The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date via Zoom teleconference software. The following Council members were present: Mayor Eric A. MacGilvray, Marc J. Benevento, Scott K. Gordon, Kathy E. McClintock, Leah M. Pyter, and Dan Schlichting. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, and William P. Charles, Street Commissioner. Guest of Council was Worthington Fire Chief Mark Zambito. At 7:03 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.
Worthington Fire Chief
Worthington Fire Chief Mark Zambito attended to introduce himself to Council. Chief Zambito was appointed Fire Chief on March 16. Chief Zambito stated that the department is trying to be creative in how it reaches out to the public during the pandemic, with one of the ideas being to give parents the ability to schedule a fire truck drive-by for a child’s birthday. The department will do more outreach & training after COVID and has plans to offer training in such areas as CPR and accident prevention. Chief Zambito informed the Council that the WFD would be doing water rescue training along the Olentangy River and that he would send the Mayor information to share from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources on dealing with the low-head dam in the river just north of the Village.
Minutes
The minutes of the Council meeting of May 18, 2020 were not read since each member had received a copy. Benevento moved and McClintock seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).
Report of the Clerk-Treasurer
Benevento moved and Pyter seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for May 2020 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).
Report of the Mayor
- The Mayor thanked the organizers of and participants in the graduation parade that was held on May 23. He stated that organizers planned on planting a tree in Circle Park in the fall as part of this tribute to 2020 graduates.
- The Mayor stated that sanitary sewer work had begun and was expected to take about 3 weeks.
- The Mayor stated that reseeding of grass in certain lawns and areas of the Village where seeding the previous year did not take would begin on June 16.
- The Mayor stated that a resident had contacted him about starting a composting program in the Village. After some discussion, Council decided that given that this program would be through a private company, the best path would be to inform residents about the program through the resident Facebook group, but for the Village not to officially sponsor the program.
- The Mayor mentioned that a resident had contacted him with a request for reimbursement of an insurance deductible due to water damage during the recent storms. The Street Commissioner stated that it was important to make a distinction between damage due to infiltration from flooding and damage due to sewer backups, stating that the Village may be liable for damage due to a sewer main backup, as with the backup on Riverglen in May. He stated that there had been a blockage in the sewer main on Southington, but that after some investigation he had not been able to determine the cause of the blockage. Due to this inability to determine the cause, Council decided not to reimburse the resident’s insurance claim. The Solicitor noted that reimbursement of a deductible could set a precedent for additional requests.
- The Mayor stated that there is a tree down in the ravine. He will contact a company about cutting up and removing the tree.
- The Mayor stated that after communications from the Planning Commissioner, the owners of the house with the electric fence had it removed on Memorial Day weekend
- The Mayor mentioned that there had been reports of people parking cars on the walkway of the house on Olentangy that the Planning Commission approved with the stipulation that cars are not allowed to park on it. The Planning Commissioner and Solicitor will work on developing a fine structure for this Certificate of Appropriateness violation and the Planning Commissioner will draft and deliver a notice of violation to the homeowners.
Report of the Solicitor
- The Solicitor stated that she had prepared an ordinance to clarify swimming pool regulations within the Village and that she needed input from the Planning Commissioner on this. Council will revisit this pool ordinance in July.
- The Solicitor stated that the Village had received the signed waiver from the residents who had received reimbursement for damage due to the blocked sewer main on Riverglen.
- The Solicitor stated that the Village had received and responded to a FOIA request from an individual inquiring about the postage system used by the Village.
Report of the Street Commissioner
- The Street Commissioner reported that there had been no further progress on the work to be done at the lift station, including the installation of a generator.
Report of the Planning Commissioner
The Clerk Treasurer reported that the commission had met in June and approved the below Certificates of Appropriateness
- The addition of a fence at 267 Beverly
- The relocation of a window at 248 Melbourne
- The replacement of a porch at 115 W Southington
Comments from Residents on Agenda Items
There were no comments from residents on agenda items.
Old Business
- Committee on Infrastructure
- Benevento, the Chair of the Committee stated that the committee had met to discuss several issues, including the follow-up items related to the infrastructure project. On this item, Burgess & Niple had declared that the areas with drainage issues in the Village had been installed in accordance with the project design, and that the issue could not be fixed by regrading the streets.
- The Chair stated that the next step in the lift station project would be for the Committee to get proposals for generator enclosures.
- The Chair noted that Burgess & Niple is making final revisions to the asset management plan. The results of the sanitary sewer line inspection will play a part in this plan.
- Committee on Communications
Gordon, the Chair of the Committee, stated that the directory is almost finished and will be ready to print soon.
- Web Manager
The Web Manager was not in attendance.
New Business
- Resolution 2020-08
Resolution 2020-08, A Resolution to Request the Franklin County Budget Commission to Grant the 0.65 Mills in Available Inside Millage to the Village of Riverlea, Ohio was introduced by Schlichting. Schlichting moved and McClintock seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the resolution in order to submit this resolution to Franklin County in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). McClintock moved and Schlichting seconded the motion to approve the resolution. The motion passed (5-0).
- 2021 Tax Budget
Village Tax Budget 2021 was introduced by Benevento. Benevento moved and Gordon seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this in order to submit this budget to the county on a timely basis. The motion passed (5-0). Benevento moved and Gordon seconded the motion to approve of the budget. The motion passed (5-0).
Expenses
Pyter moved and Benevento seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:
– $ 110.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating
– $ 275.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating
– $ 1,000.00 – Chuck’s Septic Tank, Sewer, & Drain Cleaning – Lift station cleanout
– $ 1,050.00 – Chuck’s Septic Tank, Sewer, & Drain Cleaning – Inspection – Falmouth & Southington
– $ 100.00 – Radico, Inc. – Lift station call
The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).
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, August 17 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom teleconference.
Adjournment
There being no further business, McClintock moved and Schlichting seconded the motion to adjourn. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). The meeting was adjourned at 9:21 p.m.
Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer
Eric A. MacGilvray, Mayor