City Council

MINUTES City of Geneva Council Meeting September 26, 2022 6:00 p.m. Mr. Butera opened the Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. Roll Call – Mario Butera, Robert Rosebrugh, James Baehr, and William Baker Jeffrey Griffiths arrived at 6:12 p.m. John Barbo arrived at 7:26 p.m. Absent – Philip Cordova Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was said and prayer was offered by Pastor Randy May, United Methodist Church. Motion was made by James Baehr to approve the minutes of the September 12, 2022 council meeting, seconded by William Baker. Roll call, 4 yeas, (Butera, Rosebrugh, Baehr, Baker). Motion duly passed. Presentation – Finance Department, Interim Finance Director Tammy Caya Presenting. Ms. Caya distributed a Snapshot showing revenue and expenses and where the City is at the end of the month vs what was budgeted. There is also a column showing expenses with encumbrances. Council will receive an updated snapshot at the first council meeting each month. The 2020 and 2021 Financial Statements and Audits have been completed and submitted to the State of Ohio. The 2020 Audit has been approved by the Auditor of State and is available on the website. The 2021 Audit should be released soon. The Finance Department utility billing software update is complete. The finance and utility billing are now on the same software platform. Two staff members will be attending additional training in Columbus at the end of the month. The Utility Billing Department has begun accepting ACH payments. Residents can pay online on the website. The budget process has begun. The City Manager and Ms. Caya have started the first round of budgets with the Department Heads. The City hopes to have the internal budget process completed the budget binders to Council by the end of October to review for the November Finance Committee meeting. The proposed schedule will allow the third reading to take place the first meeting in December. The Operating Budget will need to be passed by emergency at the third reading in order to go into effect January 1st. The City is seeking insurance quotes for medical insurance as well as property and liability insurance. 1 Citizens: Judge Michelle Fisher Western County Court Judge Fisher provided an update on the implementation of technical upgrades at Western County Court. The Court can now see anyone in a facility who needs a remote hearing. The Commissioners have requested a study by the Supreme Court regarding combining the East and West Municipal Courts. The other two municipal courts requested to be included in the study. Nothing has begun as yet. Judge Fisher stated that Western County Court is the second busiest court. In the eighteen months of her tenure there have been 4,000 plus cases, 1,200 were actually heard. Juvenile cases are not heard at Western County Court. Western County Court is testing a system that will allow traffic tickets to be submitted electronically to the court. To use the system the department must use state code. The system will allow the ticket to be in the system within minutes of the driver being pulled over. Kathy Zappitello Executive Director, Conneaut Library Ms. Zappitello is also working with Growth Partnership on economic development. Ms. Zappitello is running for House Representative District 99. City Manager Report: The Snapshot of Revenue and Expenses prepared by the Manager and the Finance Director is a good tool. The bid opening for West Main Street was held last Friday. One bid was received. The bid was $1 million over the opinion of probable construction cost. The City Engineer has reached out to a number of contractors; inflation, supply chain issues, fluctuations in the economy and the estimated time to complete the project being two years are factors. The City hopes to have the project back out to bid by the end of the week. It is not known when the construction will begin, there are a lot of variables beyond the City’s control. Funding for the sewer portion of the project is through a WPCLF loan. As the City is requesting an extended term of 40 years the loan will be in the form of a bond. A sample ordinance was provided to Council. The Bond Ordinance will include the amount of the bid, when obtained. Discussion about updating residents on the project. It was noted that the media does a good job of getting the word out. The updated proposal for the Gardiner Conservation Project was provided to Council at the last council meeting. After the meeting with First Energy the total project cost is $605,000. There are some upgrades that are ARPA eligible. The revised numbers have been submitted to financial institutions. Once proposals are received, the City would like to meet with the Finance Committee. There will be no financial obligation in 2022. Debt service will be deferred until 2023. The street lighting fund may be an option for the street lighting portion of the Gardiner proposal. 2 An overview of ARPA funds received and potential projects was distributed to Council. Of the $621,000 received, $80,000 for personnel over a three year period has been committed. The remaining funds are being held to assist if the West Main Street project has a financing gap. A comprehensive storm water study is one of the potential projects as is $105,478 of the Gardiner proposal. Small business assistance was also discussed as a potential project. A number of board recommendations were made. Yard waste collection did not occur due to Grape Jamboree clean-up. Leaf pick-up will be 3rd week in October through December 1st. Trick-or-Treat is scheduled for Sunday, October 30, 2022 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Items for Consideration of Council: Ordinance No. 3313. An Ordinance to Amend the 2022 Budget through Appropriations and Fund Transfers, Attached Hereto and Marked Exhibit “A”, and declaring an emergency. Motion by James Baehr, seconded by Jeffrey Griffiths that the rule of law requiring certain Ordinances be read at three separate meetings be waived and suspended and Ordinance No. 3313 be placed on the final roll for passage. Roll call, 5 yeas (Butera, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baehr, Baker,). Motion by Jeffrey Griffiths to declare and pass Ordinance No. 3313 as an emergency measure, seconded by William Baker. Roll call, 5 yeas (Butera, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baehr, Baker). Roll call on passage, 5 yeas (Butera, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baehr, Baker). Ordinance No. 3313 duly passed. Resolution No. 3551. A Resolution Authorizing the Execution of “Then and Now” Certificates by the Interim Director of Finance for Purchases, and declaring an emergency. Motion by William Baker, seconded by Jeffrey Griffiths that the rule of law requiring certain Resolutions be read at three separate meetings be waived and suspended and Resolution No. 3551 be placed on the final roll for passage. Roll call, 5 yeas (Butera, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baker, Baehr,). Motion by James Baehr to declare and pass Resolution No. 3551 as an emergency measure, seconded by Jeffrey Griffiths. Roll call, 5 yeas (Butera, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Barker, Baehr). Roll call on passage, 5 yeas (Butera, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baehr, Baker). Resolution No. 3551 duly passed. Resolution No. 3552 – First Reading. A Resolution Accepting the Amounts and Rates as Determined by the Budget Commission and Authorizing the Necessary Tax Levies and Certifying them to the County Auditor. Ms. Caya described the tax budget process. Unfinished Business: Mr. Griffiths requested a written report from Mr. Pasqualone with a breakdown of cases by number and type. Discussion was had. Mr. Pasqualone stated that 60% of his time is spent prosecuting cases and 40% doing other work as the Solicitor. The Street Superintendent submitted an assessment of the streets to the Streets Committee. 3 New Business: President of Council made the following appointments and re-appointments: Andy Netzel – Planning Commission James Santiago – Planning Commission Noell Sivertsen – Community Improvement Corporation David Foote – Income Tax Board Robert Russell – Income Tax Board Chief David Shook – Income Tax Board Payment of Bills: Streets that were Chip, Fog, Sealed – Elm Street, First, Second, and Fourth Streets, Ruth Street, Marvin, Cox and Vine Streets. Committee Reports – None. Citizen: Brian Kelly Grape Jamboree President Mr. Kelly thanked Council and the City for a great year and allowing the Grape Jamboree. The businesses that remained open were happy. William Baker made a motion to adjourn to executive session to discuss purchase of property and personnel the appointment of a public employee at 7:18 p.m. Roll call. 5 yeas (Butera, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baker, Baehr). William Baker made a motion to reconvene at 8:29 p.m. James Baehr seconded the motion. Roll call. 6 yeas (Butera, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baker, Baehr, Barbo). William Baker made a motion to adjourn. James Baehr seconded the motion Council meeting adjourned at 8:29 p.m. Recorded by: Phyllis Dunlap Clerk of Council ___________________________________ President of Council ________________________________ Clerk of Council 4