Regular Council Meeting

December 17, 2016

The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington. Worthington. The following Council members were present: Mayor Eric A. MacGilvray, Marc Benevento, Scott K. Gordon, Chad A. Lowe, Kathy McClintock, and Jacalyn Slemmer. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, William P. Charles, Street Commissioner, Bryce Jacob, Planning Commissioner, and Jody Croley Jones Web Manager. Guest of Council was Gina Jacob. At 7:00 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Election of President Pro Tempore

Slemmer nominated Scott Gordon as President Pro Tempore of Council for 2017 and McClintock seconded the motion. The motion was approved (5-0). The Solicitor swore Gordon in as President Pro Tempore.

Village Welcoming Committee

Gina Jacob addressed the Council about possibly setting up a welcoming committee for new residents. This committee would potentially notify new residents of contact information within the Village, key Village information, and information about the surrounding area. Gordon supported the idea of discussing this and creating a budget for such a function. Jacob will look into pricing certain items that may be involved to get an idea of what such a budget may be.

Minutes

  1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of December 17, 2016 were not read since each member had received a copy. Benevento moved and Slemmer seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

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Report of the Clerk–Treasurer

  1. Lowe moved and McClintock seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for December 2016 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor mentioned that he had been receiving the reports from the Worthington Police Department on a more regular basis. The most common calls within the Village are related to burglary alarms and suspicious persons.
  2. The Mayor mentioned that there had been some discussion on the Facebook site about curbside leaf pickup within the Village. There may be more discussion about this matter when leaves come down in the Fall.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor reported that she had been working on an easement proposal for 275 Southington as part of the infrastructure project.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner clarified that the easement for 275 Southington would be for construction purposes as well as ongoing maintenance after the project is completed, due to the placement of the water line in relation to the Village’s right of way. Gordon asked if compensation would be required for this easement and the Street Commissioner replied that this would be an item to be negotiated. Gordon asked if eminent domain would be applied if no deal could be negotiated on the easement. The Mayor replied that he did not think that this would be the case, but that the Council could discuss this in the future if needed.
  2. The Street Commissioner reported that Decker Construction had repaired the damage to the storm sewer at 176 Riverglen and filled in the excavation as well.
  3. The Street Commissioner reported that the Lift Station had been cleaned out. Shortly after this, the Street Commissioner noticed that there were issues with one of the pumps, as happens after a clean out on occasion. He went down to repair the float and during this process, noticed a pinhole leak in the discharge pipe. This leak will need to be repaired.
  4. The Street Commissioner reported that he had taken pictures of several locations around the Villagein which sump pump discharge from houses had frozen in the roadway. This will be discussed further later in the meeting.
  5. The Street Commissioner reported that Burgess & Niple planned on being 30% done with the planning of the infrastructure project around the first of February. At this time, they will distribute the current plans to the Village, as well as to the Department of Water.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

  1. Bryce Jacob introduced himself as the new Planning Commissioner for the Village.

Report of the Web Manager

  1. The Web Manager reported that she had been busy updating the web site for 2017.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Gina Jacob suggested that the Village speak with some companies about leaf pickup for residents. She recommended that even if the Village chose not to pay for this service that a date be established for a company to come out and collect leaves at the expense of the individual homeowners.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

    1. The Chair of the Infrastructure Committee stated that most of the activities of the Committee in 2017 would involve planning work for the infrastructure project. He is going to propose a reduction in the number of meetings for the year and use these meetings to review the plans to date. The number of meetings will pick up later in the year, once bids begin to be received and financial impacts can be calculated.

  2. Committee on Communications

    1. The Chair of the Committee reported that the Committee would be meeting to discuss the possibility of distributing door hangers to all residences in the Village requesting that residents add their contact information for potential communications.

  3. Web Manager Position

    At the December meeting, Council had tabled a discussion concerning the changes made to the Web Manager position over the past few years, along with the compensation for the position. The Web Manager reiterated that she did not bring this up in order to receive a pay increase, but to raise awareness and discussion about the responsibilities that had been added to the position. The Web Manager stated that these added responsibilities included maintaining the email distribution list, resident directory, and the Google Drive for the Village.

    Gordon inquired if anyone had researched the salary structures of similar sized municipalities. Benevento stated that he had looked into this and the closest he could find was a study performed by the Dublin City Council, which showed that Worthington’s Council pay was the lowest. Gordon stated that Marblecliff was the most similar sized village in the area. Slemmer suggested that the Village put together a committee to discuss the positions that required a certain set of skills within the Village government. This committee would discuss compensation for those positions as well as succession plans to fill those positions in the event that they are vacated.

    The Web Manager stated that there was more to the position than updating information on the website. She stated that she spends a good deal of time on ensuring that the website is accessible and that navigating it makes sense. She stated that there were many lawsuits nationally concerning accessibility of municipality web sites. She felt that there were others in the Village who could handle this if they were to take over the role.

    Gordon moved and Lowe seconded the motion to adjourn to Executive Session pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22(G)(1) to discuss the appointment, employment or compensation of a public official or employee. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; Benevento, Gordon, Lowe, McClintock, and Slemmer: No; None. The motion was approved 5-0. Council adjourned into Executive Session at 8:12 pm.

    Gordon moved and Benevento seconded the motion to adjourn out of Executive Session and resume Open Session. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; Benevento, Gordon, Lowe, McClintock, and Slemmer: No; None. The motion was approved 5-0.

    Council resumed Open Session at 8:35 pm.

    Slemmer will research other similar local municipalities or other organizations to determine if there were any relevant similar positions and their pay. Council proposes to remove the directory duties from the Web Manager position so that it is truly in charge of maintaining and developing the website, without any modification to the pay of the position.

New Business

  1. Water Discharge

    Slemmer mentioned that she had an issue with water discharge from the sump pump ponding and freezing at the end of her driveway. Gordon noted that this was happening in spots all around the Village and that this was due to improper grading of the streets after years of being built up. In many places, the sump pump discharge drain is below the street level. The Street Commissioner distributed photos that he had taken of these icy patches around the Village.

    The Street Commissioner discussed the options that the Village has for this sump pump discharge. The first option is to do nothing until after the infrastructure work is complete and recut the holes for the drains in the curbs and let the water drain onto the street. This water will eventually degrade the street and curb surface as it freezes and thaws. Another option would be to run a line behind the curb that collects the discharge from all of the sump pumps and drains it into the street or directly into the storm sewer. There would be an additional cost for this in the infrastructure project beyond what is currently planned. A third option would be to prohibit sump pumps from draining to the street and homeowners would need to create spots for the water to drain onto the property. The Street Commissioner will continue to monitor these options throughout the infrastructure planning process.

  2. Resolution 2017-01

    Resolution 2017-01, A Resolution of Council for 2017 and to Provide for Certain Other Organizational Matters was introduced by Lowe. Lowe moved and Gordon seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution in order to have the Council rules in place for the year. The motion carried (5-0). McClintock moved and Slemmer seconded the motion to approve the resolution. The motion carried (5-0).

  3. Resolution 2017-02

    Resolution 2017-02, A Resolution to Confirm the Appointment of William Charles as Street Commissioner was introduced by Benevento and had its first reading.

  4. Resolution 2017-03

    Resolution 2017-03, A Resolution for Integrated Management Services to Reduce Mosquito Populations Within the Village was introduced by Gordon. Gordon moved and McClintock seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution in order to sign the contract by the end of the month. The motion carried (5-0). Gordon moved and Slemmer seconded the motion to approve the resolution. The motion carried (5-0).

  5. Expenses

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

    $1,900.00 — Decker Construction — Storm sewer repair
    $214.76 — Eric MacGilvray — Newsletter expenses
    $186.26 — Josh Mehling — Postage & Supplies

    The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Non–Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, February 21 at 7:00 pm at the Thomas Worthington High School.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Slemmer moved and Lowe seconded the motion to adjourn. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 pm.

ERIC A. MACGILVRAY, MAYOR

JOSHUA C. MEHLING, CLERK OF COUNCIL