Regular Council Meeting

September 17, 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, Scott K. Gordon, Chad Lowe, Kathy McClintock, Ted Miller, and Leah Pyter. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, Bryce Jacob, Planning Commissioner, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, William P. Charles, Street Commissioner, and Greg Bonk, Web Manager. Guests of Council were Martin & Catherine Lanning, Joann Bierman, and Cheryl Ellecessor, as well as Jim Dippel and Mike Seal from Burgess & Niple. Monica McBee, a Stenographer from Mike Mobley Reporting, was in attendance to transcribe the Planning Commission appeal. At 7:03 p.m. the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Planning Commission Appeal

Martin and Catherine Lanning of 5743 Olentangy were in attendance at the meeting to appeal the decision of their application for a variance in the construction of a detached garage at the residence. The homeowners had requested a variance in order to place this garage 2 feet from the property line, which is less than the 10 foot setback required by the Village code. The Planning Commission had agreed to grant the variance at a 5 foot setback, as shown in the plans submitted to the Village, citing the lack of proof of hardship if the 2 foot setback was not granted.

Village code requires that the party who wishes to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision file a notice of the intent to appeal within 10 days of the Planning Commission’s decision. Because this did not occur, McClintock moved and Benevento seconded the motion to waive the requirement in this case. The motion carried (5-0). Miller was not yet in attendance at the time of this vote. Lowe then moved and Pyter seconded the motion for Council to agree to formally hear the appeal. The motion carried (5-0). Miller was not yet in attendance at the time of this vote.

The Planning Commissioner described the case and the reasoning behind the decision of the Commission to grant the setback variance at 5 feet, rather than the requested 2. Catherine Lanning then described the reasoning behind their variance request. Neighbors Cheryl Ellecessor and Joann Bierman expressed their support for the variance as requested by the Lannings. Council members then had several questions for the Lannings and the Planning Commissioner.

The Mayor reminded the Council that according to the Code, there were 3 available options: to affirm the decision of the Planning Commission at the 5 foot setback; to send the case back to the Planning Commission for further discussion at their next meeting; or to overturn the decision to grant the 5 foot variance setback, if they believed that the decision to grant this was “arbitrary or capricious, was based upon an erroneous finding of a material fact, constituted an abuse of discretion or was based upon an erroneous interpretation of the Riverlea Zoning Code or otherwise applicable law.” Given that none of these options would permit the garage to be built at the requested 2 foot setback and the urgent need to begin construction so it could be completed in a timely basis, the Lannings agreed to abide by the 5 foot setback as decided by the Planning Commission.

Construction Update

Mike Seal of Burgess & Niple addressed Council on the status of the infrastructure construction. He stated that the curb work would continue throughout the Village and that they were about to schedule the chlorination of the new water lines. Work on the removal and replacement is also to be scheduled soon, but is dependent on the water line switchover, as there were concerns about the weight of the construction equipment on the old water lines. At this point, the project is on schedule to be completed by the end of November.

Minutes

The minutes of the regular Council meeting of August 20, 2018 were not read since each member had received a copy. The Web Manager noted that he was not listed in the minutes though he had been in attendance. McClintock moved and Miller seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer with the above change. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yes: 5 – Benevento, Gordon, McClintock, Miller, & Pyter; No: 0; Abstain: 1 – Lowe. The motion carried (5-0-1).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Benevento moved and Lowe seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for August 2018 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor mentioned that he had heard from a resident who had been ticketed from Worthington Police for parking on the street outside her house, due to the fact that her house is located in an intersection. The layout of this particular intersection, at Southington and Crescent, is such that there are several houses considered to be in the intersection. The Street Commissioner noted that there are several “No Parking” signs in the area due to this fact. The Solicitor will research if there are any options for handling this situation.
  2. The Mayor stated that he had received an estimate from Kevin Masters Arborists to conduct the remediation of the damage done to trees throughout the Village from the construction project. The contractor has agreed to be responsible for covering the costs of this treatment. Benevento moved and McClintock seconded the motion to authorize the Village to pay up to $19,730 from the general fund to cover this treatment and then receive credit from the contractor for these costs. The motion carried (6-0).
  3. The Mayor mentioned that he had heard from parents in the Village who are interested in adding an additional bus stop within the Village. This would likely be located somewhere in the southwest part of the Village. The Mayor is speaking with the school district about how to add this stop.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor stated that she had prepared a new public records request form. This will assist the Village in handling these requests and responding in the manner required by law.
  2. The Solicitor noted that in light of the Planning Commission appeal, the Village should have a Notice to Appeal form to make available to residents who wished to appeal these decisions. She will work on drafting such a form.

Report of the Street Commissioner

There was no report from the Street Commissioner.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

  1. The Planning Commissioner reported that the Commission had approved a COA request for a patio addition at the September meeting.
  2. Gordon had a question for the Planning Commissioner on the pool that was being installed on Southington. The Planning Commissioner stated that this had been approved by the Commission, with the inclusion of a lockable cover for the pool replacing the need for taller fencing around the pool. The addition of landscaping, which was to be planted soon, would add to the privacy of this pool.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure
  1. Benevento, the Chair of the committee, reported that there was no meeting in August, but that he had met with Burgess & Niple and the contractor about several issues that have been reported from residents with the construction project, including cleaning up the storage area, moving the dumpsters, and concerns about driveway widths.

 

  1. The Chair stated that there had been questions from residents on the regrading of lots with the new curb heights. Lots will be regraded at the completion of the project.

 

  1. Committee on Communications

Gordon, the Chair of the committee, stated that there was no meeting held in September, but that at the next meeting, the committee planned to discuss several issues, including the possibility of bringing back a resident directory for distribution and the possible removal of kiosks from residents’ yards.

  1. Web Manager
  1. The Web Manager reported that the web site had 100% up time during the month of August

 

  1. The Web Manager reported that he had made some changes to the web site, including the addition of the email address and additional information for new Council member Leah Pyter and updates to the Street Commissioner page.

New Business

  1. Resolution 2018-09

Resolution 2018-09, A Resolution Accepting the Amounts and Rates as Determined by the Budget Commission and Authorizing the Necessary Tax Levies and Certifying them to the County Auditor and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by McClintock. McClintock moved and Miller seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the resolution in order to submit this to the county Auditor in a timely manner. The motion passed (6-0). Pyter moved and McClintock seconded the motion to approve of the resolution. The motion passed (6-0).

Expenses

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

– $825.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

– $135.66 – Josh Mehling – Planning Commission meeting transcription

– $ 56.26 – Josh Mehling – Postage

– $ 28.78 – Fireproof – Planning Commission record retrieval

– Up to $500.00 – Mike Mobley Reporting – Planning Commission appeal Court

Reporter attendance & transcription

The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Thomas Worthington High School.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Miller moved and McClintock seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).  The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m.

 

ERIC A. MACGILVRAY, MAYOR

JOSHUA C. MEHLING, CLERK OF COUNCIL