Regular Council Meeting

May 21, 2018

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 Eric A. MacGilvray, Marc Benevento, Chad Lowe, Kathy McClintock, Ted Miller, and Josh Schoenberger. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, and Greg Bonk, Web Manager. Guests of Council were Mike Seal of Burgess & Niple and Kim Bahr. At 7:02 p.m. the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

Approval of the minutes of the regular Council meeting of April 23, 2018 was tabled because there were not enough members who were present for the April meeting in attendance to approve them.

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Lowe moved and Schoenberger seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for April 2018 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (4-0). Benevento was not yet in attendance at the time of this vote.

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor introduced Kim Bahr, a Village resident, who has been maintaining the flower beds at the Village entrances along High Street on a volunteer basis. She mentioned that there are many carpenter ants on and in the light post at High & Riverglen. She also asked about funding for additional flowers & mulch in the beds at these entrances. The Clerk-Treasurer will contact an extermination company about the ant problem. Council agreed to authorize money for maintenance of the flower beds, to be addressed in the monthly expense approvals. The Mayor thanked Ms. Bahr for her hard work in keeping the entrances looking beautiful.
  2. Mike Seal of Burgess & Niple addressed the Council with an update on the progress of the construction project. He stated that the water main installation and storm sewer repairs were complete. The next step will be installation of storm sewer lining. The project and allocation of the funding between the OWDA and OPWC are proceeding according to plans.
  3. The Mayor announced that Worthington’s Police and Fire Chiefs would be attending the June Council meeting.
  4. The Mayor stated that Ben Noonan was working on the tables to be installed in the Village Circle as part of his Eagle Scout project. It is also his goal to refinish the benches that are currently in the Circle.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor handed out information on the Ohio Sunshine Law to those in attendance in order to inform those who are new to Village government. Generally, under the Ohio Public Records Act, a “Meeting” occurs whenever there is a quorum of Councilmembers.  Since there are six Councilmembers, any time three or more meet in person, or via e-mail or social media, it is a Meeting.  A Meeting requires public notice, and that Minutes and records be kept.  Additionally, all Village functions, including but not limited to Council meetings, Committee meetings and Planning Commission meetings; are all subject to a Public Records Request.
  2. The Solicitor stated that she had sent a draft of the Social Media Policy to the Communication Committee and was collecting suggestions. There was some discussion about dividing responsibility for monitoring Village-sponsored social media between the Web Manager and Council. Council agreed that it is reasonable to allow the Web Manager to do the monitoring, since Council has the power to remove the Web Manager in the event of any actions that it finds objectionable.
  3. The Solicitor stated that there had been a question from a resident who wanted to view plans that were submitted to the Planning Commission meeting prior to the meeting, which raised questions about what is considered a public record and about the public nature of Planning Commission meetings. The Village ordinances state that Planning Commission meetings are not considered public meetings, which seems to run contrary to the Sunshine Law. The Solicitor will research this issue, and ask the prior Solicitor about the origin of this clause in the Ordinances. The Solicitor noted that the Sunshine Law and Public Records Law has expanded over time to cover more public functions.
  4. There was some discussion as to whether email addresses submitted by residents to the Communications Committee would constitute public records that could be requested under the Sunshine Law. The Solicitor will look into this issue.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner was not in attendance. The Mayor reported that the Worthington Fire Department had tested the fire hydrants in the Village and found that three hydrants were not functioning. The Street Commissioner has scheduled repairs to these hydrants.
  2. The Mayor reported that a water service line that cuts across a neighboring property at a house on Pioneer will be relocated during the construction project so that it does not do so.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

The Planning Commissioner was not in attendance. The Commission approved two COA’s in the month.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure
  2. Benevento, the Chair of the committee, reported that there was no meeting in May. The Chair reported that the project was proceeding on time and budget. He also stated that he had created a Frequently Asked Questions section on the website to deal with residents’ questions.
  3. The Chair stated that he had received a question from a resident who was planning on widening their driveway and wondered if the new apron could be made wider to fit the planned driveway. The resident will need to work with the Planning Commission and the Street Commissioner on this.

 

  1. Committee on Communications

Schoenberger, the Chair of the committee, reported that there was no meeting in the month and that he and the Solicitor would need to discuss a few items before the next meeting.

  1. Web Manager
  1. The Web Manager reviewed some changes and maintenance that he had made to the website, including publishing some meetings and updating plug-ins.

 

  1. The Web Manager requested that the Village upgrade the service level on the account, which would enable him to have more access to maintain the site and fix issues. He estimated this cost to be about $60 per year. Council agreed to authorize this upgrade, to be addressed in the monthly expense accruals.

 

  1. Resolution 2018-04

Resolution 2018-04, A Resolution to Adopt the Village of Riverlea Credit Card Policy had its second reading.

New Business

There were no new items to discuss.

Expenses

Schoenberger moved and McClintock seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:

$1,237.50 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

$763.00 – Franklin County Emergency Mgmt – 2018 proportionate share

$65.40 – Josh Mehling – Supplies & Postage

$250.00 – Flowers & mulch for entrances

$60.00 – Website hosting upgrade

The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, June 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Thomas Worthington High School.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Schoenberger moved and Lowe seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).  The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

 

ERIC A. MACGILVRAY, MAYOR

JOSHUA C. MEHLING, CLERK OF COUNCIL