VILLAGE OF RIVERLEA
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
FEBRUARY 17, 2009
The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Worthington United Methodist Church, 600 High Street, Worthington. The following Council members were present: Mayor Mary Jo Cusack, John S. McAlearney, Kirk M. McHugh, John A. Schaer, Renee Shannon, Rodney Tettenhorst and Paul J. Zenisek. Also present were Pamela M. Colwell, Clerk-Treasurer, Lois Yoakam, Newsletter Editor, Steven W. Mershon, Solicitor, Neil R. Mortine, Marshal, Michael Jones, Planning Commissioner, William Charles, Street Commissioner, Sue and Robert Ranck, Mark Siegal, Don Griffith and Greg Bonk. At 7:35 p.m. the Mayor called the meeting to order.
Street Commissioner Oath of Office
The Mayor administered the oath of office to the newly appointed Street Commissioner, William Charles.
Minutes
09-07
The minutes of the regular Council meeting of January 20, 2009 were not read since each member had received a copy. Schaer moved and Zenisek seconded a motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the confirmation: Yea, 6; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, Tettenhorst and Zenisek: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0.
Clerk-Treasurer Report
09-08
The Clerk-Treasurer reported that the Guernsey CD was renewed for 12 months and the Park National Bank CD was cashed and deposited in the checking account until the Finance Committee meets. Schaer moved and Shannon seconded a motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial report for January 2009, as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, Tettenhorst and Zenisek: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0. See Board Referral File number 09-003.
Report of the Mayor
The Mayor reported that the OSU Airport complaints are not all being filed. AEP got the power back on to residents after the Mayor contacted them. She said that everyone needs to call AEP when their power is out so they will know the extent of the outage. MORPC is working on applying for money from the Stimulus Package. They have deferred the Halloween vote. The Mayor wrote two letters to Senator Voinovich on behalf of Worthington. Jim Dippel (Burgess & Niple) will be working with Charles and McAlearney.
Report of the Solicitor
The Solicitor is waiting for information on the EPA permits.
Report of the Planning Commissioner
The Planning Commissioner reported that there was no meeting in February. At the next Planning Commission meeting they will try to come up with a palette of colors for the exterior of homes and present it at the next Council meeting.
Report of the Marshal
The Marshal reported there were 253 traffic checks, with no warnings or citations. There were 8 complaints with only one report. The Marshal will discuss the police reports with Lt. Dougherty.
The Marshal reminded everyone that residents need to call the police when they see people parking at the south end of Olentangy Blvd. and going into the park. There has been known illegal drug activity there.
Report of the Street Commissioner
The Street Commissioner discussed the immediate concerns of Dippel (Burgess & Niple) regarding the sanitary sewer system. Columbia Gas submitted a permit request after the fact and he is concerned about the plate in the road. He will contact Decker for an estimate to fill potholes in order to get ahead of the situation this spring.
Report of the Newsletter Editor
The Newsletter Editor requested copy for the March Newsletter by March 5.
Report of the Web Manager
In the absence of the Web Manager, Jones provided the report. The Web Manager would like the Newsletter on the same day it is mailed to residents so it can be up on the site at the same time.
Report of Parks and Recreation
There was no report of Parks and Recreation.
Report on the Relocation of Council Meetings
Zenisek will check with the Church as to the possibility of starting the meetings at 7:00 so that they do not run past 9:30 and cost the Village more money.
Comments from Residents on Agenda Items
Griffith talked about his approval for a leash law. He felt loose dogs were a problem and dogs under electronic control were actually not controlled.
Sue Ranck was concerned about the residents who do not respect other people. She said everyone has a right to their opinion and should not be abused by others. She also wanted Council to allow residents their full three minutes even if they don’t use it all at first.
Old Business
10-2008
There was no old business.
New Business
09-09
Schaer moved and Shannon seconded a motion to approve the expenditure of the cost for the Clerk-Treasurer to attend the 2009 Local Government Official’s Conference April 23rd and 24th. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, Tettenhorst and Zenisek: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0.
01-2009
Tettenhorst introduced Ordinance 01-2009, An Ordinance to Clarify the Permitted Uses of Single Family Residential Property in the Village. Zenisek had some questions regarding the accessory uses permitted. The Solicitor provided some examples such as gardening and parking. McAlearney did not like the signage allowed and said it was in conflict with the signage ordinance. Tettenhorst moved and Schaer seconded a motion to amend Section 1 (d)(3) to read as follows:
The rest of the paragraph is deleted. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, Tettenhorst and Zenisek: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0. The Mayor expressed her concerns over Section 1 (c) and wanted to look into it more for the next meeting. Schaer was concerned about the limitation on the number of vehicles and stated he had no problem with company vehicles parked inside of garages out of public view.
02-2009
Tettenhorst introduced Ordinance 02-2009, An Ordinance to Further Regulate Dogs Running at Large Within the Village. He felt that Council did not give proper consideration to the previous ordinance that failed. This ordinance removes the leash requirement but provides stricter direct control and a change in the penalties. He feels this is about safety and property rights. Zenisek said that the times have changed and the current law is not workable anymore. People need to be responsible. The Solicitor commented that the benefit of a leash law is it makes it easier for the police to see that the dog is not on a leash as opposed to a dog under direct control. After some discussion, McHugh moved to amend Section 90.01 (C) to remove “sight and hearing” in the first sentence and replace it with “ten feet of owner.”
Tettenhorst wanted to respond to the comments made by some residents at the last meeting, especially those who felt they had the right to limit who Council chose to listen to and what to legislate. He said Council has the right to listen to any opinions by anyone – resident or non-resident. And Council has the right to consider any issue that they deem important.
Zenisek suggested moving the March meeting to Wednesday or Thursday so that all of the meetings will be held at the church. He will check with the Church administration to see if the Church is available then.
The Newsletter Editor wanted to know if Council would permit ads in the Newsletter from people outside of the Village. Council was against it and only wanted ads from residents.
Zenisek showed torn fragments of Riverlea’s flag and said the U.S. flag was also in bad shape. The Mayor will look into the cost of replacing the flags.
Schaer reported that Local Waste Services will pick up old TV’s but would not recycle them. Residents can check with SWACO about how to recycle them. He also stated that yard waste pickup will start April 1.
The Mayor reminded everyone to call in when their electricity is out in order to get AEP out to fix the problem sooner.
Next Meeting and Adjournment.
The Mayor announced that she will set the next date and place for the March Council meeting after Zenisek reports with his findings.
09-10
There being no further business, Schaer moved and Shannon seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 6; McAlearney, McHugh, Schaer, Shannon, Tettenhorst and Zenisek: Nay, None. The Motion carried 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:27 pm.
MARY JO CUSACK, MAYOR
DAN E. OWENS, CLERK OF COUNCIL