The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Sharon Township Hall. The following Council members were present: Mayor Dan E. Schlichting, Jeffrey Amick, Thomas Bell, Janet Heidkamp, Leah M. Pyter, Emily J. Saving, and Suzanne Surface. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, Bryce Jacob, Planning Commissioner, Leah Reibel, Solicitor, and William Charles, Street Commissioner. Guest of Council was resident Jeff Mussman. At 6:36 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the Council meeting of October 21, 2024 were not read since each member had received a copy. Saving moved and Surface seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 5, Amick, Bell, Pyter, Saving, Surface; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (5-0). Heidkamp was not yet in attendance at the time of the vote.

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Amick moved and Bell seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for October 2024 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 5, Amick, Bell, Pyter, Saving, Surface; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (5-0). Heidkamp was not yet in attendance at the time of the vote.

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor reported that Suzanne Surface had handed out hot dogs, doughnuts, and cider in the Circle Park on the evening of Halloween. The Mayor had provided speakers and music for the event as well. The Mayor stated that the event was well-attended and he had received many positive comments from residents.
  2. The Mayor reported that the Village’s Luminaries event would be held on the evening of Friday, December 20, with a rain date of Sunday, December 22. Luminaries and instructions will be distributed to residents in December.

Report of the Solicitor

The Solicitor stated that she had no additional comments besides the planned discussion on the fiduciary duties of Council members and other elected officials.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner reported that the lift station cleanout should be during the first week of December if the weather cooperates. There is minimal leaf buildup in the storm sewers due to many residents using private contractors to haul leaves from their yards.
  2. The Street Commissioner stated that he had noticed a deer carcass under a tarp in a resident’s yard. Bryce Jacob stated that it was in his yard and the deer had to be put down by the Worthington Police after getting caught in a fence and severely injured during the weekend and could not be disposed of until the following Monday.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

  1. The Planning Commissioner stated that the Commission had approved two applications for fences over the 48-inch maximum allowed height at the November meeting due to a recent case pointing out that the Village code states that fences can be allowed over this height if approved by neighbors in writing. Members of the Planning Commission are concerned that this may lead to many tall fences being installed throughout the Village and changing the aesthetics of the area. They would like to see some changes to the guidelines that would tighten these requirements. The Mayor asked if it would help if the Code called for some percentage of visibility over the 48-inch height and the Planning Commissioner stated that he couldn’t be certain, given the various opinions of Planning Commission members.

The Solicitor pointed out that the third reading of Ordinance 02-2024, which amends the zoning code of the Village, is due later in the meeting and asked if the Council should table this pending further discussion and potential revisions to the code. The Planning Commissioner stated that he felt this should be addressed in its own ordinance, given that the process will likely take time, and this will allow three readings of any potential changes before taking effect. Saving stated that she would be glad to meet with the Commission to take part in this discussion. This will be addressed at the next Planning Commission meeting.

  1. The Planning Commissioner stated that the Commission had approved a variance for an addition at 5811 Pioneers related to the addition being built past the allowed setback. This is due to the fact that the addition will be in line with the current house, which was built past the setback and grandfathered into the code. A previous version of the Planning Commission had approved a similar variance application for a project at the same house in the past.
  2. The Planning Commissioner reported that the Commission had approved the addition of a carport along a driveway at 291 Melbourne.
  3. The Planning Commissioner reported that the driveway for the new house at 5691 Olentangy is complete after some changes. The builders did not initially pour the driveway properly and used a curb cut for the driveway. After some discussions, the builders sanded and sealed the apron to comply.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on current agenda items.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

 

  1. Schlichting, the Chair of the Committee, reported that there had been no meeting in November. The Committee will review the results of the CCTV inspection of the sewer lines submitted by Burgess & Niple at the December meeting. There were no major issues uncovered with this inspection.
  2. The Chair of the Committee reported that all of the maintenance and repairs to the lift station that had been recommended by Burgess & Niple in their 2018 report had been completed. The Mayor stated that the residents of the house next to the lift station have not reported any complaints since the timer was installed in the lift station to vent it in the early morning.
  3. The Chair of the Committee stated that he and Council member Bell had replaced the cedar post on the Village entrance sign at High & Southington. They will now work to replace the post at the entrance at High & Riverglen.
  4. Pyter inquired if there was an update on the work on the bridge along W. Selby Boulevard that will require the connector at the end of Melbourne. The Mayor stated that the City of Worthington had not awarded the contract for construction until late summer and due to this timing, work will not begin until spring 2025.

 

  1. Web Manager

 

  1. The Web Manager stated that he had contacted Google and Microsoft to review their offerings of features for governments. He is continuing to research this.
  2. The Web Manager reported that the website’s SSL certificate was renewed. He is looking into using the SSL certificate that comes with the Village’s WordPress subscription rather than the freestanding version currently in use.
  3. Council member Surface pointed out that there have been several instances of members receiving spoofed emails that appear to be from Village officials, usually attempting to persuade them to send money. The Web Manager stated that there is not much that can be done to prevent this as it is easy for an email sender to change the label attached to the sender to match anyone desired. If the Village goes to a centralized hosted email service, it may do a better job to filter these out before they go to the recipient.

 

  1. Communications Committee

Pyter, the Chair of the Committee, stated that she is continuing to work with Councilmember Saving on an onboarding guide for new Council members. Saving mentioned that the Ohio Auditor’s website has a handbook for new members.

  1. Ordinance 02-2024

Ordinance 02-2024 – An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 151: Zoning Code of the Ordinances of the Village of Riverlea had its third reading. Surface moved to approve the ordinance and Pyter seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0).

  1. Ordinance 03-2024

Ordinance 03-2024 – 2025 Annual Appropriation Ordinance (Village) had its second reading.

New Business

  1. Fiduciary Responsibility and Liability of Council Members

At the October Council meeting, Councilmember Bell had inquired about any liability coverage that the village possessed on behalf of the Council members for potential litigation related to their work on behalf of the Village.  The Solicitor and Clerk-Treasurer had stated that they would review this for discussion at the November meeting. The Solicitor reminded Council members that per the Ohio Revised Code, they are considered employees of the Village and are covered by the Village’s insurance policy. The Clerk-Treasurer had distributed this policy and related language to all Council members in advance of the meeting. This policy states that employees are covered for up to $2M per act for any error or omission under their duties if they are not acting unlawfully.

  1. Worthington Deer Task Force Update

Councilmember Saving reported that she had attended the November 13 meeting of the Worthington Deer Task Force. She stated that the task force is wrapping up and will present their final recommendations at the next Worthington City Council meeting. She stated that that the group that conducted the resident surveys had reported that many comments had mentioned that the respondent lived in Riverlea. The Worthington City Council will likely take three months to approve any plan of action, then the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will use this to prepare their plan, and any action will likely be taken in late 2025. Worthington will likely reach out to Riverlea, which should have the ability to opt in to any plan between the time the plan is approved and when actions are taken.

Expenses

Amick moved and Bell seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:

$ 3,054.50 – Ohio Auditor of State – 2022-23 Audit

$    772.48 – Dan Schlichting – Lift station repairs

$    261.25 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

The motion was approved (6-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on non-agenda items.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, December 16, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Worthington Library.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Bell moved and Heidkamp seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Daniel E. Schlichting, Mayor