February 19, 2013 Council Meeting Minutes

Regular Council Meeting

February 19, 2013

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 Kirk M. McHugh, Jon L. Ankrom, Scott K. Gordon, Donald E. Griffith, Briggs W. Hamor, Jenny D. Jones and Eric A. MacGilvray, President Pro-Tem. Also present were Pamela M. Colwell, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, William P. Charles, Street Commissioner, Michael Jones, Planning Commissioner and Jody Croley Jones, Web Manager. Guests of Council were Jim Dippel with Burgess & Niple, and Sarah Mehling. At 7:00 pm the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

1. The minutes of the regular Council meeting of January 22, 2013 were not read since each member had received a copy. MacGilvray moved and Griffith seconded a motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0)

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

1. Ankrom moved and Jones seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial report for January 2013, as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).

Report of the Mayor

1. The Mayor reported that the Social Chair will replace the Parks and Recreation Chair that has gone unfilled for a few years. He thanked Jon Ankrom and Kathy McClintock for their efforts in getting a volunteer for this position. Sarah Mehling, with the help of her husband Josh, has agreed to organize and run Village social activities. The Mayor asked Council to consider funding all of the activities together for the year to make it easier to plan events. Also, he would like Council to discuss changing the July 4th picnic from the holiday to a summer picnic so that more residents will be able to attend.
2. Franklin County Public Health has agreed that a mosquito trap in the Village was not needed, so the invoice for the integrated mosquito management program was reduced from $3,037 to $459. If residents do not want spraying around their home, they can sign up for the Do Not Spray list with FCPH. He will have that information put in the Newsletter and on the website.

Report of the Solicitor

1. The Solicitor looked into the Franklin County Residential Building Agreement with the Village. Franklin County can only enforce the building code and not the zoning code. They can issue stop work orders for building without a permit or a certificate of appropriateness but only those involving the building code. They can also impose fines and go to court to force compliance if needed. Council stated that they will utilize Franklin County as much as possible for the enforcement of the building code.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

1. The Commission did not meet this month.

Report of the Marshal

1. In the absence of the Marshal, the Mayor reported there were 307 checks and no citations.

Report of the Street Commissioner

1. Jim Dippel with Burgess & Niple discussed their engineering services proposal for the 2013 Villagewide Sanitary Sewer Improvements Project. They will provide design and bidding services, construction administration and project representation. They will need assistance from Village officials to meet with residents affected by the lateral work along the north side of Riverglen Drive. The Village’s Solicitor will prepare an access document for residents to sign. The Clerk-Treasurer will handle the prevailing wage coordination. Council said they will review the proposal and vote on it at the next Council meeting.
2. The Commissioner reported that the Committee on Infrastructure is looking into the cost of assessing the condition of the storm sewers and water lines. He has asked Burgess & Niple for an estimate of those costs so the Committee will be able to evaluate if it is possible to do those with the current funds available.

Report of the Newsletter Editor

1. The Editor would like copy for the Newsletter by March 5th.

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Report of the Web Manager

1. The Web Manager reported that there is a new version of the newsletter online. It offers pictures and links that the printed copy does not have. Residents can opt in to receive a monthly email notification that the newsletter is available online and the email will contain a link they can click on to take them directly to the online newsletter. She would like to encourage residents to view the website often for more timely and relevant information.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Old Business

1. Resolution No. 2013-04 Mosquito Control
   MacGilvray introduced Resolution No. 2013-04, A Resolution to Provide for Integrated Management Services to Reduce Mosquito Populations Within the Village. Hamor moved and Ankrom seconded the motion to suspend the three readings of Resolution No. 2013-04. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). Ankrom moved and Jones seconded the motion to adopt Resolution No. 2013-04. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
2. Committee on Infrastructure
   Briggs Hamor, Chair, reported that he will be contacting MORPC to inquire about the loan and when we can expect to receive the paperwork. He is not optimistic about getting money from the CDBG Grant because of current economic conditions. Two committee members are looking into bond information for the streets.
3. Committee on Ordinances
   Jenny Jones, Chair, asked if the Committee needed to meet again after she has edited Chapter 151, Zoning Code, recommendations. She decided going to the Worthington Code for this Chapter was too far-reaching, so she has edited the Chapter based on the Committee’s discussions. Council responded that the Committee did not need to meet. This was just a starting point for discussions on the Zoning Code.

   Jones has the Chapter 150, Building Code, and Chapter 152, Signs, recommendations completed. Council said they will discuss these as the end of the meeting tonight.

4. Committee on Communications
   Jon Ankrom, Chair, reported that the Committee is working on a campaign to encourage residents to opt out of receiving the newsletter by mail in order to reduce costs to the Village and to have an opportunity to provide more information online. The Committee is working on a quarterly newsletter that will cover more social and non-official information than the monthly newsletter.

New Business

1. Resolution No. 2013-05 Capital Projects fund
   Hamor introduced Resolution No. 2013-05, A Resolution to Establish a Capital Projects Fund to Fund Sewer Construction and Improvements. Jones moved and Griffith seconded the motion to suspend the three readings of Resolution No. 2013-05. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). MacGilvray moved and Ankrom seconded the motion to adopt Resolution No. 2013-05. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
2. Resolution No. 2013-06 Columbus City Attorney Representation
   Ankrom introduced Resolution No. 2013-06, A Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to Enter into a Contract with the City of Columbus for Legal Representation in Certain Criminal and Traffic Cases and to Declare an Emergency. This is an annual contract but the City of Columbus is late this year in sending it out. Gordon moved and Hamor seconded the motion to declare an emergency and suspend the three readings of Resolution No. 2013-06. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). Griffith moved and Jones seconded the motion to adopt Resolution No. 2013-06. The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).
3. Expenses
   MacGilvray moved and Gordon seconded the motion to authorize the following expenses:
   $300 – Easter Egg Hunt
   $150 – Clerk-Treasurer annual training
   The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea, 5; Ankrom, Gordon, Griffith, Hamor and MacGilvray: Nay,1; Jones. The motion carried (5-1).
4. Chapter 150 Building Code
   Jenny Jones stated that most of this chapter was deleted since it was the responsibility of Franklin County. Other parts are being transferred to the Zoning Code. Council said they will review this along with Chapter 151, Zoning Code.
5. Chapter 152 Signs Jenny Jones said she added the paragraph from Worthington’s sign ordinances about the purpose of this Chapter because she thought it expressed the intent of Council.

   Council discussed the requirement of a sign to be 10 feet from the curb and the necessity of it. Since other sections of the sign ordinance cover sight obstruction, Council said the restriction was not necessary. MacGilvray noted that whether or not a sign was obstructive could be subjective. He asked if it was better to be more specific than subjective. The Solicitor said in legal writing it was better to be more specific, not less. Council said most of the complaints were from the 10 feet restriction.

   Jenny Jones also thought that the limit of displaying a garage sale sign to one day before the sale was too restrictive and a 3 day limit was more reasonable. Council agreed.

   Council asked the Solicitor to prepare a sign ordinance for the next Council meeting to add the paragraph for the purpose of the chapter, to remove the 10 feet restriction from section 152.03(A) and152.03(C), and to increase garage sale sign section 152.05(D) from one day before the day of the sale to up to 3 days before the day of the sale.

6. Clerk-Treasurer Position
   Gordon suggested that Council start exploring the available options for the Clerk-Treasurer position since the current Clerk-Treasurer, Pam Colwell, has announced that she will retire at the end of March 2014. Council said they would like to explore whether to make this an appointed position instead of an elected one so there was some control over the qualifications of the person in this position. They noted that the Village has a very small pool of people to draw from and it would seem better if they could look outside the Village to find the most qualified applicant. Council also discussed splitting it into two separate positions as it was years ago. Council asked the Solicitor to research the options.

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items