Infrastructure Committee Meeting

February 29, 2016

The Riverlea Committee on Infrastructure met on at 7:00 pm February 29, 2016 at 5704 Olentangy Blvd. The meeting was posted and open to the public. The following members were in attendance:  Mayor Eric MacGilvray, Marc Benevento (Chair), Bill Charles (Street Commissioner), Chad Lowe (Council), Jacalyn Slemmer (Council), John Oberle, Greg Ross, and Dan Schlichting.

The following tentative agenda was shared via e-mail prior to the meeting:

  1. Objectives & key milestones – Eric MacGilvray
  2. Overview of Riverlea’s infrastructure, need for repair & improvement
  3. Roles & responsibilities of committee members
  4. Establish standing meeting day & time

At 7:01 pm, the meeting was called to order. Mayor MacGilvray asked for a volunteer to take meeting minutes and Greg Ross volunteered.

Mayor MacGilvray prepared a one page summary of the street repair project timeline. This provided an overview of the primary activities of the Infrastructure Committee from Spring 2016 through the last phase of the project (projected to be 2020). Copies were provided to all in attendance.

The mayor provided additional detail not on the timeline to set the context of the discussion. Key elements follow;

  • Village council has been discussing the current project for over two years. Preparation for the bond millage vote of Fall 2015 started more than a year ago.
  • The levy in support of infrastructure repair was passed by village residents in November 2015.
    • Village statutory limit on bond issuance is approximately $2.5MM and is based on current community property values. This means there is a funding gap which must be filled by other sources, which could include grants or loans offered by State and regional government organizations.
  • Millage collection started January 1, 2016.
    • Collection is capped at $7.0MM max and 28-years

Bill Charles provided a paper copy of a table highlighting infrastructure capital projects since 2009 and projected through 2020. This includes the current storm sewer, street and curb replacement project. The short-term focus of the Infrastructure Committee will be completing applications for state of Ohio loans. The first application is OPWC/SCIP which is due September 2016. An affiliated loan for small communities is due February 2017. Riverlea can only be awarded one of the two – either SCIP or Small Government. All loan programs award funding based on a point system and the committee will review the application approach in order to develop the strongest application possible.

Depending on our success with grants and low/no interest loans, the village may have to supplement funding through loans and a bond issue (subject to statutory maximums).

The committee discussed a number of other elements of the project and committee’s work.

  • Village of Riverlea owns the water main, sanitary and storm sewer systems.
    • The question was raised if the Village would consider privatizing the water system to a third party who would own, maintain and operate the water system. While it was unclear if this would be practical, the committee agreed the all options are open for discussion.
  • Colombia Gas may be willing to participate in the project and defer some of the cost as they are replacing gas mains in the area.
  • Other utilities, such as electric, cable and telephone, are above ground.
  • A small portion of Worthington’s sanitary sewer goes under Falmouth Court and the village should coordinate with Worthington in case they would like to replace or repair the sewer lines while they are exposed.

Key step before the April meeting is for the committee to review the OPWC/SCIP application which is available on line to better understand the scoring system. Mayor MacGilvray will also share files from an early application for a different project.

Marc Benevento will look into the application and providing to the committee members. He will investigate if a shared electronic folder for Committee documents is permissible and practical.

Chad Lowe will begin to develop a financial model for bond issuance that incorporates legal fees and finance charges.

The group discussed and proposed the first Monday of every month at 7:00 pm for committee meetings. Future meetings will be held at Community Church of Christ at 110 Park St. This is only a short distance from Riverlea. The next meeting will be held on Monday, April 4.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm

MARC BENEVENTO (CHAIR)

, PREPARED BY