Tallmadge City Council Regular Business Meeting (2013-2019)

REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 11, 14 1. CALL TO ORDER: President of Council Donovan called the Regular Council meeting of Thursday, December 11, 2014 to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. PRAYER: Silent prayer. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. 3. ROLL CALL: Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mrs. Ray, Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Ms. Tricaso – present. Also present were Mayor Kline, Dir. of Pub. Service Esler, Dir. of Finance Shanafelt, Dir. of Law Raber, Economic Developer Loughry, Clerk of Council Burton and Deputy Clerk of Council Conti. 4. MINUTES: 11-13-14 Regular Council meeting minutes. Mr. Rensel moved to adopt the 11-13-14 Regular Council meeting minutes. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Voice vote 7-0. The 11-13-14 Regular Council meeting minutes were adopted by a vote of 7-0. FINANCIAL REPORTS:  Fire Transfer in the amount of $200,000 to Council on 11-30-14.  SMR Transfer in the amount of $120,000 to Council on 11-30-14.  North Avenue Improvement Transfer to Council on 11-30-14.  Appropriation Report, Fund Report, Revenue Report, and Encumber Report for the period ending 11-30-14 to Council on 12-2-14.  Tallmadge Recreation Center Profit and Loss Report for the period ending 11-30-14 to Council on 12-9-14.  Income Tax Comparisons for the period ending 11-30-14 to Council on 12-9-14.  November Financial Reports to Council on 12-9-14.  Revenue Comparisons for the period ending 11-30-14 to Council on 12-9-14. Mrs. Ray moved to approve the Financial Reports submitted by Dir. of Finance Shanafelt. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Voice vote 7-0. The Financial Reports submitted by Dir. of Finance Shanafelt were approved by a vote of 7-0. 5. PUBLIC HEARINGS: Ordinance 84-2014 At. 3rd Reading. FINANCE Adopting a budget for various funds of the P.H. ON 12-11-14 @ 7:03 P.M. City of Tallmadge, Ohio, for current ex- POLL 3-0 penses and 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: It is now 7:03 p.m. and I will call the public hearing for Ord. 84-2014 to order. Is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of Ord. 84-2014? Please come to the podium and give us your name and address; these meetings are recorded. No one responded. Is there anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 84-2014? No one came to the podium. Is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of Ord. 84-2014? No one responded. Is there anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 84-2014? No one responded. Third and final time; is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of Ord. 84-2014? Is there anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 84-2014? No one came to the podium. OK. So it is still 7:03 p.m. and I will close the public hearing and I will turn it over to the Zoning Committee; Mr. Sisak. Mrs. Ray: I was going to say; don’t you want to say Finance? Pres. of Council: Oh; I’m sorry. Finance Committee; Mrs. Ray, I apologize. Mrs. Ray: That’s no problem. Thank you Mr. Donovan. I call the Finance Committee to order; myself, Mr. Sisak and Mr. Stalnaker are present. We do have before us Ord. 84-2014 which is at 3rd Reading and is adopting a budget for various funds of the City of Tallmadge, Ohio for current expenses and other expenditures during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015. Mr. Sisak; Mr. Stalnaker; do you have any questions for Mr. Shanafelt or for the Administration? Mr. Sisak: Not at this time. Mrs. Ray: Council; any questions? No one responded. I think that Ord. 84-2014 is ready for adoption. Mr. Stalnaker: So moved. Mr. Sisak: Yes. Mrs. Ray: Thank you; Mr. Donovan, we will move to adopt Ord. 84-2014 at 3rd Reading as presented and I will close the Finance Committee. Mr. Donovan; I will make a motion to adopt Ord. 84-2014. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Pres. of Council: We have a motion and a second; do we have any discussion? Mayor: Thank you and I thank Council for your consideration. A lot of hard work went into this budget. It is our operating budget for next year; 2015 for all departments. Just speaking of the General Fund, the minimum fund requirement based on this budget is $2,429,000 and in the actual Fund Balance will be $4,694,000. So with that . . . we are eating into some of that balance and it depends on what projects come up in 2015. We could actually eat into it further and still stay within our Minimum Fund Balance. I am very happy and pleased with all of our Department Heads who helped with this and Dr. Pascarella who put this budget together and the whole administrative staff. I think the citizens of Tallmadge will be happy with the performance that was done with all the work that will be completed within this budget. There is a lot of capital in there. So thank you.  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 11, 14 Mrs. Ray: Thank you Mr. Kline and I will also echo your comments that a lot of hard work did go into this budget and a lot of thought and we thank the Administration and Mr. Shanafelt and his team and Dr. Pascarella for the work that went into this and I think it is a very sound and very fiscally responsible budget. Mayor: Mr. Donovan; just one other item and it is really not part of this budget, but our current budget . . . the history that I have been here on Council and going to Council meetings for almost 30 years right now and we have always had a re-appropriation ordinance at the end of the year to reconcile . . . you know when you are dealing with a $25 million to $30 million budget the year before; how do we shake out throughout that year? This will be the first time in the history of Tallmadge that we did not have one in front of this Council and so the way that we are putting our budgets together I think seems to be working very well. Mrs. Kilway: Congratulations. Roll Call: Mrs. Kilway, Mrs. Ray, Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Ms. Tricaso, Mr. Donovan – unanimous. Ord. 84-2014 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 6. COMMUNITY INPUT: Pres. of Council: Tallmadge City Council meets the second and fourth Thursday’s of the month for the Regular Council meeting. The preceding Monday’s are the Council Committee meetings. Council is divided into six different committees with one of the Council members acting as Chair of that committee. Legislation is discussed thoroughly at the Committee meeting and 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 anyone in the audience who would like to address Council; this is the time to do so. No one responded. 6.A. ANNOUNCEMENTS: None. 7. REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES: Mayor: Just one item under that; you know I conducted a Fire Department study over the last six months and at the beginning of next year I will be asking Council to come into some Work Sessions to go over those findings so we can really show you what that committee did. It is easier when we are strictly here on that night strictly to talk about Fire Department just to get all of Council’s input on it. There is nothing in the 2015 budget for any new stuff within the Fire Department. It will take us a year to really work on what we want to do and how we want the future of the Tallmadge Fire Department to be. At the beginning of next year I will schedule some Work Sessions for that. Thank you. 8. AGENDA ADDITIONS: None. 9. REPORTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS: MAYOR, DIR. OF PUBLIC SERVICE, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, DIRECTOR OF LAW AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPER Mayor: I want to thank Council for the adoption of the budget just a few minutes ago. We definitely appreciate that. I am sure that citizens of Tallmadge do. I just want to briefly thank Council for this past year. I think we have had a great Council and it was great working with the Administration. A lot of ordinances got adopted and a lot of good things went on in the City. The City is really moving in a real positive motion right now. I would like to personally thank the Law Department for all of her help of putting all of the legal stuff that we have gone through and it has been a heck of a year and it is going to be even a bigger and better year next year. The Finance Director, Mr. Shanafelt; we do a lot of budgetary stuff back and forth. Then going down to the Service Director and all of the work that has gone on with the leaf program and water main breaks and they have been very professional in that office and it has just worked out extremely well in there and you know we have our bumps and grinds, but that is what you do in a business and so we are running a business here. In Economic Development with Mr. Loughry you can see that we are swamped in that field. I think it is going to be a very exciting 2015 in the beginning and it is already starting with Planning & Zoning that will be on the January meeting with big projects coming forward and we did hear some good news about the project next door and that will be forthcoming, but I think you will see a lot of busy activity and so we are very excited about that. Also, the Part-time Firefighters contract that we talked about on Monday night; they are in the process of voting right now and I said that I would not ask Council to consider that until after that vote was over. That vote actually started today and it is a three-day process and so we will let that one go to 1st Reading and when we do come back at the 1st of the year, it will be effective as of January 1st, but it really won’t hurt them. Then Items 13 and 14; the sidebar agreement to go into 12-hour shifts for the Patrol Officers; we have been going back and forth up to the last half hour. I do have that sidebar that is on your desk and I apologize for the lateness of that. We had to work out one detail, but the thing that is in here that is as important to me is that this sidebar will terminate at the end of 2015 and if the City, between now and then terminates this contract, it is not subject to grievance or arbitration. So if we decide to cancel this thing, it is over with; it’s done and there are parameters that will be set up and we will talk about that. They are in the process of getting ready to start scheduling for the 2015 year and so that is why I would ask for this at 1st Reading. 2  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 11, 14 Dir. of Pub. Service: Thank you. It has been a pretty busy week. Monday started off with a bang. We had three water main breaks in one day. The men worked until about 3:30 a.m. on two of those and then some of them went home and slept about 4 hours and came back and repaired the third one. The good thing on Monday though was that we started our new Assistant Recreation Facility Manager; Adam Bozic. We hired him away from the Soap Box Derby. He handled all of their fund raising events and special events and was in charge of all of the volunteers and everything for their events. So we are happy to have him on board and I think that he is a good addition. He is a Tallmadge resident and he grew up in Tallmadge. We also hired a new laborer for the Street Department. He is also a Tallmadge resident. We hired him away from the Portage County Sheriff’s Department. He is a young guy and he has done a lot of labor and he wants to get out of Police work and we are very happy to have him on staff now. We did meet with ODOT today about the proposal for redeveloping the intersections of Route 18 and I-76 and that is to be built in 2020. It is coming together and I think it is going to be a very much needed improvement for out there for those ramps and things. End of report. Dir. of Finance: Thank you Mr. President. Sorry about the delay. We have completed the month of November as you all know. You have the reports in front of you. The General Fund has collected 93% of what we had estimated. That equates to a little over $12.6 million. Income Tax should hit; we think should be in the neighborhood of about $9.8 to $9.9 million. $9.75 million was projected by the end of the year. We should be in that neighborhood. The General Fund Balance, as the Mayor alluded to, by the end of November was at $4.689 million. The Rec Center has actually has had some winter programs kick in and we are now seeing some improvement in their bottom line. As a matter of fact, they were running in a bit of a deficit and they have cut that and it has been cut in better than half. So we feel as though a lot of movement in the right direction are happening now financially with that as well as the new programming and the new Assistant Director should . . . we should take off very well for 2015. We exceeded the estimate for Local Government Funds already at $449,000. The Fire Fund has a balance of $638,936. The Street Maintenance Fund balance is $631,071. The Sewer Fund balance is almost $1.5 million. The Water Fund balance is a little over $2.1 million and Storm Water has collected $307,922. If there are any questions, I would be happy to try to address them. Mr. Stalnaker: On the letters that just recently went out from RITA; do you have any idea of the response on those? Dir. of Finance: We have had some response, as a matter of fact, the Tallmadge Express had some response, but the folks . . . it has been indicated that they contact RITA directly. I have not received any information from RITA as far as calls from people so far, but it sounds as though those things are being taken care of in fairly quick order. Mr. Stalnaker: I will tell you a personal experience . . . I received a notice that I did not file a tax return for the year 2013. So I called and told them that I have a copy of the tax return and I have a copy of my check and what can I do from here on? He said, wait a minute; he was very good . . . he double checked and they had two accounts for me. One I filed and one I didn’t. So they are eliminating that second account. Dir. of Finance: No, I did want to make mention and I am pretty sure that most . . . there was a note that went out e-mail wise that those letters did go out and that there was a possibility that you would be getting calls on those and we have also done some direction as far as people to go ahead and contact RITA. Dir. of Law: I will keep it very brief. It has been a busy year and it has been a pleasure to serve the community and I will, as always, leave my door open to anyone who has any ordinances they would like to propose or anything to discuss in relationship to that. I will ask for a brief Education Incentive Committee meeting; I don’t know if you got the information on that. End of report. Economic Developer: Thank you. I don’t have much to report on. I do want to thank the Mayor for those kind words. We really are excited about next year. What I would ask is that when you are inconvenienced because of a project that we all just remember in the end that we are providing services for residents and are creating additional income tax and so the inconvenience will be worth it. I would like to let everyone know who does not know, that Panera’s grand opening is Tuesday, December 16th and most of you should have gotten this in the mail and I guess the significance of that is that the JEDD is one of our best friends. We really need, I think, to do more as a community to embrace that and to kind of take ownership of that because as the JEDD grows, not only does it help Brimfield, but it really helps us. So that’s it. Merry Christmas. Mr. Rensel: Just one Dennis; I am getting repeated questions on the activity now at Bob’s Big Boy. Can you help us? Economic Developer: We have had preliminary meetings. They have not made formal application. We expect them to do that before the January deadline and then they will be before P&Z and before the Heritage Commission and then the ordinance coinciding will be in front of you. We expect . . . so the early . . . maybe next week to get it in on time for P&Z next month. Mr. Sisak: Mr. Loughry; I know that the JEDD Board met and there was discussion about raising the percentage. Where did that conversation lead? Was there any decision made? Economic Developer: There was verbal discussion in both communities, but at that meeting, nothing official was presented or requested. Mr. Sisak: How often do you guys meet? 3  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 11, 14 Economic Developer: We meet annually for sure for an annual meeting in November and then we meet as needed throughout the year. Mr. Sisak: So, it could potentially change at any given time. Economic Developer: Yes; it could. Mr. Sisak: If it is voted on. Economic Developer: It could. Mayor: Let me tell you the procedure. The JEDD Board, and I am the Chairman of the Board at this time, has to make the recommendation back to our Council for their consideration and back to the Trustees for their consideration. If we don’t make a recommendation at the JEDD Board; it doesn’t go to either location. We talked about it and we have said that we have an agreement; we have a contract with these business owners and so I don’t think it will go forward. They did it once before. They increased it; they just picked up the timeframe as they would increase it. We have done that once and I am not convinced that it won’t happen again, but at any time, someone can come to the Board and request it and then the JEDD Board has to make a recommendation either for or against it. While I have the floor, for Mr. Rensel’s sake; I am supposed to receive a phone call tomorrow morning if the wrecking ball is coming tomorrow at 26 Nottingham or if it will be Monday. It is tomorrow or Monday and the wrecking ball is going to go to 26 Nottingham. If we get that phone call in the morning; my second call is to Linda and Bryan and then I will e-mail Council if they want to get a photo of the wrecking ball hitting the house. It will be done in one day I’m sure. It doesn’t take long. 10. Ordinance 87-2014 At 2nd Reading. FINANCE Amending and supplementing Ordinance ADOPT 3-0 107-2013 to amend rates, charges, and fees for all recreational facilities and pro- viding for immediate enactment. Mrs. Ray moved for the adoption of Ord. 87-2014. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Roll Call: Mrs. Ray, Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Ms. Tricaso, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway – unanimous. Ord. 87-2014 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 11. Ordinance 89-2014 At 1st Reading. COMMUNITY ISSUES/SAFETY Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the Tallmadge Firefighters Association consisting of Tallmadge Part- time Firefighters and providing for imme- diate enactment. Pres. of Council: Ord. 89-2014 is at 1st Reading and is assigned to the Community Issues/Safety Committee. 12. Ordinance 90-2014 At 1st Reading. PLANNING & ZONING Approving and granting a conditional zoning certificate for special nonresidential development to applicant Lemmon & Lem- mon Inc. on behalf of owner XZ Retail Group Tallmadge LLC for an adult senior living facility at 25 East Avenue, Parcel 6009989 and ingress/egress easement. Pres. of Council: Ord. 90-2014 is at 1st Reading and is assigned to the Planning & Zoning /Safety Committee. 13. Ordinance 91-2014 At 1st Reading. COMMUNITY ISSUES/SAFETY Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a side- bar agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police, Ohio Labor Council (Sergeants and Lieutenants) and providing for immediate enactment. Ms. Tricaso moved for the adoption of Ord. 91-2014. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Mayor: As I stated earlier in my report, this is a trial period only. We do go into contract negotiations for both Sergeants and Patrol Officers and if we feel it is working out, we could possibly put that in that contract or it dies at the end of next year. It is a trial period that we just would like to see and I think it is worth looking into it. Thank you. Roll Call: Mr. Rensel, Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Ms. Tricaso, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mrs. Ray – unanimous. Ord. 91-2014 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 4  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 11, 14 14. Ordinance 92-2014 At 1st Reading. COMMUNITY ISSUES/SAFETY Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a side- bar agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police, Ohio Labor Council (Patrol Officers) and providing for immediate enactment. Ms. Tricaso moved for the adoption of Ord. 92-2014. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Mr. Stalnaker: In Section 18.03 you referred to two days off to be consecutive and then in Section 18.05; you mention consecutive days off as stated in 18.03. But, in 18.04, you refer to consecutive days, but it doesn’t say two days or it doesn’t refer to Section 18.03. Am I missing something? Mayor: No. This is for the person who is on a filled shift. That is an Officer strictly assigned to fill shifts so they could have him fill Monday/Tuesday and then you would be off for two consecutive days and if he goes to that 12 hour shift, it depends on what shift he fills; he must stay within that for that pay period of time; that week so he is not flip flopping back and forth all the time. Mr. Stalnaker: OK, so it doesn’t have to be the two if he is going back into 18.04; it doesn’t have to be two consecutive days? Mayor: Correct. Mr. Stalnaker: OK. Thank you. Roll Call: Mr. Sisak, Mr. Stalnaker, Mrs. Tricaso, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mrs. Ray, Mr. Rensel – unanimous. Ord. 92-2014 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 15. Resolution 24-2014 At 1st Reading. Extending the sympathy of the Council and the Administration to Susan E. Burton and members of her family in the death of Esther C. Sluss and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Stalnaker moved for the adoption of Res. 24-2014. Seconded Mr. Rensel. Voice vote 7-0. Res. 24-2014 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 16. ADDITIONAL ITEMS: Pres. of Council: I have only one additional item. Council should have received a page with the meeting dates for 2015. If you would like to take a glance at that to see if there is a problem; let us know. Mr. Rensel: I move to adopt the schedule as printed at this time for 2015. Pres. of Council: Do we need a formal adoption? Dir. of Law: Go ahead and make the motion. Mr. Sisak: I will second that. Mr. Rensel: Yeah; that is what we have done in the past. Pres. of Council: I just wanted to make sure that you have had a chance to look at it; that’s all. I wanted to make sure that you had a chance to see it. Mrs. Ray: So is the 5th our Organizational Meeting as well Jim or will we have an Organizational Meeting prior to January 5th? Pres. of Council: We don’t usually do one in an off year. Mrs. Ray: OK. Pres. of Council: Do we have a second on that? Mr. Sisak: Second. Voice vote 7-0. The list of Council meetings for the year 2015 has been approved by a vote of 7-0. 17. ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Sisak moved to adjourn. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Voice vote 7-0. The Regular Council meeting of 12-11-14 adjourned at 7:31 p.m. sb Approved: _____________________________________ __________________________________ Susan E. Burton James M. Donovan Clerk of Council President of Council 5