The Council of the
City of
A motion to approve Council minutes dated
A motion to approve the Schedule of Bills to be Paid totaling $ 188,788.73 was made by Councilman Caparanis and seconded by Councilman Stocz.
COUNCILMAN FISCHER
- On
the last page
FINANCE DIRECTOR - That is a publication that we get annually that list all the current zoning laws and is right in line with what we normally pay.
LAW DIRECTOR - It is a legal publication that compiles them all under one cover.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - We are going to take the agenda a little out of sequence, I understand there is a Ralph and Marlene Rufener here this evening who would like to address Council about a problem they are having.
MARLENE RUFNER - Mayor Long, Members
of City Council, I appreciate the opportunity to come before you to express a
concern that we have in our area. I have
to let you know that we are not against the project,
we are against the time that it is taking the project to get done. We are the first property north on Route 46
where they are dumping all the debris from the
break. We can’t even go outside during the day, the
noise is so horrendous. If I want to
have a picnic in the daytime, there is no way that we can go outside in the
daytime. If it is windy out we get a lot
of dust and dirt. I am not exaggerating
and we are zoned residential in our area and I can’t imagine people in a
residential area having to put up with this kind of a mess. I am sure if any of you lived in a
residential area and this was beside you for this length of time, you would be
very unhappy about it. I know I am and I
know Ralph is or I think he is, he better be.
It started out with the dirt and the noise now we have a viper machine
down there. Do you know what a viper
machine is and how big it is? It is huge
and it seems to separate the dirt and the stones and has dirt coming out both
side. We have that and we always have a
bulldozer down there and sometimes a couple of cars. It is a mess is what it is. It is right beside our property. All the ditch drains are down there and they
are not covered, tons of stones are down there and not covered. It is a mess and I just feel that as a
citizen of
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - What is your address?
MARLENE RUFNER -
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - Who is the property owner?
MAYOR - Jim DiGiacobbe.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - Don’t we have anything on the books that can prevent something like this.
CLERK OF COUNCIL - I don’t know but I will agree with Marlene since I live by the ravine on that side when they dump the trucks my whole house shakes and this has been going on for a long time.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - Paul, isn’t there anything we can discuss with the contractor about this?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - We were made aware of this last Dec. or Jan. When I told you that Feb. was the initial cutoff that was for the water line and storm sewer work. I believe the majority of that work was completed within those timeframes. The overall project completion date is Oct. however that should be moved up significantly probably the middle of July. There are a lot of noises coming from the property next to you and I will not deny that. I have been there personally when they have been dumping some of their trucks. It is a very loud banging sound and it almost sounds like a gun shot. Representatives from ODOT have reviewed it. I believe you call representatives from the Ohio EPA who have also been on site. I have reviewed it also. I will not deny that it is an inconvenience but I didn’t see anything illegal that was going on at that site. I didn’t think the city had the authority to tell them to stop and tell them they couldn’t dump there and they had to find another spot to take the fill from the project. Again I am not sure what the city can do to help you out on this matter. I have spoken with the State officials and the contractor about it. There was a brief time of 1 or 2 days when they were
dumping before
MARLENE RUFNER - It depends when you spoke to them about the matter.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - It was quite some time ago.
MARLENE RUFNER - It has happened and we just called the police dept. about it.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I do recall
when that was initially brought to my attention probably 3 or 4 months ago, I
informed you if they are dumping prior
to 7:00 am then the best thing for you to do would be to call the police dept.
and a representative from the police dept. would go to that site and contact
the contractor and tell them they weren’t allowed to do that before 7:00
am. I do believe the way our noise
ordinance reads you can’t have noise from a business or anything else from
MARLENE RUFNER - That is right, the vast majority of times but there have been times when they weren’t. I did not say it was illegal by the way.
RALPH RUFNER - A
month ago I called because they were down there before
POLICE CHIEF - No it is
MARLENE RUFNER - The other
complaint I have driven in
RALPH RUFNER - This viper
wouldn’t even sit on a city lot in
MARLENE RUFNER - I don’t
think it is fair and you keep saying he has his right for property to do what
he wants to do, but for how long. If any
of you lived in this area or lived in an area that they did this to you, how
happy would you be? Think about it, if
it was beside your house in a residential area how happy would you be for this
going on for 7 months? We can’t even go
outside and have company and a picnic during the daytime because of the noise
and dirt. The odor sometimes is a little
flexible, I don’t complain about it too much and I tolerate it because I have
to. I felt like leaving
MAYOR - Marlene, how long have they been using this machine to separate the dirt from the stones?
RALPH RUFNER - Probably at least two months.
MAYOR - They use it all day long?
MARLENE RUFENER - No not always.
LAW DIRECTOR - It sits on the property all the time?
MARLENE RUFENER - Yes it does.
RALPH RUFENER - When they separate it a dump truck comes in and they load it and haul it out.
MARLENE RUFENER - It is a huge piece of equipment. I would invite each and every one of you on council to come down and see what they are doing. If you can’t see from the road you drive in my drive and look at it from my back yard. I can’t imagine anyone sitting here on council that would be happy with a project next to them in a residential area with this magnitude. Like I said I am not opposed to what he has done, that is his property and he has that right. I still say there should be a timeframe for that project and I don’t think 7 or 10 months is a fair amount of time. I am not a noisy person, I am a mouthy person, I am not noisy. I don’t like noise and I don’t think noise is necessary in a neighborhood like that. I can handle it for so long but I think this length of time is way too long.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Paul, can I ask you a few questions? Who is doing the leveling work?
SERVICE DIRECTOR – The
contractor that is using that site for fill will have that completely leveled
off prior to the end of the project. I
know the State has been pretty strict about saying what they need to do prior
to leaving that construction site. I do
believe that silt fence has been put up around the perimeter of the property to
prevent soil erosion going down into
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - What fill is remaining. Ok here is what I am getting at. Can’t they take an amount of fill because I can’t imagine it being that large and put it on the lot at DiGiacobbe’s that they are already leasing and just work out of that place and then they could go ahead and level out the area.
MAYOR - What is
happening Deidre, is Mr. DiGiacobbe made an arrangement with Marucci and
Gaffney, the contractors for
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY – I understand that but my point is he is the recipient of that dirt, that is a byproduct and after product. What we are dealing with here is we need an amount of fill dirt
which there can’t be that much remaining because all they are doing is filling in the area between the curb and the sidewalk.
MARLENE RUFENER - Excuse me, I think they are bringing it from other projects now because there are other trucks coming in with fill dirt.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - Yes I have been informed that we have the Grove, Gates, Market sanitary project which is ongoing right now and I believe they have made arrangements with Mr. DiGiacobbe also. Most likely I have spoken with that contractor also and they plan on completing their job sometime in the month of July.
MARLENE RUFENER - I am really getting angry and I am really getting mad. I don’t care what anybody says it is not fair. I don’t care who owns that property. If I owned that property I wouldn’t want to do that to my neighbor and I don’t think it is fair that he is allowed to have an ongoing project in a residential area. I don’t want to get mad but I can get really nasty if I have to.
RALPH RUFENER - If there is dirt going out how do we know that he is not selling the dirt to someone like a business.
FLO HUTTON - We know that because he is dumping it on Route 5.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I believe what he has been doing is that large machine which is on site just basically screens the top soil. He takes the dirt which he removes from the site, he screens it and takes it back out to SR 5 and he is putting it along the road edge and the sidewalks.
LAW DIRECTOR - It sounds like there is some kind of operation going on there with that viper machine.
FLO HUTTON - On these yards that need dirt, he is dumping loads of dirt for the individual who had ruined during the winter. I got a load dumped at my place for that.
MARLEN RUFENER - Is he charging for that?
FLO HUTTON- No it is part of the project.
CLERK OF COUNCIL - He is using this man’s property to do this?
MAYOR - He is using it for a job site.
COUNCILMAN FISCHER
- What
I find interesting about this whole thing is we have an ODOT outpost right here
in
MAYOR - On the same street.
MARLENE RUFENER - They know nothing of it.
COUNCILMAN FISCHER - We can’t utilize that?
MARLENE RUFNER - Excuse me, we called the one morning and he said I don’t know what you are talking about.
COUNCILMAN FISCHER - That doesn’t surprise me.
SERVICE DIRECTOR – That site has been used for fill probably every since I have been with this organization.
MARLENE RUFENER - Illegally used.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I will
state representatives from ODOT have also used that site to dump some of their
ditching or some of the fill from the ditching or excavation projects. They are aware of the site and apparently
they don’t have the land to do it at their garage on
MARLENE RUFENER – Thanks to Frank, he stopped illegal dumping down there. Do you know what is dumped down there? Do you know there is an oil tank, tires, refrigerator, dry wall, bathroom ceramic tile.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN – What laws do we have already and what agencies might we deal with to control this project? We have the sound laws between 7 and 11. It doesn’t sound like we have a dust ordinance, there is no permit required for excavation.
LAW DIRECTOR – That is the problem Mike there isn’t a whole lot. I am intrigued by the process of this viper machine.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Would that be the avenue to pursue?
LAW DIRECTOR - It might be, I will have to look at this. Paul called me today and we talked a little bit about it.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - It doesn’t sound like we have any laws off the cuff to deal with this.
MARLENE RUFENER - I do have a question. In a residential area I can take and build a house and I take two years to build a house in a residential area and no one cares? They are not going to get angry because I have dirt piled in my yard? They will not get mad because there is a viper machine parked in my yard?
COUNCILMAN FISCHER - Marlene, I won’t dispute that with you. I live in Walnut Run and believe me I have issues and it has taken me four years to get nothing done.
MARLENE RUFENER - I think
that is a shame I really do because I feel like I have been let down by the
City of
RALPH RUFENER - This is
like when they had the candidates night and I talked to a couple of you and I
said why don’t we get wards? You said
we don’t want wards. All the
representatives are on this side. Dee
Dee is the closest to me. People can
care less what is going on in my area. I
went to these meetings for cleaning the city up and I mentioned the street on
MARLENE RUFENER - We ought to make the whole town beautiful not just one end beautiful.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS – What teeth do we have as far as the noise ordinance goes?
LAW DIRECTOR - Just what Mike and I were just talking about. There is a beginning and an ending time and they ought to be able to call Paul if it is happening before a certain time. As far as the decibel and the amount of noise there is little.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - I am talking about a penalty that can be assessed toward the people.
MARLENE RUFENER – What about the length of time it is taking them to do the project and I am talking about a residential area. If I were to build a home in a residential area what length of time would they let me build the home and not finish it?
LAW DIRECTOR - There are no requirements.
RALPH RUFENER – What about what the neighbors think about a half built house and you let it sit?
LAW DIRECTOR - That is a different issue. There is also a nuisance which your neighbor creates and that is a private cause of action between you and your neighbor.
MARLENE RUFENER - We can’t go outside and my house is filthy and I am responsible for keeping it clean. I don’t think I should be I don’t think it is my responsibility but if I want a clean house I have to go and wash it ever so often, because it is filthy.
RALPH RUFENER - She had a
death in the family and her brother came from
LAW DIRECTOR - What may be happening is your neighbor may be creating a nuisance. When I say nuisance I am not talking about a nuisance that this body can enforce. I am talking about a private claim – you folks against your neighbor in which you would hire an attorney to take them to court.
MARLENE RUFENER - Give me a break. That is not going to happen.
RALPH RUFENER - I called the attorney, he called Paul and Paul said the ODOT was handling it and it was like 3 or 4 weeks later when this business starting banging down there in the morning and I called down there and they said we don’t know anything about it. It is not ours we are not doing anything down there.
MARLENE RUFENER - I have a suggestion, if there are no ordinances on the book, I suggest you put an ordinance on the books that limits how long a structure can go in an area without being finished.
RALPH RUFENER - Does he have a permit to do this?
CLERK OF COUNCIL - That is a good question. I wonder if he has a permit to use the machine that he is using.
RALPH RUFENER - The reason I ask that is because the Soil Conservation wanted to know if he had a permit for the landfill. They said originally it was like 2 or 3 years ago that he had one, but they don’t know if he updated it or not.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - Paul, is there some way we can check into that?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - Sure I can ask Mr. DiGiacobbe about that. I will speak with the ODOT project manager about that again and I will inform them about the complaints you are raising again. From my recollection when you contacted representatives from the Ohio EPA to check about dust on the site, they didn’t think there were any issues to enforce against the property owner. Sure they said there was an inconvenience that was created but they didn’t see anything illegal.
MARLENE RUFENER – The one gentleman did tell me, before they started the project did they come and talk to you and your husband about once the project was done they would be willing to wash your house on the outside because of the dirt they created? They didn’t even tell us the project was going to happen. I found out myself about it.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - Ok you are going to check into whether they have a proper permit.
COUNCILMAN FISCHER
- While
you are checking on the permit, check and see if he is allowed to be filling
the flood plain of
SERVICE DIRECTOR - Ok I do not
believe there are any issues with impeding water going along
COUNCILMAN FISCHER - I am not talking impeding water Paul, I am talking the flood plain. Does he have the permit to be filling it, that is all I am asking.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I will state at the beginning of the project they did work with representatives from ODOT and they have reviewed the site and they have seen how much fill is being placed there and silk fabric is being placed around the perimeter of the property.
COUNCILMAN FISCHER – Which is all required.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I wasn’t informed of any other issues that the State was concerned about for this project.
MARLENE RUFENER – What do I do about the stagnant water that sits there and causes mosquitoes?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I can go out and look at that, you haven’t informed me about that problem in the past. One thing I will state if there is stagnant water on the site we did get mosquito pallets and we can go put some on the site to try and control.
MARLENE RUFENER - They brought a bull dozer in this morning and leveled it off. I get tired of making phone calls because every time I call it is like they pass the buck. I just think in this God’s world that I have a right.
RALPH RUFENER – As far as the dust control, Mahoning and
FLO HUTTON - One question for Patrick. On this permit for machines, that is a broad, broad area to use a machine. You are talking everything from a motorcycle to an airplane.
LAW DIRECTOR - I don’t disagree with you. I think it should be looked into though.
MARLENE RUFENER - Isn’t there anything you can do to move the guy along and say this is when you have to get finished within a reasonable amount of time?
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Let me ask one more question on that. They are utilizing dirt for Grove, Gates and Market there as well? So ODOT is going to incorporate that dirt in their leveling?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - Ultimately I think Jim DiGiacobbe is going to make arrangements with Marruci and Gaffney to make sure the entire property is leveled before they do the restoration that is required on that site. I will ask both contractors about that tomorrow. I did speak with the contractor that is doing the Grove, Gates, Market sanitary project today. I wasn’t aware they were utilizing that site as a dumping location until today or Thursday or Friday of last week.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - And that is to be completed when?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - In the
month of July. Both projects should be
completed next month. I am under the
impression that the Grove, Gates, Market project will be completed prior to the
MAYOR - What is there from stopping him now from going on to another contractor somewhere else in the area and taking fill from them and just continuing his landfill?
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - The thing we need to check into is to see if a landfill is a permissible use for residential property.
COUNCILMAN FISCHER - It is a construction, demolition, debris landfill.
MARLENE RUFENER - That is right, you name it and it is there. We have those huge catch basins down there, I bet there is 20 of them.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Brian what did you call that?
COUNCILMAN FISCHER - C&D landfill.
MARLENE RUFENER - Thank you for your time. It makes me feel better to get it off my chest. I am not sure what you are going to be able to do about it, but I certainly hope something can be done about it.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - We are going out of sequence this evening and Dave Christner is with us. Would you like to address the council now?
DAVE CHRISTNER - Sure, if I
could. I am Chairman of the Parks and
Recreation Board and I think most of you are aware that the Lakeview High
School Athletic Dept. has a proposal in front of them to have a tennis team
this coming Fall.
They have approached the Parks and Recreation Board about being allowed
to use the
LAW DIRECTOR – How many courts are there?
DAVE CHRISTNER - 3
LAW DIRECTOR - They would need all three?
DAVE CHRISTNER - According to what their needs are, yes they would need all 3. If worse come to worse we could probably squeeze them over to two if someone else made a fuss and said they wanted to use one at that time. The good news is that from 3-5 in the afternoon there is not a lot of use of those courts. They are used a lot on weekends and evening hours, but from 3-5 if it had to happen is probably the safest period for it to happen.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - What months is this?
DAVE CHRISTNER – The one in the Fall will be roughly mid August to mid October and also a Spring one which will run March through May. Right now for Fall they have seven matches scheduled for the team and only three of which will be at home. Personally I think it is a good idea. It is the city supporting the school district. I think we work hand in hand with them and it is a good idea to work with them on this, I just want to get an opinion from council.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - I think that is a very good explanation of the use of the courts. We discussed this as a Council, the Mayor brought it to our attention maybe a month or so ago. There was some concern that residents use it during those time periods. I have been watching it and I can say the basketball courts are used during those times. I did not see the tennis courts being utilized during those times.
COUNCILMAN FISCHER - Ok I want to go from there. Basketball courts are being utilized at those times and are you going to tell those kids to be quiet, hey we are playing tennis over here.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - During the matches.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - I am confused, we ruled on this already and why is it coming back to us again?
DAVE CHRISTNER - What was the ruling?
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - We declined the request.
DAVE CHRISTNER - On what basis?
MAYOR - I called Mr. Kaiser and told him Council was not in favor of this. He told me at that time this was a girls tennis team that they wanted to promote and he said if we do that then there will be boys tennis. He did not know how long or what it would take to run these tournaments. I put it in front of councilmembers and they did not think it was a good idea and I told Mr. Kaiser that.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - If I am not mistaken Mr. Kaiser was not in favor of this also, right?
MAYOR - He was not.
DAVE CHRISTNER - Mr. Kaiser is in a difficult position because he has a group that would like to build a tennis team. He really can’t turn them down.
MAYOR - My answer to Mr. Kaiser was if there is that desire within the school system to have this team, then I think they should start some fund raisers and whatever and build the tennis courts at the school.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - May I say that is clearly just the opinion of the Mayor. It is a fledgling program, I think it is a lot to ask. I know Frank you comment was, we don’t even know if this program is going to fly. To raise money to build tennis courts is I believe premature. That is my opinion.
COUNCILMAN STOCZ - I have two concerns Dave. All courts have to be reserved during that period of time.
DAVE CHRISTNER – That was their request that they would like to use all three, but we could go back to them and say we will allow you to use two and one remain open or you can use three unless someone challenges and says I want to play there.
COUNCILMAN STOCZ - Being a little familiar with school operations I don’t think it would too long before a male tennis team would be formed with the same thinking and same basis as the female. Now you are talking about two complete teams plus tournaments. I don’t know if these public parks can be tied up for that kind of extension.
DAVE CHRISTNER - That is what I am saying, the boys are in one season and the girls are in another. The girls are in the Fall and they would need the August through Oct. The boys are in the Spring so they would be the March through the May.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - But during that period from 3 to 5 all courts would be inaccessible to the public.
DAVE CHRISTNER - I guess we would post a sign saying these courts are reserved from 3 to 5 and that doesn’t say someone could not come in and say I want to use one. They do have the right to use it. If we posted the signs, I think we would at least give public awareness.
POLICE CHIEF - Many years
ago when I grew up in
LAW DIRECTOR - They built courts right behind Mollenkolf.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - But that was after the team has been established for many, many years.
POLICE CHIEF - But the questions would still have been answered as was it a problem, or is that why they built them.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - I am all for promoting High School sports all the way and most of us are. My two concerns Dave are Jerry Kaiser, the Athletic Director is not in favor of this and Brian brought up about the noise thing. You got a bunch of guys playing basket ball there and yelling and screaming and they are trying to play tennis and concentrate, it could be a big problem.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - At this point you are dealing with it 3 times. During practice there is not a problem and there are only 3 home matches have been scheduled. I don’t think that creates a hardship.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - What are the wishes of Council? Do you want to check into it and see what problems lie ahead before we come to a conclusion?
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - I think that is a great idea. Lets do some background work like Chief Mink said and see what happens.
LAW DIRECTOR - That was a long time ago.
POLICE CHIEF - I was a little kid, riding my bike. But it was still a public park and how did they do it, that is the question?
DAVE CHRISTNER – I think we need to be careful of saying that we can stop them because we have set the precedence of reserving park property for baseball.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - John, you are familiar with sports. Would you like to check into that?
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - I will definitely check into this.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Would there be any openness to amending the request to less than all the courts?
DAVE CHRISTNER - Like I said I think we could go back to him. When I first asked that of him, he said they would prefer to have all three. We go back with the proposal to use two, it is still better than what he has today, which is none.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Even the idea that we reserve three but if a resident wants to play, they have the right to do so.
LAW DIRECTOR - Are you looking for a formal resolution from Council on this?
DAVE CHRISTNER - I am looking for advice. If you think a formal resolution is the best way to go, then yes. I think we owe the school an official response back, either we are going to allow them to use it and reserve it or we are saying no we are not.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - What about the liability factor? Is the city liable for this?
LAW DIRECTOR - Dump it on OHSAA, they are the sanctioning body if you are hurt in any athletic event.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY – Check into that too, John.
DAVE CHRISTNER - The good thing to check into that, the golf team uses Walnut Run. How do they get by with that?
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - As a parent you have to sign a waiver to let your child participate.
DAVE CHRISTNER - Again to expand upon Mr. Kaiser not being in favor of this, I think he is all in favor of a tennis team. I don’t think the conditions are right in his mind for the school to fund one which is why the parents have been approached and told if you want to have one the school will help schedule and sponsor it but the parents are going to pay for a lot of amenities that go along with it.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - In baseball do the parents sign any sort of waiver regarding injury?
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Yes they do.
LAW DIRECTOR - I don’t know if that is in favor of the city.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - One other
matter we might as well discuss while Dave is still here. I have included in your packet information
regarding lighting for the tennis courts at
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - We can give you a better answer after Monday.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - The next two items on the agenda R-27-03 and R-28-03 both were put on hold at the Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting on Thursday. Do we address these this evening by voting them down?
CLERK OF COUNCIL - No you can remove them. I do have a question for Council. If legislation is given to me to put on the agenda before Planning & Zoning has approved it, this is what we are doing
and I need to know how council wants to pursue it. Usually Planning Commission meets and approves items and then they are given to Council for the next meeting. The way these were put on is they were given to me for the agenda and they had not been approved by Planning & Zoning.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - We are putting the cart in front of the horse.
CLERK OF COUNCIL - We did it once because of a hardship and I realize that. If you want that to be a standard practice, it is up to you but it hasn’t been in the past.
The consensus of
opinion of Councilmembers was not to put items on agenda until they have been
approved by Planning & Zoning.
RESOLUTION R-29-03 - a resolution amending in part R-15-03, revising the acreage to 15.5354 acres to be placed into a permanent conservation easement at the Trumbull County Agriculture and Family Education Center was read and moved by Councilman Fischer and seconded by Councilwoman Petrosky.
MAYOR - Yes I
submitted this and when I received another Resolution that the
CLERK OF COUNCIL - I gave you all a copy of the resolution revised by the Commissioners.
ROLL CALL ON
R-29-03 - Hillman,
aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent;
Fischer, aye. MOTION PASSED
ORDINANCE 0-39-03- an ordinance authorizing the Fire Chief to
purchase high band communications system for the Cortland Fire Department from
Clemente Communications was read and moved for third reading by Councilman
Stocz and seconded by Councilman Caparanis.
ROLL CALL Petrosky,
aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent; Fischer, aye;
Hillman, aye. MOTION PASSED THIRD
ORDINANCE 0-41-03 - an
ordinance amending in part Ordinance 0-42-02 for the position of water/sewer
billing clerk under the direction of the Finance Director hours not to exceed
1300 hours per year at a rate of $9.05 per hour was read and moved for second
reading by Councilman Stocz and seconded by Councilman Hillman. ROLL
CALL - Stocz,
aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent; Fischer, aye; Hillman, aye;
Petrosky, aye. MOTION PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-42-03 - an ordinance for the purpose of establishing the terms of employment of the Assistant Finance Director of the City of Cortland, Ohio was read and moved for second reading by Councilman Fischer and seconded by Councilman Petrosky. ROLL CALL – Sweeney, aye; Caparanis,
aye; Chubb, absent; Fischer, aye;
Hillman, aye; Stocz, aye; Petrosky, aye.
MOTION PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-43-03
- an ordinance amending in part
Ordinance 0-43-02 the position of general clerk under the direction of the
Finance Director – hours not to exceed 1100 hours per year at a rate of $7.90
per hour was read and moved for second reading by Councilman Fischer and
seconded by Councilman Hillman. ROLL CALL - Caparanis, aye; Chubb,
absent; Fischer, aye; Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney,
aye. MOTION PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-44-03
- an ordinance amending in part
Ordinance 0-85-00 and establishing the part-time position of Administrative
Assistant under the direction of the
Mayor, with said position not to exceed 1300 hours per year was read and moved
for second reading by Councilman Caparanis and seconded by Councilman
Stocz. ROLL CALL -
Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent; Fischer, aye;
Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye. MOTION
PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-45-03
– an ordinance amending in part ordinance 0-50-01 for the position of part time
clerk typist/receptionist for the Police Department establishing hourly wages
of $8.80/hour not to exceed 1300 hours per year was read and moved for seconded
reading by Councilman Fischer and seconded by
Councilman Stocz. ROLL CALL - Chubb, absent; Fischer,
aye; Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis,
aye. MOTION PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-46-03 - an
ordinance providing for the Council of the City of Cortland, Ohio to set policy
and benefits and wages for the Clerk of Council was read and moved for second
reading by Councilman Fischer and seconded by Councilman Stocz. ROLL
CALL - Fischer, aye;
Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb,
absent. MOTION PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-47-03 - an
ordinance for the purpose for the Council of the City of Cortland, Ohio to set
policy, benefits and wages for the Fire Chief was read and moved for second
reading by Councilman Stocz and seconded by Councilman Hillman. ROLL
CALL – Hillman,
aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent;
Fischer, aye. MOTION PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-48-03 - an
ordinance for the purpose of setting the salary and benefits for Frances E.
Moyer, Finance Director for the City of Cortland, Ohio and defining her duties
and responsibilities was read and moved for second reading by Councilman
Hillman and seconded by Councilman Caparanis.
ROLL CALL - Petrosky, aye; Stocz,
aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent; Fischer,aye; Hillman,
aye. MOTION PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-49-03 - an
ordinance providing for Council of the City of Cortland, Ohio to set policy for
benefits and wages of the Chief of Police was read and moved for second reading
by Councilman Hillman and seconded by Councilman Stocz. ROLL
CALL - Stocz,
aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent; Fischer, aye; Hillman, aye;
Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye.
MOTION PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-50-03 - an
ordinance providing for the Council of the City of Cortland, Ohio to set policy
for benefits and wages for the Captain of Police was read and moved for second
reading by Councilman Caparanis and seconded by councilman Fischer. ROLL
CALL - Sweeney,
aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent; Fischer, aye; Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye;
Stocz, aye. MOTION PASSED SECOND
ORDINANCE 0-54-03 - an ordinance authorizing the Fire Department to spend up to $3,500.00 for the construction of a building to house radio equipment was read and moved by Councilwoman Petrosky and seconded by Councilman Stocz. A motion to suspend the rules was made by Councilman Fischer and seconded by Councilman Hillman.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Where is this going to be located?
FIRE CHIEF - This will
be by the water tower in
COUNCILMAN FISCHER - Bill, what is this going to be, is there going to be an antenna on top of this building?
FIRE CHIEF - The antenna is going to be where the repeater is going to be attached to the tower. The antenna is going to be attached there. There will be a repeater within this building that will be connected via wire to the repeater.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - This is going to be functional equipment not just a storage area?
FIRE CHIEF - Correct, it will be functional equipment.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - We don’t have to bid this out, right?
FIRE CHIEF - No.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN – Does it require a zoning permit?
FIRE CHIEF - That I would have to defer to either the city attorney or the…
LAW DIRECTOR - Have you applied for one from the service director? Apparently the answer is going to be no. I didn’t understand until tonight that this was for materials and the city is going to build it themselves, correct?
FIRE CHIEF - Correct.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - We can look at that matter after the meeting. I would say the location of the building will meet all setback and height requirements. I was under the impression that one of the main
purposes of acquiring zoning permits is so taxes can be reassessed. That is not applicable with this situation.
ROLL CALL ON
SUSPENSION OF RULES ON 0-54-03 - Chubb, absent; Fischer,
aye; Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis,
aye.
ORDINANCE 0-55-03 - an ordinance authorizing the Fire Chief to purchase (6) six Personal Apparel Kits was read and moved by Councilman Fischer and seconded by Councilman Stocz. A motion to suspend the rules was made by Councilman Caparanis and seconded by Councilwoman Petrosky.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - What is a personal apparel kit?
FIRE CHIEF - These particular kits or outfits are part of a Grant. The ordinance itself is a formality. We had received a grant to pay 100% for these outfits which would go over our uniforms and such to protect against bio hazards and such. In order to get reimbursed we have to pay for them upfront and they will reimburse us 100% at that cost.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - So this is for safety.
FIRE CHIEF - That is correct it is to protect our personnel going into an environment that maybe hazardous.
ROLL CALL ON
SUSPENSION OF RULES ON 0-55-03 – Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz,
aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, aye; Fischer, aye.
ORDINANCE 0-56-03 - an
ordinance authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with ms consultants
for professional services required for the City of
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - I did have a questions and I talked it over with Mike and it involved the per diem and whatever the definition of per diem is. In the contract is says $5148.00 and that is a lot of money to pay per day basis. Mike did talk to them and Mike would you please clarify this.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - It is a price not to exceed $5148.00 but the charges will be on a per diem basis meaning when they go out we will be billed, but the $5148.00 will be the max.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - It could be less.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Yes it could be less. The purpose of this legislation was to authorize the contract. I wanted to know if this council wanted to have construction monitoring on the Fowler St. Project and see what is required to do so. This would be on site inspections, comparison of plans, what is being installed relative to the blue prints. In hopes that we won’t have to tear it up again. If we think this is worthwhile we need to pass it tonight. The reason for the emergency is the construction time table according to Paul it will probably be in July.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - That is correct. We have bid openings for this project June 30th. Legislation will be presented in the month of July with construction most likely in July through Sept.
LAW DIRECTOR - They will change that to max. fee.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN – Would you like to see that Tabled until they do. Maybe we can Table the emergency and you can pass it in emergency at next meeting.
Councilman Hillman rescinds
his motion for emergency and Councilman Caparanis rescinds his second of that
motion.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - That allows us to use the emergency the first meeting in July, right?
CLERK OF COUNCIL – Right.
COUNCILMAN STOCZ - Paul, with
the
SERVICE DIRECTOR - Yes that is part of the construction plans.
COUNCILMAN STOCZ - I assumed
it would be and that will complete
SERVICE DIRECTOR - That is correct.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN
- Just
a quick note. I was talking to Jim
tonight to find out how he felt about this and he was somewhat disappointed
that the Review Committee didn’t obtain proposals for
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Are they included in the bid?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - We had a
contract that we authorized maybe 2 years ago that included completion of the
construction plans and construction and inspection for the
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - I think it is certainly justified on Fowler where we have the same engineering firm making the original error and we want a second set of eyes. I am just looking for guidance on W. Main.
COUNCILMAN STOCZ - I don’t think
that will be necessary on every project from my particular point of view. I think there are legitimate occasions where
it would be wise and I think
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN
- That
was the committees original though but I just wanted to make sure Jim’s
concerns were voiced tonight since he couldn’t make it. We will not seek prices for inspections on
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - We have just discovered we don’t have a copy of 0-56-03.
FINANCE DIRECTOR - I think what happened is it copied two sheets of paper together. You have 0-56- at the top of the page and a copy of the bid that Bill provided with his ordinance.
CLERK OF COUNCIL - If Diana wants to read the heading on the Original Ordinance to verify what you are voting on.
ROLL CALL ON
0-56-03 - Petrosky,
aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent; Fischer, abstain;
Hillman, aye. MOTION PASSED FIRST
ORDINANCE 0-57-03 - an ordinance authorizing the Finance Director to transfer $85,556.08 from the General Fund to the State Grant Fund for the West Main Street Project was read and moved by Councilman Caparanis and seconded by Councilman Fischer. A motion to suspend the rules was made by Councilman Stocz and seconded by Councilman Hillman.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - In your report we have fire hydrants included for $22,000.00 that we never discussed before. What is that about?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - It was part
of the original construction plans. I
believe there were 2 or 3 hydrants that were scheduled to be removed and
reinstalled and reset when some of the concrete work was taking with the
sidewalks. We had one of the contractors
ask, since you are already removing the hydrants, installing new launch valves
and resetting the hydrants, would it be more advantageous to just install a new
fire hydrant instead of one of the old ones.
We discussed it and thought it would be worthwhile to do it at this
point in time. The water fund was one of
the funds that we had a significant carryover and we were still within our
budgetary guidelines on what we appropriated for
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Yes, because lighting and sidewalk came in under bid.
ROLL CALL ON SUSPENSION OF RULES ON 0-57-03 - Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent; Fischer, aye; Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye. ROLL CALL ON 0-57-03 - Sweeney,
aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent;
Fischer, aye; Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye. MOTION
PASSED
ORDINANCE 0-58-03 – an ordinance authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with Thomas Pallotta & Sons Inc., for the TRU-West Main Street Project (PDPT PID No. 12158) was read and moved by Councilman Fischer and seconded by Councilman Hillman. A motion to suspend the rules was made by Councilman Caparanis and seconded by Councilman Stocz.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Did we get the soil notes included?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - Yes we did.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Construction would start when?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I did speak
with the contractor and he is planning on starting probably around the 3rd
week in July. I have spoken with
representatives from ODOT concerning the
MAYOR - The third week of July does not interfere with the car show?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I spoke
with Bill Hallett a couple of times.
That is very close to the date that we are planning on starting
construction. One of the items we discussed briefly, he is planning on doing
that on a Sunday afternoon and I don’t think there will be much disruption on
MAYOR - I don’t think he rescheduled it. I hope you impress upon Mr. Pallotta that we do have a Lions Club Car Show on that Sunday and they need to have use of the street.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I will discuss it when we have our pre-construction meeting.
ROLL CALL ON
SUSPENSION OF RULES ON 0-58-03 - Chubb, absent; Fischer,
aye; Hillman, aye; Petrosky, aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis,
aye.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Madame President I need to make a motion on the floor for authorization to use the city engineering consulting contract for the evaluation of water looping projects. The expense of the money is already authorized under the ordinance that authorized the contract but
council wants to activate that contract each time we use it so it requires a four member vote. The cost is $1750 to $2000. They will be evaluating the proposed water looping projects in an effort to identify those that would be viable projects and those that wouldn’t be. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Petrosky.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - Don’t we have an ordinance or resolution?
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - No, the ordinance that authorized the contract authorized the expenditure but we built into the contract council’s desire to activate the contract by a floor vote.
ROLL
CALL ON MOTION TO AUTHORIZE CITY ENGINEERING CONSULTING CONTRACT FOR THE
EVALUATION OF WATER LOOPING PROJECTS. - Fischer, abstain; Hillman, aye; Petrosky,
aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, absent. MOTION
PASSED
MAYOR’S REPORT
MAYOR - I want to
present a certification of appreciation to Beverly Roush Hoagland. Bev would you step forward please and I would
like to read it into the minutes. “Whereas, Beverly Roush Hoagland a lifetime resident of
BEVERLY HOAGLAND - How nice of you to recognize me, I appreciate it. It was quite an honor to be nominated by my teachers and I am very happy you have chosen to recognize me as well. Thank you.
MAYOR - If any of
you have not been to the Athena Awards, it is usually held at Mr. Anthony’s
Banquet Hall in
CLERK OF COUNCIL – Rich is golfing tonight so he asked me to accept this. He also asked me to thank everyone who came and participated and walked. Next year we would like to achieve the Silver Award which is $2,500 that we want to be able to donate. Anyone who has any ideas for fundraisers,
we would certainly appreciate it. Rich already has the theme for the tent for next year. If you have any ideas on how to raise money, we would appreciate it. Thank you again.
MAYOR - In my report I attended on June 3rd the Trumbull County Commissioners Special Meeting to elect Dr. Pat DiTamassi as the newest member to the Trumbull County Health Board. That had to be a special meeting held on that day because the next night was the first meeting and they needed a quorum.
On Thursday, June 5th, my committee had their final Strategic Planning meeting and our final report should be to the committee by the end of the week.
On Monday, June 9th the Parks Board met and as soon as I get a report from the Youth in the Park week I will pass it on to you.
On Thursday June 12th, Planning & Zoning Board met and much discussion was had over on lot septic systems for parcels on St. Rt. 46 & St. Rt. 5.
On Friday, June 13th, I met with ODOT and Service Director
and Law Director on the traffic light support pole at
LAW DIRECTOR - Mayor, I would just like to clarify something. Paul is going to take that on and he actually has contact with ODOT.
MAYOR - On Sat.
June 14th the Bicentennial Celebration of Ohio’s 200th
Birthday was held at
You will also see in your packet there are two letters from
Time Warner Cable. One of them telling you that their Technical Service Facility has
moved. They are now located on
Also included you will find a brochure on the building and
land use in
You also see that I included and e-mail from the
Scrappers. Because the City of
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - I wanted to express my support for the Mayor’s position Thursday night at the Zoning Meeting where she suggested we aggressively enforce our zoning regulations. A couple of issues that came up in the meeting, and she mentioned in her report, were those on lot septic systems. As you know the city has a regulation that septic systems are not permitted where city utilities are available. It is vague enough to allow for a hardship cause. I really feel those zoning laws as well as
all of them on the books should be enforced specially when it comes to those on lot septic systems. I think that zoning law is in place for good reason, so we don’t have discharge throughout the city but rather everyone ties into the existing system. I know that the County allows for some hardship cases where it is not required to tie in, but I don’t think these properties qualify. I think they have facilities adjacent to the lot. To me a hardship case would be the Beltz property at Route 11 where hundreds of thousands of dollars would be required for him to tie in. These two folks have them on the adjacent lots and I would like to see and did see the Zoning Board take an aggressive position on that, as well they should. As you drive from community to community you always see those signs “Zoned for your Protection” and I think that speaks volumes. As a resident I expect my Zoning Board and my City to protect me and it sounds like in some cases we don’t have the laws on the books and we need to do that and hopefully those things will come about. I would like to see the Zoning Board continue on their and I don’t want to say warpath, but certainly looking carefully at people who are asking for variances and hardship cases. There is a difference between hardship and inconvenience and certainly should not arbitrarily granting variances and arbitrarily granting septic systems on lot or we will set a precedent that we are not willing to live with. I think we made a mistake with BP that has been brought up and if we continue to make exceptions we can no longer call that an isolated incident or a mistake, we will be able to call that precedent. I just want to reiterate that I am pleased to see the Zoning Board taking that position and hope they will continue. The other question might really be directed to Paul.
MAYOR - May I add something to that Mike.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Sure.
MAYOR - Ironically as the Planning & Zoning Board turned down those two requests on Thursday night, today I received
LAW DIRECTOR - Excuse me Mayor, they were not turned down they were just tabled.
MAYOR - That is
true, they were tabled. Ironically today
I received an agenda from the Trumbull County Health Board’s Meeting on Wed.
night and there I see on their agenda the third and final reading of their new
rules for on lot and off lot septic systems.
So as soon as those are passed on Wed. I have asked them to forward to
us those new requirements. I think we
will see they are going to be very strict and so by tabling those these two
situations will probably have to come under the new
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - I guess probably passing the plats that evening would not have prohibited the Zoning Board from enforcing that zoning law about tie ins but nonetheless I would like to see it enforced, in my opinion. I am pleased to see the Board taking things very seriously.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Mike, can I just address a concern. With respect to the water looping project ms consultants is going to do. Is that purely a review of the proposals or will they offer some suggestions?
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Yes, they will.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY_ - Because we have a water pressure problem in a location that we are talking about to tie in so we need to have a solution to that before we can require those properties to tie in.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - What the committee had asked for and confirmed with Don Wittman was if they are not viable projects they will come back with an alternative and also I believe they will include cost proposals.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN – The second question was for the Mayor or Paul. Those signs that we bought, are they up yet or where are they?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - No they are in storage down at our service garage. I believe there was to be a collaborative effort between an architect who is to design a stand for the signs and also we were to work with representatives from ODOT about the placement of the signs.
MAYOR - Four weeks ago I called Mr. Solarez and I
told him one of the stipulations on putting up these signs was that we were not
to infringe anywhere on the ODOT right-of-way and they must give approval as to
where we place them. I said to him that
Mr. Jakubick the architect had offered to do the design of the bases as a
service to the community, I gave him the dates he was free and would be willing
to go with him and look at the sites and we could stake them out so he would
know how large a base to design. Mr.
Solarez never called me back, never called me back, never
called me back and when I mentioned it to Service Director Makosky the other
day he said he had called him and a Mr. Messenger from the ODOT office in
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - So the delay is ODOT’S not ours.
MAYOR –Yes, absolutely. We can’t just go out and arbitrarily just place them and have ODOT say I am sorry but what you built is not where we would like it to be and you must take it down. We are not going to have that happen.
COUNCILMAN CAPARANIS - Are these the bicentennial signs?
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Yes that is why I was worried that the Bicentennial would already be over.
MAYOR - We are waiting for ODOT to tell us where we are able to place them.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - The one thing Mr. Messenger from ODOT District 4 had indicated to me was if the signs were being placed within a municipality, within the right-of-way for St. Rt. 5 or St. Rt. 46, etc., as long the area was within the municipality the city would not need to get a permit from ODOT District 4 about the placement of the signs. He said that would be the city’s jurisdiction about the placement of them. He suggested working with our law director just to insure there is no other things
within the ORC which maybe brought to light. Nonetheless, whenever we did determine the location they were going to be set, I would still inform ODOT District 4 and I would inform ODOT Trumbull County Garage about what we are going to undertake and where we are going to place them. I didn’t want to have a mix up or anything else.
MAYOR - I would prefer they come out and tell us where we can put them with the architect there, rather than get all our plans together and then they say we can’t do it.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - Mike, I have a clarification. It is not a pressure problem it is a volume problem down at the plat on 46.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - They will be evaluating both.
SERVICE DIRECTOR’S
REPORT
SERVICE DIRECTOR - There are a
couple of matters I would like to bring to your attention tonight. First and foremost we are currently
advertising for the 2003 resurfacing program, Fowler St. Storm Sewer
Improvement Project
and our Residential Garbage Service Contract. Bid openings are scheduled for June 30th. I will have legislation to present to council
for all of these projects sometime in the month of July. You have information in your packets about
the situation we have been dealing with over the past 1-1/2 years concerning
Cortland Hardwoods. Approx. 1 week ago, representatives from the City of
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - I have two questions. At the last meeting you said we would receive legislation for a change order to move a waterline on Orchard.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I do have that information. I wanted to see if there would be any other change orders that would be associated with the Orchard Storm Sewer Replacement Project. The price submitted to you at the last council meeting I believe was $2600 and it is firm and I don’t anticipate any changes with respect to that.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - The other thing is you provided information that the city purchased mosquito pellets and we are going to use them in retention ponds.
SERVICE DIRECTOR Yes, we purchased them from Alexander Pest Control and that is the company which does the mosquito spraying. He has researched the matter and is very familiar with the different products out there. There is no licensing requirement with the placing of these pellets. They are long lasting and will last throughout the entire season. We currently placed the pellets at the
retention basins and a couple of locations throughout the city. If anyone has other areas they want us to review, let us know.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - I am going to direct this to Brian and to you. Would it be wise to place them in the ravine like behind DiGiacobbe's property on 46. I don’t know what to think about that. The other thing is just for people in their backyards if they have a problem, dunks are available at Handy Man Hardware if you have a standing water problem in your area.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Did you get back with Dr. and Sandy Foster about their issue. Did you write them a note?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - Yes I did.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - How about the street flooding at Saw Mill and Orchard. We were going to determine if the City caused that or not. Let them know if we had not caused it they should deal with the draining.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I discussed that with the law director and I believe it was his legal opinion that the city doesn’t have authority to do work in residential backyards.
LAW DIRECTOR - In reference to the yard drains that the city did not put in and had no control over. The only exception would be the one situation where it was suggested there was an utility easement in favor of the city to enter the property. We talked about that and talked about a copy of deed and I haven’t seen anything.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I was
planning on going to
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - Ultimately we wanted to write a letter to the folks that complained and put in writing that if the city wasn’t responsible for the flooding, they were on their own. Were we going to do that? That was how we were going to close it out, right?
LAW DIRECTOR - Yes, but there might be one exception.
COUNCILMAN HILLMAN - The Greenbriar one?
LAW DIRECTOR - Yes.
COUNCILMAN PETROSKY - So you did pull the original plans for that Orchard area and take a look at them and make sure that there was…
SERVICE DIRECTOR - There was nothing listed in Mr. Dravesky’s property. There were no original drainage easements which are indicated on the construction plans for Orchard.
BOB DRAVESKY - The comment I would make would be it seems like the city is disavowing themselves of any liability and I understand that. But on the same breath when those homes were built along Orchard I am not sure an inspector came out to make sure that drainage lines were made available to get rid of that water.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I couldn’t tell you. The construction of that development probably took place around 20-25 years ago.
BOB DRAVESKY - It is kind of common that regulations weren’t followed in those days and I know we are the beneficiaries of those oversights.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - Just to
summarize some of the history that has been ongoing for those properties
between Orchard and
BOB DRAVESKY - We never
had battles and at that time I didn’t know what was going on. I can assure you if I move and I run into
that problem again, it won’t happen again.
Contractors would come in and do their work and you wake up five years
later and wonder where all this water is coming from. I didn’t create it they created it. For me to battle with neighbors, I will just
go down to Route 5 to the Scuba Outfit and get a mask and tanks and live with
the problem.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - One other matter we can discuss tonight for Mr. Holzheimer in particular we did receive the completed study for Walnut Creek and I can give you excerpts from the study and you can review them. We still need to present the information to the public and schedule a day to do that. Probably sometime over this week we can all look at our calendars and see which dates are going to be available and then we can send letters out to all the affected property owners and give them an opportunity to hear the findings of that study.
GEORGE HOLZHEIMER - That was my question. Thank you.
COUNCILMAN
CAPARANIS - When
does EDG plan to go back and fix
SERVICE DIRECTOR - We are currently advertising that project now with bid opening at the end of this month. We are expecting the contract to be awarded in the month of July. I believe there is only a 45 day completion period for that project. I expect that project to be completed mostly in Sept.
COUNCILMAN FISCHER - I have a question with regards to mosquito control. We are looking to place mosquito dunks in the retention ponds. Have we ever thought of taking the proactive measure here instead of pumping more pesticides everywhere, I don’t know if other cities have done this, but put purple martin houses in strategic locations. Promote the natural mosquito eaters throughout the city. I just think it is an alternative to say 8 sprayings this year and what next year 20? Eventually it is going to affect all of us. I think the more communities that are spraying, spraying is we are knocking down our natural defense systems. For some reason I see no bats this year. I think it maybe weather related but it is warming up and I haven’t seen any.
MAYOR - We have one
complaint of one house on
FLO HUTTON - They are talking about all the mosquito control, what are we going to do with the high grass around town?
SERVICE DIRECTOR - I know this Spring I have had a number of phone calls and have probably sent out around 25 -30 letters. If you do see properties that have high grass or are questionable, please give me a call and I will send a letter out.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - Did you check on those?
SERVICE DIRECTOR – You contacted me last Wed. or Thursday about 3 or 4 properties. I did send letters out and we had sent letters to at least one of the properties you called about. I believe the one next to Rite Aid and I had a letter out already to the one next to McDonald’s. The other two I did review and sent letters out.
COUNCILWOMAN PETROSKY - They get 10 days to comply or we mow it and assess their taxes.
FLO HUTTON –
I have never seen the city go on property and mow.
SERVICE DIRECTOR - We did it last week with the property next to Rite Aid and one other property on Chevoit.
PRESIDENT SWEENEY - We are addressing that matter.
FINANCE DIRECTOR’S
REPORT
FINANCE DIRECTOR – You all have a copy of the monthly report at your places and that is all I have this evening.
PLEASE NOTE: At this point in the meeting the tape
malfunctioned. Any minutes from this
point are not verbatim but transcribed from memory.
POLICE CHIEF’S
REPORT
POLICE CHIEF - You
received my monthly report in your packets.
I have a map showing the parade route for this year. We will close one lane on
FIRE CHIEF’S
REPORT
FIRE CHIEF - You received your monthly report in the packet. Our calls are 10% up from this time last year.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Councilwoman Petrosky reported on her Strategic Planning
Meeting and thank Councilman Hillman for attending the
meeting in her place because she was sick.
She expects to finish up with probably one more meeting.
Mayor Long reported she has finished with her group for
Strategic Planning and she will turn in their findings very soon.
Councilman Fischer and Councilman Stocz have set June 23 at
Councilman Hillman asked the law director the definition of a private vs. public function with regards to city services being used. He wanted to know if the person sponsoring the event denotes if it is public or private. The law director said yes the person or group sponsoring the event denotes public or private. With regard to the Street Fair the Lions Club is the sponsor, so the event is private even though the public attends the event.
Councilman Hillman
made a motion for an executive session to discuss personnel and was seconded by
Councilman Fischer. ROLL CALL - Petrosky,
aye; Stocz, aye; Sweeney, aye; Caparanis, aye; Chubb, aye; Fischer, aye;
Hillman, aye. MOTION PASSED
A motion to adjourn
the meeting was made by Councilman Stocz
The meeting adjourned
at
Donna Lyden, Clerk of
Council Diana
Sweeney, President of Council