City Council

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015 – 7:30 P.M. MAYOR MATTHEW E. BRETT PRESIDING MEMBERS PRESENT: Porter, Binder, Carroll, Dishong, Koons and Kostura OFFICIALS PRESENT: Fiscal Officer Romanowski, Police Chief Rizzo, Street Commissioner Johnson, Solicitor Ondrey, Engineer Haibach VISITORS: Cindy Nairn, Whitetail Drive; Jerry Canton, Manor Brook Drive; Barbara Stiebeling, East Bel Meadow; Koons moved to approve the minutes of the October 26, 2015 Council meeting, seconded by Kostura. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. MAYOR’S REPORT: The Mayor congratulated Kostura, Canton and Koons on the election. There will be an open Council seat in 2016 due to Koons resigning as a Councilmember to serve as Village Mayor. There will also be open seats for the new Tax Board of Review. The Mayor asked if Council would prefer taking care of these appointments before the end of the year. Kostura stated he would like to have all resumes submitted by mid-December so Council could hold interviews in early January. Porter suggested a date of December 14th. Dishong and Carroll both agreed. Kostura moved to advertise for the open Council seat with all resumes and letters of interest to be submitted by December 14, 2015, and interviews to be held the first week of January, seconded by Dishong. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Porter moved to advertise for the open Tax Board of Review seats with all resumes and letters of interest to be submitted by December 14, 2015, and interviews to be held the third week of January 2016, seconded by Carroll. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. The Mayor asked that Council go into Executive Session to discuss personnel discipline at the end of the meeting. FISCAL OFFICER’S REPORT: The Fiscal Officer reviewed her report. The Fiscal Officer informed Council about the Lean Ohio Bootcamp program stating that each municipality is permitted to have up to 48 employees attend this training for free at Cleveland State University in Cleveland. The bootcamp trains employees and elected officials how to identify and eliminate non-value added activities within processes to make things more efficient. Once a municipality has participated in the program, they can then apply for grants to help implement these leaner practices. Fiscal Officer informed Council that Cleveland State University is now requiring that any students seeking a degree in Public Administration must complete an internship of about 10-15 11/9/15 COUNCIL MEETING Page 1 of 5 hours per week. Public entities can apply to have one of these interns work for them for free. The Fiscal Officer believes this could be a good resource for the Village for special projects. The Fiscal Officer stated that she spoke with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) concerning the bill for the Bell Road project. She was informed it takes ODOT about 6-12 months to get their paperwork together for their billings. This project will need to be carried over to 2016. The Mayor asked the Engineer for an estimated total for this project. ENGINEER’S REPORT: The Engineer reported he has obtained the suggestions requested from the Chagrin Valley Watershed Partners for the Waverly drainage issue. The Engineer will be meeting with Waverly residents and the school administration to discuss these recommendations. The Engineer performed two drainage site checks at the Lantern of South Russell to make sure the drainage is still working properly. Both test results were normal. The Engineer also checked three residential drainage projects. Kostura asked if the apron was repaired on Snyder Road. The Engineer said it had not been repaired. Kostura asked if the Village can just close out the project and have the Village complete the work. The Mayor said the Village has that option and recommended hiring someone if the contractor doesn’t have the work done in the next week. BUILDING INSPECTOR’S REPORT: The Building Inspector was not present due to a conference attendance, but she did distribute a report to Council. POLICE CHIEF’S REPORT: The Police Chief referred to his monthly report. Chief informed Council that the traffic light retrofitting has taken place and a new electric meter will be installed. The conversion included replacing the LED heads, replacement of visors and other components in the cabinet. The actual light fixtures were not replaced. The Chief reported his department is now communicating on the radios more between themselves for calls that aren’t emergencies and their call volume with Chagrin Valley Dispatch has decreased by about 300 yearly calls. Due to the decrease in calls and the addition of the Village of Bratenahl to the dispatch center, the Village will see a 10% decrease in the dispatch bill. Mayor added that he feels that Chagrin Valley Dispatch does a great job but doesn’t understand why there hasn’t been more of a decrease to the Village’s cost now that more communities are utilizing their services. Discussion followed. Binder stated that it seems as though the Police Department has updated its technology significantly the past few years and asked if they are where they need to be technology wise. Chief stated the Department is done with updates at this time. He said the only difference that the Village has from the Chagrin Valley Dispatch is that they have a computer system called TAC and the Village of South Russell uses Spillman. Both are compatible at this time and this also gives the Village of South Russell Police Department access to the Cuyahoga and Geauga County dispatch logs, which is convenient. 11/9/15 COUNCIL MEETING Page 2 of 5 STREET COMMISSIONER’S REPORT: The Street Commissioner reviewed his monthly report. The Street Commissioner stated that the Village had the first cremation burial last Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at South Russell Village Cemetery. The Otten family was very happy with the Village setup. A second cremation burial has been scheduled for November 27th for Roger Mills. The fall properties cleanup is almost complete and the Street Department is preparing for the winter season. The crack sealing company that completed work in the Village this summer gave the Village a 25% credit on the invoice for the inferior work performed. They will also be giving the Village one additional day of sealing labor next year. SOLICITOR’S REPORT: The Solicitor stated the Northeast Ohio Law Directors Association is sponsoring a luncheon this Thursday about cyber security for municipalities. He told anyone interested in attending to contact him. The Solicitor will be submitting a 2-year contract with Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan for his services to be considered at the next meeting. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Binder had nothing to report. Porter stated the Public Utilities Committee made their recommendation of NOPEC for the gas and electric rates. Porter said he spoke with Ralph Richards concerning the NOPEC rates for gas and electric. Richards told both Porter and the Fiscal Officer that after learning the details of the rates that NOPEC was offering, he agreed the Village is making the best decision by choosing NOPEC as their utility provider. Carroll stated the Safety Committee met and discussed the Fire Prevention Officer’s budget request. Carroll asked the Solicitor if he was aware of any requirements to have the Fire Code onsite at the Village properties. The Solicitor wasn’t aware of any requirements. Carroll stated that the Police Department recommended no parking zones on Maple Ridge, Alderwood and Manor Brook. The Solicitor suggested passing the regulation by ordinance. A parking ticket would be $5. Dishong reminded Council that a resident had concerns with the no parking zones and he wanted to make sure this was taken into consideration. Chief said only one side of the street on Manor Brook would be effected. Mayor doesn’t know if the resident is satisfied with the decision but the Chief tried to accommodate her requests as much as possible. The Solicitor suggested the Chief develop a map of no parking zones in the Village for Council to adopt at the next meeting by ordinance. Carroll asked to enter executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss employee compensation. 11/9/15 COUNCIL MEETING Page 3 of 5 Dishong met with the Human Resource Committee and would also like to finalize healthcare benefits in executive session. Koons met with the Park Committee and discussion was held on planting corn for a maze at the next Fall Festival. One acre of corn will cost approximately $500. Chief Brosius from Chagrin Falls Police Department would also like to coordinate a fly-over of a C-130 transport plane. The Parks Committee discussed yoga, a concert and a possible movie night in the park. Koons said the Village is currently paying about $50 monthly in electric for the lights at the pavilion. He will be looking into the possibility of installing a solar panel. Koons stated the Farmers Market would like to begin the 2016 season on May 7th and run through October 15th. The Farmers Market will be at Lowes Greenhouse this winter. Koons reported that he attended the Geauga Growth Partnership workshop addressing employee evaluations. Kostura stated the Planning Commission meeting for this month was cancelled. Kostura stated the current version of the proposed budget was distributed and asked if Council had any comments or questions. Binder brought attention to the utility costs and feels Council should look at this item. ORDINANCES/RESOLUTIONS: Kostura gave final reading to an ordinance adopting, in conformance with ORC 718, a “Municipal Income Tax”, and comprising sections 881.01 to 881.99. Kostura moved to adopt, seconded by Koons. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Ordinance 2015-35 Kostura introduced an ordinance amending appropriations increasing Streets Fund expenses $5,653, State Highway Fund expenses $5,653, and Income Tax Fund Transfer expense $5,653 and declaring an emergency. Kostura moved to waive further readings, seconded by Koons. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Kostura moved to adopt, seconded by Koons. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Ordinance 2015-36 Kostura introduced an ordinance transferring from the Income Tax Fund to the General Fund $130,653 and declaring an emergency. Kostura moved to waive further readings, seconded by Koons. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Kostura moved to adopt, seconded by Koons. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Ordinance 2015-37 BILLS LIST: Koons moved to ratify the October 30, 2015 bills list #2 in the amount of $4,620.18, seconded by Dishong. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Koons moved to approve the November 13, 2015 bills list in the amount of $39,530.04, seconded by Dishong. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. 11/9/15 COUNCIL MEETING Page 4 of 5 NEW/OTHER: Porter, Binder, Carroll, Dishong, Koons and Kostura had no new business. At 8:37 p.m. Dishong moved to enter into executive session to discuss salaries and benefits, and personnel discipline seconded by Koons. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Council reconvened at 9:22 p.m. Dishong moved to accept the healthcare proposal from Medical Mutual with the revised deductible for the 2016 year, seconded by Carroll. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Dishong moved to increase the Village’s HSA contribution by $250 for individual plans and $500 for family plans for 2016, seconded by Carroll. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Dishong moved to increase all employee wages by 2.25% effective January 1, 2016, seconded by Porter. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Carroll moved to increase the yearly safety boot reimbursement to $125, seconded by Dishong. Roll call – ayes, all. Motion carried. Kostura introduced the 2016 budget as amended to include the increases to the HSA accounts, the salary increases for all employees and the safety boot reimbursement. ADJOURNMENT: Being that there was no further business before Council, Carroll moved to adjourn, seconded by Porter. Roll call, ayes - all. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m. ______________________________ ______________________________ Matthew E. Brett, Mayor Danielle Romanowski, Fiscal Officer Prepared by Jennell Dahlhausen 11/9/15 COUNCIL MEETING Page 5 of 5