The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Old Worthington Library. The following Council members were present: Mayor Dan Schlichting, Jeffrey L. Amick, Charles T. Bell, Janet R. Heidkamp, Emily J. Saving, and Suzanne K. Surface. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, Leah Reibel, Solicitor, Bryce Jacob, Planning Commissioner, William Charles, Street Commissioner, and Greg Bonk, Web Manager. At 6:37 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the Council meeting of March 17, 2025 were not read since each member had received a copy. Saving moved and Surface seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 5, Amick, Bell, Heidkamp, Saving, Surface; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Surface moved and Amick seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for March 2025 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 5, Amick, Bell, Heidkamp, Saving, Surface; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor thanked Deania Towns for her work in preparing and running the Easter Egg Hunt for the Village. Towns has stated that she will not be able to run this event next year, so any interested residents should contact the Mayor or a Council member.
  2. The Mayor stated that he had received emails from residents on the condition of the American flags throughout the Village so he replaced the two flags at the Village entrance along High Street and the flag in the Circle Park.
  3. The Mayor stated that he had sent out a newsletter to residents with some preliminary information on the general and infrastructure levies in November, as well as a request for residents who wish to list their graduating seniors on the banners in the Village.
  4. The Mayor stated that he had received the March report on Worthington Police activity within the Village. There were 211 and 6 calls from residents to the department during the month.
  5. The Mayor reported that he had received an email from a resident about issues with their downspout. The resident discovered that during the Village infrastructure work, crews had failed to connect the downspout from the house to the drain in the curb, causing water to fail to drain properly. The resident stated that the cost to reconnect the pipe to the drain is about $875. The Mayor is working with the resident to negotiate reimbursement from the Village.
  6. The Mayor reminded Council members that the upcoming general and infrastructure fund levies were on the agenda for discussion. He stated that the Infrastructure Committee had created a 30- year plan incorporating the expected work during that time, including street milling and repairs and/or replacement of the lift station.
  7. The Mayor reported that there had been outages and corresponding repairs to the lift station during the week of April 6.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor reported that workers had uncovered a partial human skeleton during work to replace a retaining wall at 5719 Olentangy. The Contractor called the Worthington Police Department, who worked with the Franklin County Coroner’s office and the Ohio State University Anthropology Department to identify the remains. The anthropologists determined that the remains are likely prehistoric.
  2. The Solicitor reported that she had sent Council members the information on the Village’s record retention policy per discussions at the March meeting. The Village has a retention policy and schedule and is required to have a Records Commission as well. This Commission should meet every six months to discuss potential disposal of records.
  3. The Solicitor stated that she had contacted American Legal Publishing about the codification of recent ordinances. The contact at American Legal who is working on this is currently on maternity leave, but someone will complete this and send the updated Village Code information within the month.

Report of the Street Commissioner

The Street Commissioner reported that the excessive amount of rain in the area had caused an overflow at the lift station. The Commissioner received a report that both pumps at the station were not working so he stopped by the station to manually kick them off. An investigation showed that the float at the bottom of the pump had failed, so he ordered and installed a replacement. Surface asked if there were any reporting requirements when there is an overflow incident at the lift station and the Commissioner confirmed that there are and that he is working on this reporting.

The Mayor inquired as to whether it would make sense for the Village to have certain parts on hand to be prepared for similar incidents in the future. The Street Commissioner agreed that there are some that would be helpful to have available.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

  1. The Planning Commissioner reported that the Commission had approved two Certificate of Appropriateness applications at the April meeting.
    1. An application to replace the existing walkway at 5815 Crescent Ct.
    2. An application to add a patio at 131 W Southington Ave.
    3. In addition, the Commission tabled approval of a shed addition and deck replacement at 311 W Riverglen Dr, pending additional information.
  2. The Planning Commissioner reported that there had been no further discussions on potential changes to the fence ordinances at the April meeting.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on agenda items.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

Schlichting, the Chair of the Committee, reported that the Committee did not meet in April.

  1. Web Manager

 

  1. The Web Manager stated that he had updated the header picture for the Village website.
  2. The Web Manager reported that he continues research the options for document storage and email handling for the Village. The best option from Microsoft would cost about $3k – $5k per year and Google’s option would be $6k – $8k annually.

 

  1. Communications Committee

There was no report from the Committee Chair.

  1. Record Retention

The Mayor will set up a meeting with the Records Retention Committee, made up of himself, the Clerk-Treasurer, Solicitor, and Council member Amick to discuss the retention and potential disposal of records.

  1. General and Infrastructure Fund Levies

The Mayor reminded Council of the process by which the Village can place levy renewals for the general and infrastructure funds on the ballot in November. The first readings of the resolution for the Franklin County Auditor’s department and ordinance for the Franklin County Board of Elections are on the agenda.

New Business

  1. Resolution 2025-05

Saving introduced and performed the first reading of Resolution 2025 – 05 – A Resolution Requesting the County Auditor to Certify to the Village Information Needed to Enable the Village to Levy a Tax in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation.

  1. Resolution 2025-06

Surface introduced and performed the first reading of Resolution 2025 – 06 – A Resolution Requesting the County Auditor to Certify to the Village Information Needed to Enable the Village to Levy a Tax in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation for the Purpose of the Construction, Reconstruction, Resurfacing, or Repair of Streets, Roads, and Bridges, and General Infrastructure Projects in the Village of Riverlea, Ohio.

  1. Ordinance 01-2025

Surface introduced and performed the first reading of Ordinance 01 – 2025 – An Ordinance Determining to Levy a Replacement and Decreased Tax in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation.

  1. Ordinance 02-2025

Surface introduced and performed the first reading of Ordinance 02 – 2025 – An Ordinance Determining to Levy a Replacement and Decreased Tax in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation for the Purpose of the Construction, Reconstruction, Resurfacing, or Repair of Streets, Roads, and Bridges, and General Infrastructure Projects in the Village of Riverlea, Ohio.

  1. Suspicious Email

Bell stated that he had received a suspicious email purporting to be from Council member Saving. The Web Manager stated that the Village sees many of these fake emails coming though, usually an attempt to transfer money from the email recipient.

  1. Tree Limb Down

Amick stated that a large limb had fallen from the tree near the flagpole in the Circle Park. It appears that several large limbs of this tree are also dead. Bell volunteered to dispose of the limb.

  1. Appreciation

Surface thanked the Street Commissioner for all his work in repairing the lift station with the issues it had in April.

Expenses

Saving moved and Bell seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:

$   63.92- Dan Schlichting – Flag reimbursement

$ 641.00 – Paul Peterson Co – Stop sign replacement

$ 493.25 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

$ 346.39 – Deania Becker – Easter egg hunt reimbursement

The motion was approved (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 19, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. at the Sharon Township Meeting Hall.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Amick moved and Bell seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). The meeting was adjourned at 7:52 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Daniel E. Schlichting, Mayor