The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date via Zoom teleconference software. The following Council members were present: Mayor Eric A. MacGilvray, Marc J. Benevento, Scott K. Gordon, Kathy E. McClintock, Leah M. Pyter, and Dan Schlichting. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, Bryce Jacob, Planning Commissioner, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, and William P. Charles, Street Commissioner. Guests of Council were Greg Ross and Thomas Van Cleef. At 7:02 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the Council meeting of April 6, 2020 were not read since each member had received a copy. Schlichting moved and Pyter seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

McClintock moved and Benevento seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for March 2020 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor stated that the modified version of the Easter egg hunt had been a success and thanked the Social Committee for their work in putting this on.
  2. The Mayor noted that the Governor of Ohio had extended the school closures due to COVID through the end of the school year in May.
  3. The Mayor noted that the Franklin County Auditor and Treasurer had filed a request with the Ohio Department of Taxation to delay the 2nd half real of estate tax collection until August due to the state of emergency declared in Ohio. The Clerk-Treasurer stated that this decision should not affect the Village finances for the year to a great degree as the general fund held enough reserves to cover expenses in the meantime.
  4. The Mayor mentioned that he had inquired with Burgess & Niple about grass reseeding for the properties in the Village where the reseeding in the fall did not take. The Village will work with Elite Excavating to cover these areas.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor stated that she had revised the solar panel ordinance to incorporate the changes suggested at the previous meeting and that this would be discussed later in the agenda.
  2. The Solicitor stated that she had prepared a resolution authorizing the Village to reimburse the residents who had damage from the sanitary sewer backup in March. She also had prepared a standard release form that the residents would need to sign before receiving this reimbursement.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner stated that he had asked Burgess & Niple why the sanitary sewer blockage had only affected the house that it did and not any others. The most likely reason is the hydraulic grade line of the pipes in the area. More work, including determination of the basement elevation and sewer line profile will be performed to find a more definite answer. The Planning Commissioner recommended that the homeowners install a backflow preventer on the line to prevent such incidents in the future.
  2. The Street Commissioner reported that he had contacted Tech Septic about cleaning out the storm water quality unit.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

  1. The Planning Commissioner reported that he had received several inquiries on fence installations in the Village and that these would likely be on the agendas for upcoming Planning Commission meetings.
  2. The Solicitor stated that she had researched electric fence restrictions in the area, including the Worthington Building and Zoning Ordinances, the Ohio Revised Code, and the Franklin County Zoning Resolution. The Solicitor recommended sending one more letter to the homeowners in question, giving them a two-week notice to remove the fence, before beginning enforcement action. The Solicitor also noted that the penalty for a minor misdemeanor, similar to a traffic ticket, would be a $150 fine, and this is where Worthington would start, after seeking voluntary compliance, per their code.

Gordon moved and Schlichting seconded the motion to send a certified letter giving the homeowners a 15 day notice to remove the fence, with escalations in the penalty in 15 day increments. The motion carried (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on agenda items.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

Benevento, the Chair of the Committee, stated that the committee would meet no later than May 4.

  1. Committee on Communications

Gordon, the Chair of the Committee, stated that the committee had not met recently and that the Village would need to find a new vendor to print any directory, as the vendor the Village had lined up is no longer in business.

  1. Web Manager

The Web Manager was not in attendance.

  1. Ordinance 01-2020

The Solicitor had revised the ordinance to remove references to ground mounted panels. Resident Thomas Van Cleef, who owns a solar panel installation company, addressed Council and stated that he felt that with this ordinance, only half the Village would be able to install solar panels on their houses and he does not feel that this was appropriate. The Mayor stated that the purpose of the ordinance was to give the Planning Commission some sort of guidance in the event of future solar panel installation applications, and that flexibility would be possible in cases where placement of panels would otherwise be inconvenient. Benevento moved to approve this ordinance and McClintock seconded the motion. The ordinance passed (5-0).

New Business

  1. General Fund Levy

The Clerk-Treasurer reviewed the Village finances with Council and reminded them that in order to have a levy issue on the November ballot, it would need to be filed with the Board of Elections by August. This means that Council will need to decide what to put on the ballot by July. Upcoming discussions of an asset management plan will play a factor in this decision.

  1. Resolution 2020-07

Resolution 2020-07, A Resolution to Compensate the Homeowners at 212 Riverglen for Damages Related to Flooding in Their Basement, and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by Gordon. Gordon moved and McClintock seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the resolution in order for the Village to offer this reimbursement to the homeowners in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). McClintock moved and Schlichting seconded the motion to approve the resolution. The motion passed (5-0).

Expenses

Pyter moved and McClintock seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:

– $1,810.00 – Flowline LLC – Work on sanitary sewer line

– $   825.00 – The Waterworks – Sewer backup work

– $   220.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on non-agenda items.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom teleconference.

Adjournment

There being no further business, McClintock moved and Schlichting seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).  The meeting was adjourned at 8:19 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Eric A. MacGilvray, Mayor