City Council

August 21, 2023 The Fredericktown Village council met in regular session on August 21, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. at the Fredericktown Municipal Building. PRESENT: Council Members Brewer, de Rojas, Hobson, Lanuzza, McKnight, and Shoemaker; Village Administrator Snell; Police Chief Myers; Zoning Inspector Fox; Fiscal Officer Graves. ABSENT: Mayor Day. President Pro-Tempore Lanuzza called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. INVOCATION: Brian Snow, First Baptist Church. MINUTES: Hobson made a motion to approve the July 17, 2023 council meeting minutes. Seconded by Brewer. All Yea. VISITOR COMMENTS: None LEGISLATION (Third Reading) RESOLUTION NO. 2023-17 - A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 2023 KNOX COUNTY TAX INCENTIVE REVIEW COUNCIL CONCERNING PARCELS OF COMMERCIAL REAL PROPERTY IN THE VILLAGE OF FREDERICKTOWN RECEIVING TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR PURPOSES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Hobson made a motion to pass Ordinance 2023-17. Seconded by Shoemaker. All Yea. (Third Reading) ORDINANCE NO. 2023-18 - AN ORDINANCE REPLACING THE EXISTING ZONING ORDINANCE (2007-03) WITH A NEW ZONING CODE Hobson made a motion to amend Ordinance 2023-18. Seconded by Brewer. All Yea. McKnight made a motion to pass Ordinance 2023-18. Seconded by Shoemaker. All Yea. (Third Reading) ORDINANCE NO. 2023-19 - AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING WATER AND SEWER TAP FEES FOR RESIDENTS AND NONRESIDENTS SERVICED BY THE VILLAGE OF FREDERICKTOWN, OHIO de Rojas made a motion to amend Ordinance 2023-19. Seconded by Hobson. All Yea. Shoemaker made a motion to pass Ordinance 2023-19. Seconded by de Rojas. All Yea. ORDINANCE 2023-21 - AN ORDINANCE MAKING SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS Shoemaker made a motion to waive the three readings of Ordinance 2023-21. Seconded by McKnight. All Yea. Shoemaker made a motion to pass Resolution 2023-21. Seconded by Brewer. All Yea. (First Reading) RESOLUTION 2023-22 – A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE AMOUNTS AND RATES DETERMINED BY THE BUDGET COMMISSIONS AND AUTHORIZING THE NECESSARY TAX LEVIES AND CERTIFYING THEM TO THE COUNTY AUDITOR (First Reading) RESOLUTION NO. 2023-23 - A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE FISCAL OFFICER TO APPLY FOR COUNTY PERMISSIVE FUNDS OLD BUSINESS: • de Rojas Any update on the equipment life contact? Lanuzza contacted Jeff Harmer, they have used Reserve Advisors. Snell he will contact him and follow up with Council at next Council meeting. • de Rojas asked about the zoning cheat sheet. Snell, Fox and Graves said what Wendy from Compass Point had sent us was too complicated, and will have some items to present at next Council meeting. • de Rojas would like old business that needs followed up on, on the next meeting agenda • McKnight followed up on Salem Avenue about debris on property. Lanuzza shared a video that Snell had taken of the property. Zoning Inspector suggested that a nuisance complaint be filed by the neighbor so that police department and follow up with the resident. • Hobson sent a link to Snell about USDA grants. Snell will follow up and share at next council meeting. • MIA/KIA banners. Council continued discussion with Mickey Cochran about putting banners up on street lights. Hobson made a motion that the Village will pay for and place MIA/KIA banners on West Sandusky and South Main Streets. Seconded by Brewer. All Yea. NEW BUSINESS: • Council discussed and agreed to keep splash park open through September (except week of Tomato Show). • de Rojas discussed a letter received from Rachel Houser about a portable lending library being placed in the Village. de Rojas made a motion to put up lending library at splash park. Seconded by Shoemaker. All Yea. de Rojas follow up about additional locations. VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT: See attached. • Paving – Kokosing will be back in about two wees to reset valve boxes, manholes and catch basins. • Streetscape project will now begin later in the winter and should be complete before Summer. • Microwave is running well now. • Thanked Police Chief and Graves for working to get new village signs at municipal building and police department. FISCAL OFFICER'S REPORT: • Council reviewed the bills, financial reports and bank reconciliation statement for the month of July 2023. Hobson made a motion to approve the financial reports, bills and bank statement for July 2023. Seconded by Shoemaker. All Yea. • Snyder Funeral Homes has suggested the Village put an Indigent Burial Policy in place. The Village is responsible for indigent burial or cremation of indigent persons per ORC 9.15. The Village has had two indigent persons pass this year so far. Snell will work with Graves on this. POLICE CHIEF REPORT: • 224 calls for month of July • New sign at police department – TD Landscaping will be in to finish around sign. • Patrolman opening – had six applicants, one is in process. Council member de Rojas asked what the biggest challenge is getting candidates. Chief Myers said that most applicants say the pay is not enough. ZONING INSPECTOR’S REPORT: • Averaging 1-2 daily calls • Working with Snell and Graves getting new zoning checklist and applications ready before new zoning code takes effect in September. SOLICITOR’S REPORT: None COMMITTEE REPORTS: PLANNING COMMISSION: None. Next meeting to be determined FINANCE, PUBLIC WORKS, SAFETY: None MISCELLANEOUS COMMITTEE REPORTS: • Recreation: Lanuzza said that there is a bird watching group that is raising funds for Ackerman Nature Preserve to put in a parking lot and platform. Mayor Day and Snell has been meeting with them. • Hobson said there has been more talk about extending the bike path from Mount Vernon to Fredericktown. ADJOURNMENT – Hobson made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by de Rojas. All Yea. Meeting Adjourned at 8:17 p.m. _____________________________________ Mayor Jerry Day ___________________________ Suzan Graves, Fiscal Officer TO: MAYOR & COUNCIL FROM: BRUCE SNELL, VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR DATE: AUGUST 21, 2023 SUBJECT: ACTIVITY REPORT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT The Fredericktown Community Development Foundation (FCDF) met on August 3rd to discuss economic development in the community. They will meet again at the FLS Board of Education Building on Thursday, September 7th. I was out on vacation, so I did not attend this meeting and thus, I do not have a copy of the minutes to share. ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGERS We have been informed that there is a recall on our chargers and the manufacturer will take care of rectifying the recall issue. Secondly, Suzy has made arrangements with the charging vendor to have our share of the charging station revenues direct-deposited monthly. KOKOSING PARK Mayor is requesting that Council consider leaving the splash pad open beyond Labor Day, as long as weather permits. Also, Marsha has suggested we leave the restrooms open during the Tomato Show, particularly in the evenings, and pay an employee to remain on site as a restroom attendant. Council may want to discuss this Monday evening and make a decision on these two issues. OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANT We have received notification from OEPA that we may move forward with the purchase of hydrant and valve exercising equipment and with the purchase of an underground pipe locator. This equipment may help prevent strains and sprains as it takes considerable strength, repetition, and time to open and close virtually every hydrant (approximately 180) and valve within our water infrastructure. PLANNING COMMISSION The Planning Commission has no meeting scheduled this month, as there is no known pertinent business to discuss. SERVICE DEPARTMENT The service department has been mowing, performing water taps, using the vac-truck in problem areas of the sewer infrastructure, maintaining the splash pad, collecting brush, replacing old signage, and other miscellaneous routine tasks. STREETSCAPE • Smith Paving, out of Norwalk, had the low bid of $1,595,404.75 and was awarded the project by ODOT • Construction will likely begin this winter and will likely be finished before November • The traffic lights will be removed in lieu of four-way-stops 1/2  • Streetlighting will be replaced with historical-themed LED lighting • Trees will be replaced and additional trees will be added and will include tree grates • Sidewalks and streets will be widened as a result of eliminating diagonal parking and replacing with parallel parking • Overhead utilities will be moved underground to the furthest extent possible • The paving (overlay) will be included in the project • We will have a pre-construction meeting that I will attend at some point before construction begins STREET IMPROVEMENTS Kokosing Construction has completed the paving of Mulberry Street and the north half of Struble Circle. There are some manholes, valve-boxes and catch-basins to be adjusted to match the finish grade before the project is complete. UMD AUTOMATED STSTEMS UMD Automated Systems, formerly Unique Metal Designs, held a ground-breaking on August 15th to celebrate their 29,000 square foot expansion, which will make room for up to twenty additional employees in the future. UMD Automated Systems manufactures conveyors and lifts for the rubber and automotive industry. Their customers include all major tire companies and Honda. Their conveyors and lifts can literally be found across the globe. UTILITIES Our annual hydrant flushing has been completed with minimal disruption to the business community. Matt Thompson communicated with local businesses in advance so they could prepare for the flushing. The microwave has been running efficiently for the past month and for the first time in what seems like years, we are all caught up on bio-solid (sludge) processing. NOTE: Due to the fact that I was on vacation the previous two weeks, I do not have as much to report as I normally would in my monthly report. 2/2