September 19, 2011 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

September 19, 2011

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, Eric A. MacGilvray and Kirk M. McHugh, President Pro-Tem. Also present were Pamela M. Colwell, Clerk-Treasurer, Steven W. Mershon, Solicitor, Lois Yoakam, Newsletter Editor, Karen McElmurray, Marshal and Jim Dippel with Burgess & Niple. Guests of Council are on the attached sheet. At 7:00 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Worthington Police Chief James Mosic

1. Chief Mosic spoke about his goal of establishing partnerships between the police and the community. One way to do this is to have a Block Watch program. He would like some Riverlea residents to establish one in the Village. Training would be provided and a community service officer would be assigned to provide current information such as crime alerts and to answer questions. The Block Watch representatives do not have to patrol but will be the point of contact for the Police to provide information. This is one way we can keep our crime rate low.
2. Another way of partnering is the SALT (Senior and Law Enforcement Together) program with Griswold Center. They are trying to identify the seniors living in the area and assessing their needs in order to provide them with security information or other resources so they can stay in their homes.
3. Marshal McElmurray asked if she should be the primary contact in the Village for the police. Chief Mosic apologized and said he was not sure of the Marshal’s duties since they have not been defined in the past. He will discuss this with her and Mayor Cusack.
4. The Worthington Police will hold an open house on October 9, 2011

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of August 15, 2011 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 (6-0).

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 August 2011, as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
2. The Budget/Investment Committee needs to meet before the October Council meeting to draft the 2012 appropriation ordinance and to review the investment policy. It was agreed to meet at 5814 Westchester Court on September 27, 2011 at 7:00 pm

Report of the Mayor

1. The Mayor reported that the EPA has contacted the builder of the new home on Crescent Court regarding the mud running down into the storm sewers. She was not the one who reported it.
2. She still sees signs in violation of our ordinance and says the vacant lot being sold on Southington is in violation. The Marshal called the owner of the sign but received no response and asked what to do next. The Solicitor suggested that the nice thing to do would be to send a letter. There was some discussion regarding the violator’s repeated lack of respect for the law and residents. The Solicitor pointed out that Council must make a motion to move a sign before it can be moved. Gordon stated that there must be consistency in enforcing our laws and not base it on someone’s past history with the Village. No action was taken at this time.
3. The Mayor noted a recent Ohio Supreme Court decision on riparian rights may be good for the residents along the river.
4. The Candidates’ night is October 18th and she is going to speak about not annexing to Worthington.

Report of the Solicitor

1. The Solicitor reported that he is working with Ankrom regarding an issue between two neighbors.
2. He reminded Council that the Conditions of Annexation need to be posted by the Clerk-Treasurer (she has done this) and they need to be mailed to registered voters. Council may want to decide what to include in that mailing. The Clerk-Treasurer provided the letter, the Commission on Annexation Report and the Conditions in the meeting packet. The letter is a joint letter from Worthington and Riverlea explaining why voters are receiving this mailing. The Clerk-Treasurer explained that Worthington is sharing the cost of the printing and mailing with the Village but if Council wants something different, then we would not be able to do that. Council agreed with the information Worthington is mailing, including the joint letter.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. There was no report. The Planning Commission did not meet in August.

Report of the Marshal

1. The Marshal reported there were 256 checks with no citations or warnings.
2. She contacted two residents regarding sign violations and a contractor regarding the mess they were making in the street. The contractor cleaned up the street. There was also an issue of trash being put out too early at the apartments on Riverglen.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. The Commissioner was out of town, so Jim Dippel, Burgess & Niple, discussed the options for repairing the street in front of 138 Riverglen. Three options were given, plus some additional street repairs. Council will need to decide which to do.
2. The initial sanitary sewer flow monitoring went well overall so that testing and remediation may not be as extensive as originally thought. By doing the final SSES report now it will save a lot of money. The EPA will still have to approve the report. MacGilvray asked if the $650,000 estimate for the sewer repairs was still valid or was more money needed. Dippel said he did not think it would be even that much but, until the data has been analyzed, he will not know for certain

Report of the Newsletter Editor

1. The Editor would like copy for the Newsletter by October 5.

Report of the Web Manager

1. There was no report.

Report of Parks and Recreation

1. There was no report.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

1. There were no comments on agenda items.

Old Business

1. There was no old business.

New Business

1. Expenses
   Griffith moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to authorize the expenditure of up to $350 for the mailing of the conditions of annexation to registered voters. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).

   MacGilvray moved and Hamor seconded the motion to authorize the expenditure of up to $300 for the Halloween party. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).

2. Burgess & Niple contract amendment
   McHugh moved and MacGilvray seconded the motion to approve the Burgess & Niple 2011 SSES Year 3, flow monitoring Amendment No. 1 contract for the expenditure of up to $29,000. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
3. Resolution No. 2011-08
   Gordon introduced Resolution No. 2011-09, 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 Police Services in the Village. The resolution was read by title for the first reading. There was no discussion
4. Resolution No. 2011-10
   Ankrom introduced Resolution No. 2011-10, Resolution to Provide for the Removal of Ice and Snow from the Streets of the Village of Riverlea. Gordon moved to suspend the three readings of Resolution No. 2011-10 and MacGilvray seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). MacGilvray moved and Gordon seconded the motion to adopt Resolution No. 2011-10. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
5. Ordinance No. 03-2011
   Hamor introduced Ordinance No. 03-2011, An Ordinance to Approve the Modification and Realignment of Ordinance 03-2011, The Annual Appropriation Ordinance (Village). The Clerk-Treasurer stated that some of the item amounts were changing to meet current needs but the total amount appropriated for the General Fund was not changed. MacGilvray moved and Hamor seconded the motion to suspend the three readings Ordinance No. 03-2011. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). MacGilvray moved and Griffith seconded the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 03-2011. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
6. Street Repair
   Council discussed all of the options presented for the street repair. It was decided to not spend a lot of money to repair the street in front of 138 Riverglen and the Street Commissioner would need to determine if any other repairs were needed. Council understood that if additional repairs are needed, then it would be more cost effective to get them all done at the same time. Dippel said they could delay the Riverglen repair until the Street Commissioner was able to evaluate other areas for repair but it was late in the season and we could run out of time to get it done. Ankrom moved and McHugh seconded the motion to approve the expenditure of $1,180 for the option 3 street repair in front of 138 Riverglen. The Street Commissioner can delay the repair work until he has time to review other areas for possible repair and present them at the next Council meeting. If he determines no other areas need repair, then he can have the repair done now. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

Forum on Annexation

Next Meeting Announcement

Adjournment

MARY JO CUSACK, MAYOR

M. COLWELL, CLERK OF COUNCIL