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Council MinutesRittman
A Regular Meeting
on Monday, January 11, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Members Present: Bill Workman, Lynn Beaumont, Darrell Carey, Rick Hanlon, Glen Russell and Richard Lapehn
Members Absent: None
Presiding: Mayor William Robertson
Invocation was given by: Barbara Brooks, clerk followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes – December 7, 2009
Workman moved to approve, upon roll call; Carey-Yes, Hanlon-Yes, Russell-Abstain, Beaumont-Yes, Lapehn-Yes, Workman- and motion carried.
Workshop
a. Discussion of Ideas and Projects for 2010
City Manager Boggs advised he felt it would be a good time if Council has any specific ideas, goals or projects they would like to see the city work toward in 2010. He advised he has been trying to work with Caraustar officials to resolve issues regarding the cleanup of the pond, lagoons and the empty facility. Boggs advised he attended an EPA meeting last week and he felt the (more pressure would be applied) on some of the cleanup process for the sludge pond and the landfills specifically should ultimately shorten the length of time it would sit without being cleaned up, although he felt (EPA) would give them a fair amount of time to clean it. He advised the building was a separate issue and EPA wasn’t concerned with the structure until it would be torn down at which time they would be looking at asbestos and other issues when buildings of that size were torn down. Boggs advised he felt it was up to the city to continue to be diplomatic with Caraustar officials or alternatively look at being more stringent in our maintenance codes and fire code enforcement. He advised if Caraustar wants to keep the building up then they (city) should make them maintain it.
Council Member Workman advised he felt they needed to be more stringent.
Boggs advised he wanted to try one more diplomatic approach, but then it would be his recommendation that they should start enforcing codes.
Workman inquired if they couldn’t get the health department involved.
Boggs advised while he hasn’t seen it, he heard there was black mold in the building. He advised there was some discussion and they (EPA) don’t specifically deal with black mold and many people when they see mold that is black assume it is the black mold that is dangerous and there were many different varieties of mold that aren’t as dangerous, but that would be a health department issue and not an EPA issue.
Workman inquired if there was anything that could be done about the rats.
Boggs advised again that was probably the health department and he has not tried specifically using the health department. He advised unless there was a court order or the health department was given permission by the owner, they wouldn’t go inside and he didn’t believe they would get such permission from Caraustar officials to inspect for those specific purposes.
Workman advised you don’t have to go inside, if you go down there at night you can see them as he has turned his headlights toward (the building) and you can see them.
Council Member Hanlon advised he felt the health department
was going ask what does the City of
Workman advised once they (the rats) get going they would be all over town and would be our businesses and everywhere else and they were getting pretty thick down there (Caraustar).
Hanlon advised he asked the City Manager to include
several of the neighboring cities residential property maintenance
codes as he felt they needed to look at adopting some kind of residential
code. He advised also a City of
Boggs indicated it was the International Property Maintenance Code with the name Rittman inserted to designate the city in question and was a working document as nothing has been adopted.
Hanlon advised it was all good reference material and
he didn’t think it was anything they could adopt tonight, but he
felt they needed to move forward and hold several workshops to discuss
what they wanted to accomplish and he liked what Orrville (adopted).
Hanlon advised the International code was pretty strict compared
to the surrounding communities. He advised some of the larger cities
such as
Workman advised he felt they needed to start with an in general cleanup code of maintenance and then enforce it as he felt there was a lot on the books, but they weren’t enforcing them.
Mayor Robertson advised he felt the code needed cleaned up to be able to enforce.
Boggs advised they could enforce specific things such as high grass and junk vehicles and throughout the years they have cleaned up those specific ordinances, but the general maintenance for housing refers back to the Wayne County Building Code and Rittman, years ago (1960’s or early 1970’s) adopted the Wayne County Building Code and Wayne County adopted the International Property Maintenance Code and Building Code.
Hanlon advised
Boggs advised if they were to go to court on a challenge, they (the city) would lose because there was no Wayne County Building Code and they needed to clean up this issue one way or another.
Workman inquired if they had cleanup ordinances that could be enforced without worrying about the county.
Boggs advised it fell back on them to do that anyway. He advised throughout the years we operated under that code and in his career we taken down several houses, but usually when you get cooperation and that was the key element. Boggs advised in court they would lose because there was no Wayne County Building Code, but we have been lucky in having cooperation overall except the one house they have dealt with over and over on W. Sunset Dr.
Hanlon advised if they would have had a property maintenance code in place at that time, he felt they could have forced the code and dealt with those issues.
Boggs indicated he hasn’t had time to review all of the information thoroughly yet and advised he wasn’t ready to make any recommendations at this point. He advised he has been priming this council and other council’s that it was his belief that the only way to put pressure on Caraustar was to “hit them in the pocketbook”. Boggs advised if they were going to keep the building up then he felt they should make them maintain it, make them spend the money to maintain it. He advised Caraustar has an offer on the table from a company to remove the asbestos and take the building down to the ground at no cost to them (Caraustar) and they have refused to even look at that option. Boggs advised when he met with EPA officials they were somewhat concerned and with all the funds available right now for cleanup of Brownfields, it was a shame they (Caraustar) refuse to cooperate and he has offered several times to apply on their behalf and save them close a million dollars on the cleanup and that won’t let the city in to do testing. Boggs advised if the city considered their offer of the property for free, they refused to cut out the landfill. He advised it was over a million dollars a year to maintain the landfill and it was a take it or leave it offer and they won’t allow the city on the property and it was just prolonging the inevitable. Boggs advise EPA raised their eyebrows wondering why they (Caraustar) would not accept those offers because they (EPA) acknowledge there was so much money available for cleanups.
Workman inquired if Superfunds were available as well.
Boggs advised Superfunds was the federal agencies and was very competitive. He advised we could go through Ohio EPA for Brownfield grants, we can go through the Federal EPA for grants or we could go through the Ohio Department of Development to try to redevelop that property. Boggs advised they couldn’t do anything without their cooperation.
Council Member Beaumont inquired as to the status of their (Caraustar) bankruptcy.
Boggs indicated it was discharged. He advised the information he was provided through his contact indicated it was basically the same “crew” and they had some investment money and he knew they filed Chapter 11. He advised they (this crew) got some type of investor financing and he believed they pulled the public stock off the market and were now more of a private company. Boggs advised they paid off the original stock investments, which were $.10 a share and now they only answer to the general stock holders.
Council Member Russell inquired as to how Caraustar was handling their other properties in other cities.
Boggs advised he didn’t know. He advised EPA indicated
Workman advised the local service stations and those that buy gasoline pays into the Superfund as he paid into it for 16 years. He advised the Superfund cleanup was being used for everything it seemed.
Boggs advised whether it was state money or federal it was highly competitive. He advised right now there was a lot of money available for Brownfield cleanups in each state.
Workman advised he felt if they could get their hat in the right, they would do alright.
Boggs advised this was the second round, as the first round has already passed by.
Robertson advised Larry (Boggs) and he meet the second Tuesday of every month for the past four years with a group that has been consulting with them on how to keep our “hat in the ring” for funding and they were hoping something would break with Caraustar, but they won’t let us on the property and the whole adjunct thing there wasn’t much they (city) could do.
Workman inquired if the city were to take the property “as is” what would be their liability.
Boggs indicated just from information provided by a consultant as to what issues they were aware of within the next ten years they estimate between 1 and 1.3 million just to maintain the landfill. He advised it appears, from his meeting last week, that Caraustar has been leading state officials in a different direction. Boggs advised Caraustar officials have told EPA officials that there was a possibility they may re-open the Rittman facility in 2011 and have applied for certain permits with EPA to prolong the lagoon cleanup and landfill permits all under the pretense that they were still in operation or plan to go back into operation. Boggs advised when he told EPA of the offer (Caraustar officials) made to the city as well as the fact that they had stripped every electrical component out of the building including the transformers on the outside, there was no way they could go back into operation without spending millions of dollars just on re-wiring. He advised with that information, EPA has decided the language in their (Caraustar) application was not accurate and EPA was going to put more pressure on making Caraustar clean up the lagoons and start to officially close the landfill. Boggs advised once those issues were resolved it might be feasible for the city to look at it, but at that point the property would probably become more valuable to them for resale. He advised nobody was going to take it as is now and the for sale sign, which you don’t see, in his opinion is just a placebo. Boggs advised the offers being received were for Caraustar to pay others not to buy it.
Workman advised he felt they should push them just as hard as we could push them anyway we could.
Boggs advised he was going to try one more diplomatic tactic for their cooperation on the grants and if that doesn’t work then it would be his recommendation to Council to start enforcing whatever codes we have to make them maintain that building.
Workman inquired of Russell as to why (Caraustar officials) would not want the city to go in and check out the property. He inquired as to what they were hiding.
Russell advised there were too many things in there to hide. He advised it was a little bit of everything. Russell advised he didn’t feel the city should touch it (take it over) as there was (asbestos) and a little bit of everything.
Workman advised that was the building, but he was talking about the landfill and there were a lot of chemicals buried out there.
Boggs advised EPA doesn’t seem too worried about the chemicals that were used in the process of normal paper manufacturing. He advised that didn’t seem to be the issue. Boggs advised there were some PCB’s listed in their phase one report, which EPA didn’t have a copy until he presented them with a copy. Boggs advised EPA said it was a very incomplete report and was not even close to being what it should be, which he felt was another placebo maneuver on their (Caraustar) part and it was just a stall tactic. He advised from what he has heard they have two problematic properties with Rittman’s being the most problematic and it was going to cost them big money to get rid of it and they were prolonging it and if they could put $100,000 a year into it and make it look like they were doing something, how long could they carry it on – 15 to 20 years.
Robertson advised hand in hand with the Caraustar property they were discussing a property maintenance code for residential and business and those were a couple of big items on the agenda for the year. He inquired if anyone had thoughts about infrastructure or other projects.
Boggs advised they have applied for a grant and he felt they had a good chance of receiving it, but he didn’t know how long Council wanted to wait to improve that area (Home St.). He advised he doesn’t know why sidewalks were never installed on Home Street initially, but maybe they should look at, if a grant is not obtained, assessing the property owners.
Workman inquired if there wasn’t an ordinance, which states when a certain part of a development was complete that streets and sidewalks be installed.
Boggs advised that could possibly be under some newer legislation or planning commission directives, but who knows why they didn’t (install sidewalks in the Home Street area) back then.
Workman indicated he thought that ordinance had been in place for a long time and advised it was supposed to be done and evidently hasn’t been done.
Boggs inquired if (Council) want to look at the maintenance ordinance (replacing) for sidewalks, which he felt has been basically ignored.
Beaumont advised he felt that first they should look at the areas with no sidewalks and if they could work on maintaining those in existence then fine, but he felt they were separate issues. He advised he felt there were other issues with Home Street besides the lack of sidewalks, such as possibly an issue with utilities where the sidewalks would go. Beaumont advised they could break it down into areas where there were no sidewalks and how we get those installed and then areas where the sidewalks need replaced or repaired. He advised he felt the main focus should be in the areas where the kids walk to school.
Workman inquired regarding streetlights and work on getting the ones on that are supposed to be on, such as the one at the football field at Fourth and Clover Sts. He advised there was one (streetlight) between Third and Clover Sts. that stays on all the time that has already been turned into the city. Workman advised there were several lights around town that were out and he inquired if there was any reason why they couldn’t get those…
Boggs advised there was a process (by which they report outages) and Ohio Edison replaces the bulb and if it gets into ballast repairs then we hire an electrician who does work for the city. He advised this was not a good time of year to get a lift up there, but they were on the list and have been turned in (to the proper agency). Boggs advised they report them as soon as we know about them.
Robertson inquired about a grant Boggs was working on for energy efficient street lighting.
Boggs advised some time this spring or summer they would be installing the new LED street lighting in a low to moderate income (LMI) area, which was (Medina St., N. State St., N. Seneca St., E. Ohio Ave, and N. Main St.) area under this grant. He advised a good portion of the city, under the new census guidelines, when you factor in the whole city, would fall in the LMI status. Boggs advised he was hopeful they could do a section of the city at a time and install them throughout a good part of the city eventually. He advised this grant was through CDBG monies, which could also be use for sidewalks, but that was entirely up to Council. Boggs advised there was only approximately $35,000 per year.
Hanlon inquired if the city would get a reduction from Ohio Edison for using these energy efficient bulbs.
Boggs advised that was a good question and he felt they should because according to the reports he’s read it was definitely a lower consumption light. He advised Ohio Edison’s response has been that they haven’t done any tests yet and they didn’t know what kind of rates they could offer. Boggs advised but yes, it was on the list to negotiate with Ohio Edison.
Finance Director Rissland advised she wasn’t sure how a 5-year capital plan would work in a workshop setting, but she would like to bring forward a 5-year capital plan and work with the City Manager and the Department Heads and it was helpful to hear things that were important to Council and where the money should be prioritized. She advised if there were two projects that were equally in their minds, what was most important to Council. Rissland advised it sounded like sidewalks were important as well as streetlights and they would like to look at other infrastructure needs as far as utilities, streets, sidewalks, city vehicles, the rolling stock in CD’s and plan for the next five-years if money is available and realistically try to stick with that schedule. She advised if they obtain a grant then what project moves up (on the list) and prioritize a whole list of projects that are out there and move forward from that point. Rissland advised then the citizens know what was on the horizon and she felt it was very important to stick to the schedule. She advised she would like to look at it late spring or early summer if it works out with the City Manager and the Department Heads.
Boggs advised Sunset Dr. both east and west was going to need resurfaced in the next year or so as well as N. Main St. He advised so the city was going to have to spend some money in that area. Boggs advised the (grant coordinator) for USDA, who was working with the city on the grant for the police dispatch console, stopped at City Hall and he expressed to Ms. Rissland that there was a lot of funding available for small cities through the rural development program. He indicated they might want to look at capital purchases through this grant. Boggs advised one such purchase could be a fire truck or a water tower and maybe they should look into obtaining a grant through rural development. He advised these were hefty projects, but we would probably be looking at loans for such eventually. Boggs advised possibly they could combine CDBG and USDA grant funds for these projects.
Rissland advised she felt there was a real opportunity right now with a lot of federal and grant monies being pumped into the system. She advised if they could do something that they were going to do anyway at sixty cents on the dollar they needed to take advantage of the opportunity if there was anyway they could fund their match especially if it was something that would have to do in the near future.
Workman inquired as to where they stood with regards to a fire truck needing replaced. He indicated 20 years was the usual lifespan before replacement was necessary.
Boggs advised one of the pumper trucks was way overdue for replacement and was on its very last leg. He advised it was a confusing process, but basically the carryover balance for the fire dept went back into their operating expenses and they never got into a savings plan. Boggs advised one of the problems when you see the general fund carryover balance in different accounts Council has a tendency to think they were healthier financially than they really were, but they were going to try to start labeling certain items for the city’s savings plan, such as a fire truck. He indicated then you would be able to see what has been allocated for a fire truck or a water tower or other capital projects. Boggs advised when you look at the utilities budget (ie) it might be as healthy as it appears because some money has been set aside for those capital projects, which they should be doing.
Hanlon inquired if the levy for the fire dept didn’t set aside 25% for capital improvements.
Boggs advised it states for capital improvements and not specifically a fire truck.
Workman inquired if there was a way to set money aside specifically for a fire truck and make sure that money was only for the purchase of a fire truck.
Rissland advised there was probably a couple different ways it could be done. She advised they could set up a separate fund that would be used for nothing but fire truck replacement. Rissland advised or more simply they could do an encumbrance or a purchase order and call it Fire Truck Replacement and every year add money to that purchase order so that it would show as a reservation of a balance at the end of the year and it didn’t look like it was available to spend. She advised they could then see exactly how much they have saved toward that purchase. Rissland advised there were some guidelines from the state auditor’s office as to what sort of legal reservations there were, but she would be happy to look at it and it depended on how formal Council wanted to get in regards to this issue.
Boggs advised a representative from the state auditor’s office visited before the end of the year and presented us with a very nice plaque, which is in the finance office. He advised the previous finance director did such a fine job and there were no “bad marks” on our audit and he believed they were one of the few cities in the ten percentile that was in the upper echelon for state audits. Boggs indicated it spoke well of our financial reporting and we would continue to strive for excellent ratings in the future.
Boggs advised it appeared we would be awarded a grant to replace the waterline on Salt St., which is probably one of the oldest in the city and he has been told that portions of it are actually wooden. He advised this old line has affected some of our operations and we testified as such in the hearings because Morton Salt was our largest employer here in town and recently there was a major water break that affected their loading operations. Boggs advised it was important to Morton Salt that we get this (issue) fixed as well. He advised hopefully we would get the official o.k. this spring and toward the middle of summer he hoped to get the bid out and get the project underway.
Boggs advised we don’t have the final financial report for 2009 due to year-end close-outs and the final payroll on the last day of the year and getting ready for the W-2 print outs for the employees and we would have it to Council at the next meeting. He advised it appeared the general fund carryover balance was going to be healthy enough that it would kick in the OPBA union clause and we would be in negotiations this year with the police union.
Council Member Carey inquired if (Boggs) has been in touch with Mr. Maletich regarding tapping into the sewer line (at the Apostolic home).
Boggs advised they (Apostolic home) have applied for the EPA permits since Council approved it (by motion) at their last meeting and he has been in contact with their engineer’s office regarding the paperwork. He advised one concern from our (city’s) engineer’s report that there was a potential problem. Boggs advised the city has a lift station on Milton Road, which pushes the sewage toward S. Main St. and the Apostolic Nursing Home would be tapping into S. Main St. and if both pumps at both lift stations (as the home would have one as well) would be operating at the same time, there was a possibility that our lift station would lose the battle. He advised to correct that (issue) they (city’s engineer) were recommending that we (the city) put in some electronic devices that communicate with their lift station and our lift station so they don’t pump at the same time. Boggs advised he has advised the Apostolic Nursing Home that he would like that (device installed) as part of the agreement to install such now. He advised the estimate was under $10,000 for the equipment, but he has not received an answer back from the home as yet, but he didn’t anticipate any problem agreeing to such from the home. Boggs advised he didn’t believe the city should pay for such and be included as part of their (the home) project and he hoped to include it in the contract.
Workman inquired if we were equipped to handle that if they need to do that, was our lift station adaptable.
Boggs advised they needed to purchase equipment to add onto our lift station and their lift station that talks to each other and it was not something we (our city employees) could do, it would be (installed by) a private company.
Hanlon advised our (city) controller was just installed last year and he felt it shouldn’t be any trouble to install such, but it was just additional electronics.
Boggs agreed and advised they have to install a wireless device (on our equipment) that talks to the controller.
Carey inquired as to what was the progress with the revitalization of the downtown.
Boggs advised they have “wrapped up” the meetings and were in the process now of drafting the final report. He advised we know they (Poggemeyer Design Group) were going to recommend a downtown zoning to control (maintenance issues). He advised if we had a downtown zoning we could say the area was for retail businesses and not storage facilities like some of it was being used and issues like you can’t paint your sidewalks.
Hanlon advised that (painted sidewalk at a business) property was not in the downtown zone, but was outside the border of the downtown zone.
Carey advised it would depend on how they define downtown.
Hanlon advised it was already defined, as there was a zoning map for the downtown area.
Boggs advised Council could expand or reduce it.
Hanlon agreed and advised it could always be modified. He advised as far as the Property Maintenance Code there was a lot of reading material and he would suggest a workshop at possibly the next meeting after they have had a chance to review all the material.
Citizens Forum
Carl Jentes of Lane St. advised the recreation director told him they couldn’t afford to change light bulbs and yet he inquired as to why there was a light burning all day on Clover St. He advised this was not something new, but it has been burning all day for months or for years. Jentes advised Workman said he turned it in, but it was taking a long time and it was that way long before he (Workman) was on Council and burns all day. He advised it was pretty obvious they were wasting money if there was a streetlight on all day.
Boggs advised it was on the list.
Jentes advised it was one thing to get on the list and it was another one to get it done. He advised that thing (streetlight) has been burning like that for months or a year or more. Jentes inquired as to where were you people were (with this issue) and how long was it going to take. He advised it was wasting taxpayer money by burning that light all day and yet you say you can’t afford to change the bulbs at the recreation center, the director told me that. He advised he (rec dir.) may change them (bulbs) tomorrow, but he told me that. Jentes advised if we can’t afford to change the bulbs at the rec center and yet we have money to burn a streetlight all day long.
Boggs advised he didn’t believe the rec center director told (Mr. Jentes) that.
Jentes advised yes he did.
Boggs advised he felt there was a misunderstanding Mr. Jentes because we do have the money to change the light bulbs.
Jentes advised then he didn’t feel they needed to be burning a streetlight all day long.
Boggs advised he didn’t say we needed to be burning it and he just found out about it recently.
Jentes advised he knew, but that it has been months or a year or more. He advised plus in the shadow of that light was two vehicles that have sat there for months or years. Jentes advised he didn’t know what the ordinance was, but if anyone else would do that or if he would have done that, they would have had him in jail. He advised they have sat there for years right within the shadow of that light that burns all day there were two vehicles that have set there for years and you were telling him they couldn’t move them.
Boggs advised he didn’t tell him that.
Jentes advised well they haven’t been moved.
Workman advised Mr. Jentes he just turned it in (to the city) and he (Jentes) needed to give them time to work on it. He advised the police had to go out and check it. Workman advised someone had to turn it in and until someone turned it in.
Jentes inquired as to who was going to move them.
Workman advised it was going to take the process of the law they just don’t go and take someone’s vehicle.
Jentes inquired as to how long he thought that light had been on like that during the day.
Workman advised he had no idea, but he turned it in.
Jentes advised he felt it was a waste of taxpayer’s money to have a streetlight on all day long and then the city talks about they don’t have money.
Robertson advised it was on the list to be fixed and he thanked Jentes for his comments.
Chris Ketler of Fairlawn Ave. and he was also a Scoutmaster advised he brought some of his Cub Scouts from Den #7-Weblos to the meeting to learn how our local government works. He presented his scouts to Council and asked for a photo of the scouts with the Mayor and City Council.
Their request was honored.
Police Chief Mike Burg advised exhibited to Council memorabilia in a frame of patches and a photograph of Astronaut Mike Foreman from the Shuttle Atlantis and advised Astronaut Foreman flew a Rittman Police Department shoulder patch to the moon on his last mission. He advised it came back to him with a certificate of authenticity and it was presented to him at a ceremony in Wadsworth he also presented Wadsworth PD with a patch as well. Burg noted, the framed work would be hung in the Police Department.
Old Business
a. Res. No. 7588 A Resolution of the Council of the City of Rittman, Wayne and Medina Counties and State of Ohio, Authorizing the Municipal Manager to Execute a Deed Conveying Municipal Property to Habitat for Humanity and Declaring an Emergency. Second Reading. Boggs advised he would like this legislation tabled due to Habitat for Humanity not being able to use the property. Beaumont inquired as to why a floodplain zoning variance couldn’t be applied for and granted to build at this location. Boggs indicated due to the new regulations under the ordinance passed recently, any structure would be required to be at a height not practical. Boggs advised the director of Habitat for Humanity liked the location and hoped to continue, but the rest of the board were leery and when it was discovered it was in the floodway, it killed the project. Robertson inquired regarding insurance issues as well. Boggs advised any mortgage on the property would require flood insurance, which was very costly. Boggs advised the city was working with the NSP grant on getting 23 Salt St. torn down and Habitat was interested in that property. Boggs advised they were looking to tear down 78 N. Seneca Street as well as 33 ½ Salt Street, but it presents a problem, as it was attached to 33 Salt Street and finally there was a structure at 116 ½ Frederick Street. Boggs advised they were seeking bids to get 62 Brookside demolished yet this winter. It was discussed initiated by Russell whether any of these structures could be used as fire practice by the fire department. Carey moved to table permanently, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.
New Business
a. Ord. No. 7589 An Ordinance of the Council of the City of Rittman, Wayne
and Medina Counties and State of Ohio, Amending the Annual Appropriation Ordinance No. 7531, As Amended According to the Attached Sheet(s) and Declaring an Emergency. Three Readings. Ord. No. 7589 was read on first reading. Lapehn moved to suspend the rules and have second and third reading, upon roll call; Carey-Yes, Hanlon-Yes, Russell-Abstain, Workman-Yes, Lapehn-Yes, Beaumont-Yes and motion carried. Ord. No. 7589 was read on second and third reading. Carey moved to adopt, upon roll call; Beaumont-Yes, Lapehn-Yes, Workman-Yes, Russell-Abstain, Hanlon-Yes, Carey-Yes and motion carried.
City Manager’s Remarks
City Manager Larry Boggs advised Council had a copy of the current fees charged by the city for services and he would like to bring it to a future meeting for a workshop discussion with some recommendations. He advised this past year we have had several funeral requests for weekend burials or after hour burials, which cost the city to pay overtime for employees and he would recommend passing on the cost of those overtime hours for weekend burials.
Boggs advised he felt this year he received the more complaints regarding the lack of snow removal on the roadway since becoming city manager. He advised he didn’t really understand why as they haven’t cutback on salt usage, as they have used approximately 250 ton of salt so far this season and quite a bit of overtime hours have been paid. Boggs advised he felt this year there has just been a lot of constant snowing, but he wanted to assure Council they have not cutback, but were maintaining the same protocol. He advised but he was receiving quite a few complaints. Boggs advised personally he felt the service department employees have done a decent job in cleaning the roadways.
Workman advised the complaints he received were on the main roads at the intersection as he felt they didn’t salt back far enough for people to be able to stop because it was too slick.
Boggs advised they salt the through streets, but not the side streets although they try to plow them when they could and people often don’t understand we were not going to keep the side streets as clear as the main thoroughfares.
Finance Director’s Remarks
Finance Director Barbara Rissland advised she should be closing the year late this week or early next week and if Council would like she could get the financial reports to them prior to the next meeting to give you a chance to look at them if that was their preference. She advised she could do it either way.
Lapehn inquired if she meant early in the week or with the packet.
Rissland advised before the packet such as Friday of this week or Monday of next week.
Workman inquired if he could pick it up at City Hall.
Lapehn advised that made sense as opposed to running an officer all over town for a separate issue.
Boggs advised they could mail them as well.
Council Remarks
Council Member Richard Lapehn thanked Boggs for continuing the discussions with Caraustar and advised he felt that “the peddle to the metal” as much as possible to be in discussions. He inquired regarding the streetlight poles if they were city owned.
Boggs advised Ohio Edison owns the pole and the fixture was owned by the city.
Lapehn inquired if we pay wattage usage.
Boggs advised the light poles were not metered. He advised Ohio Edison has a fee set per light so we aren’t paying any more for a light to be on all day and we weren’t paying less when one was burnt out. Boggs advised we pay according to the number of light fixtures.
Lapehn inquired as to the cost of per bulb cost.
Boggs advised we purchased the light fixtures and Ohio Edison were still maintaining them for a time. Boggs advised we are maintaining them ourselves to a certain extent. He advised we aren’t paying them for the ballast repairs.
Council Member Bill Workman thanked everyone for coming and he hoped they would come back again. He advised he hoped they would get some of the issues settled that you want settled. Workman advised he would the City Manager to send Cindy (former Finance Director) a letter advising her the city received the plaque for excellent financial reporting.
Boggs advised he let Cindy know about it at the CIC meeting, but he would be happy to send her a letter on behalf of Council.
Council Member Lynn Beaumont inquired of the Law Director regarding the information Council received from a resident in the Scenic View Condominium Development requesting the Home Owners Association be dissolved and the street be publicly dedicated.
Law Director Bower advised it would be up to the condo association to dissolve it and it didn’t know enough about it offhand to know the street width and he didn’t know if there were sidewalks so he wasn’t sure they meet with our subdivision regulations.
Beaumont advised the letter states the association would like the city to advise them, but he didn’t know if it was a city issue and he felt they were on their own in this situation.
Bower advised yes and simply put they would have to dedicate the street and the right of way and such and they would probably have to get a variance to do so before Council would be accept the dedication because they do not comply with our subdivision regulations. He advised as he recalled the street was not wide enough, no curb and gutters and no sidewalks. Bower advised they would have to take it to the Planning Commission for acceptance and planning would make a recommendation to Council and ultimately Council would have to accept the dedication or not. He advised at this point it would probably entail a variance being granted and then they would disband their condo association and we would plow streets and do maintenance.
Beaumont advised regarding the property maintenance code he has had some experience with defending people who have been charged with offenses under a property maintenance code and we should all understand that you could have a real nice ordinance, but if it couldn’t be enforced and you didn’t have any teeth to it then you were wasting your time. He advised we needed to make sure we think about wasn’t so much the language, but we need teeth behind it such as inspectors and a protocol that needs to be followed. Beaumont advised we could then take the information collected to the prosecutor’s office and deal with it that way or we were really wasting our time. He advised the experience on Sunset Dr. should tell us that because it was an embarrassment to the whole city. Beaumont advised if we are going to do then let’s do it the right way, let’s have a good code and not patch something just to get Caraustar because there were probably a lot of buildings in the town that would not pass the muster so to speak.
Council Member Rick Hanlon advised he agreed with Beaumont’s comment about the property maintenance code as it was kind of like the fire code and they say there was a violation, but if it couldn’t be enforced it was worthless. He advised hopefully with Kevin’s help we could get something that will work as far as a code for property maintenance. Hanlon thanked the scouts for coming and everyone else as well
Council Member Glen Russell had no remarks.
Council Member Darrell Carey thanked everyone for coming. He advised he was glad to see they were moving forward on the sewer (tap with the Apostolic home) project and he hoped they would stay on top of it.
Mayor Robertson advised the Census Bureau were looking for temporary workers and there were qualifications that had to be met, but there were some opportunities out there and the clerk had a contact number to apply for a temporary job. He advised the Chamber Awards Banquet would be held at Rawiga on January 21st and hopefully people could attend that function.
a. Approval of Vouchers 52257 thru 52489 Including Then and Now
Certificates Russell inquired if the print could be made larger for ease of reading. Lapehn moved to approve, upon roll call; Workman-Yes, Russell-Abstain, Lapehn-Yes, Hanlon-Abstain and Carey-Yes and motion carried.
Adjourn: 8:23 p.m.
Carey so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.
________________________________Mayor
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Clerk of Council
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