Tallmadge City Council Regular Business Meeting (2013-2019)

REGULAR COUNCIL in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. October 24, 13 1. CALL TO ORDER: President of Council Maguire called the Regular Council meeting of Thursday, October 24, 2013 to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. PRAYER: Silent prayer. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. 3. ROLL CALL: Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Maguire, Mrs. Ray, Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker – present. Also present were Mayor Kline, Dir. of Public Service Esler, Dir. of Finance Shanafelt, Dir. of Law Raber, Economic Developer Loughry and Clerk of Council Burton. 4. MINUTES: 10-10-13 Regular Council Meeting Minutes. Mrs. Ray moved for the adoption of the 10-10-13 Regular Council Meeting minutes. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Voice vote 7-0. The Regular Council Meeting minutes for the 10-10-13 Regular Meeting were adopted by a vote of 7-0. FINANCIAL REPORTS: None. 5. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None. 6. COMMUNITY INPUT: Pres. of Council: If there is anybody in the audience that would like to speak to City Council about any matter; please come forward at this time. No one responded. Does anybody want to come before City Council? 6.A. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Pres. of Council: For the students that are in the audience tonight, City Council meets on the second and fourth Thursday’s of the month and the preceding Monday before those meetings, we meet in what is called “committees.” We are organized into six different committees. During those Committee meetings we debate and discuss the legislation that is before us and so tonight when we get to the legislation you are going to think, gee, they didn’t even talk much about this. Well, we do all of that on the Monday night meeting and so it will probably go a little faster tonight than it does on the Monday night meeting. Any other announcements? Dir. of Law: Mr. Maguire, I believe there is a person in the audience tonight who would like to address Council. She said she could not hear you and so she didn’t know that that was her opportunity to come to the podium. Perhaps you could go back to Item 6 if at all possible? Pres. of Council: We will move back to Community Input. If you would like to come forward please and the Mayor is checking to make sure the mike is on. Juana Solorzano – I am here in reference to the Sound Garden Café. I would like a little bit more of an explanation and I know that I only have five minutes; I understand that. I st understand that there was a meeting on the 21 and I was not aware of it to be here to discuss it further and in a further instance. What I would like to know is that the City ordinance was in play of the 250’ away from the book store; adult store I believe and if that was in play; why was this even considered for the Sound Garden Café? I do not understand that. I happen to be one of the investors and after $7,000 of investing in this project; it was like . . . it was done. No further discussion was asked of anyone. So I wanted to know . . . was there anything that we could do or what happened? This is a project that I think would have been very lucrative for Tallmadge. It was not just a bar. There is a lot of bars around here; Akron and everywhere, but this was not going to be just a bar. This was going to be entertainment. Food and entertainment was the majority of this Sound Garden Café. Does anyone have any questions? Mr. Donovan: Were you . . . there were two public hearings held with Planning & Zoning; did you attend those? Mrs. Solorzano: No, the young man that was in reference to; he was there I am assuming th rd on the 9 was it or the 3 I think it was . . . Mr. Donovan: There were two public hearings and this has come to Council several times and it was even amended. I am just curious that you weren’t aware of any of those meetings? Mrs. Solorzano: I was not aware of it no sir. I heard that there was a City ordinance concerning 250’ . . . it had to be 250’ away from the book store if I understand correctly and if that was already in play . . . it wasn’t just made up. It was already in play and so why even consider the Sound Garden Café? Dir. of Law: Ma’am, if I could answer that question. The City has an obligation to examine or consider all applications and so even if there is a provision under the Code, the Planning Commission and then Council does have the ability to do what is called a variance and deviate from that Code. In this particular case, the Planning & Zoning Commission who heard the matter determined that with regard to that particular provision as well as some other considerations that they did discuss at length at the two public hearings that they did want to forward a recommendation to reject to Council. Mrs. Solorzano: OK, so it went to a vote is what you are saying?  REGULAR COUNCIL in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. October 24, 13 Dir. of Law: It went to a vote at the Planning & Zoning Commission and the role of the Planning & Zoning Commission is to make a recommendation to this body; City Council and then City Council has it before them tonight and they have actually had it before them at four previous City Council meetings; Regular City Council meetings as well as their Committee meetings. This will be the fourth night or Regular Council meeting that they have had it. The eighth . . . well, the seventh total time that Council has had it before them. Mrs. Solorzano: So this was discussed with the young gentleman prior to the expenses that were taken after that I am assuming. There has to be minutes and everything; right . . where that was discussed and the gentleman was told that you are not within the City ordinance? Dir. of Law: He was presented with all of that information and he was provided with the application materials. He submitted his application materials and one of the items in his application materials in fact addressed that particular criteria of the 250’ and he in fact, in the application materials, noted that no; it was not within 250’ from an adult entertainment business. So he had all of that information and proceeded to . . . to submit the application and at that point in time, the City then has an obligation to consider the application. Mrs. Solorzano: OK. One more question; the architect drawings of the planning of inside the Sound Garden Café were asked to be submitted; why was that? Why would the plans have to be submitted by an architect, which is very expensive, as you all know? Dir. of Law: That is common practice with Conditional Zoning applications. The Boards and Commissions as well as City Council want to have some kind of . . . a good rendering as professional as possible, and so typically it is mentioned or recommended that someone pursue, if they are going to make the application, that they do that with an architect being involved. Mrs. Solorzano: Even though you know that it is going to be rejected because of the City ordinance? Dir. of Law: We don’t know if that is going to be rejected because of the City ordinance. Again, Planning & Zoning Commission has to take everything into consideration as well as Council and they have the ability to do what is called a variance. The people at the Zoning office are not the people who make that determination. Mrs. Solorzano: To make the final decision. Dir. of Law: The final decision rests with this body; City Council. Mrs. Solorzano: Mm. OK, does anyone else have anything to say concerning the Sound Garden Café because right now I am at awe that this has happened. I understand the legalities of what you saying; I do understand that. What I am saying is that a business that is trying to come into Tallmadge to be good for Tallmadge (inaudible) would have been very good for Tallmadge; OK, was not considered at all except for like you said the variance . . . the 250’ ordinance that is in play. Why was it even voted on if it was already in play? That is what I don’t understand and I’m just a citizen and so I don’t understand the legalities of what you are saying. I really don’t, except to me it is black and white; if it is a City ordinance that is in play; why even have a vote? It is there. So, it is either an iffy thing where you can maybe . . . somebody will say yes, you can do it. You know the book store and the teen center to me were the ones . . . the main parties in this decision of saying no. Dir. of Law: Those were weighed by the Planning & Zoning Commission during the two public hearings that were held. Mrs. Solorzano: I understand about the teen center because of the alcohol that would be served, OK? What I don’t understand is that the teen center is 100 . . . no 235’ it’s under the 250 from the adult store; I think the adult store is more in jeopardy for the children than the alcohol because they are not going into a club; they are not going to go into the club, but they can go into a book store because it is a book store/adult peep show. To me that is more not safe for the kids than a bar would be because he is open four hours a week and we would be open all week except for Sunday. To me that would bring more money into the City than the teen center. Dir. of Law: As I . . . we did have a previous telephone conversation and I tried to explain this, but the restaurant serving alcoholic beverages are conditionally zoned. They are conditional uses. There are other uses in commercially zoned areas that are permitted uses. So, the teen club the way it was designed met the requirements for a permitted use and so it is a different process than the restaurant serving alcoholic beverages. It also falls under different regulations under the Code and different criteria. So, they are two separate things. Mrs. Solorzano: So they . . . Dir. of Law: But at this point, we are getting well past the normal two minute conversation and so I don’t know how Council would like to proceed, but I just want to . . . Mrs. Solorzano: Council isn’t saying anything. I think they are leaving it all up to you. I understand that they are probably in awe like I am; they don’t really know what to say; OK? But, I apologize for being up here; I really do because obviously you guys do not understand what I am trying to say. Actually it comes down to dollars and cents. Over $7,000 is what we have spent in this project hoping that it would be a very, very luda . . . decision for everybody; not just us of course but the high rises coming up; it would have been great; it would have been great for the plaza. 2  REGULAR COUNCIL in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. October 24, 13 Mrs. Kilway: I would just like to say that I was at the public hearing and I did hear everything that Planning & Zoning had to say in reference to this ordinance and it wasn’t so much rejecting the Sound Garden Café; it was the location of it and the closeness to the book store and the teen center. They mentioned many times during the Planning & Zoning meeting that if you would like to submit any place else in the City that . . . where we did not have to get conditional zoning; that would be fine. Mrs. Solorzano: mm huh. Mrs. Kilway: The main . . . Dir. of Law: If I could correct you; it would be conditional zoning no matter where it is but the issue is where . . . so with conditional zoning, you always take into consideration the surrounding entities and how it fits into that particular area that they are asking for. So just to clarify. Mrs. Kilway: And they also had mentioned that it wasn’t so much the Sound Garden Café that went into there, but they had to consider if something were to happen in the Sound Garden Café and they decided not to operate there, that conditional zoning remains at that property and so somebody else could then come in and not have to get permission through Planning & Zoning or Council and they could have a full-fledged bar or Lord only knows what could go in at that point in time. Dir. of Law: Again, they would have conditionally zoned property under the same conditions as this particular property. The conditional zoning runs with the property and not with the particular applicant and so there are conditions that could be put in place that would run with whoever else subsequently could take ownership, but then again, that was mentioned and discussed and because it could be a slightly different business model, they would still have to meet our Code requirements and the conditional requirements, but it could look a lot different than what the particular Sound Garden Restaurant business model might be. Mrs. Kilway: All of this was taken into consideration many times before we made this decision. Mrs. Solorzano: So, I’m sorry; I know it is only five minutes and it has been probably twenty by now, but so what you are saying is that another café/bar entertainment center could not come into the plaza if it is at that location? Correct? Dir. of Law: I am saying that at that particular location, the primary concerns from the Planning & Zoning Commission based on . . . I mean, this is my opinion at this point, because they fully discussed this and there were two hearings on this matter that were held, but those were the primary concerns in that particular location was the proximity to the adult entertainment and the teen club. So, at this point in time and with those other businesses established there; those were the considerations. Mrs. Solorzano: OK. Dir. of Law: And any snapshot in time, there may be different factors that would come into play and again that is when the criteria has to be evaluated and so each . . . that is why each application is evaluated on a case-by-case basis because I can’t tell you that 20 years down the road if that adult book store is not there and/or the teen club is not, then maybe that looks different. Mrs. Solorzano: OK. Alright, well I think that is all being said because there really is nothing you can say really to satisfy me because we still spent our $7,000 and now we have nothing and so that being said, good night and thank you for your time. Pres. of Council: Since we went back to Community Input; is there any other community input? No one responded. 7. REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES: None. 8. AGENDA ADDITIONS: None. 9. REPORTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS: MAYOR, DIR. OF PUBLIC SERVICE, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, AND DIRECTOR OF LAW. Mayor: I will be brief. Don’t forget this coming Saturday is the recycling program at the back parking lot of the high school in conjunction with our IT Department and the Green Team of the School District. It starts at 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. All help is welcome. If you want to come anywhere between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. you are welcome to come. If you want to give an hour; that’s fine and if you want to give the whole time; that’s fine, but I know it is a very busy day that day with the Tallmadge Foundation having their fundraiser at 2:00 p.m. and it is a busy day, but you are all welcome. st Next Thursday, the 31 is Halloween. Trick or Treat here in Tallmadge starts at 5:30 p.m. and then the Street Dance at the Rec Center parking lot starts promptly at 7:00 p.m. with the 1,500 hot dogs and so you are all welcome to come and flip your hotdogs and stuff the buns. So, we could use your help on that also. Yesterday and today, WardJet had their open house here in Tallmadge and some of you may know the terminology of WardJet and some of you who don’t; WardJet is inside the S.D. Meyers building. They make water jet cutting machines and they ship those machines across the world. It is a very phenomenal business that they have developed inside there. If you haven’t been in there, we will gladly take you down there to see the operation that they perform down there; it is just phenomenal. The Ward family is residents here in Tallmadge 3  REGULAR COUNCIL in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. October 24, 13 Mayor (Cont’d.) and people at this meeting that I was at the other day with them and going through it with them; they ship them all over the world from Zimbabwe to Brazil to Iceland; they were all there looking at the machines and they bought machines and it is just a great operation that they have and we are very fortunate to have WardJet. st On the Budget; you do have 1 Reading on the budget tonight. The attachment is not with this. We are meeting the middle of next week to finalize that attachment and you will get th that. It is usually before that meeting . . . November 11 is the Work Session of Council, or the normal Council meeting and we will devote at least an hour on the Budget at that meeting and then if we need subsequent meetings from that, then we will schedule them at that point, but I think you will be happy with the Budget and there are a lot of capital items in there. So we are real pleased with that. End of report. Pres. of Council: Mr. Mayor; if my colleagues are available, shouldn’t we start the Monday night meeting at 6:00 pm instead of 7:00 pm? Mayor: If you look at the agenda, you will have two items on the agenda; one is the budget and the other one is the re-appropriation ordinance and this is really finance driven and if you notice the re-appropriation ordinance, I am happy to say that with a $25 million budget, it is $35,000 for re-appropriations on some salary things that we can justify and so we are not st asking for 1 Reading adoption tonight; we will ask that at . . . Pres. of Council: We will just leave it at 7:00 p.m. then. Mayor: I think we can just leave it at 7:00 p.m. Dir. of Pub. Service: Leaf collection began on Monday for Section 1. We were able to save some money this week. We only used four of our machines out of the eight machines and we only had to bring in four temporary laborers. We used the rest of our Street Department manpower. They were able to complete Section 1 and went into Section 2 and completed it and by the end of tomorrow they will be almost complete with the whole City. Paving on Ivywood is complete and we got some compliments on that from the residents. It looks very nice. We have been conducting Mechanic’s interviews this week. We interviewed the top ten test takers and we have narrowed it down to three that we are going to have second interviews with next week and hopefully by the end of the week; we will make an offer for a Mechanic’s position. End of report. Dir. of Finance: I have no report this evening. Dir. of Law: I have no report this evening. Economic Developer: We are very busy obviously as evidenced by three agenda items this evening. Also, just to give you an update on some things that have transpired in the recent pasts; the AHEPA building is having a ribbon cutting tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. if you are available to make it. The plaza next door to it has been sold and Planet Fitness is open and doing very well. We had Sammie’s Restaurant ribbon cutting on Monday. United Dental has been with us now for about nine months and those are great jobs and there are a lot of employees and the Mayor made reference to WardJet. On West Avenue, we were notified earlier this week that Martin Wheel did close on the Barber Beverage Warehouse next door and so we are real excited about what we have been told is happening there. Today before the deadline, a medical practice did make application for the November agenda . . . 145 West Avenue for a medical facility and that piece of property abuts our land at 125 West Avenue that Council will place in the CIC this evening. So as you can see, there is a lot of transformation along the spokes on our main corridor and so that is very healthy. End of report. Pres. of Council: Thank you Mr. Loughry. The next item is Item 10. rd 10. Ordinance 90-2013 At 3 Reading. PLANNING & ZONING Granting a conditional zoning certificate to applicant Robert Morrison, Owner, Frank Rocco to operate a dining establishment serving alcoholic beverages at 290 West Avenue, Suite G. Pres. of Council: Because of a conflict and a fiduciary relationship, I am going to pass the gavel to the Vice President; Mr. James Donovan. Mr. Donovan: Thank you Mr. President. We have had two public hearings and Council has amended this ordinance as recommended by Planning & Zoning. The Planning & Zoning Committee recommended rejection of Ord. 90-2013. At this time; I am looking for a motion. Mrs. Ray moved for the rejection of Ord. 90-2013. Seconded Mr. Rensel. Roll Call: Mrs. Kilway – yes, Mr. Maguire – abstain, Mrs. Ray – yes, Mr. Rensel – yes, Mr. Sisak – yes, Mr. Stalnaker – yes, Mr. Donovan – yes. Mr. Donovan: I do have a question Mrs. Raber; do you want anything beyond this? Dir. of Law: No. That was a vote to reject and it passed by a vote of 6-0 with one abstention, which was Mr. Maguire. Mr. Donovan: We have rejected Ord. 90-2013 by a vote of 6-0 with one abstention. 4  REGULAR COUNCIL in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. October 24, 13 rd 11. Ordinance 92-2013 At 3 Reading. PUBLIC SERVICE Amending Chapter 739 of the Tallmadge Code of Ordinances for haulers. Mr. Sisak: I call the Public Service Committee to order; myself, Mrs. Kilway and Mr. Rensel are present. We had recommended on Monday to poll. Mrs. Kilway; we had agreed to adopt by a vote of 2-0, but wanted to get your input as well for tonight’s meeting. Dir. of Pub. Service: This ordinance is ready for adoption. I know we have made a final agreement with the hauler and we are ready for adoption. Mr. Sisak: Right. We want to poll tonight so that we can vote on it. Mrs. Kilway: I would move to adopt. Mr. Sisak: OK, so the recommendation from the Public Service Committee is to adopt 3-0. I would like to close the Public Service Committee. It is 7:28 p.m. Pres. of Council: Thank you Mr. Sisak. Mr. Sisak: I would like to make a motion to adopt Ord. 92-2013 at this time. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Pres. of Council: Is there any discussion? Mayor: I thank Council for their consideration. I know that Mr. Esler has worked very hard on putting this contract together. We wanted to confirm some items and that is why we asked you to poll because we weren’t sure where the contract was going. There were a couple of issues and they did work that detail out and so we do have a final document that is ready for me to sign as soon as the Law Department confirms the form and all of that and so I think we are in good shape. I just want you to understand really what you are adopting is allowing a single hauler to pick up in Tallmadge and I know we have had that conversation in the past. We looked at doing this back when we started the first program back in 2003. There were several haulers available to do the project, or to do the City pickup, and we elected not to do a single hauler at that time, but a lot of debate went into it. We are at a point now where 97% of all residents within Tallmadge are with the current hauler that we elected to go with Republic. We did have a meeting today with ReWorks, which are the recycling folks that came and spoke to us a couple of weeks ago about the advertising and how the promotion that we are going to start putting out to the residents after the contracts are signed and we are also working with Republic, ReWorks and the Service Department for the advertising and telling the residents what this program is all about. You will see a lot of campaigns kicked off after the contracts are signed. So, thank the Service Department; Mr. Esler and his team for working so diligently on getting a great contract. I think it will save the City taxpayers money and we are becoming more green with more recycling. Every resident will receive two bins; one is going to be a brand new trash bin, a 96 gallon blue container and a green 65 gallon roll out bin and that will be all publicized and we are taking out a full page ad in the Tallmadge Express. We are working on a mailer and it will be on our website and “The Frequently Asked Questions” sheet that Barberton put out and they said it was very, very helpful and as soon as we get that form and we look at it and tweak it for us; you will get it. Thank you. Roll Call: Mr. Maguire – yes, Mrs. Ray – yes, Mr. Rensel – no, Mr. Sisak – yes, Mr. Stalnaker – yes, Mr. Donovan – yes, Mrs. Kilway – yes. Ord. 92-2013 is adopted by a vote of 6-1. nd 12. Ordinance 93-2013 At 2 Reading. FINANCE Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with United Dental Laboratories, Incorporated for a New Jobs Program Grant pursuant to T.C.O. 160.05 and pro- viding for immediate enactment. nd Mrs. Ray moved for the adoption of Ord. 93-2013 at 2 Reading. Seconded Mr. Stalnaker. Roll Call: Mrs. Ray, Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Maguire – unanimous. Ord. 93-2013 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. nd 13. Ordinance 94-2013 At 2 Reading. PUBLIC SERVICE Authorizing the Director of Public Service to advertise for bids and the Mayor to enter into a contract for the mowing and care of public lands for the period January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2016, and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Ray moved for the adoption of Ord. 94-2013. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Roll Call: Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Maguire, Mrs. Ray – unanimous. Ord. 94-2013 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 5  REGULAR COUNCIL in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. October 24, 13 nd 14. Ordinance 95-2013 At 2 Reading. FINANCE Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement for the sale without bid of real property at 125 West Avenue, not needed for municipal purposes, to Tallmadge Grow, Inc., a Community Improvement Corpora- tion. Mrs. Ray moved for the adoption of Ord. 95-2013. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Roll Call: Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Maguire, Mrs. Ray, Mr. Rensel – unanimous. Ord. 95- 2013 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. st 15. Ordinance 96-2013 At 1 Reading. FINANCE Adopting a budget for various funds of the P.H. ON 12-12-13 @ 7:03 P.M. City of Tallmadge, Ohio, for current expenses and other expenditures during fiscal year ending December 31, 2014, appropriating the necessary funds for the administration thereof; authorizing transfers between funds and providing for immediate enactment. st Pres. of Council: Ord. 96-2013 is at 1 Reading and is assigned to the Finance Committee. We will schedule a public hearing for Ord. 96-2013, on 12-12-13 @ 7:03 p.m. st 16. Ordinance 97-2013 At 1 Reading. PUBLIC SERVICE Authorizing the Ohio Director of Trans- portation to resurface State Route 261 from the City corporation line to State Route 9 and providing for immediate enactment. st Pres. of Council: Ord. 97-2013 is at 1 Reading and will be assigned to the Public Service Committee. st 17. Ordinance 98-2013 At 1 Reading. FINANCE Appropriating additional amounts and reducing appropriations in various funds and providing for immediate enactment. st Pres. of Council: Ord. 98-2013 is at 1 Reading and is assigned to the Finance Committee. st 18. Resolution 22-2013 At 1 Reading. Extending the sympathy of the Council and the Administration to Craig and Renee Davisson and members of their family in the death of Fred H. Davisson and pro- viding for immediate enactment. st Mr. Rensel: I move for the adoption of Res. 22-2013 at 1 Reading with sadness. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Mr. Maguire: I knew Fred and he was a great guy. Mayor; do you have any comments? Mayor: Fred . . . he was in the Water Department and did a great job. I didn’t know him that much, but at the time I was here . . . I know that Bryan probably worked with him a lot longer, but he was one of those guys that would just do whatever you wanted him to do and really not complain too much about it. Mr. Rensel: Mr. Davisson was a trouper; you realize that. Mayor: Yeah. Mr. Rensel: He was a Tallmadge true and blue. Mr. Maguire: I’m pretty sure he lived here in town too. Mr. Rensel: Yes and his kids played ball. Mr. Maguire: Any other discussion? No one responded. Voice vote 7-0. Res. 22-2013 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 19. ADDITIONAL ITEMS: None. 20. ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Donovan moved to adjourn. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Voice vote 7-0. The Regular Council meeting adjourned at 7:37 p.m. sb Approved: _____________________________________ __________________________________ Susan E. Burton Robert D. Maguire Clerk of Council President of Council 6