November 15, 2010 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

November 15, 2010

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 Mary Jo Cusack, Jon L. Ankrom, Scott K. Gordon, Donald E. Griffith, Briggs W. Hamor (arrived at 7:10 p.m.), Eric A. MacGilvray and Kirk M. McHugh. Also present were Pamela M. Colwell, Clerk-Treasurer, Steven W. Mershon, Solicitor, William P. Charles, Street Commissioner, Karen McElmurray, Marshal and Lois Yoakam, Newsletter Editor. Guest of Council was Jim Dippel with Burgess & Niple. At 7:05 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of October 18, 2010 were not read since each member had received a copy. MacGilvray moved and Ankrom 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. MacGilvray moved and Griffith seconded a motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial report for October 2010, as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

1. The Mayor thanked Hamor and MacGilvray for their work in helping to get the levy passed.
2. She also thanked the Street Commissioner for doing an excellent job of handling the lift station overflow situation so well that the EPA considers the matter closed and there were no fines. The Village is fortunate to have someone so capable and responsible.
3. MORPC is conducting a survey regarding the taxes paid to municipalities through the Local Government Fund. MORPC and OML are lobbying to keep the state from taking those funds. The Village receives approximately $25,000 from that fund and it would be a significant loss if the state kept that money.
4. The Mayor reported that she is pleased with the street work. She was misquoted in The Dispatch but she decided to not make an issue of it since probably few read it.
5. Regarding the Worthington annexation issue, she would like to have McHugh and Gordon accompany her to meet with Matt Greeson, Worthington City Manager. We need to find out what Worthington would want from us. She would like Council to discuss this more at the end of the meeting and Council agreed.
6. The Mayor asked Council if they were interested in increasing street bonds to ensure compliance for zoning and building issues. Most residents post cash for the street bond. However, a bond can be obtained through some insurance companies but the Village would have to sue to get any money. McHugh was in favor of the increase so the Village would be able to use it to enforce compliance by residents or to cover the costs of damages from non-compliance, such as paying to put in a driveway approach correctly. Ankrom said there needed to be more information on the bonds so residents would know their options. Council said an information sheet explaining the bond and providing a list of companies that provide bonds could be made available to residents. Also, if the street bond was increased, a bond from an insurance company would help residents who did not have the cash to post. Council agreed that there was a need to determine whether bonds would assist the Village to obtain compliance with ordinances. After some discussion, Council decided that they wanted the Solicitor to look into this and provide information and some suggestions in changes to ordinances for the next meeting.
7. The Mayor asked Hamor what he found out about the flag poles. Hamor reported that having two flags on the same pole was too long for the post. There could be two poles per post but there was a question about the strength of the post. Council decided he could buy two flag poles with brackets for the front entrances – one for each entrance. The new flag poles will be attached higher on the posts to avoid being torn by the lanterns.
8. The Mayor thanked Becky Bisenius and Chad Saucedo for purchasing two new flags for the front entrances.
9. Lt. Mosic called to tell her about crimereports.com that the residents may be interested in suggested that this was something that Council may want to look at and clarify.

Report of the Solicitor

1. There was no report. He will make his comments throughout the meeting.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. There was no report. The Clerk reported that the Planning Commission was supposed to meet in November but only two members came to the meeting. In order to assist the resident in getting her new driveway completed in a timely manner, the Commissioner approved the certificate of appropriateness for a paver driveway. Council discussed the issue of trying to expedite maintenance requests. The Solicitor would like to identify what authority the Planning Commissioner has so we do not have a problem when he says no. Also, Council would have the opportunity to decide what requires an application and what does not.

Report of the Marshal

1. The Marshal reported 276 patrol checks with no citations or written warnings.
2. She asked what her legal responsibility was regarding the sign ordinance. Council discussed the problem of enforcing the sign ordinance. Signs in the Village’s right-of-way could be removed by the Marshal but not the signs on a resident’s property. Council said she should talk to the resident first and then follow with a letter. The Solicitor asked the Marshal to call him so they could discuss the particulars of a case so he could advise her about it. He suggested that Council may want to review the sign ordinance to see if they want to make it less restrictive.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. The Commissioner reported on the lift station overflow. He had provided Council with a written report prior to the meeting. Grease accumulation around the pumps made it impossible for the pumps to operate. Radico responded promptly and the EPA showed up while they were taking care of the problem. The problem was fixed and the EPA was satisfied.
2. He is working on the flow monitoring system and expects it to be running by Thanksgiving.

Jim Dippel (Burgess & Niple) Report

1. Dippel reported that the street maintenance was completed except for a low spot on Olentangy Boulevard. It will be patched soon but the sealing won’t be done until spring. He suggested the Clerk-Treasurer withhold $2,500 from the American Pavement invoice until it is fixed. Louis McFarland discussed this with American Pavement and they are fine with it.
2. The sewer inspection report has been completed and 2 copies given to the Street Commissioner. This is just part of the SSES (Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study). This is the manhole inspections and sewer televising. The final SSES will be completed in two years.
3. The SSES contract amount was over by $1531.46 due to having to locate and dig up manholes in residents’ backyards since the Village does not have the staff to do this. He asked Council to approve it.

Report of the Newsletter Editor

1. The Editor would like copy for the Newsletter by December 5.
2. She thanked Hamor for providing an article for last month.
3. She reported that most of the directory responses have been to add email addresses.

Report of the Web Manager

1. There was no report.
2. MacGilvray thought it would be a good idea to have the levy information on the home page of the web site. Everyone agreed. The Mayor will contact the Web Manager about it.

Report of Parks and Recreation

1. There was no report. The Mayor stated that the Halloween party went well.

Report on Safe Routes to School Committee

1. Hamor reported that he is waiting for feedback before setting up another walk.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

1. There were no comments on agenda items.

Old Business

1. Planning Commission Violations
   Since the Planning Commissioner was not at the meeting, Council postponed discussing this until the next Council meeting.
2. Tree Work Estimates for the Ravine
   McHugh reported that the Charter Oaks estimate was very detailed but the Davey estimate was vague. After looking at the situation, he wanted Council to decide if it would be better to wait until spring to do the work and would they want to add the dead pine in the Circle to be removed? The trees did not look like they posed a hazard to residents. Ankrom moved and Hamor seconded a motion to authorize the expenditure of up to $4000 to remove dead trees and clean up the trees in the ravine and circle. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
3. Ordinance No. 03-2010
   Ordinance No. 03-2010, Annual Appropriation Ordinance was read by title for its second reading. There were no comments

New Business

1. Resolution No. 2010-28
   McHugh introduced Resolution 2010-28, A Resolution Authorizing the Mayor of the Village of Riverlea, Ohio to Contract with the City of Worthington, Ohio and the Worthington Police Department to Provide Services in the Village and Declaring an Emergency. McHugh moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to suspend the three readings. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). McHugh moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to adopt Resolution 2010-28 and declare an emergency. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
2. Christmas Wreaths
   McHugh will donate three wreaths this year for the front entrances.
3. Payment of Bills
   Griffith moved and Hamor seconded the motion to authorize the expenditure of up to $80 for Village business checks. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). Hamor moved and McHugh seconded the motion to authorize the additional payment of $1,531.46 to Burgess & Niple for the SSES Yr 2 contract. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). McHugh moved and Ankrom seconded the motion to authorize the expenditure of $1288.75 for Radico invoice 54885. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). McHugh moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to authorize the expenditure of up to $1750 to American Legal Services for updating the Village’s code. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). Ankrom moved and Hamor seconded the motion to authorize the expenditure of $234 for the 2011 Ohio Municipal League dues. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). McHugh moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to authorize the payment to American Pavements, Inc. for $197,447.00 less $2,500 that will be held until the Street Commissioner has approved a repair on Olentangy Boulevard. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). Griffith moved and Hamor seconded the motion to authorize the payment to American Pavements, Inc. for $700 for pothole repair. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
4. Annexation to Worthington Discussion
   The Mayor stated there were three possible scenarios: dissolve and become part of Sharon Township, annex to Columbus or annex to Worthington. In 1980 Worthington tried to dissolve Sharon Township but could not because there were two municipalities in it. So people need to be aware that the township could be dissolved if Riverlea is no longer a municipality. The Solicitor stated that without a commercial tax base, most cities do not want to annex residential areas that add to the services they need to provide. And the Mayor pointed out we still need to spend a few million dollars to redo the streets and curbs. The two foot easement would no longer exist and roads could be connected to come through Riverlea. She proposes that Gordon and McHugh go with her to meet with the Worthington City Manager, Matt Greeson. McHugh thought it would be best to include a resident at this meeting. Gordon disagreed. He stated this was a fact finding meeting and he could keep an open mind. MacGilvray wants to know all of the options available. This way he would be able to answer all questions that would come up during discussions. Griffin asked about the time frame. The Solicitor responded that, depending on the timing of upcoming elections, it could take about a year to a year and a half to get this to the voters after Council was presented with a proper petition. The Mayor said an expert evaluation would be needed and beneficial but could be costly. McHugh said that we need to be able to tell residents the steps and costs involved when evaluating annexation, including the advantages and disadvantages. Gordon wants to find out if Worthington has any interest first. If they say no, then there is no use continuing.

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

Next Meeting Announcement

Adjournment

MARY JO CUSACK, MAYOR

M. COLWELL, CLERK OF COUNCIL