VILLAGE OF RIVERLEA
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
MARCH 18, 2009

The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Worthington United Methodist Church, 600 High Street, Worthington. The following Council members were present: Mayor Mary Jo Cusack, John S. McAlearney, Kirk M. McHugh, John A. Schaer, Renee Shannon, and Rodney Tettenhorst. Also present were Pamela M. Colwell, Clerk-Treasurer, Michael Jones, Planning Commissioner, William Charles, Street Commissioner, Jody Croley Jones, Web Manager, Jean and Joe McMillan, Don Campbell, Keith Beachler Sue and Robert Ranck, and Jessie Baker. At 7:05 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

09-11

The minutes of the regular Council meeting of February 17, 2009 were not read since each member had received a copy. Schaer moved and Tettenhorst seconded a motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the confirmation: Yea, 4; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, and Tettenhorst: Nay, None. The Motion carried 4-0. Shannon was not present for the vote.

Clerk-Treasurer Report

09-12

Tettenhorst moved and Schaer seconded a motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial report for February 2009, as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 4; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer and Tettenhorst: Nay, None. The Motion carried 4-0. Shannon was not present for the vote. See Board Referral File number 09-008.

Report of the Mayor

The Mayor reported that the situation with the OSU Airport was the same. They are continuing to exclude some complaints. Regarding the EPA stimulus package, the Mayor filed for funds for the streets and infrastructure with help from Jim Dippel (Burgess & Niple). She doubted that the Village will see any stimulus money since the Village has a high median income, our streets and infrastructure are only used by residents, and the Village is not economically distressed. The Mayor discussed the MORPC stimulus package. Not everyone was happy with their choices for the stimulus money. The Street Commissioner went with the Mayor to the Board of Health/Franklin County Engineer meeting. The Street Commissioner met the County Engineer and others. Columbia Gas is asking for a rate increase. SWACO is considering taking waste from outside the district, but within Ohio, to make more money. The Mayor asked Council how she should vote on the issue. After some discussion Council said to vote no. The Mayor has some literature regarding the Metro Parks and the upcoming levy request. April 1st is the Legislative luncheon that she will attend. She asked if anyone else is interested in going that they let her know.

Report of the Solicitor

The Solicitor could not attend the meeting. There was no report.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

The Planning Commissioner reported that there was one application for a variance and certificate of appropriateness and there will be a special meeting March 23, 2009.

Report of the Marshal

In the absence of the Marshal, the Mayor reported there were 268 traffic checks, with no warnings or citations. Tettenhorst said he called the police after someone stopped by his home to solicit for money for the poor without a permit. The police dispatcher told him they had a permit. Their permit must have been from Worthington but not Riverlea.

Report of the Street Commissioner

The Street Commissioner noted that the hole on West Southington Avenue has been repaired by Columbia Gas. The bar screen for the lift station has been installed. He had received communication regarding damaged curbs from the construction on Westchester Court. He said they need to replace the driveway apron at the street but the curbs may not need to be replaced. In the future, he said the Village should document the condition of the curbs prior to construction. He would be happy to do this. He called and left a message for Decker to get a quote on pothole repair. He has not heard back yet and asked the Clerk-Treasurer to look up what it cost last time to fill the potholes. He will be meeting with Dippel (Burgess & Niple) and McAlearney regarding the EPA findings and orders so they will have the information for the April Council meeting.

Report of the Newsletter Editor

In the absence of the Newsletter Editor, the Mayor requested copy for the April Newsletter by April 5.

Report of the Web Manager

The Web Manager reported that the emails of Village officials were public record. In order to protect private emails, she recommended that Village officials should have a separate email address used only for Village business, such as gmail.

Report of Parks and Recreation

Pat Anderson and Susan Costakos-Slomka will be handling the Bunny Hop.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Jean McMillan stated she thought a leash law was a good idea. Few people are able to control a dog without a leash. She was in favor of the proposed ordinance 02-2009.

Sue Ranck felt the Village needs a good leash law and needed to get it right. She wants to have an exception for certain circumstances where a leash could not be used.

Baker liked how some residents and Council members came together to come up with the new Dogs Running at Large ordinance. She was in favor of it. She also felt that the pot holes needed to be repaired earlier and the streets need to be repaved.

The Mayor thanked the residents for their opinions.

Old Business

01-2009

Ordinance 01-2009, An Ordinance to Clarify the Permitted Uses of Single Family Residential Property in the Village was read by title for its second reading. There was no discussion.

02-2009

Ordinance 02-2009, An Ordinance to Further Regulate Dogs Running at Large Within the Village was read by title for its second reading. Tettenhorst moved to make the following amendments:

Insert “or other animals” into the title after Dogs.
(C) Remove “within sight and hearing” in the first sentence and insert “located at all times within ten feet of the owner, keeper, harborer or person having charge of the animal”
(1) Replace the entire sentence with the following: “Come,” the command, shall mean that the dog shall leave the position at which he is located and return to the handler when such command is given by said handler.

McHugh seconded the motion. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, and Tettenhorst: Nay, None. The Motion carried 5-0.

New Business

Appropriation for the Bunny Hop

09-13

Schaer moved and Shannon seconded a motion to approve the expenditure of $200 for the Bunny Hop. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, and Tettenhorst: Nay, None. The Motion carried 5-0.

Copier for the Clerk-Treasurer

09-14

The Clerk-Treasurer proposed that the Village buy a copier/printer since her personal printer is not up to the task the job requires and the many trips to Kinko’s consumes a lot of fuel and time. The cost and volume of copies and printing continue to increase each year. For copying alone the cost has been $75 or more per month (1,000 pages/mo.). The Clerk-Treasurer has not requested reimbursement for all of her expenses for printing so there is no data on it. After extensively researching the different products available, it would be in the best interest of the Village to buy or lease a quality copier/printer than to purchase an inexpensive one that required expensive consumables and would probably have a short life. Two proposals were obtained. Mid Ohio Business Machines proposed a used printer/copier at $1,100 purchase price and $468 annual maintenance contract. Capitol Copy proposed a new printer/copier at $1724 and $300 annual maintenance contract. The maintenance contracts include all parts, labor, toner, etc., except paper. The lease options were clearly more expensive and not necessary since funds are available to purchase. Schaer moved and McHugh seconded a motion to accept the Capitol Copy proposal to purchase the Savin 816MF for $1723.75 plus the annual maintenance agreement for $300, 12,000 prints per year with overages billed at $0.015 per print. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, and Tettenhorst: Nay, None. The Motion carried 5-0.

Investment/Audit Committee

09-15

The Mayor suggested it would be a good idea to include non-Council members on the Investment Committee and rename it the Investment/Audit Committee. Tettenhorst moved and McHugh seconded a motion to amend the Investment Policy to establish an Investment/Audit Committee to consist of the Mayor, the President Pro Tem of Council, the Clerk-Treasurer, and two non-Council members who are residents of the Village. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, and Tettenhorst: Nay, None. The Motion carried 5-0.

Legislative Meeting

09-16

Shannon moved and McHugh seconded a motion to approve the expenditure of not more than $100 for the Mayor to attend the Legislative Meeting. on April 1, 2009 The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, and Tettenhorst: Nay, None. The Motion carried 5-0.

2009-09

Tettenhorst introduced Resolution No. 2009-09, A Resolution of Appreciation to Daniel A. McIntyre. Tettenhorst moved and Schaer seconded a motion to adopt Resolution No. 2009-09. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, and Tettenhorst: Nay, None. The Motion carried 5-0.

Planning Commission Changes

The Planning Commissioner will establish a schedule of the dates of the Planning Commission meetings for the year along with the deadlines to file a Variance or Certificate of Appropriateness for each meeting. The Clerk-Treasurer pointed out the problem of not allowing enough time from the receipt of the application to notifying contiguous property owners and posting notices within the time period defined by law. Council wants to remove the 30 day requirement to hold a Planning Commission meeting from the time of application. Council also wants to change which property owners need to be notified for a variance. Now the ordinance states all property owners within 500 ft of, contiguous to, or directly across the street from the subject property. Council would like to change it to 2 contiguous properties and directly across the street, including the properties on each side of that property. This information will be given to the Solicitor so an ordinance can be introduced at the next council meeting. The Clerk-Treasurer with the help of the Planning Commissioner will update the application forms to make the requirements clearer. Council noted that a resident may have to wait longer to get a Certificate of Appropriateness or Variance, but this information will be posted on the kiosks, Web site and newsletter.

Next Meeting and Adjournment.

The Mayor announced that the next regular meeting of Council will be held on April 20, 2009 at 7:00 pm at Worthington United Methodist Church 600 High Street.

09-17

There being no further business, Tettenhorst moved and Schaer seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, and Tettenhorst. Nay, None. The Motion carried 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 pm.

MARY JO CUSACK, MAYOR

DAN E. OWENS, CLERK OF COUNCIL