Tallmadge City Council Regular Business Meeting (2013-2019)

REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 13, 14 1. CALL TO ORDER: President of Council Donovan called the Regular Council meeting of Thursday, November 13, 2014 to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. PRAYER: Silent prayer. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. 3. ROLL CALL: Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Ms. Tricaso – present. Also present were Mayor Kline, Dir. of Finance Shanafelt, Dir. of Law Raber, Economic Developer Loughry and Clerk of Council Burton. Dir. of Pub. Service Esler was out ill. Mrs. Ray was on vacation. 4. MINUTES: 10-23-14 Regular Council meeting minutes. Mr. Sisak moved to adopt the 10-23-14 Regular Council meeting minutes. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Voice vote 6-0. The 10-23-14 Regular Council meeting minutes were adopted by a vote of 6-0. FINANCIAL REPORTS:  Appropriation Report, Fund Report, Revenue Report, and Encumber Report for the period ending 10-31-14 to Council on 11-3-14.  Tallmadge Recreation Center Profit and Loss Report for the period ending 10-31-14 to Council on 11-11-14.  Income Tax Comparisons for the period ending 10-31-14 to Council on 11-11-14.  October Financial Reports to Council on 11-11-14.  Revenue Comparisons for the period ending 10-31-14 to Council on 11-11-14.  Maca Park Summary for the period ending 10-31-14 to Council on 11-11-14. 5. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None. 6. COMMUNITY INPUT: Pres. of Council: I would like to welcome all of the students that are here this evening. Tallmadge City Council meets on the second and fourth Thursday’s of the month for their Regular Council meetings. The preceding Monday’s are the Council Committee meetings. Council is divided into six different committees with one of the Council members acting as the Chair of that committee. Legislation is discussed thoroughly at the Committee meeting and then the committee gives a recommendation to the Council of the Whole whether to adopt, amend, reject, hold or table the legislation. We do allow time for community input at this point in the meeting. If there is anybody who would like to address Council; now is the chance? No one responded. 6.A. ANNOUNCEMENTS: None. 7. REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES: None. 8. AGENDA ADDITIONS: Res. 23-2014 will become Item 15.A. on the agenda. 9. REPORTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS: MAYOR, DIR. OF PUBLIC SERVICE, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, DIRECTOR OF LAW AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPER Mayor: As Council knows and some of the public knows that we just completed our Lifetime Achievement Awards here at City Hall. It started at 6:00 p.m. and we were able to recognize John Doepker, Tobi Battista and Hank Skowronski who were three great members of our community and they have given a lot to our community and so I was very honored and pleased to recognize them tonight. The Leaf Program is moving along extremely well. Again, we have done nothing different than what we did last year; it is all up to Mother Nature. The leaves are dryer because the snow didn’t come down on them and so they are really ahead of schedule and so I am very happy with the way that is going. The water meters; we did send out a third letter to the 210 indoor metered people and we are getting a better response this time. The letter was a little stricter and hopefully we can get all of those done by the end of this month. The salt dome is full and if you noticed when you were driving around town today we actually started with our liquid program to pretreat some of the high traffic areas such as Tallmadge Circle, the hills and intersections and our bridges and the Roundabout with the liquid brine solution so when it dries it will stay on there for up to 48 hours with the anticipation for the snow to come down. So we will see how that works. We also . . . on a couple of trucks, are introducing brine into the salt as the salt drops. That way we will be able to conserve on salt and it helps the salt stick to the ground a little better and it prevents it from bouncing off to the edges and so it is a new program that we put together this year and we are anxious to see how that works out. On Monday night I did pass out the 2015 Budget and I have had some comments from some folks and Councilman Sisak asked to come in tomorrow. I do have availability and so we can get together after this and I will work out a time. Anyone else who wants to meet one on one; just let me know. We do have our Work Session this coming Monday at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers and that is all I have. Dir. of Finance: I would just like to briefly outline our end of the month October reports. The General Fund revenues are on track with projections. The Income Tax is about 2.3% ahead of last year’s. The General Fund Balance is a little over $4.3 million. The Rec Center is starting up with some new programs and we hope to see those flourish. Maca Pool ended the season with almost a $22,000 net operating profit.  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 13, 14 The Local Government Funds are at 92% of the estimated revenue and so we are a little bit ahead there which is good. The Fire Fund has $578,012 in the balance. The Street Maintenance Repair balance is almost $300,000. The Sewer Operating is slightly over $1.2 million. The Water Operating Fund has about a $1.9 million balance. The Storm Water Fund has collected a little over $284,000. If you have any questions I would be happy to entertain them. Mayor: Mr. Shanafelt, do you want Res. 23-2014 adopted this evening? Dir. of Finance: Yes. Thank you very much. Res. 23-2014 is a bit of a housekeeping issue and I would ask please that that be adopted this evening at 1 st Reading. Also, if you please, Ord. 88-2014 has to do with donations coming into the City. Again, basically a housekeeping ordinance so if you would like to clear that off of the slate I would ask your consideration for a 1st Reading adoption as well. Dir. of Law: Just briefly, the new Neighbor Mediation Program that we kicked off a few weeks ago has gotten some very nice coverage in the Akron Beacon Journal, WKSU covered it; WKIR, the Tallmadge Express . . . and so we are trying to get the word out to our citizens that the program is available. I appreciate; I’ve gotten a few referrals from Council and so I appreciate that and so just keep in mind that if you are fielding calls from persons who have some issue with a neighbor that I would be happy to see if they would be a good fit for the program and so please make that referral. Other than that I have no further items for my report this evening. Economic Development: Thank you. Many of us remember when it used to be really slow in development, but we are very, very busy. Actually we just sat down today and we were discussing that presently we either have adopted, approved or are in real serious negotiations going on that will be . . . there will be eleven projects on the spokes. All the arteries going out from the Circle . . . we could have eleven projects within the next 18 months. Early next year we could or should have anywhere from four to possibly five of those under construction at the same time and so that should be fun. What you will see in the next few days is you will see a sign seeking proposals on the lot that is in Tallmadge Grow; the lot in front of the “Y.” So we expect Tallmadge Grow to get offers very soon on that and then also I spoke with Dr. Kedia’s assistant with Akron General today and they expect or are very hopeful to break ground on West Avenue next spring. I talked with Mr. Testa last night and Mr. Testa is expecting to break ground in the spring as well. There was a significant merger in economic development this week that was announced maybe yesterday and that is Team Neo and Nortek merged; two similar but different organizations that are responsible for economic development in Northeast Ohio and that merger and the strategy of that is explained in more detail in the handout that I placed at your desk which is from the Regional Competitiveness Council. Lastly, we are going to have a ribbon cutting grand opening ceremony Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the new Domino’s on Northwest Avenue. You are all invited. End of report. 10. Ordinance 81-2014 At 3rd Reading. FINANCE Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a con- ADOPT 1-0-1 tract with the Tallmadge Chamber of Com- merce for Economic Development Assis- tance and to maintain Chamber personnel at the Community Center and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 81-2014. Seconded Mr. Rensel. Roll Call: Mrs. Kilway – yes, Mr. Rensel - yes, Mr. Sisak - yes, Mr. Stalnaker – abstain . . . Dir. of Law: I’m sorry, just for purposes of the record, Mr. Stalnaker has a family relationship with an employee of the Chamber and that is the reason for the abstention. Roll Call (Cont’d.) Ms. Tricaso – yes, Mr. Donovan – yes. Ord. 81-2014 is adopted by a vote of 5-0-1. 11. Ordinance 83-2014 At 2nd Reading. FINANCE Accepting donations to the City of Tall- ADOPT 2-0 madge for the 9-11 Memorial and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Stalnaker moved for the adoption of Ord. 83-2014. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Mayor: Just if you would all keep an eye on Section 1. where it lists all of the different vendors that actually donated to this project. There are several on there and I just wanted them to be recognized that they did donate a lot of stuff to build that monument and if you look at the monument, that piece of steel that is on top is directly from the World Trade Center and it is about 200 pounds of steel and it’s just hard to imagine that whole building coming down and that is just one little small piece of it. My sincere thanks to all of these vendors that worked on the project. Thank you. 2  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 13, 14 Roll Call: Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Ms. Tricaso, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway – unanimous. Ord. 83-2014 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. 12. Ordinance 84-2014 At 2nd Reading. FINANCE Adopting a budget for various funds of GIVE 2nd READING 2-0 the City of Tallmadge Ohio, for current P.H. ON 12-11-14 @ 7:03 P.M. expenses and other expenditures during fiscal year ending December 31, 2015, appropriating the necessary funds for the administration thereof, authorizing transfers between funds, and providing for immediate enactment. Pres. of Council: Ord. 84-2014 is at 2nd Reading and will remain before the Finance Committee with a public hearing scheduled for 12-11-14 @ 7:03 p.m. There will be a Work Session this Monday, November 17th at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. 13. Ordinance 87-2014 At 1st Reading. FINANCE Amending and supplementing Ordinance 107-2013 to amend rates, charges, and fees for all recreational facilities and pro- viding for immediate enactment. Pres. of Council: Ord. 87-2014 is at 1st Reading and is assigned to the Finance Committee. 14. Ordinance 88-2014 At 1st Reading. FINANCE Accepting donations to the City of Tall- madge for 2014 and providing for imme- diate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 88-2014. Seconded Mr. Stalnaker. Roll Call: Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Ms. Tricaso, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Rensel – unanimous. Ord. 88-2014 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. 15. Resolution 22-2014 At 1st Reading. Expressing the appreciation of the Council and the Administration to Joanne Gray upon her retirement from service with the City of Tallmadge and providing for imme- diate enactment. Mr. Rensel moved for the adoption of Res. 22-2014. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Mayor: For those of you who may have not known Joanne Gray, she was actually the first employee hired at the Rec Center. She just retired after ten years of service to the Rec Center. She was there at 4:30 a.m. and opened the Rec Center so it would be ready to go at 5:00 a.m. and then she worked her shift, which was a six-hour shift and so she was very well liked up there and we will miss her a lot, but the nice thing is that now I see her up at the Rec Center and she is actually working out. She said she was always too tired to stay there after her job was over, but she is a great lady and I thank her for all her years of service. Voice vote 6-0. Res. 22-2014 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. 15.A. Resolution 23-2014 At 1st Reading. Accepting the amounts and rates as deter- mined by the Summit County Budget Commission and authorizing the necessary tax levies; certifying them to the County Fiscal Officer and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Stalnaker moved for the adoption of Res. 23-2014. Seconded Mr. Rensel. Roll Call: Mr. Stalnaker, Ms. Tricaso, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak – unanimous. Res. 23-2014 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. 16. ADDITIONAL ITEMS: I have no additional items but to remind you of the Work Session on Monday. 3  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 13, 14 17. ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Rensel moved to adjourn. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Voice vote 6-0. The Regular Council meeting of 11-13-14 adjourned at 7:19 p.m. sb Approved: _____________________________________ __________________________________ Susan E. Burton James M. Donovan Clerk of Council President of Council 4