Tallmadge City Council Regular Business Meeting (2013-2019)

REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:30 p.m. January 25, 18 1. CALL TO ORDER. 2. PRAYER: Silent prayer. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor: I asked a member of the Boy Scout Troop, Sam, to lead us in the pledge. 3. ROLL CALL: Mrs. Allman, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Ms. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Ms. Tricaso – all present. Also present were Mayor Kline, Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar, Dir. of Law Raber, Dir. of Finance Gilbride, Dir. of Economic Development Weinberg and Clerk of Council Burton. Dir. of Administration Cooper was excused. 4. MINUTES: 1-8-18 Organizational Meeting minutes. 1-11-18 Regular Council Meeting minutes. Ms. Tricaso moved to adopt the Organizational Meeting minutes of 1-8-18 along with the Regular Council meeting minutes dated 1-11-18. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Voice vote 7-0. The Organizational Meeting minutes of 1-8-18 along with the Regular Council Meeting minutes of 1-11-18 were adopted by a vote of 7-0. FINANCIAL REPORTS: None. 5. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None. 6. COMMUNITY INPUT: Tallmadge City Council meets on the second and fourth Thursday’s of the month with the Council Committee meeting starting at 7:00 p.m. followed by the Regular Council meeting starting at 7:30 p.m. or if the Committee meetings run late then the Council meeting will run late. At the Committee meetings legislation is discussed thoroughly with Council deciding to adopt, amend, reject, hold or table the legislation. We do allow time for community input at this point in the meeting. If anybody would like to address Council, please come forward and state your name and address for the record. Any takers? Again; no takers. 6.A. ANNOUNCEMENTS: There will be an Executive Session prior to adjournment of this evening’s meeting regarding land acquisition. There will also be a short Richardson Trust Fund meeting following tonight’s meeting. 7. REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES: None. 8. AGENDA ADDITIONS: None. 9. REPORTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS: MAYOR, DIR. OF PUBLIC SERVICE, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, DIRECTOR OF LAW, DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Mayor: Thank you Madame Chairman. I wanted to let you know that our new Building Maintenance person will start this coming Monday. His name is Terry Low. He is a Tallmadge resident actually. So we are excited to get him. As you know, Wayne Wilson retired from the City and it took us a while to get his replacement, but I am sure he will do a good job. February 5th at 1:30 p.m. we will be swearing-in our newest Police Officer. That information will come out to Council. It is at 1:30 p.m. on February 5th. Next week we will be kicking off the Wellness Program that the City is offering to the full-time employees and their spouses and I think Mrs. Kilway; you were at some of those meetings. It is called GO365 and we will be talking about that next Tuesday and Wednesday with the employees. So I am pretty excited about kicking that off. Mr. Cooper is at a safety conference to make us all safe or safer. I am asking Council’s consideration of Item 10, Ord. 100-2017 which is the Firefighters’ contract that we talked about and then Item 13, which is a housekeeping ordinance; Ord. 23-2018 and that is to allow us to purchase a new squad and to start that process. It was in the budget and then Item 14, Ord. 24-2018 that was a grant that we did receive and we have the funds; we just have to accept that. We will talk about that when we get there. End of report. Dir. of Pub. Service: Good evening. The one thing that I would like to report on is the first reading of Ord. 25-2018 and that deals with the water meters that were removed that we have in storage and they are taking up quite a bit of real estate down in our service garage and you can see there are countless numbers of them in there and we would like to try to scrap those for some value. They are of no value to us, but we can certainly scrap them and they have been down there for quite a few years and taking up two bays. Then also if you’ve noticed, we have installed arrow delineators off the Circle from West Avenue into the Circle and that is to try to keep people from driving through the Circle. For some odd reason, we have that happen at least once a month if not more and we are starting on that. That is the highest profile one that we have. They seem to do that a lot coming off of West and the Circle. It is more of a test to see what everybody thinks and if it is successful; we will try to do the next two entry points. Are there any questions on that? So that’s it for the report. Mayor: They are on springs. Mr. Loughry: Mrs. Kilway, can I ask Mr. Rorar a question? Pres. of Council: Yes, absolutely sir. Mr. Loughry: Mr. Rorar, on the electronic board on the Circle this week it said that the speed on the Circle is 25. Dir. of Pub. Service: That’s correct. Mr. Loughry: And I think that is wonderful, but . . . and I am dating myself, but years ago we were told that the speed limit was 35 because State Routes went through the Circle, but if it is 25; that is wonderful. I mean any . . . so anyway, that is what I heard years ago may have been wrong then, but we need to remind people to drive at a reasonable speed around that thing.  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:30 p.m. January 25, 18 Dir. of Pub. Service: Absolutely. Mr. Loughry: So thank you very much. Dir. of Pub. Service: You’re welcome. Mayor: On that same topic; Andrea Kidder is actually in charge of putting that on and so during slower times we are doing the tip of the week on that sign. Prior to that one was, “Use your blinker when exiting the Circle.” Believe me, I am watching people now using their blinkers and so we will keep that going on. The Circle is a single lane highway. Believe it or not, people try to pass on the Circle and should we narrow it down; Greg Bachman, at one point gave us a plan to restripe the Circle to actually show the driving pattern that should be and so any tip of the week that you would like to see, just let us know. Pres. of Council: I had a quick question on that 25 mph. Is there any place along the Circle as you are approaching the Circle where there is a sign that says it is 25 mph because I have been looking for the last week and I can’t find it? Is it something that we should put a sign someplace? Good questions I guess? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes, very good questions. We will look into that. Pres. of Council: Were there some more questions? Mr. Donovan: Where does that come from? Where is the resource or where does that come from where the speed is? Dir. of Pub. Service: It is mandated by the State. I believe that is where it comes from. Mr. Donovan: Because I was told that it was 35 mph too at a different meeting in a different setting and I was curious because it was news to me even. Alright. Mr. Carano: The one lane; that I think is pretty important. I mean just recently I saw an accident because of someone trying to get off while someone had pulled up to their side. That would be a useful thing . . . I know you can’t have all kinds of signage, but depending upon how the electric sign works and it is somewhat effective, it seems like in the future letting people know that it is one lane would be very helpful. Mr. Donovan: It is one way too!! Mr. Sisak: I have a question. So, to clarify; before to get things on the sign board, it went through your office? Mayor: It always goes through our office. It still does. Mr. Sisak: It still does and so we still need to call Karen and then she will route us to the right person? Mayor: Andrea Kidder, but she has to get it approved through our office. Mr. Sisak: OK. Thank you. Pres. of Council: Is there anything else for Public Service? No one responded. Dir. of Finance: Thank you. Everyone on Council should have received an e-mail today. We are getting ready; I was contacted by the Auditors and the audit is going to start underway on February 3rd and you were invited to the pre-engagement as always if anyone is interested in attending. I would just appreciate letting me know so that I know I have enough space available if anyone is interested in attending. End of report. Dir. of Law: Thank you. I do have a couple announcements this evening. I have been working with Jen Stewart who is the advisor at the Tallmadge High School with the “Start Talking Tallmadge” group and that organization is actually through the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and is a drug free; drug prevention type of organization and I am working with her to bring in N.O.P.E. and unfortunately the date that was available to the schools because they are going to do a presentation at the Middle School, the High School and then ultimately in the evening for the adults, and it happens to also fall on a Council night, but I did pass out that flyer. It is Thursday, February 22nd and we have it on our Facebook page and are trying to promote it and so if you have other people in the community that you think might be interested in attending please let them know. I attended the presentation. N.O.P.E. is a narcotics overdoes prevention and education group and they are again a national organization and the presentation is really a very powerful one. They actually give some very specific examples of cases where people have overdosed and it is not just from illicit drugs; it is also from prescription drug overdoses, which unfortunately is very prevalent and then there is usually a testimonial as well from someone who has been directly impacted and so it is a powerful thing and I think it is a thing that I think we all need to be aware of. So, I would encourage you to pass that on. I have also been in communication with the Builders Club. I had gone there to do a presentation to them back in November and they plan to join us here at Council at the next Council meeting on February 8th. Some of you were here before when we had them come and they basically are the Middle School students that are in that organization and they will be having their students shadow or sit with us and so we will try to see how many are planning on attending and then if it is alright with you; we will kind of scatter them throughout the bench area here so we can kind of bring them in as part of the conversation. Also that day we will have an organization who is . . . it is a Summit County organization who is going to present about Healthy Initiatives and I thought that might be a good link that they would have actually some input and hearing about policy decisions and things like that and so they will be here on February 8th as well. 2  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:30 p.m. January 25, 18 Dir. of Law (Cont’d.) Lastly, I wanted to bring to your attention that we do have at 1st Reading this evening legislation prohibiting the distribution of marijuana. We had discussed this sometime ago when the original House Bill was passed and it was mentioned at that time that we wanted to take a look at the regulations and so on and so forth. Those have been mostly accommodated. They are quite large. I started to try to compile them for all of you, but it would be like a binder’s worth of information and so what I am going to do instead is I will be forwarding you the e-mail and the website address for where a lot of these are housed and encourage you to go there and take a look at that and do some of the research work. Tonight we will just be giving 1st Reading and won’t have much discussion, but you will be getting that e-mail from me. Alright. Thank you; end of report. Pres. of Council: Up next is the Dir. of Administration who is not here. Does the Mayor have anything for him? Mayor: No, he is out at a conference. He has been very busy. Economic Developer: Today we had the groundbreaking for R.W. Martin & Sons. They are a manufacturer of industrial washing equipment and that was a nice event. It was a little chilly, but they will be getting under construction very shortly and hopefully sometime this spring or early summer we should have some new jobs here. Also earlier this evening we held the Annual Tax Incentive Review meeting to review the CRA tax abatements. We are required to hold this meeting pursuant to State Statute and local legislation to review the status of the current and pending projects out there. End of report. Pres. of Council: Are there any questions? No one responded. Thank you very much. Up next is Item 10. Pres. of Council: Next is Item 10 and due to a conflict with my husband being part of the Fire Department; I am going to defer to Mr. Sisak to take over. The Clerk read Ord. 100-2017 into the record. 10. Ordinance 100-2017 At 3rd Reading. PERSONNEL 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. Mr. Sisak: Do we have a motion? Ms. Tricaso moved for the adoption of Ord. 100-2017. Seconded Mrs. Allman. Roll Call: Mr. Carano - yes, Mr. Donovan - yes, Mrs. Kilway – abstain, Mr. Loughry - yes, Mr. Sisak - yes, Ms. Tricaso - yes, Mrs. Allman – yes. Ord. 100-2017 has been adopted by a vote of 6-0 with one abstention. I will hand the meeting back over to the Chair; Mrs. Kilway. 11. Ordinance 104-2017 At 3rd Reading. FINANCE Amending portions of Chapter 182 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Tallmadge regarding municipal income tax and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 104-2017. Seconded Ms. Tricaso. Roll Call: Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Ms. Tricaso, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Carano – unanimous. Ord. 104- 2017 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 12. Ordinance 20-2018 At 2nd Reading. FINANCE Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with Autosales, Incorporated for a New Jobs Program Grant pursuant to T.C.O. 160.05 and providing for imme- diate enactment. Pres. of Council: Ord. 20-2018 is at 2nd Reading and will remain before the Finance Committee. 13. Ordinance 23-2018 At 1st Reading. FINANCE Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a con- tract for the lease/purchase of an EMS squad vehicle through the State Purchasing Program and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 23-2018. Seconded Ms. Tricaso. Mayor: Madame Chair. Thank you Council for consideration. This is an EMS squad that was in the budget and it is duplicating our current squad that we have. It takes . . . we probably won’t take delivery on this until . . . nine months and so it takes that long to build it once we give them the OK. That is why I am asking for it at 1st Reading. 3  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:30 p.m. January 25, 18 Mr. Loughry: Mrs. Kilway, just since I wasn’t on Council last year; during the budget process, were the specs and the price discussed on this? Nothing has changed Mayor; nothing has changed from what was presented in the budget. We are looking at the same dollar amount? Mayor: It’s in the budget. Capital Projects Budget Package was given out to all Council members. Dir. of Finance: This is a lease/purchase and so we will pay for this over a five-year lease. Roll Call: Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Ms. Tricaso, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan – unanimous. Ord. 23-2018 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 14. Ordinance 24-2018 At 1st Reading. FINANCE Accepting the 2017-2018 Ohio EMS Priority 1 (Training and Equipment) Grant; and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 24-2018. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Mayor: Madame Chair. Thank you for your consideration. This is a grant that we did receive those funds and so Council has to accept them. This is a safety grant. Basically, I am told that if you violate the seat belt laws, you get a ticket and then the funds go to the State of Ohio. They divvy it out for safety programs for equipment and training and stuff for the fire departments. Our portion this year was $3,025. Mrs. Kilway: Very good. Is there any idea of where that money is going to be going yet? Mayor: Just in the basic equipment for the squad and some training. Dir. of Finance: It was actually a reimbursement and so the money was already spent. Mrs. Kilway: Thank you for that clarification; that’s fine. Roll Call: Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Ms. Tricaso, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway – unanimous. Ord. 24-2018 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 15. Ordinance 25-2018 At 1st Reading. FINANCE Declaring certain City-owned personal property to be excess/obsolete and autho- rising the Director of Public Service to dis- card or salvage such equipment and pro- viding for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 25-2018. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Mr. Loughry: Can I ask Mr. Rorar a question? Pres. of Council: Sure. Mr. Loughry: Mr. Rorar, this is specifically for those old meters? Dir. of Pub. Service: That is correct. Mr. Loughry: But, is there anything else that could be bundled with this or do you want this to just be a standalone ordinance? Dir. of Pub. Service: Right now the standalone. There are a few barrels of copper down there as well and I believe that is in there and the meters. Mr. Loughry: Thank you. Mr. Carano: This will be . . . do you envision will be sold or recycled or . . . ? Dir. of Pub. Service: I believe they will be recycled. Mr. Carano: Maybe because of the copper I guess. Thank you. Roll Call: Mr. Sisak, Ms. Tricaso, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry – unanimous. Ord. 25-2018 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 16. Ordinance 26-2018 At 1st Reading. PLANNING & ZONING Supplementing the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances by establishing Chapter 766, P.H. ON 3-8-18 @ 7:33 P.M. Medical Marijuana Cultivation, Processing and Retail Dispensing; prohibiting the same; and establishing enforcement and penalties for violations. Pres. of Council: Ord. 26-2018 is indicated as being in the Public Service Committee, but the Law Department would like that to be Planning & Zoning and it is at 1 st Reading and we will have a public hearing on March 8th @ 7:33 p.m. 17. Resolution 5-2018 At 1st Reading. Extending the sympathy of the Council and the Administration to Heidi Grimm and members of her family in the death of Rhonda Brooke Grimm and providing for immediate enactment. 4  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:30 p.m. January 25, 18 Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Res. 5-2018. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Mayor: Madame Chair. You can see in the WHEREAS clause that Heidi works in the Utility Department; the Water and Sewer Department. She is not related to former Mayor Grimm at all. Not that I am aware of. Just for the record. Pres. of Council: Thank you. It is such a tragedy to lose a member of your family at such a young age. Voice vote 7-0. Res. 5-2018 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. Pres. of Council: At this time I will entertain a motion to go into Executive Session. Mr. Sisak: I move to go into Executive Session for the purpose of land acquisition. Seconded Ms. Tricaso. Pres. of Council: There is a motion and second to go into Executive Session and it is 7:55 p.m. for the purpose of discussing land acquisition. Roll Call: Ms. Tricaso, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak – unanimous. Council voted to go into Executive Session by a vote of 7-0. Pres. of Council: It is now 7:56 p.m. Pres. of Council: It is now 9:17 p.m. and we are back on Council floor. The next item on our agenda is the Richardson Trust Fund. Dir. of Law: You actually have to adjourn first and then you open that meeting. 18. ADDITIONAL ITEMS: None. 19. ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Sisak moved to adjourn. Seconded Ms. Tricaso. Voice vote 7-0. The Regular Council meeting adjourned at 9:18 p.m. sb _________________________________ ____________________________________ Susan E. Burton, Clerk of Council Carol A. Kilway, President of Council 5