Jones, Josh Schoenberger, and Jacalyn Slemmer Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, Jody Croley Jones, Web Manager, Carolee Noonan, Planning Commissioner, and William P. Charles, Street Commissioner. Guests of Council were Marc Benevento and Greg Ross. At 7:04 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Eric MacGilvray Absence

1. Slemmer moved and Blanchard seconded the motion that Eric MacGilvray’s absence be excused for the month due to his sabbatical. The motion carried (5-0).

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of May 18, 2015 were not read since each member had received a copy. Blanchard moved and Schoenberger seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer with the correction of a typo on the first page. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

1. Gordon moved and Blanchard seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for May 2015 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

1. The Mayor reported that he had made no progress toward having a park installed. He will continue to work on this.
2. The Mayor stated that he and the Solicitor had been working on the idea of installing signs at the entrance to Rush Run Park stating that the park closes at dusk. The Mayor had spoken with the Worthington Police Chief, who agreed that this was a good idea. The Police Chief stated that not every stop at the park involved drugs. The Worthington Police will work with the Village to provide the Columbus Park Department with necessary records.

Report of the Solicitor

1. The Solicitor reported that she had spoken with Tina Mohn, the Natural Resources Manager with the Columbus Parks Department, who had stated that she had never heard of problems at the park. Ms. Mohn informed the Solicitor of the steps involved in the process of putting the signs up, which involves notifying the neighbors, among other steps.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. Jim Dippel with Burgess & Niple discussed the repair to the storm sewer outfall along Olentangy. He had the OPWC application completed based on the $55K manhole option. OPWC had promised to pay 90% of the cost of construction. The total cost of the project is $91.5K, including the contingency along with the costs to Burgess & Niple, including design, bidding, administration, and inspection. This leaves $36.5K to be spent by the village. The Clerk Treasurer stated that this had not been appropriated by the village and that the Council would need to amend the appropriations to add this before the village could commit to this expenditure. Blanchard questioned how long the process would take before construction could begin and Dippel replied that he believed that it would be a matter of weeks, not months. Dippel stated that he intends to have the project ready to bid by August 17.

   The Mayor asked the Council members what they felt about this option versus the cheaper options that had been discussed. Dippel stated that he felt that the manhole option would work the best, but if they find out that this would not work during the project, they would default to the cheaper option. Schoenberger questioned whether the lower options would save the village much money, given the 90% coverage from OPWC. Dippel replied that there may be some savings from design costs, but this would not amount to much on a small project such as this one. Schoenberger asked Dippel what he felt the advantage was to pursuing the manhole option. Dippel stated that they felt that with a drop manhole, more energy would be dissipated from the water, leading to a smoother flow at the bottom and less long term erosion. Gordon stated that he would like to know what the difference would be between the manhole option and the cheaper option before deciding which to choose. Dippel agreed to bring this information to the special meeting needed for modification of the appropriations. Council agreed to schedule this special meeting for July 2th at 5:00 pm at the Mayor’s house.

2. The Street Commissioner reported that he had an estimate for the replacement of the hydrant at the corner of Falmouth and Frontenac that had been knocked down and taken. The estimate for this refurbished hydrant is $1,800. Schoenberger moved and Jones seconded the motion to approve $2,000 for purchase of this refurbished hydrant and installation .The motion carried (5-0).
3. The Street Commissioner stated that there had been problems with overloading on one of the pumps at the lift station.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. The Planning Commissioner reported that there were two reviews in the month, both of which were approved. An addition at 120 W Riverglen was approved conditional on receiving final drawings for submission to the county when they are available to make sure they match the drawings that were approved.

Report of the Marshal

1. The Mayor reported that he had received the Police report, which stated that there had been 301 checks in April and 296 checks in May. There have been a few narcotic related arrests in the past several months. The Mayor pointed out that several of the arrests had involved people with prior drug convictions from other jurisdictions. He felt that this information should be enough to justify placing signage around the entrance to Rush Run Park to close it after dark. The Web Manager asked if the village should notify residents of this crime information, and the Solicitor suggested placing a note on the web site asking residents to be aware of suspicious activity and to contact the Clerk Treasurer to receive any Police information.

   The Street Commissioner raised the idea of installing a video camera to monitor the area around the entrance to the park. Blanchard inquired if the village could install signs on its property stating that the entrance was under surveillance. The Solicitor replied that she would look into this possibility.

Report of the Web Manager

1. The Web Manager reported that she had taken the picture of the new Council member and would update the site to reflect this. She also reminded the Council members to have a separate email address set aside for correspondence on behalf of the village, as this becomes public record.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Old Business

1. Committee on Infrastructure
   The Clerk Treasurer reported that the ordinances to authorize the ballot measures for the general fund and the infrastructure bond would need to be approved at the scheduled special meeting. The Mayor asked if anyone was willing to put together talking points for distribution to residents about these two ballot issues, and Jones reported that she and the Clerk Treasurer would work on this issue and submit a proposed list to Council. Gordon asked if Council wished to address items that were not feasible options, such as readdressing annexation by Worthington, on these talking points. Jones stated that she preferred for these talking points to stick to the facts of the measures, rather than possibilities. Schoenberger raised a question about the deal that the village would have gotten under annexation by Worthington vs. the current proposals. Gordon replied that the current deal was better than the annexation plan, under which residents would have been assessed for the streets and sewers. The Street Commissioner stated that since he had lived in the Village, short term fixes were enacted to fix trouble spots with the streets and sewers and that the proposed infrastructure project would restore the village to the shape it was when the Village was first built.

   The Planning Commissioner stated that she had heard from a member of the Planning Commission that it would be a good idea for the village to upgrade its high speed internet lines while the streets were torn up, should the project be approved. The Street Commissioner stated that burying the electric lines would also be convenient but would involve significantly higher costs. Schoenberger questioned whether there was a Realtor in the village or nearby who could attest to the effect on property values from either passage or failure of the infrastructure project.

2. Codification of Ordinances
   The Clerk Treasurer reported that he had received notification from American Legal Publishing that they estimated that it would cost $3,200 to $4,000 to codify the most recent ordinances for the village. This falls under the $6,000 appropriated for the year.
3. Resolution 2015-13
   Resolution 2015-13, A Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to Sign and Submit an Application to the Ohio Public Works Commission, and Execute Contracts on Behalf of the Village to Repair Damage to Storm Sewer Outfall #2, and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by Blanchard. Jones moved and Schoenberger seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (5-0). Blanchard moved and Gordon seconded the motion to adopt this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (5-0).
4. Tax Budget
   The 2016 tax budget was submitted to Council. Jones moved and Blanchard seconded the motion to adopt the 2016 tax budget. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

New Business

1. Expenses
   Schoenberger moved and Blanchard seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditure:
   $5,022.60 – Burgess & Niple – Storm Drain collapse repair estimates

   The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items