The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington.  The following Council members were present: Mayor Eric A. MacGilvray, Marc Benevento, Scott K. Gordon, Kathy E. McClintock, Ted C. Miller, and Leah M. Pyter. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, and William P. Charles, Street Commissioner. Guests of Council were Diane and Michael Slater, Dan McIntyre, and representatives of the 5693 Olentangy Trust. At 7:02 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the regular Council meeting of June 17, 2019 were not read since each member had received a copy. Miller moved and Pyter seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 4, Benevento, McClintock, Miller, and Pyter; Nay: None; Abstain: 1, Gordon. The motion carried (4-0-1).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Benevento moved and Miller seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for June 2019 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

McClintock moved and Benevento seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for July 2019 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor confirmed that he has registered with the Franklin County Board of Elections to run for Mayor in the November elections. In addition, Scott Gordon has registered to run for a Council seat and Josh Mehling has registered to run for the Clerk-Treasurer position.
  2. The Mayor informed Council that the final charges on the infrastructure project were $4.9 million, well below the initial estimates and 1.3% higher than the winning bid from Elite Excavating.
  3. The Mayor stated that the Village was working with the contractor on reseeding grass in the areas affected by the infrastructure project. Though these areas were seeded in the spring, the wet spring and hot summer combined to prevent the seed from taking root properly.
  4. The Mayor stated that the tree planting program was underway and that the form has been sent out to all residents. The Clerk-Treasurer will collect these forms and associated payments from residents and deposit the checks.
  5. The Mayor mentioned that the Planning Commission had received and approved a request for solar panel installation on the roof of a house in the Village. He reminded Council that there is currently no language in the Village code regarding solar panels and suggested that the Council may want to discuss adding such language.
  6. The Mayor stated that he had received an email from a resident regarding exterior maintenance of houses in the Village and mentioned that Council may want to discuss the pros and cons of adopting a property maintenance ordinance.  The Solicitor will research this issue.
  7. The Mayor informed Council that Worthington Police Chief Jerry Strait would be retiring at the end of August.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor stated that she had been doing research on codes relating to solar panels in area municipalities. Some municipalities have ordinances regarding these and others do not. Bexley adopted such legislation in 2016 and Arlington did so in 2017. Worthington does not have an overall ordinance, but passed a moratorium on new installations in the historic district.
  2. The Solicitor stated that the Village had received a public records request on Village salaries and was working with the Clerk-Treasurer on the response.

Report of the Street Commissioner

The Street Commissioner reported that he had been contacted by a resident who was thinking about extending a garage and was wondering how the Village’s ordinance concerning reserves A, B, and C affected this. These reserves are areas in the Village holding utilities and sewers. The Street Commissioner stated that the ordinance was confusing in that one part prohibits construction and another part is less restrictive. The Solicitor stated that the language regarding “No improvements” to structures in the Reserve areas was a reference to a pre-existing structure, but that no new structures were permitted.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

The Clerk Treasurer reported that the Planning Commission had approved fence permits at 314 Riverglen and 5800 Olentangy at the July meeting and had approved the installation of solar panels on the roof of 138 Riverglen at the August meeting.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Diane Slater of 314 Riverglen commented that she was appreciative of the work done by the Planning Commission surrounding her fence application and questions surrounding it. She also stated that she did not want the Village to reseed her lawn and suggested that the Village develop a method of giving residents the ability to opt out of this if they wished.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

 

  1. Benevento, the Chair of the Committee, reported that the repair work had been done on the hydrants within the Village.

 

  1. Benevento also reported that there were issues with drainage at 5690 Olentangy as the result of the work done on the infrastructure project. This is where the Village had added two new storm sewer grates in 2015 to fix drainage issues related to over pavement of the gutters. An investigation by Burgess & Niple found that issues with the street crown and installation of the driveway apron are allowing water to flow around these grates and into the driveway. The resident is asking the Village to raise the driveway apron to a level that would prevent this from happening. Burgess & Niple estimates that this will cost less than $4k. Council agreed that the Village should pay for this as a previous Council had fixed the earlier problem and the problem had arisen again due to work done by the Village.

 

  1. Benevento stated that Burgess & Niple had submitted a proposal to draft an asset management plan for the new infrastructure in the Village. He mentioned that the Village would be able to follow this plan for 20-50 years to ensure the proper upkeep of these systems. The cost of this proposal is $17.5k. Council agreed that this is a necessary expense.

 

  1. Benevento stated that Burgess & Niple had submitted a proposal for an evaluation of work to be done for maintenance on the lift station. The total proposal was $12.8k, but he felt that $3.7k for inspection of the concrete tanks that form the base of the lift station would be enough to start the project. Council agreed to this $3.7k expenditure. The residents at 5693 Olentangy inquired about the expected timeline for this project and Benevento stated that it would depend upon the scope of the work to be performed. The homeowners also stated that their property went through hardships during the course of the infrastructure project due to a noncompliant contractor and asked the Village to be more proactive in making sure that this would not be the case during this project.

 

  1. Benevento expressed appreciation to the members of the Infrastructure Committee for the work that they had put in designing and implementing the tree program.

 

  1. Committee on Communications

Gordon, the Chair of the Committee, reported that the Committee was working on the Village directory. The Committee currently has information from about 85% percent of the Village residents and is researching the information for the remaining residents. Residents will have the ability to opt out of being included in this directory before it is published.

  1. Web Manager

The Web Manager reported that the website has been reliable and updates are occurring as scheduled. He also stated that the website has seen a falloff in traffic since the end of the infrastructure project.

New Business

  1. Fall Festival

McClintock stated that the Village would once again be hosting a Fall Festival in the Village Circle. It will be held at 4:30 pm on Saturday, September 28.

Expenses

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

– $108.49 – Josh Mehling – Supplies & postage

– $440.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

– $165.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

– $246.71 – Marc Benevento – Printing

The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

  1. Benevento moved and McClintock seconded the motion to approve up to $4,000 to regrade the driveway apron at 5690 Olentangy. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).
  2. Benevento moved and MIller seconded the motion to approve up to $17,500 to Burgess & Niple for their asset management plan proposal. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).
  3. McClintock moved and Benevento seconded the motion to approve up to $3,725 to Burgess & Niple to begin work on their proposal for lift station evaluation. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

Diane Slater of 314 Riverglen expressed appreciation to the Council for their work on behalf of the Village. She also asked expressed concern with the growth of the deer population and asked Council to consider methods to control this, as they are damaging property and could be a safety issue.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, September 16 at 7:00 p.m. at the Thomas Worthington High School.

Adjournment

There being no further business, McClintock moved and Benevento 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