May 20, 2013 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

May 20, 2013

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, Scott K. Gordon, Donald E. Griffith, Briggs W. Hamor, Jenny D. Jones and Eric A. MacGilvray, President Pro-Tem. Jon L. Ankrom was absent. Also present were Pamela M. Colwell, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, Michael Jones, Planning Commissioner, Karen McElmurray, Marshal, and Lois Yoakam, Newsletter Editor. Guests of Council were Sarah and Josh Mehling, Carolee Noonan, and Marc Benevento. At 7:00 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of April 15, 2013 were not read since each member had received a copy. Hamor moved and Gordon 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. Gordon moved and Griffith seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial report for April 2013, as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

1. The Mayor had no report.

Report of the Solicitor

1. The Solicitor had no report.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. The Commissioner reported that the Commission did not meet this month.

Report of the Marshal

1. The Marshal reported there were 295 checks and no citations.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. The Mayor gave the Street Commissioner’s report in his absence. The lift station pump could not be repaired and a replacement will cost around $750.

Report of the Newsletter Editor

1. The Editor would like copy for the Newsletter by June 5th.
2. She reported that she mailed 191 copies instead of 248 because of residents signing up for the online Newsletter.

Report of the Web Manager

1. The Web Manager reported that 22% of the residents have now signed up for the online Newsletter.
2. The website had double the number of hits in May from April.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Old Business

1. Sign Ordinance Amendment
   Ordinance No. 02-2013, An Ordinance to Amend the Sign Ordinance of the Village was given its third reading. Jones moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 02-2013. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).
2. Committee on Infrastructure
   Briggs Hamor, Chair, reported that the Committee did not meet last month and they will set a date for the next meeting soon. He will also look into why we have not received anything on the SCIP loan yet.

   Marc Benevento reported on his research into bonds. His initial finding is the amount of debt that bond issuers are willing to underwrite may be much lower than anticipated. He will contact other firms to see what they say.

3. Committee on Ordinances
   Jenny Jones, Chair, will continue the discussion of Chapter 151 recommendations at the end of the Council meeting tonight.
4. Committee on Communications
   There was no report.

New Business

1. Budget Committee meeting The Clerk-Treasurer reported that the Budget Committee needs to meet to discuss the 2014 Tax Budget. It was decided to meet June 5, 2013 at 7:00 pm at 5814 Westchester Court.
2. Expenses
   The Mayor asked Council if they wanted to authorize Sarah Mehling, Social Chair, to spend the recreation budget as needed throughout 2013 without having to come to Council for approval prior to each expenditure. Council appropriated $2,000 for recreation and there is a balance of $1751. Council asked Mehling what her plans were. Mehling said she wanted to hold crafts and games for younger kids this summer, change the July 4th picnic to a summer party July 27th, have a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot (run) and stop the Halloween party. Council objected to stopping the Halloween party but agreed that the refreshments could be changed from grilled hotdogs to something easier. They did not object to the other activities. Changing the July 4th picnic to a July summer party had been discussed before so that more people would be available to participate. Council asked Mehling to let them know of her plans throughout the year and they were willing to allow her the flexibility to spend these funds with the caution that she try to be prudent and get residents to contribute also. The Mayor said it would be nice to not spend all of the budgeted amount. Griffith moved and Gordon seconded the motion to authorize Sarah Mehling to spend up to $1751 for the social and recreation activities of the Village in 2013. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).
3. Chapter 151 Zoning
   Jenny Jones continued the presentation of the recommendations of the Committee on Ordinances for the Zoning Code. Council decided to remove landscaping as part of the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) application (section 151.068) but added hardscape plans in its place. Hardscape will replace landscape in the rest of the chapter. Council will look into scaling construction bonds to the project and review what other communities do. They expressed their concern of residents not following the COA or building without a COA. The Solicitor reminded Council that they agreed to be more aggressive in contacting Franklin County for building without a permit. The County can issue a work stop order and levy fines. Jenny Jones will compile all of the changes from the discussions and distribute them to Council for review.

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items