Invocation was given by: Sister Joan Rader, P.O. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of Minutes – December 3, 2007
Copley moved to approve, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

Workshop - None

Citizens Forum - No comments

Old Business - None

New Business

a. Motion to Appoint Raynor Shook to the City Records Commission as the
Archivist
Lapehn so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

b. Motion to Appoint Jon Lance to the Planning Commission for Another 3
Year Term
Beaumont so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

c. Motion to Appoint Steve Johnson to the Planning Commission for a 3
Year Term
Carey so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

d. Motion to Appoint Keely Dreher to the Civil Service Commission for
Another 6-Year Term
Johnson so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

e. Motion to Appoint Jon Lance to the Fair Housing Board for Another 3
Year Term
Lapehn so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

f. Motion to Appoint Isaac Rufener, Jr. to the Recreation & Parks Advisory
Committee for Another 2-Year Term
Russell so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

g. Motion to Appoint Harold Laurila to the Wayne County Health Advisory
Council as the City of Rittman Representative for another 3-Year Term
Copley so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

h. Res. No. 7471 A Resolution of the Council of the City of Rittman, Wayne
and Medina Counties Ohio, Authorizing the Finance Director to Request Advance Payment on Current Collection of Real Estate Taxes Due of Said City from the Wayne County Auditor. Three Readings.
Res. No. 7471 was read on first reading.
Beaumont inquired as to the reason we make this request.
Finance Director Mann advised if they don’t request advance payment they have to wait until the county was completely done with their property tax collection before the city could get any of its money. Mann advised if they request the money, the county sends it to the city in four separate disbursements otherwise they just hold it.
Copley moved to suspend the rules and have second and third reading, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.
Res. No. 7471 was read on second and third reading. Russell moved to adopt, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

i. Res. No. 7472 A Resolution of the Council of the City of Rittman, Wayne
and Medina Counties Ohio, Authorizing the Finance Director to Request Advance Payment on Current Collection of Estate Taxes Due of Said City from the Wayne County Auditor. Three Readings.
Res. No. 7472 was read on first reading. Johnson moved to suspend the rules and have second and third reading, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried. Res. No. 7472 was read on second and third reading. Russell moved to adopt, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

j. Discussion of an Ordinance Regulating Traffic Control for Contractors
Working on City Streets Russell indicated he would like this issue looked into because he felt it could be a hazard during the time contractors were working if a flagger wasn’t used to help move the traffic through the construction site safely. Russell cited the current contractors working on Sunset Drive installing the gas line.
Boggs agreed and advised he felt there should be something regulating (contractors) on a through street. He advised those contractors currently were taking up almost a whole block and the driver was at their mercy and another vehicle could be coming and you wouldn’t see it until you were halfway through (the construction site). Boggs advised he believed these contractors were just trying to “save a few bucks” by not having a flagger. He advised he could do a little research to find out whether or not other cities have an ordinance regulating such.
Mayor Robertson inquired if an ordinance was required or if it was something the police could request of the contractors.
Boggs advised we probably could talk with them, but he felt there would be “more teeth in it” if they had some type of ordinance. Boggs advised normally they would have a permit and they could have attached such to the permit, but in this case the contractors have a standing bond with the city so they were not required to come in for a permit each time. Boggs advised the city did receive notification they were going to be doing this work, but there was no permit issued. Boggs advised he did have a discussion with them as the city was concerned with how they (Columbia Gas) were going to be laying the pipe. Boggs advised he could do some research and find out if other cities were doing anything similar and if not they could look at doing something and make a recommendation to Council if they wished.
Russell advised he felt if they had something (in writing) then if and when people contracted to work here it would be with the understanding they would be required to provide it (a flagger) upfront and we wouldn’t have a problem later. Russell advised he noticed (the workers) were scattered (on Sunset) from Ritter all the way down to Terrace with their equipment and there was dirt in part of the lane and at Terrace there was a tractor on each side, which really “cramped in” the traffic. Russell advised he was concerned there would be a bad accident.
Beaumont advised he knew that when companies such as oilrigs or such were working in the county or townships they had to clean up any mud left on the street. Beaumont inquired if the city had an ordinance stating (these contractors) have to clean the road.
Bower advised yes.
Boggs advised they would look into it and propose something to Council.

k. Discussion of an Ordinance Regulating Fencing in a Commercial or
Industrial District
Russell advised the bar on South Main Street (BG’s Main Event) put up a fence right next to the sidewalk and put a tarp inside the fenced area and he felt it looked really bad. Russell advised he felt they needed to have some type of control on what was being “put up”. Russell advised the (residential districts) have to get approval (for fencing) and he didn’t know if this business did the same or just “put it up” on their own. Russell advised he felt it was pretty shabby looking out on the main street.
Discussion included the reasoning for such was most likely due to allowing outdoor smoking.
Boggs advised to his knowledge no one came into City Hall to get a permit. Boggs advised they researched the ordinances and they could find nothing regulating fencing in commercial or industrial districts.
Russell inquired as to what was done with Mr. Snell. Russell advised he realized that (Snell) built bigger than he was supposed to and the city made him take it down.
Boggs advised that (incident) was a residential district.
Russell advised he felt there should be something they could do to act on this particular problem.
Bower advised our current zoning does not regulate fences in a commercial district.
Russell advised then we probably needed to take a look at it.
Copley inquired if they would want to regulate the other commercial/industrial districts as well. He advised down the street from BG’s was another bar (Dom’s), which has a fence the same size.
Johnson advised as well as the VFW.
Russell advised and if we get fences all the way down Main Street it was going to get pretty interesting. Russell advised he felt they did need to take a look at it, as it didn’t look “kosher” to him.
Mayor Robertson advised there had to be some risk to regulating such as well.
Johnson advised if we regulate it then everyone who already has such a fence would be grandfathered.
Robertson agreed and advised we can’t change what was already there.
Russell advised maybe not, but there might be other people wanting to do it.
Beaumont inquired if it was a permanent structure, as he thought it was going to be temporary.
Robertson advised it looked permanent with fence posts and a stockade style fence.
Russell advised he thought they needed to do some research to see if the city could do something about, as he felt they needed to pass some type of ordinance so this wouldn’t happen in the future. Russell advised if we don’t have one then let’s make one.
Carey advised there should be some type of guideline as to what type of fence or how tall it could be like the residential districts.
Russell advised there should be some way they could challenge it, as it was right onto the sidewalk.
Carey advised but (BG’s) weren’t against any ordinance currently.
Copley inquired if it was a C-2 (Central Business) district.
Boggs advised actually it was a (M-3) Mixed Industrial district. Boggs advised there was absolutely nothing on (regulating) fences other than residential (districts).
Lapehn advised with industrial zoning the company with backhoes and other equipment out front was a necessity for his business.
Robertson indicated he wasn’t sure they wanted to start requiring permits as that could become (cumbersome).
Boggs advised he didn’t feel permitting was the issue as much as he wasn’t sure how they would do the ordinance. He advised it would depend on what they were planning on doing and he was kind of surprised they didn’t have any inquiries and to his knowledge no one inquired at City Hall.
Carey advised since the tarp wasn’t a permanent structure a permit was probably not required anyhow.
Boggs advised his guess was the tarp was going to be there indefinitely.
Beaumont advised it was kind of surprising as this business had done a lot of improvements and really made it look nice.
Boggs advised yes and he (the owner) took away from that (improvement) and it was all hid now.
Copley advised he heard mention that it was being used for outdoor smoking, but he didn’t believe that would be a legitimate use either.
Johnson advised normally when a business such as this puts up a fence it was to get around the drunk in public “thing” because they were behind the fence and not out in public.
Boggs advised he could call the owner and see what his intentions were and bring it back to Council.
Russell advised he believed everyone knew how he felt about it.
Robertson advised he didn’t believe they could do anything with what already exists, but did they want to do something about future issues (of this nature).

l. Discussion of an Ordinance Regulating Publications Being Strewn About
the City
Russell advised he has had a lot of complaint calls about The Trading Post newspapers being thrown on the curb or in the lawn. Russell advised these people want their papers, but they don’t want to have to go all the way out to the street to pick their paper up. Russell advised he believed they needed to take some steps (toward resolving) this, as he believed the Wooster paper and the Akron paper make their deliveries to the door. Russell advised we were allowing people to throw things on the street and curbs and he felt it wasn’t fair to give someone else a ticket for littering and yet we were allowing a business to do the same thing all over the city. Russell advised he didn’t know what the answer was, but he didn’t know why the paper was doing it and he hasn’t talked to him, but with the complaints and the looks of the city he felt they needed to make a “clean approach”. Russell advised in the spring he was sure they would have to drive around and clean the city up, but we need to start now so people were aware of what was going on.
Robertson advised he has heard complaints as well, but he was at a loss as to what they could do.
Copley advised he received a number of complaints and researched it a little bit. He advised he couldn’t find anyway to force them to deliver it where people would want it. He advised he found a number of cases where cities tried to limit them and it was shot down in a number of cases he believed.
Russell inquired if Mr. Bower had any recommendations as to what could be done or if there was an ordinance Council could pass.
Bower advised he tended to agree with (Copley), as it would probably be an infringement on first amendment rights.
Russell advised then we were telling people they could just throw litter all over town.
Bower advised playing devils advocate…these people would say they were not really littering, but delivering a paper as a service to distinguish it from littering.
Robertson advised The Post would take you off their delivery list if you call.
Russell advised some people said they called and (delivery) was stopped for a couple weeks, but it was being dropped off again. He advised he went out one Sunday and picked his up and about two hours later he saw he had a second delivery along with others on his street. He advised he just felt they were doing things that the city doesn’t need.
Johnson advised he was told (The Post) were getting rid of all their walking routes and (the papers) were suppose to be at the end of each driveway, but the problem was some of them don’t make it to the end of the driveway and were out in the middle of the road and there could be one neighbor who hasn’t collected his in five weeks and had a stack of them.
Russell advised people have been saying they weren’t going to pick them up and by spring we would have a big issue. He advised he was cleaning his neighbor’s driveway and he got a whole wad of them stuck up in his snow blower. Russell advised if people aren’t picking them up, by spring we were going to have issues all over town.
Robertson suggested calling Bruce Trogdon of the paper and expressing their displeasure.
Boggs advised he has done that as he received several complaints as well. He advised he noticed the previous week in the publishers comments there was mention of the phones would now be answered on delivery day. Boggs advised if there was a complaint or a problem a resident could now call in. Boggs advised he was told the same thing that if you want off the delivery list they would take you off. Boggs advised the other problem was for whatever reason people weren’t picking the paper up, as there were several driveways, which had multiple papers. Boggs advised in his opinion, although he wouldn’t want to do this, but he felt it was a violation of littering although he knew they would get into an argument as to who created it.
Lapehn advised he knew the Akron Beacon Journal on occasion sends out a free section and it ends up in the same place in his driveway as the Trading Post. Lapehn advised the Daily Record sends out a free section on occasion and it ends up on the ground by his mailbox or in the driveway. He advised he felt they couldn’t target something like that because it wasn’t just the Trading Post.
Russell advised they (The Post) were the only ones he has noticed and he felt delivery of the Akron and Wooster papers wasn’t a problem as he didn’t see that many scattered all over town. Russell advised some were given two (Post) papers in their driveway.
Lapehn advised in his driveway, all (free publications) end up in the same spot and he felt it was his job to pick them up and throw them away.
Carey advised the difference with the other (publications) being delivered directly to the porch was that you (the customer) pay for the service.
Copley advised they created an ordinance saying whom the trash bags belonged to when residents were putting them out too early and he inquired if there was anything they could do with the argument of who the paper belonged to, as obviously it wasn’t the homeowner or the person living there that was creating the mess.
Bower inquired if he was suggesting they make the publisher or the paper culpable or liable.
Copley advised something to that effect yes.
Bower advised he supposed they could look at the littering ordinance and either file some charges and let municipal court decide it or get an opinion from the Prosecutor’s office.
Johnson advised the resident isn’t paying for the paper so he felt it was obviously their (the paper’s) property until the resident picked it up and if no one picked it up it should remain The Trading Post’s responsibility. He advised they were giving it to us, but we don’t have to receive it.
Beaumont inquired if Boggs had spoke with Bruce (Trogdon) about this (situation).
Boggs advised he has corresponded with him through e-mail. He advised he received calls and he knew Russell had several calls and had called him and they had quite a few people come into City Hall to complain. Boggs advised he wasn’t sure what to do about it because he would hate to cite the press and inquired if they would be infringing upon their rights to some extent. Boggs advised if you get into the situation where you were going to try to make the homeowner responsible, we all know how well that was going to “go down”.
Beaumont inquired if they (the newspaper) said why they were doing it differently.
Boggs advised he believed they had a large problem with hiring kids who were undependable and they just decided to have motor routes only with adults. Boggs advised with a motor route it would be too much of a pain to drive up each driveway and place them at the front door.
Beaumont advised obviously the intent was to just throw them as they were now in plastic bags (to protect against the weather) and the paper would still be dry when it was picked up.
Boggs advised (Trogdon) claimed they didn’t have any complaints in Medina where they have been doing this for quite some time.
Russell advised he noticed they were doing the same thing in Creston.
Boggs advised maybe it would make a difference if they threw them up farther into the driveway. He advised right now they were right at the end of the drive and they get kicked or blown into the street.
Beaumont advised he would think those who bought advertising space would complain that a number of people weren’t seeing the paper because it was just being thrown. He advised advertising space was expensive and if people weren’t receiving it and reading the ads (they might not advertise with them).
Boggs inquired as to how many were still receiving complaint calls, as he hasn’t heard any recently.
Russell advised he has as he ran into people this week who complained to him. He advised they want the paper, but they don’t want it in their driveway or lawn or sidewalk or street. He advised he didn’t know what the answer was, but he felt maybe they were allowing something here that they don’t allow others to do.
Boggs advised he thought maybe they could pass an ordinance making them put up delivery boxes.
Russell advised he received a complaint that people had the boxes to put them in and they were still ending up in the driveway or the street. Russell advised he didn’t know what Wadsworth does (about this situation) as he hasn’t talked to anyone in Wadsworth. Russell advised he felt they needed to make some kind of a statement regarding those being thrown out there (at the driveway).
Boggs inquired if they wanted him to draft a letter to him (Bruce Trogdon) on behalf of Council.
Russell advised that would be a start and see what his response was. Russell advised he agreed with Copley that it went on the same lines as the guy putting his garbage bags out in the middle of the week, but there was a case where we know who they belonged to.

m. Motion to Go Into Executive Session for the Purpose of Discussing a
Personnel Matter and Invite the City Manager - 7:35 p.m. –
Russell so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

n. Motion to Come Out of Executive Session – 7:59 p.m. –
Johnson so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

City Manager’s Remarks
City Manager Larry Boggs indicated there was a letter prepared for Council’s signatures necessary according to House Bill 9 if an elected official wished to designate certain city employees to attend a Public Records Training class. Boggs advised there was a class in Canton on February 5th if anyone was interested or they could sign the letter and designate city employees to attend. Boggs advised he has already been to two of these classes and the clerk was registered to attend the class in February.
Boggs advised the Utility Rate & Refuse Board met recently and it was discussed regarding the senior citizen discount, which currently was specifically related to the Homestead Exemption. He advised the Homestead Act now only takes into account your age and not your income.
Bower interjected and disabled at any age.
Boggs advised the utility board was concerned and recommended Council look at amending section 975.03 and set some income levels. He advised he could have something prepared for Council’s consideration at the next meeting if they so wished.
Bower advised in 2007 the Homestead eligibility income was $27,000 whether married or single and included Social Security. He advised if ten years ago you applied for Social Security and received it and your benefit was $8,000 and today it was $12,000 in that $27,000 figure it was only $8,000 as it relates back to the original date. Bower advised now there were no income limits and he spoke with the Wayne County Auditor and some very wealthy people in Wooster over the age of 65 have applied and they (the county) have no choice but to give them the exemption on their property tax.
Boggs advised he wanted to remind Council they also have only 100 slots for free or reduced trash pickup as well. He advised they were pretty close to that (number) already.
Copley inquired if they would be looking at mirroring the old State Homestead Act in our (legislation).
Bower advised that was up to Council as that was policy, but there was no comparable state statute now for income. He advised our current ordinance references that old revised code statute which was the $27,000, but now that current revised code section was age 65 or disabled. Bower advised Council might also want to consider the value of the real estate for which the exemption is sought perhaps based on the county’s duplicate. He advised “let’s assume I am a zillionaire, let’s assume I live in a multi-million dollar mansion, and I go see (a lawyer) and he does some estate planning for me and forms a living trust so my income is less than $27,000 year and I walk into City Hall and I want 10% off my utility bill”. Bower advised that was up to Council, but you might want to think about the value of the parcel which is being served by water and sewer to put a cap on it.
Beaumont inquired if currently it was based on the title owner of the property.
Bower advised they have to own it and be 65 or disabled.
Robertson advised it has to be their residence.
Boggs advised it says the eligibility for reduction of water and sewer service and garbage and rubbish collection rates may be determined pursuant to the standards for eligibility for the homestead exemption as set forth in the Ohio Revised Code section 323.511.
Bower advised that does require they live there.
Russell inquired as to how the state reacted when they changed the homestead, as they didn’t have salary figures listed. He inquired “how did they go about doing everybody on the homestead, did they just roll everybody back because they were 65 or what were the rules on that”.
It was noted, it was based on age or disability only.
Carey advised you had to request it by a certain date to be considered.
Beaumont advised the lines were out the door almost everyday and all you had to do was prove your age or if you were disabled.
Russell inquired if they could treat this any differently than they (state) did with the homestead.
Carey advised he didn’t know how much more that would cost the city if they went with everyone who was at least 65 or disabled.
Beaumont advised we could create our own ordinance.
Russell advised he was trying (to clarify) if we could do that or stick with what the state did.
Bower advised it was our utility and our home rule so we could do that (set own standard).
Boggs advised the Utilities Clerk came up with a schedule and he felt it was a fairly decent place to start if Council would like. He advised it has an income scale and a recommendation of the discount. He advised he could provide Council with a copy in their next packet or prepare an ordinance and Council could amend it if they don’t like how it reads.
Beaumont suggested they get some facts (for consideration).
Carey advised he believed they were told it would go into effect in February.
Copley advised at least they could have an ordinance to look at.
Carey advised he was told that currently they were not required to provide proof of income figures.
Boggs advised they just went by homestead eligibility.
Carey advised it sounded to him like currently all people did was send in a letter stating they would like a discount on their utility bill.
Russell inquired as to how many senior citizens were getting a discount.
Boggs advised there actually was not that many taking advantage of the water and sewer discount, but there were quite a few taking advantage of the rubbish discount. He wondered how did they have one and not the other, he didn’t know.
Russell advised we would probably have some senior citizens here at the next meeting giving us their opinion.
Bower inquired if Boggs knew the website for the census information for demographics and indicated it should tell how many lower income senior citizens Rittman has living here.
Carey inquired as to the median poverty level with regards to income.
Boggs advised he didn’t know.
Beaumont advised he felt they should have draft legislation to look at and consider. He inquired if it would generate comparable people with the discount as they were currently receiving.
Boggs advised he believed so, yes.
Robertson inquired if Council wished to include property values or just base it on income alone.
Council was in general agreement and felt it would be easier if they based it on income alone.
Boggs advised he has a meeting set for Wednesday (1/16) with the new school Superintendent Jon Ritchie to discuss the School Resource Officer program to see if the schools wanted to continue that program or not.
Boggs advised he included the floodplain ordinance in the Council packet although he didn’t feel it was necessary to rush into its adoption. Boggs advised in speaking with Dave Simpson, who was active in floodplain management, and his review of this ordinance it was pointed out to him that there were some engineering requirements with the new regulations. Boggs advised there were a couple potential projects pending, which are in the floodplain and he wanted to take time to review the new regulations before passing this ordinance and not hold up pending projects. He advised he didn’t believe they were under any specific mandate where they had to pass it by a specific date. Boggs advised unless Council wanted it on the Agenda sooner, his intention was to postpone it and study it further.
Boggs advised he felt they were in real good standing for Issue 2 funds for $168,000 for the waterline replacement on Industrial Street. He advised hopefully they would receive the green light soon and start that project.
Boggs advised they have ordered decals for the city vehicle, which should be here shortly to help identify our city vehicles.
Boggs advised he wrote to Congressman Regula and Council had a copy of his response and he would try to set up a meeting soon with his office and if anyone was interested in attending to let him know as they were welcome to go with him. He advised he was still hopeful they could secure some money to assist with the Caraustar and Landis Ditch problems.
City Manager Boggs advised the Chamber Awards Banquet was this Thursday (1/17) and he heard they had over 75 people attending so far and there was probably last minute seats still available if anyone was interested. He advised it would be held at Rawiga Country Club at 6 pm.
Russell inquired as to where they stood with the recreation center roof.
Boggs advised he spoke with the architect last week and they were going to have a final meeting soon. He advised they were pretty close to closing that out in the very near future.
Russell inquired about the walls (rec. ctr. pool area).
Boggs advised the wall problem has been fixed and indicated the lawsuit was still pending.

a. Approval of Financial Report for November
Russell so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

b. Approval of Financial Report for December
Copley so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

c. Finance Director’s Remarks
Finance Director Lucinda Mann advised she was able to start posting for 2008 just
today and she appreciated Council’s patience for a little while longer as it actually takes awhile to go through everything and make sure everything was correct before she actually rolls the whole month over into the new year.
Mann advised Thursday and Friday (1/17 & 1/18) they were expecting Rea & Associates to be here to do some preliminary investigations for our 2007 audit. Mann advised Council to not be surprised if they receive the annual letter in the mail asking if they have any conflicting issues financially with the city.
Mann advised Council to feel free to call her if they have any questions on the budget especially the newly elected Council Members.

Council Remarks
Council Member Glen Russell thanked everyone for coming.
Council Member Richard Lapehn had no remarks.
Council Member Darrell Carey had no remarks.
Council Member Lynn Beaumont advised he did a personal survey just to see how many green recycle bins were out on Tuesday morning. He indicated he counted less than 20. Beaumont advised he really didn’t understand the recycling program or the benefits of it. He advised he knew the County Commissioners were here before he was elected to talk about the recycling program. He advised it was his understanding that if they don’t increase the citywide recycling it ultimately would cost money. Beaumont advised he would like to be educated on it himself before he expected the residents to do more. He advised he felt they should come up with some way to educate the citizens to let them know how this ultimately would help them and help the city.
Beaumont advised recently he attended the Senior Health Fair at the recreation center and this event gets bigger every year and he made the statement there that the Rittman Recreation Center was the crown jewel of this town. Beaumont advised he was aware they would be going into some new leadership at the facility, but he would really like the recreation center board to come up with some type of plan to really promote the center. Beaumont advised from the number of people who came to Rittman that (health fair) day the number of non-residents greatly exceeded those from Rittman who attended. He advised they came to Rittman and saw what we had to offer and he felt that was something we needed to promote. He advised the center has never looked nicer and he felt we really needed to extend ourselves to promote the center. Beaumont advised he would like to come up with some type of plan such as free swim nights or entertainment of some kind. He advised he would like to promote the center and get people who have never visited before into the facility. He advised there were groups such as church, civic and different organizations who would be willing to help to get people to come and use the facility. Beaumont advised he had no idea as to the membership or the usage over the last couple of years, but he would like a copy if those numbers were available.
Boggs advised he spoke with the Recreation Director about providing Council with more statistics and he hoped to have those in the near future.
Beaumont advised they couldn’t have a long-range plan until they knew what they have in the form of usage figures. He advised they needed to know what programs they needed to make more accessible to older people and the youth.
Russell advised he believed the Recreation Director put something out not too long ago which outlined how many members and other information, which he believed were three or four pages given to Council.
Boggs advised that was probably his annual report.
Johnson advised at the last rec. center board meeting they discussed ways to promote the rec. center and there were some things he mentioned and was told their hands were tied with advertising as they were only allotted a $2,000 advertising budget. Johnson advised they were working trying to get advertising through cable channels to get their name out there. He advised statistically it was mentioned that 40% of the membership was non-residents and they were working on ways to get the recreation center name out there.
Beaumont thanked everyone for coming.
Council Member James Johnson thanked everyone for coming. He advised with state laws now coming into effect requiring physicals for safety service personnel and he inquired if there was anything that could be done to help them and suggested a discount at the recreation center. Johnson advised he believed there was a small discount given to other city employees for the center.
Boggs and Mann advised there was no discount currently available to city employees.
Johnson inquired if there was something that could be done because he felt the city wasn’t helping them (pass their physical) in any way. Johnson suggested a possible discount on a rec. center membership be offered, as these (personnel) were required to pass an annual physical and yet they had to pay full price to go to the rec. center inside the city.
Boggs advised the board that (Johnson) he sits on determines the (rates/discounts).
Mayor Robertson concurred and advised the board sets the rates and Council approves those rates.
Copley indicated the Recreation Center Board of Directors could make such a recommendation to Council for consideration.
Johnson advised he would bring it up at the next rec. center board meeting. He advised maybe it should be looked at for all city employees.
Boggs advised he was sure the employees would be grateful although he would want to see the employee offered the discount and tie it to some type of usage. He advised if they don’t use it they would lose it as he remembered free pool passes being offered and very few employees used them.
Council Member Charles Copley advised the last couple of meetings they have discussed the sewer rate and the automatic 6% increase and he felt it was a pretty convenient situation for someone in politics to have a rate increase to be automatic. Copley advised he would prefer that it not be automatic, but he understood it was part of the loan agreement and that we have to have an automatic increase to basically support the cost of the sewer fund. Copley advised he believed they could meet the same circumstances if they have mandatory review instead of the automatic increase. He advised what he has done was prepare a revision to 941.05 and he would like for the Law Director to provide an ordinance to amend that section. Copley advised basically it removes the automatic increase of 6% and calls for the City Manager to come to Council annually and recommend the rate increase and thereby Council would approve or reject it. Copley advised it would also leave in the wording that if Council felt it (the rate) needed to be higher or lower they would still have that authority.
Copley advised over the last two years we have actually raised the sewer rate twice and we raised the rubbish pickup once and it seemed to him they were doing a lot of rate increases and yet he can’t remember Council having a good discussion on how to save costs. He advised he knew they have saved costs from the codification and changing companies and it was now online. He advised there has been some effort, but we haven’t really had any discussions other than the line item by line item budget review, which frankly to him really hasn’t been very productive, other than going through a bunch of numbers for Council. Copley advised what he would like to see at the next meeting or the one following would be a Workshop and dedicate it to one department, one budget where Council Members could bring ideas to save costs for the city for that department. Copley suggested the Mayor mention it in his column to allow comment from the residents. Copley advised they needed to keep track of the ideas on the dry erase board and the clerk could type up a list and at the next meeting they could go through the status of those items and see where they stood and if they were viable ideas or not. Copley advised maybe they could save the city some money and come up with some new programs as well.
Robertson inquired regarding the budget if they would be reviewing what was already approved.
Copley advised it was more or less on the upcoming budget or ideas on what Council Members felt they could save money in certain areas. He advised they have a new City Manager, a new Finance Director and some other new employees in the city, who really haven’t dealt with the budget previously and this would give them an opportunity. Copley advised it would also be nice if when discussing that particular department, the department head was present at the meeting. Copley advised he knew they wouldn’t be able to implement all the ideas, but he thought maybe something good would come out of it.
Boggs advised when they reviewed the budget last year with the department heads present he’d like to think they did such a great job, as there weren’t many questions. Boggs advised they did try to provide Council with a lot of information, but he was confused as to whether (Copley) was asking for it to be the same way or something different.
Copley advised they could do it the same way, but as they have seen in the past line item by line item doesn’t really cut it as there were no questions and he felt they weren’t getting anywhere with that approach. Copley advised he would ask his fellow Council Members to bring ideas as to how they felt money could be saved in that department. Copley advised residents could bring their ideas to discuss as well. Copley advised basically he felt it was a more orderly way of putting it down on paper and say this is what we were looking at and decide if it was viable or not and go forward.
Carey advised the problem would be that Council doesn’t have a day-to-day hands on approach or look at what goes on. Carey advised we could sit here and say we should cut this, but we don’t know what was needed in that department on a daily basis.
Copley advised that was why it would be good to have the department head here and at least put the idea out there and maybe the idea was lousy and it wouldn’t work, but if the idea was never put on the table it would never be done.
Russell inquired if he was looking at ways of belt tightening.
Copley advised they were always looking at ways to increase revenue in his mind, but very seldom did they ask how could we cut costs. He advised that was just what he has seen in the last few years and the few years before that even.
Robertson advised it seemed like he wasn’t really looking at budgets per say, but looking at a department to discuss with department heads the operation of that department.
Copley concurred and inquired was there anything we could do better and advised maybe a different way of saving costs. He advised we should ask ourselves because we have always done it this way maybe there was a better way.
Boggs advised he could ask the department heads to see if they could bring in with their budgets several ideas on how they could cut costs. He advised he felt the problem he would see was that most of the departments were personnel wise pretty tight. He advised he felt it would be pretty hard to do any significant savings although you could nickel and dime here and there, but we’ll give it a shot.
Copley advised he felt if they were covering one department per meeting it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.
Boggs advised he already planned on having the department heads start working on their budgets fairly soon as he assumed Council would want to start reviewing it shortly.
Lapehn advised what he hears Copley saying was not so much the onus on the department heads, who we want to believe are very conscious of every dollar they receive for their department, but was that we (Council) take greater responsibility for every dollar that was spent and open it up to the public. He advised if people see or have an idea of cost saving measures that could be put into place and bounce them off department heads and decide if that idea could work here in Rittman.
Copley advised yes to just get the ideas out there and give more of a forum to (present them).
Beaumont advised maybe the Mayor could put in his article that this was part of the long-range plan for Council to look at cost saving methods and ask for ideas from the residents.
Carey advised back when they were discussing the sewer rate increase it was mentioned about a covenant associated with the loan agreement and he inquired if that was located. Carey advised he believed it required a specific carryover balance in the sewer fund.
Mann advised she would look, but indicated the loan document was very large and she might not even be able to locate it. Mann advised she wasn’t trying to make excuses, but she wanted Council to be aware there was also more than one loan document to review.
Boggs advised the city has been operating on that principle for many years.
Carey advised the reason he asked was because when it was being discussed it was indicated the city was required to have a certain carryover balance and would be in default if they didn’t. Carey advised some Council Members thought a $500 carryover balance at the end of the year was OK and he indicated we needed to know if we were in default of this loan if we don’t have a required carryover balance.
Mann advised we should have at least a two months operating balance on any of the funds as a general rule of thumb although she wasn’t sure that was actually stated in the loan documents. She advised what was in the loan documents, which worries her even more, was how much they were spending on capital outlay items because that was defined and we haven’t been keeping up with that (part of the agreement).
Mayor William Robertson advised the Wayne County Commissioners discussed at the (previous Council) meeting was the Model Community Grant and there was a $25,000 for a three county area to come up with a program. He advised he believed a lot of the programs would be based on education to try to increase recycling and do a better job of composting. He advised he has been working with some folks to try to put together some information to come up with ideas on what could be done and brainstorm some ideas. Robertson advised City Service Director Simpson was working on it as well and they hoped to get some heads together and there was money out there to try to put together some kind of education program.
Beaumont advised he felt a good place to start would be through the schools and indicated the kids could reinforce at home what they were being taught at school regarding recycling.
Robertson advised Mrs. Sabo at the High School has been a great advocate as she teaches an environmental class and she was helping with some of the grant information as well.
Robertson inquired as to how do they get the word out.
Beaumont advised education was one thing, but (Rittman) was going to get hit in the pocketbook if they don’t (increase their recycling).
Robertson advised the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Solid Waste Management District has a great education program.
Russell advised with their help and the help of the press he felt they could get the word out to the public as well as having the students take home information to their parents.
Boggs indicated the refuse collection contract expires soon (Jan. ’09) and they would need to rebid it and he would be starting to review the (bid specifications) as he has had people contact him wanting to know when the current contract ends.
No further comments.

a. Approval of Vouchers 47522 thru 47809 Including Then and Now
Certificates
Questions were asked regarding #’s 47671, 47718, 47760 & 47778. Lapehn so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

Motion to Adjourn – 8:46 p.m.
Russell so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.