Regular Council Meeting

November 17, 2014

The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington. Mayor Kirk M. McHugh, Michael D. Blanchard, Jeffery A. Colwell, Scott K. Gordon, Jenny D. Jones, Eric A. MacGilvray, and Jacalyn Slemmer. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, Karen McElmurray, Marshal, Michael Jones, Planning Commissioner, and Jody Croley Jones, Web Manager. At 7:02 p.m. the Mayor called the meeting to order. Carolee Noonan attended as a Guest of Council.

Minutes

  1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of October 20, 2014 were not read since each member had received a copy. Colwell moved and Jones seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0). Blanchard and MacGilvray were not yet in attendance at the time of the vote.

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

  1. Colwell moved and Jones seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for October 2014 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (4-0). Blanchard and MacGilvray were not yet in attendance at the time of the vote.

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor reported that he had received an estimate of $1,400 from Russell Tree Experts for the removal of six dead ash trees in the ravine. A resident had requested to receive the wood once the trees were removed, but this would cost the village an additional $350. Council voted to approve the expenditure of the $1,400, as shown in the expenses below.
  2. The Mayor reported that he had received a complaint from a resident about barking dogs on Westchester Ct. Colwell stated that this is occurring across the street from his residence and confirmed that the barking dogs were a nuisance. Riverlea’s noise ordinances include fines of $50 to $200 after the first warning from the Police. He also confirmed that the Police had stopped by the residence to give the residents a warning about the noise and had reiterated that any future incidences would result in fines. The Mayor said that he would call the Worthington Police to confirm what has happened with this.
  3. The Mayor stated that he had received several calls from people out of the area, as far as Oregon, calling about homes in the village. The callers had inquired about the rules & regulations of the village and he had referred the callers to the village web site for more information.
  4. The Mayor stated that he had not heard any more complaints about cars parking in yards and assumed that this meant that it was no longer an issue.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor reported that she, in conjunction with the Street Commissioner had drafted changes to the zoning ordinances for storm water regulations in response to the storm water audit that was conducted recently.
  2. The Solicitor reported that she was drafting changes to the zoning ordinances concerning who was able to appeal a Planning Commission ruling. The Mayor requested to check the previous minutes to see if this was requested by Council.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Solicitor reported on behalf of the Street Commissioner, who was not in attendance, that maintenance had been performed on the Lift Station. This was part of routine scheduled maintenance
  2. The Solicitor reported that the drain and curb work at the corner of Olentangy and Melbourne was completed.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

  1. There was no report from the Planning Commissioner. There was no Planning Commission meeting in November.

Report of the Marshal

  1. The Marshal reported that she had received the reports for August and September, but had not yet received the report for October. There were 303 checks in August and 275 in September with nothing major to report.

Report of the Web Manager

  1. The Web Manager reported that the usual pages were getting the most hits on the site, including meeting minutes for Village Council, meeting minutes for Planning Commission, and that there had been a spike in the meeting minutes for the Infrastructure Committee. Blanchard questioned whether the village was able to track who was accessing the information from the site. The Web Manager replied that we were not able to track to that level of detail, just down to ranges of IP addresses.
  2. The Mayor stated that he had received requests for event permits and questioned whether to send them to the Web Manager or the Clerk Treasurer. The Clerk Treasurer maintains these forms and information, so interested parties should go to the Clerk Treasurer’s house. Council agreed that it would be more convenient if this was also on the web site, so the Clerk Treasurer will send this form to the Web Manager to be posted.

Report of the Newsletter Editor

  1. There was no report from the Newsletter Editor

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

  1. There were no comments on agenda items

 

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure
    The Chair of the Committee reported that he had sent the Newsletter Editor an article on the upcoming options for infrastructure improvements for the Riverlea Quarterly. The next steps for the committee will be to hold a public forum for discussion on the options, but this will not be until after the publication of the Quarterly. They requested that Council members mention this situation in discussions with their neighbors so that residents will be more educated on the subject.
  2. Committee on Communications
    The Chair of the Committee reported that she had received the article from the Infrastructure Committee and that it had been submitted for layout. She is waiting to hear back as to whether there will need to be further edits to make it fit. She is hoping that the Riverlea quarterly will be distributed to residents by late December.
  3. Committee on Ordinances
    There was no report from the Chair of the Committee. Council decided to remove this item from the agenda. Colwell questioned whether the village was close to having the changes to the ordinances sent to American Legal Publishing for codification. The Solicitor replied that we had been waiting until the end of the year to send these and we will send them in January. The changes are in place and are legally binding, but have not yet been codified. The Web Manager stated that the new ordinances were available on the village website.

New Business

  1. Ordinance 04-2014
    Ordinance No. 04-2014, Annual Appropriation Ordinance (Village) for 2015 [pdf] was given the second reading.
  2. Ordinance 05-2014
    Ordinance 05-2014, An Ordinance to Approve a Modification and Realignment of Ordinance 05-2013, the Annual Appropriation Ordinance (Village) and to Declare an Emergency [pdf] was introduced by Jones. MacGilvray moved and Blanchard seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (6-0). Colwell moved and Jones seconded the motion to adopt this resolution. The motion passed unanimously (6-0).
  3. Ordinance 06-2014
    Ordinance 06-2014, An Ordinance to Amend the Zoning Regulations of the Village of Riverlea to Modify Stormwater Regulations [pdf] was introduced by the Mayor. It was given its first reading.
  4. Expenses MacGilvray moved and Jones seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:
    $1,045.00 – Radico – Lift Station maintenance
    $1,400.00 – Russell Tree Experts – Removal of dead trees

    The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

Carolee Noonan mentioned to Council that Jenny Jones had worked long and hard as Newsletter Editor, but that Jones was ready to be relieved of this position, and that Noonan was willing to assume the position, but would like to have a budget set. She would like to see if the people who had been contributing their services to the production of the Riverlea Quarterly would like to receive some sort of pay, as well as to be able to offer honoraria to non-Council members to write articles for publication. She also stated that four times a year may be a bit too often for people to submit articles and that three times a year may make more sense. She asked Council to think about what they would like to see in the Quarterly in the future.

Gordon questioned Jones as to whether she was stepping down from her role as Newsletter Editor, and Jones replied that she would like to do this, but was still willing to help whoever would take over the position. Noonan stated that another option would be to post the Newsletter Editor position for any interested resident to consider. The Web Manager stated that in the past, the village had a Communication Committee and that it may make sense to give residents an opportunity such as this to have a say.

The Web Manager stated that one option for recognizing those who contribute may be including advertising in the Quarterly, such as for the company in charge of printing. Slemmer mentioned that another option for recognition would be including a box in the Quarterly that listed those who played a part in the creation of the issue.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be December 15, 2014 at 7:00 pm at the Thomas Worthington High School.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Slemmer moved and Blanchard seconded the motion to adjourn. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). The meeting was adjourned at 7:43 pm.

 

KIRK M. MCHUGH, MAYOR

JOSHUA C. MEHLING, CLERK OF COUNCIL