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, Charles T. Bell, Janet R. Heidkamp, Leah M. Pyter, and Emily J. Saving. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, Leah Reibel, Solicitor, and William Charles, Street Commissioner. At 6:50 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the Council meeting of January 21, 2025 were not read since each member had received a copy. Pyter moved and Saving seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 4, Bell, Heidkamp, Pyter, Saving; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (4-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Bell moved and Saving seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for January 2025 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 4, Bell, Heidkamp, Pyter, Saving; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (4-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor reported that he had received an email from the United States Census Bureau to confirm the boundaries of the Village and that there had been no change
  2. The Mayor reported that residents had received a letter from the City of Worthington informing them that the Selby Bridge project would begin in early March. The temporary connector at the end of Melbourne Pl will not open until the bridge is demolished.
  3. The Mayor stated that he had contacted Worthington Police for information about the driver who knocked down the stop sign at Riverglen & High and was informed that it was a hit and run driver and that they did not have any information. The Street Commissioner has ordered a replacement sign
  4. The Mayor thanked Jeff Amick for his work restoring the Village entrance sign along Olentangy.
  5. Council member Bell asked if the Village is receiving the police reports on Village activity per the contract with the Worthington Police department. The Mayor replied that he is receiving weekly summaries of activity in Riverlea and the surrounding area, but not limited to the Village. He stated that he would request more detailed reports on Riverlea activity. There was some discussion on the Village Marshal position and the Solicitor reminded Council that the Village ordinances require the Marshal position to be filled and that if Council wanted to change this, this would require an amendment.
  6. The Mayor asked Council if they wanted to take action to work with Worthington on their activities to reduce the deer population in the area or to wait until there were more results. Council felt that they would like to wait for more information on these activities before taking action. The Solicitor will research the Village ordinances around hunting.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor stated that she is working with American Legal Publishing to codify the recently passed ordinances and that there is an item in the expenses section to be approved for this work.
  2. The Solicitor stated that she had attended the February Planning Commission meeting and that the Commission plans on making several revisions to the ordinances around fences and possibly other sections of the zoning code.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner stated that he had approved a quote in the amount of $641 for the replacement of the downed street sign at High & Riverglen. This replacement should be completed in the next couple of weeks.
  2. The Street Commissioner reported that work to replace the ground rod at the lift station should be completed in the next couple of weeks.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

The Planning Commissioner was not in attendance. The Clerk-Treasurer reported that the Commission had met in February and had denied an application to expand the size of a garage at 248 Melbourne Pl.

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 they did not meet in February.

  1. Web Manager

The Web Manager was not in attendance.

  1. Communications Committee

 

  1. Pyter, the Chair of the Committee, stated that she had put the information for new residents into letter format, vs. the postcard format that she had introduced at the previous meeting.
  2. The Chair of the Committee shared the onboarding guide for new Council members. She will work with the Clerk-Treasurer to get a few pieces of information for the document.

 

  1. Resolution 2025-02

 

Resolution 2025-02, A Resolution to Confirm the Interim Appointment of William Charles as Street Commissioner had its second reading.

New Business

Ordinance Codification

Saving questioned whether ordinances passed by Council are enforceable upon passage or not until they are codified and published in the Village code. The Solicitor stated that these ordinances are enforceable upon passage but that there is a chance that someone could bring a lawsuit against the Village that they were not aware of the new ordinance due to lack of publication. The Mayor stated that there is a section on the website for newly passed ordinances that had not yet been codified. The Clerk-Treasurer will verify that this section is updated.

Bell moved and Heidkamp seconded the motion to authorize the expenditure of no more than $4.500 to codify the most recent ordinances. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 4, Bell, Heidkamp, Pyter, Saving; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (4-0).

Expenses

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

$911.04 – Frankin County Emergency Management – 2025 Proportionate share

$110.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

The motion was approved (4-0).

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 March 17, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Worthington Library.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Pyter moved and Heidkamp seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (4-0). The meeting was adjourned at 7:44 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Daniel E. Schlichting, Mayor