City Council

MINUTES City of Geneva Council Meeting May 13, 2024 6:04 p.m. President John Barbo opened the Council meeting at 6:00 p.m. Roll Call – John Barbo, Robert Rosebrugh, Jeffrey Griffiths, James Baehr, William Baker, Dana Schenk, John Travis Pledge of Allegiance to the flag was said and prayer was offered by Pastor Elijah Fowler, New Life Assembly of God. Motion was made by James Baehr to approve the minutes of the April 22, 2024 regular council meeting, seconded by John Travis. Roll call, 7 yeas, (Barbo, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baehr, Baker, Schenk, Travis). Motion duly passed. Presentations: Income Tax, Nadine Mooneyham Presenting With regard to the 2020 COVID related work from home municipal refunds, the State of Ohio has determined that the principal place of work for 2020 is the physical location of the employer. Employees working from home cannot apply for a refund for wages that were withheld by the employer. Currently there is no pending tax legislation on the table at the state house. The City will need to implement House Bill 33 as of January 1of this year which changes the late filing fee from $150 to $25 and will have to abate the first time late filing fee for anyone that has filed. The net profit extension due date for businesses has been changed from October 15 to November 15. The extension is not for payment, just to file. The 2023 tax season went very well. The department had over 300 walk-ins in two days (Friday and Monday). The unofficial revenue for April is $545,000. There is a drop box at the front door of the administration building. A drop box is being considered at the tax department as well. Recreation, Myke Dowd Presenting. Community Days which is free to the public is this Saturday at Memorial Field. Safety Forces, non-profits will be there. Free hot dogs will be available. June 15, 2024 – Community Garage Sale at Memorial Field 1 Movies at Memorial Field begin June 18th and go through August 6th on Tuesday’s at 9:00 p.m. The movies have all been sponsored. Concerts at the Pavilion begin June 20th and go through August 15th. Concerts start at 7:00 p.m. July 7th is the water battle at Memorial Field. August 15th – Back to School distribution Ms. Dowd is working with Country Neighbor and the State to set up a summer lunch program Monday through Friday at Eagle Street Park. Ms. Dowd provided an updated on the bike racks being designed and built by the students at ATech through a collaboration of the departments and with Fenton Machine Shop. Arthur Lois Steel is donating the steel. The bike racks will be Geneva gray, the eagle will be scarlet red. The design was provided to Council. The bike racks are expected to be completed in the fall. Two of the bike racks will be located at Memorial Field. One at the field house and one at the playground. The other bike racks will be located at the Rotary Pavilion, Eagle Street Park and at the Administration Building. Vince Crawford – Waste Management Mr. Crawford’s presentation included a video on recycling. Waste Management has invested over $1 billion in new recycling infrastructure including building a $35 million plant in Oakwood Village for recycling. Plastics and cardboard stay local. The new plant can process material at twice the speed. Waste Management is moving toward automation. There are much higher paying jobs at the new facility as a result of automation. As of two years ago, all Waste Management carts are 60% recycled material. All of the driver’s uniforms are made from recycled plastic as well. Waste Management currently services 1,700 customers in the City of Geneva. Customers can create an on-line account. Many of the things you would do on the phone can be done on-line through the customer account. Approximately 1,100 customers currently have an on-line account. Twenty-seven trucks were out in Geneva for the bulk pick-up; 88 tons of material was picked up. Last year 85 tons was picked-up. Mr. Crawford thanked Superintendent Bittner and Police Chief Camper for their assistance in helping with the pick-up on Route 20. The 12 year project of building a clay liner, digging out all the material at the old Doughty Landfill and putting it into a state of the art Landfill that has all the environmental monitoring systems is complete. The project involved 23 acres 1.2 cubic million yards of material were moved. The landfill takes in 500 tons a day. Waste Management was just selected by major league baseball to be their sustainability partner. 2 Citizens: Rachael Craig 531 North Avenue, Geneva Semi-trucks are detouring down North Ave. The traffic is travelling too fast, kicking up dust. Some neighbors have children. Semi-trucks, large vehicles are not supposed to be driving down North Avenue. Mr. Vackette stated that the detour signage at Route 20 and 528 is being adjusted to make sure the truck traffic is aware of the detour before they get to a point where they are using Padanarum and North Ave. The City is aware of the problem and is working to address it. City Manager Report: Appalachian Community Grant – The city was awarded $2.6 million. This project emphasizes downtown revitalization and will include paving Depot lot, installation of trees, landscaping, wayfinding signs, murals and site furnishings in various locations as well as replacement of sidewalk, brick paver ribbon and stamped decorative concrete, in the city’s central downtown. It is unclear whether the downtown storefront rehabilitation portion of the project is included in the award. The upgrade of the facades was estimated at $650,000 with $280,000 being private investment. The City is waiting for details on the award and will pass on those details when available. West Main Street Project updated – Overall the project is going well. The contractor is continuing to work on installing the dewatering system and on signage. The areas around the construction zone involving the re-routing of traffic are being monitored for speeding, as there have been resident calls both in and outside of the City. A progress meeting is scheduled for May 22, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. USDOT SS4A – The City is leading a collaborative effort with Geneva Township and Harpersfield Township in seeking funding in the amount of $265,000 through the UDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) to conduct planning activities and create a comprehensive roadway safety action plan. A twenty percent match is required for this funding. The City’s share is $95,000 with a $19,000 local match payable over two budget cycles. Ashtabula County has some of the highest rates for serious and fatal accidents. The key deliverables for each entity are: 1. Comprehensive Transportation Safety Action Plan; 2. GIS Mapping of all transportation elements – including roads, rails, sidewalks, trails, and on- street parking; 3. Comprehensive Safety Assessment of roadways, intersections, and pedestrian/cyclist infrastructure and identification of countermeasures; 4. Broad Public & Stakeholder Engagement; 5. Public Education and Outreach; 6. Community Developed Land Use Plan. Each community will have a plan that will allow each to go after project funding. 3 Stormwater Master Plan – In the last work session with consultants identified trouble areas were reviewed and a few more were added to a working map. The consultants are now in the process of physically visiting/inspecting the priority areas and will compile the information and then schedule a meeting with the City. Community Center Event Planner – The event planner, Lauren Merinar, is on board and working with Lynn Gersper and IT on integrating services. ODNR – Division of Forestry Grant Award – The City, as the lead applicant working in collaboration with Geneva Township and Geneva-on-the-Lake has been awarded a $50,000 grant which includes $30,000 for a Forestry Consultant, $12,000 for high-risk tree removal and $8,000 for tree planting. Mr. Varckette requested authorization to accept the award and sign the Subrecipient Agreement with ODNR. Motion was made by Jeffrey Griffiths to authorize the City Manager to accept the ODNR Urban Forestry Grant and execute the Subrecipient Agreement. Dana Schenk seconded the motion. Roll call on passage, 7 yeas (Barbo, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baehr, Baker, Schenk, Travis). Motion duly passed. The City has prepared and posted a Request for Proposal for a qualified consulting Forester to serve as an independent contractor. The chosen consultant will be compensated through funds awarded by the ODNR, Division of Forestry grant. Yard Waste Pick-up Service – The City’s annual curb-side yard waste pickup has begun. The City will pick-up yard waste on the second and fourth Monday of the month. A refresher regarding the program is on the website. Residents with individual circumstances regarding compliance with the grass ordinance should contact the City Manager. Mr. Griffiths commended Noell Siversten for her efforts to get water restored at the Village of Geneva complex. Items for Consideration of Council – None. Unfinished Business – None. New Business: James Baehr made a motion to cancel the Monday, May 27, 2024 council meeting due to the Memorial Day holiday. Jeffrey Griffiths seconded the motion. Roll call on passage, 7 years (Barbo, Rosebrugh, Griffiths, Baehr, Baker, Schenk, Travis). Motion duly passed. 4 Payment of Bills: The lease of property at Sherman Street and Walnut from the railroad is being looked at. The cost of the lease was recently doubled. Committee Reports: Mr. Griffiths reported on the Sustainability and Shade Tree clean up, the event was rained out and has been rescheduled. Safe Bike Week at GPS and Geneva Middle School is happening all next week. Citizen: Jeffrey Griffiths made a motion to adjourn James Baehr seconded. Council meeting adjourned at 7:06 p.m. Recorded by: Phyllis Dunlap Clerk of Council _______________________________ President of Council __________________________________ Clerk of Council 5